A Novel Approach to Politics

by Van Belle, Douglas A.

• ISBN13: 9781568028293
• ISBN10: 1568028296
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-10-30
• Publisher: Cq Pr

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xv
Introduction	p. xviii
Introducing the Ancient Debate: The Ideal versus the Real	p. 1
Your Own Private Idaho	p. 4
Fiction as a Tool for Exploring Politics	p. 6
What Is Politics?	p. 8
What Is Political Science?	p. 13
Key Terms	p. 16
Chapter Summary	p. 17
Study Questions and Exercises	p. 17
Web Sites to Explore	p. 17
Utopias, Theories, and Ideologies: Perfect Worlds and the Imperfections of Reality	p. 18
Utopias in Fiction and Politics	p. 19
The Subjectivity of Perfection	p. 19
Utopias as Social Statement	p. 21
Utopias in Practical Use	p. 23
Theorists and Theories of Politics	p. 24
The Top Seven Dead White Male Political Theorists	p. 25
Plato-Commencing the Debate	p. 26
Aristotle-The Rebellious Student	p. 27
Machiavelli-The Reality of Power	p. 29
Hobbes-The Purpose of Government	p. 30
Locke-Civil Society	p. 31
Rousseau-Why Can't We Be Friends?	p. 32
Marx-You Will Wait!	p. 33
Non-Western Political Theory	p. 34
Ideologies	p. 35
Distinguishing Ideologies from Theories	p. 36
Classifying Ideologies	p. 37
Key Terms	p. 45
Chapter Summary	p. 45
Study Questions and Exercises	p. 45
Web Sites to Explore	p. 46
Why Government? Security, Anarchy, and Some Basic Group Dynamics	p. 47
A Model for the Emergence of Cooperation: Bobsville	p. 48
Collective Action	p. 49
Security	p. 50
Power	p. 51
Anarchy	p. 54
Anarchy and Power	p. 54
An Impetus for Government	p. 56
The Context of Hierarchy	p. 58
Alliances	p. 59
Groups and Group Identities	p. 62
Group Identities	p. 62
Conflict between Groups	p. 64
Leadership Interests	p. 66
Key Terms	p. 68
Chapter Summary	p. 68
Study Questions and Exercises	p. 69
Web Sites to Explore	p. 69
Governing Society: Controlling the Behavior of Individuals	p. 70
Leadership Benefits	p. 71
The Panopticon	p. 73
Collective Action, Revolution, and the Use of Force	p. 76
Atomization	p. 76
Limits on Forceful Control	p. 82
Legitimacy and Government Control	p. 83
Got to Give the People What They Want: Elections and Public Goods	p. 84
Balancing Force and Legitimacy	p. 86
Legitimacy and Conflict within Groups	p. 87
Conflict as a Source of Legitimacy	p. 90
Key Terms	p. 91
Chapter Summary	p. 91
Study Questions and Exercises	p. 92
Web Sites to Explore	p. 92
Government's Role in the Ecomony: The Offer You Can't Refuse	p. 93
The Tragedy of the Commons	p. 96
Grazing Sheep and the Temptation to Cheat	p. 96
The Stag Hunt and Social Choice	p. 98
From Farming to Fishing	p. 100
Escaping the Tragedy of the Commons	p. 102
Karl Marx-Student of Capitalism?	p. 103
The Adolescence of Capitalism	p. 104
Competition as the Driving Force in Capitalism	p. 106
The Pool of Labor as a Common Resource	p. 111
I Thought You Said There'd Be a Revolution?	p. 113
Socialism	p. 113
The Yin and Yang of Capitalism and Socialism	p. 115
Key Terms	p. 117
Chapter Summary	p. 117
Study Questions and Exercises	p. 118
Web Sites to Explore	p. 118
Structures and Institutions: This Old House of Commons	p. 119
Structures or Institutions?	p. 121
Human Nature and Political Institutions	p. 122
The Reality of Political Institutions	p. 123
Context, Evolution, and the Unbearable Weight of History	p. 124
Failed Institutions	p. 127
Too Legit to Quit: Legitimacy, Information, and Human Nature	p. 127
SimGovernment	p. 129
Choose a Terrain	p. 129
Choose a Basic Form	p. 131
Connect Your Government	p. 134
Build Your Institutions	p. 139
Key Terms	p. 140
Chapter Summary	p. 140
Study Questions and Exercises	p. 141
Web Sites to Explore	p. 141
Institutions: Meat and Potatoes	p. 143
Hello, Mr Smith	p. 145
Idealism Wins the Day	p. 145
Sorry, Reality Just Will Not Get Out of the Way	p. 147
Comparing Parliamentary and Presidential Systems	p. 149
Si, El Presidente	p. 149
Yes, Minister	p. 150
Legislatures	p. 151
Lawmaking	p. 151
Legislators as Representatives	p. 152
Geographic Districts or Proportional Representation	p. 153
Delegate or Trustee	p. 154
Checking	p. 155
Legitimating	p. 156
Education	p. 157
Executives	p. 157
Head of State	p. 158
Head of Government	p. 159
The Bureaucracy	p. 161
Do We Really Want Bureaucracies?	p. 162
The Ideals of Bureaucratic Government	p. 163
Policymaking versus Administration	p. 165
Bureaucratic Roles	p. 166
Key Terms	p. 167
Chapter Summary	p. 167
Study Questions and Exercises	p. 168
Web Sites to Explore	p. 168
The Imperfections of Political Institutions: Bugs in the Machine	p. 169
Parliamentary versus Presidential Systems	p. 170
Gridlock	p. 171
Parliaments and Instability	p. 173
Districts and Proportions: Not So Democratic Representation	p. 175
Coalitions and Minority Governments	p. 176
District Elections	p. 179
Bureaucracy, It Goes to Eleven	p. 183
Rules and Hierarchy versus Adaptation, Responsiveness, and Democracy	p. 185
The Iron Triangle	p. 186
Agency Theory and the Responsive Bureaucracy	p. 188
The Cockroach Theory of Bureaucracy	p. 190
It May Not Be Perfect, but It Still Works	p. 192
Key Terms	p. 193
Chapter Summary	p. 193
Study Questions and Exercises	p. 193
Web Sites to Explore	p. 194
Courts and Law: Politics behind the Gavel	p. 195
Law and Politics	p. 198
Law on the Books versus Law in Action	p. 199
Symbols	p. 200
The Functions of Courts	p. 201
Dispute Resolution	p. 202
Policymaking	p. 202
Monitoring Government	p. 204
Trial and Appellate Courts	p. 206
Legal Systems	p. 207
The Civil Law System	p. 207
Common Law	p. 208
Religious Law	p. 209
Jurisprudence	p. 210
Natural Law	p. 210
Positivist Jurisprudence	p. 211
Realist Jurisprudence	p. 212
Types of Law	p. 213
Private Law versus Public Law	p. 213
Criminal Law versus Civil Law	p. 214
Federal Law versus State Law	p. 215
International Law	p. 216
Constitutional Review	p. 216
Key Terms	p. 218
Chapter Summary	p. 219
Study Questions and Exercises	p. 219
Web Sites to Explore	p. 219
Not Quite Right, but Still Good: The Democratic Ideal in Modern Politics	p. 221
Arrow's Theorem	p. 222
Democracy and the Liberal Ideal	p. 227
Direct Democracy	p. 229
Representative Democracy	p. 234
An Economic Theory of Democracy	p. 236
Winner Take All	p. 237
Winner Takes Their Share	p. 241
The Real versus the Ideal, Again	p. 245
Key Terms	p. 246
Chapter Summary	p. 246
Study Questions and Exercises	p. 247
Web Sites to Explore	p. 248
Media, Politics, and Government: Talking Heads Are Better than None	p. 249
The Whole China Charade	p. 250
Your New Brain and the Creation of Reality	p. 252
News Media and Politics	p. 254
The Business of the News	p. 256
The Political Soap Opera	p. 258
Will He Bring Balance to the Force?	p. 262
Elite Dominance of the Sources of News	p. 263
A Vast Conspiracy?	p. 264
The Mutual Exploitation Model	p. 266
Of Cockroaches and Politicians	p. 268
Protest and the Disadvantaged Voice	p. 270
Understanding the Distortions Is the Key	p. 272
Key Terms	p. 273
Chapter Summary	p. 273
Study Questions and Exercises	p. 274
Web Sites to Explore	p. 274
International Politics: Apocalypse Now and Then	p. 275
Causes of War	p. 277
Back to Anarchy	p. 278
World War I Was Unpleasant	p. 279
The Horror, the Horror	p. 279
All Quiet on the Western Front?	p. 281
Realism and War	p. 282
Opportunity	p. 284
Fear This	p. 285
Balancing and Bandwagoning	p. 287
Challenging the Realist Paradigm	p. 289
The Not So Black Box	p. 290
Why Kant Democracies Fight?	p. 291
The Shadow of the Hegemon	p. 292
It's the Economy, Stupid: World Systems Theory and Anti-Globalization Sentiment	p. 296
Dude, Think about the Fish	p. 302
Constructivism	p. 304
Roaring Mice and Vacation Hotspots	p. 305
Key Terms	p. 306
Chapter Summary	p. 306
Study Questions and Exercises	p. 306
Web Sites to Explore	p. 307
Political Culture: Sex and Agriculture, Getting Rucked Explains It All	p. 308
Political Culture	p. 309
Consequences of Culture	p. 310
If Not Culture?	p. 311
Culture as Explanation	p. 312
Applying Political Culture	p. 314
A Thousand Miles to Nowhere: Isolation and Foreign Policy	p. 315
Culture and Social Distance	p. 318
Culture as Politics	p. 319
The Sound of Black	p. 320
Cultural Ownership	p. 323
Back to the Question of "What Is Culture?"	p. 324
Key Terms	p. 326
Chapter Summary	p. 326
Study Questions and Exercises	p. 327
Web Sites to Explore	p. 327
Birth, School, Work, Death: Your Moment of Zen	p. 328
Here's Where the Story Ends	p. 329
Like the Weather	p. 330
Fiction Appendix	p. 331
A Strategic Approach to Writing for the Classroom	p. 345
Notes	p. 352
Glossary	p. 358
Index	p. 367
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