POS 203: Introduction to Political Science 09142006.

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POS 203 Introduction to Political Science
09/14/2006.

• Discuss writing assignment
• What is a nation?
• What to compare?
• How to compare?
• Why compare?
• Landman.
• Reasons for comparison.
• Contextual.
• Classification.
• Hypothesis Testing.
• Prediction.
• Natural science/Political Science
  Experimentation, laws?
• Theory.
• Normative/empirical.
• Deductive/inductive.

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POS 203 Introduction to Political Science.

• Methods.
• Ontology, Epistemology, Methodology.
• Cases, units, variables, observations.
• Levels of analysis.
• Quantitative and Qualitative.
• Parameters of Politics Space, Time, Energy,
  Needs.
• How does space (material environment) set the
  boundaries for politics?
• How does time effect politics, set boundaries for
  politics?
• Energy, what forms of energy are required for
  political systems to come into existence and
  continue to exist?
• What are the needs of human beings, how do
  political structures meet those needs?
• Power.
• What is power?
• What institutions have developed to manage power?
• Is power always coercive?

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POS 203 Introduction to Political Science.

• Hauss Themes related to 9/11.
• Rapid, if not accelerating, change.
• Growing importance of globalization.
• Domestic politics continue to be important.
• Three leaders.
• UK - Tony Blair.
• Prime Minister. Currently in power, good
  relations with United States, barely won recent
  May 05 election, Iraq war.
• Russia - Vladimir Putin.
• President. Re-elected, March 2004. Confronting
  active terrorist/secessionist movement in
  Chechnya. Economy growing, helped by strong oil
  demand.
• Iran - Khatami replaced by Ahmadinejad.
• President. Elected. Perceived of as hardliner.
  Strong anti-US rhetoric.

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POS 203 Introduction to Political Science.

• What is the State?
• Government.
• State.
• Nation.
• Regime.
• Types of states.
• Industrialized democracies.
• Communist and Post-Communist states.
• Transitional states.
• Third world.
• Political systems.
• Borrowed from David Easton. Example of Eastons
  work A Systems Analysis of Political Life (1965).
• Systems tend toward equilibrium unless stressors
  reach a critical point, then punctuated
  equilibrium, and new system or set of
  institutions gradually develops.

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POS 203 Introduction to Political Science.
Decision Making
Input
Output
Environment
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POS 203 Introduction to Political Science.
State
Global Forces
Society
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POS 203 Introduction to Political Science.
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POS 203 Introduction to Political Science.

• Hauss Five Themes.
• Conflict is constant.
• Democratization - trend - may or may not be
  permanent trend.
• Capitalism as dominant economic model.
• Globalization is critical.
• Challenges.
• Is state/nation-state best set of institutions to
  deal with challenges?

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POS 203 Introduction to Political Science.

• Howe.
• All history is imperial - or colonial .
• Opens with a series of examples.
• US pending war with/intervention in Iraq.
• Israeli/Palestinian Conflict.
• Turkish/Kurd Conflict.
• Trial of Milosevic/international law as product
  of succession of empires.
• Scottish Parliament.
• Echoes of Empire.
• Lord of the Rings, Empire Strikes Back, Evil
  Empire from Reagan to Rage Against the Machine.

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POS 203 Introduction to Political Science.

• Howes Three Goals
• Interpretation of the idea of empire.
• Disentangle the various meanings of empire.
• Empire, imperialism, colonialism, colonization,
  neocolonialism.
• Afterlives of empire.
• Howe, like Doyle and others points out empire
  ideologically loaded term.
• Etymology of empire.
• Latin imperium - sovereignty or rule.
• Dual aspect wage war, make rules.

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POS 203 Introduction to Political Science.

• Imperium.
• Extensive size.
• Universality.
• Boundary between barbarian and civilization.
• Empires.
• Large.
• Diverse.
• Direct and Indirect rule.
• Violence and the acquisition and maintenance of
  empire.

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POS 203 Introduction to Political Science.

• Empire and Imperialism.
• Imperialism referred to Napoleon III attempt to
  re-establish Napoleons empire.
• British use.
• Attitude vs. Fact of empire.
• Critics of Empire.
• Hobson.
• Lenin.
• Hardt and Negri.

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POS 203 Introduction to Political Science.

• State power and empire.
• Definitions.
• Empire.
• Imperialism.
• Globalization.
• Colonialism/internal colonialism.
• Colonization/settler colonization.
• Post-colonial/neo-colonial.

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POS 203 Introduction to Political Science.

• Types of Empire.
• Land.
• Sea.
• Land Empire.
• Older form of empire.
• Diffuse.
• Duration.
• Soviet, Chinese (PRC).
• Empires.
• Assyrian.
• Greek.

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POS 203 Introduction to Political Science.

• Egyptian.
• Unclear if empire ala Assyrians and Greeks.
• Americas.
• Incan, Mayan, Aztec empires.
• China.
• Rome.
• Invented modern idea of empire.
• Foundation exploitation.
• Tribute, taxation, slavery.
• Civilizing mission.

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POS 203 Introduction to Political Science.

• Continental Europe and England.
• Intra-European empire/nation building.
• Modern land empires.
• Ottoman.
• Russian.
• Austro-Hungarian.
• Chinese.
• American.

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POS 203 Introduction to Political Science.

• Aspiring/defeated empires.
• Nazi.
• Lebensraum.
• Japanese.
• Co-prosperity sphere.
• Land empires and land power.