Intro to Politics 10-10-18 3:20 PM

Empirical analysis
 Explaining aspects of politics by using careful observation and
comparison
 Use empirical data to develop generalizations or theories
 Goal is not merely to describe, but to develop testable theories that
are widely applicable
Normative analysis
 Examine ideas about how a community ought to be governed and
about what goals and values ought to be pursued.
 Often based on empirical observations about how the world
operates.
State and Sovereignty Kyle

State
 Independent, self-governing political community whose governing
institutions have the capability to make rules that are binding on
the population residing within a particular territory
 State is not the same as government; Includes:
o Polices, Public Service, elected government
Jurisdiction
 Exclusive law-making authority over a particular population,
territory or policy area.
o Ex. Canada has exclusive authority over marriage.
Government
 Institutions that make decisions and oversees their implementation
on behalf of the state for a period of time
 The Canadian State is constant; government changes hands apprx.
Every 4 yrs.
Sovereignty
 Highest authority
o A sovereign state is defined as one that has the ability to
govern its population and territory without outside
interference.
o Intergovernmental or outside organizations try to affect
policies = not so sovereign.

Competing conceptions of sovereignty

 Who/what is sovereign in Canada?
 Parliament
o Is or aught to be sovereign?
 Federal gov’t
o Powers are enumerated
 o Currency, Foreign policy, marriage, immigration
o Medical funding
 Prov gov’t
o Education, Health services, property, civil rights
 The Constitution
o Liberal mentality, sets limitation of the governments
 The Courts
 The People

Sovereignty and the World

 Sovereign are equal to each other and are not to interfere with
others’ internal matters
 What is the virtue of sovereignty?
o Should be the same everywhere
o Encourages a sense of responsiveness to the people; not
international pressures
o Organized identity with control and authority

Failed states
 Those that can no longer enforce laws, protect citizens or maintain
order
 Hobbes’ social contract theory
o People give up rights in exchange for social order
 Broken social contract=no sovereignty
 Is it ever justifiable for other states to intervene in failed states’
affairs?
Is any state truly sovereign

What is a nation?
 A group of people who have a sense of common identity and who
typically believe that they should be self-governing.
o Not every identity becomes a nation;
 Ex. Quebec, Tibet, Catalan region, Palestine, Taiwan,
Puerto Rico , They are not independent
 How is a national mythology cultivated?

Nation-State
 Sovereign state based on people living in a country who share a
sense of being member of a particular nation
 Borders of a nation and state overlap
 What challenges are faced by multinational states?
Nationalism Kyle

Belief that:
 The “nation-state” is the best form of political community
 Nation should have its own governaning state
 Loyalty to nation should trump all other allegiances
 Reasoning:
o More homogeneity in culture = easier to govern
o If state reflects nation, its easier to be yourself
o Your gov’t is just like you
o More legitimacy = less questions

Types of nationalism
 Ethnic
o Based on common ancestry, cultural traditions, language,
religion, ethnicity
o Civic: common political beliefs, laws, common experience
 Civic
o Developed through shared political experience and values
 National identity difficult to develop in countries with
deep social divisions
How do we decide what constities a nation?
Do nations have an inherent right to self-determination?
What is the most important thing the Canadian state does to facilitate
a national identity that transcends intra-state differences?
 Ex. CBC, Hosting the Olympics, CN/CP Railway

Nationalism can:
 Encourage minorities to challenge domination
 Facilitate concern for common (national) good
 Be useful in maintaining global diversity
 Incite wars, violence, oppression, assimilation, xenophobia

Citizenship
 Permanent residents are members of political community
 Citizens have both duties and rights
Is “differentiated citizenship” legitimate?
Is identity politics harmful or helpful to Canadian unity?
Power, Authority and Legitimacy Kyle

Sources of Conflict
 Interests
 Values
 Identities
 +++ IDEOLOGIES
Conflict resolution
 Politics happens when different identities, interests and values
compete for power and influence
 Crick: politics = conciliation, conversation, concensus
o Helps resolve conflict and distribute power peacefully
o What does “power” mean in politics?

 Populism
o Majoritarian and essentially anti-government or elite.
Democracy is by the people for the people. They believe that
Gov’ts can’t function without popular consent. Use of recalls,
referenda…
o Do not believe in elections. Time consuming.
o Believe that is comes down to interest and many people are
not informed enough to make a good vote.
o Practiced in the USA
o Start of democracy

What is power?
 The ability to achieve an objective by influencing the behavious or
others
 X has the power over Y if X can cause Y to do what Y would not
have otherwise done.
Manifestations of power
 Coercion
o Usually involves some type of threat
 Inducement
o If there is a positive feedback if you do something for the
other person. I.e. You get rewarded for going with their
decision. Ex. Bribery
 Persuasion
o Argument/ideas/factual information.
o Not necessarily true.
o No threat, physical consequence or reward either.
 Leadership
o Respect, conditioned to listen to the leaders
o Leaders have authority, charisma

Canada’s minority Parliament

 Minority parliament = constant power struggle among political
parties
 Parties must therefore engage in negotiation with other parties
 Difference of ideals: We’ll pass your bill if you pass ours. Or we will
put your platform on our agenda.

Sources of power
 What makes a person, group, organization or country powerful?
 Elitist vs. pluralist perspectives on power
o Elitist
 Power is concentrated in the hands of a few people
o Pluralist
 Power broken down into groups and these groups must
compete for power

Authority
 The right to exercise power
 3 types
o Charismatic
 People just follow because they trust the leader and
what he does. Personal appeal. Ex. Trudeau, Obama
o Traditional
 Hereditary. Quasi-constituional right
o Legal
 Appointed by law
Globalization Kyle

Increasing integration, interconnectedness of the world

Processes that are shrinking the world
3 types: Economic, political, cultural

Barriers are lowered, easier to communicate

- Due to internet, email,…

Economic Global.
Global economic system
Manufacturing, trade and finance
Corporations have global presence
Production, sale and distribution processes need not observe state
boundaries
Not much protectionism anymore

Whether state is still important?

Seems to be less relevant
Competitors: Multinational corp.
Role:
 Transmitters of cultural values/ideology (i.e. McDonalds in Russia…)
 Targets countries with weaker economies

 Is it a good thing?
 Efficient
 Better prices for consumers
 Wider variety of goods for purchase

 Environmentally unsustainable
 Exploitation of economically vulnerable countries
 Unequal distribution of wealth worldwide
 Strengthens large corporations
 Weakens labour force
 Snowball effect
 Hurts local, small suppliers (must compete at lower price)

Cultural Global.
I.e. Americanization
Values and products spread through internet, tv, radio…
Ease of travel and migration
Effects on individuals’ political identities?

Political Global.
Some issues/probs transcend nation/state boundaries and require
international coop.
 WTO, UN, EU, NAFTA, Kyoto
(Issues a country cannot resolve on its own)
Created powerful non-state actors (transcend state boundaries)
 Amnesty International
 Greenpeace

Is Globalization inevitable?
Do states have the option to opt out of global.?
 Pressure from citizens to deliver benefits
o People knowing what’s going on in other countries to their
people will begin to request the same benefits…
 Pressure from investors to make economies appealing
 States still have autonomy to regulate, tax and provide services
 States not equally vulnerable to global forces

E.g China
 More imports/exports
 Major creditor to USA
 Economy looks more like a free market ( more foreign investments)
 Diversity in Economy
Political Economy and the Welfare State Kyle

How do governments operationalize their values regarding the

distribution of wealth in a society?

Governments can regulate the degree of social inequality via the tax
system
 Progressive tax vs. flat tax
o Canada uses progressive tax rate – (e.g. 3 tier program)
o Flat tax = bureaucratically easier, Richer could get richer,
bigger economy
 Implications for the state’s financial capacity
 Both federal and provincial governments can tax income

Free market capitalism:

Private ownership control of business
Businesses owners/capitalists produce in search of profit
Consumers choose among products and prices
Workers supply labour for wages determined by marketplace

*A free market would not have a minimum wage

Trade Unions determine rates of pay
 Example of how workers can affect the marketplace
o When not organize, they are ineffective in affecting the
marketplace.

Implications of capitalism
 Efficiency
o Market gives people the products they want at prices they
tolerate (power of individual choice)
o Only the strongest corporations and prods. Survive market
comp.
 Ex. If a product sucks; it will not survive. Consumer will
buy elsewhere.
 Innovation
o Incentive to invent new prods, new techno, creating
needs/interest
o Rewards risk-taking (ex. No rewards for being innovative)
o BUT: Some of the world’s most sophisticated techno comes
from gov’t investment.
 Concentration of power
o Small group of business control large share of world economy
o Could compromise spirit of entrepreneurship, innovation,
competition
o Evidence that capitalist argument is flawed?
 Damange to the environment
o Increased production, distribution and consumption drains
world’s finite resources
o Trad methods have had tremendous costs for air, soil and
water quality
o Capitalism v. sustainable development

Where does government come in?

 Pollution regulations
o Ex. Force companies to be environmentally efficient, climate
change measures
 Wealth distribution via tax
 o Taxing people who make the most money i.e. progressive tax
system
 Unemployment insurance
 Minimum wage guarantees
 Safety regulations
 Laws against anti-competitive practices
 Laws to protect collective bargaining units
 Subsidies to business
o Help companies in poor economies, start up costs…
 Gov’ts can provide services that market might not; like…
o Health,
 Gov’ts fund R&D
o Product innovation
Democracy: Theory & Practice Kyle

What?
 Rule by people
o Elections
 Procedure
 Majority rule (51%)
 Other components? Principles? Criteria?

Is democracy a good thing?

 Public involvement in governance
Why is it a good thing?
 Accountability of elected officials
o MP is accountable as they are only there for a 5 yr team and
must be reelected.
o Consequences to their actions. PM can remove minister. MP is
accountable to people as we can remove them (not reelected)
o Requirement to give answer and defense (of the government)
 Legitimacy helps to facilitate support for public policy
o Validity to the outcome
o “Backing” by key officials, experts, professionals… people
directly affected.
 Democracy can build social capital, civil society
o Get people involved in politics.
o Involve people in politics=People more likely involved in
community orgs, donate to charities… more involved citizens
in the community.
 Better results?
 o Better decisions when population is consulted

Criticisms of Democratic Institutions

 Informed citizens
o If not, are they vulnerable to manipulation and
misinformation
o Does electoral vulnerability encourage irresponsible decisions?
Short term focus?
 MP looking for reelection will be making better
decisions, more popular decisions.
 Some countries provide some with longer terms in order
to focus on long term decisions i.e.Constitutional
amendments, environmental policies

o Democratic processes can be slow, inefficient.
 Canada: House, senate, 7 provinces…
 Barganing/Negotiating between prov+fed gov’ts

Democratic instutions
 How is/ought the democratic ideal be institutionalized?
1. Direct democracy
o Direct, unmediated citizen involvement
o Majority vote
o Informed, invlusive discussion, but selected membership
o Modern Day
 Municipal councils, chamber of commerce…
 2. Representative Democracy
o Electing representatives to the legislature
 Elected to judge governments decisions
o Elected officials are authorized to pass legislation, raise and
spend money
 EXCEPTION: CAD: MPs can not spend. Gov’t
responsibility only.
o Regular elections to hold politicians accountable
o Are legislatures accurate representations of their populations?
 What do reps do?
o Trustee vs. delegate model
Trustee: We elect that person because we trust them to
make decisions on our behalf. Motivation: experience,
knowledge, intelligence, conscious, religion…values.
 Delegate: Voice of the consistuency. No personal
discretion.
 Party: Represents what the party wants you to do.

o What are they representing?
 CAD: Act as members of their party.
 What characteristics need/warrant representation?
o Population/Geography
Trying to represent Rural vs. Urban
Protect linguistic diversity to avoid interfering with
provincial borders.
 “Communities of interest” – respect the community
because it wouldn’t make political or cultural sense…
o Are women well represented?
  ex. ’84 – 27 seats, ’08 – 69 seats
 Today, # of women who run = about the same as the
number of women in parliament.
Gatekeeper: Parties which act as filters
 Ex. Let a women run in a riding where they didn’t
believe they would win. That way they maintained the
illusion that they were ok with the feminisms
Forms of democracy 10/04/2010
Liberal Democracy (theoretical)
 Stressing Individual freedom and equality
o Constitutions, Freedoms and rights, Free and fair elections,
No corruption/manipulation
o Fairness, transparency, Freedom, Equality
 Compatible concepts?
 Electoral democracy
 Rights protection/rule of law
 Civil society (discussion, organization, action; not controlled by
state)
o Vibrant area of competition of ideas
o Liberal democracy only exists when there’s a free exchange of
ideas, freedom of expression
 Political competition
o We should have a choice of a number of ideas, parties…
o Accountable and responsive state

 What sort of policies would a liberal democrat support?

o Constitution: Freedom of expression, religion, association,
from the state