CHAPTER 13 POLITICS AND THE ECONOMY

1. CHAPTER 13POLITICS AND THE ECONOMY

2. Political institutions are sets of norms and statuses that specialize in the exercise of power and authority.

3. Power is the “Ability to get others to act as one wishes in spite of their resistance” (Brinkerhoff, 6th edition, p. 344).

4. “Authority is power supported by norms and values that legitimate its use” (Brinkerhoff, p. 301).

5. Weber’s Three Types of Authority: • Traditional • Charismatic • Rational-legal

6. “Traditional authority is a right to make decisions for others that is based on the sanctity of time-honored routines” (Brinkerhoff, p. 302).

7. “Charismatic authority is a right to make decisions that is based on perceived extraordinary personal characteristics” (Brinkerhoff, p. 302).

8. “Rational-legal authority is a right to make decisions that is based on rationally established rules” (Brinkerhoff, p. 302).

9. The state, or nation-state, “is the social structure that successfully claims a monopoly on the legitimate use of coercion and physical force within a territory” (Brinkerhoff, p. 303).

10. Two Characteristics of Nation-States 1. Broader jurisdiction for decision making 2. Control over the use of coercion

11. A political party is an association specifically organized to win elections and secure power over the personnel and policies of the state.

12. Parties that seek legitimate power and accept the rule of other legitimate parties form a loyal opposition.

13. Revolutionary political parties do not view the state as legitimate and do not seek authority through legitimate procedures.

14. Democracy, rule by a nation’s citizens, must meet three conditions: 1. The political culture legitimizes the democratic system and its institutions. 2. One set of political leaders holds office. 3. One or more sets of leaders do not hold office but act as a loyal opposition.

15. The stability of Democracies rests with four structural features (Lipset): 1. economic development 2. urbanization 3. literacy 4. a culture that values equality and tolerates dissent.

16. The power elite model of democracy suggests that leaders in three areas hold most of society’s power (Mills): • government • economy • military

17. ECONOMY

18. Economic institutions “are social structures concerned with the production and distribution of goods and services” (Brinkerhoff, p. 313).

19. Economic Evolution

20. “Capitalism is an economic system in which most wealth (land, capital, and labor) is private property, to be used by its owners to maximize their own gain” (Brinkerhoff, p. 313).

21. Four Characteristics of Capitalism: (1) private ownership of the means of production (2) profit as incentive (3) free competition for markets to sell goods, acquire cheap materials, and utilize cheap labor (4) restless expansion and investment to accumulate capital

22. When one firm occupies a commanding position in an industry it has a monopoly.

23. “Socialism is an economic system in which productive tools (land, labor, and capital) are owned and managed by the workers and used for the collective good” (Brinkerhoff, p. 313).

24. Characteristics of Socialism • Means of production owned by group (state) • equitable distribution as incentive • managed markets

25. “Political economy refers to the interaction of political and economic forms within a nation” (Brinkerhoff, p. 314). • Communism = Socialism + Dictatorship • Democratic Socialism • Welfare Capitalism

26. Political Economy Right Wing Conservative Republican Capitalist Left Wing Liberal Democrat Socialist Moderate Government plays minimal role in economy. Government plays strong role in economy.