Political Systems and Structures Political System A set of interdependent parts and boundaries A particular type of social system that is involved in making public authoritative decisions Central Elements of which are institutions of government such as courts bureaucracies executives etc Refers to the whole collection of related interacting institutions and agencies Coercive elements make people things Persuasive elements encourage people with power to do things State Weber A human community that successfully claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory Sovereignty The independent legal authority over a population in a particular territory based on the recognized right to self determination right of people to choose own form of government External sovereignty is the right to make binding agreements with other states Internal sovereignty is the right to make political decisions for one s own citizens Legitimacy A value whereby something or someone is recognized and accepted as right and proper Longer legitimate form of government stays in place the more institutionalized it becomes 3 forms traditional built on habit or custom over time heritage or divinity charismatic the force of ideas in the presence of a leader usually after a revolution embodied in one individual cult of personality weakly institutionalized tends to die with the individual difficult to turn over rule to new leader rational legal the office is legitimate even if you disagree with the leader the institutional still holds ground most democracies are this Regime Organizations of individuals who have the power to make binding decisions on behalf of a particular community Three types of regime democratic authoritarian and hybrid Frequently change Ex US is a state Democracy is the regime Obama is the govt The State of Nature The condition of mankind if no government existed Used to identify an ideal social contract what you give to the government like taxes and then get things back on which to build a political system Hobbes Wrote Leviathan 1651 after the English Civil War Says the state of nature is mercilessly inhospitable a situation of eternal conflict of all against all and a source of barbarism and continuous fear The life of man solitary poor nasty brutish and short Government needs to be a Leviathan a benevolent dictator to whom the citizens would yield all their power Needs a strong govt to control barbarian people Rousseau Wrote The Social Contract 1762 Wrote during a period where the French monarchy was strong Man is born free and yet everywhere he is in chains State of nature represents humanity before its fall from grace without the corruption that governments introduced Government as the source of power and inequality and these conditions are the root causes of human alienation and corruption The heart of the idea of the social contract may be stated simply Each of us places his person and authority under the supreme direction of the general will and the group receives each individual as an indivisible part of the whole Locke Human beings are more businesslike than war prone State s main role is to protect property and commerce and to promote economic growth Government should establish and enforce property rights and rules of economic growth Limited government Why do we have governments govt in idealized form Community and nation building Security and order Protecting rights Promoting economic efficiency and growth public goods used by anyone who wants them unlimited quantities Clean air schools cops etc Social justice Protecting the weak Problems in government Destruction of community Violations of basic rights Economic inefficiency Government for private gain rent seeking Vested interests and inertia politician wants to keep things the same stay in power Federalism Significant powers devolved to the local level by constitution not easily taken away State laws may not contradict federal laws Common in large states Unitary States Power resides with the central government Can devolve powers to the local level but may also take them away Most states in the world are unitary Primacy Defines the level of government at which a responsibility is placed US examples states marriage laws Federal defense international relations Federal government may give states primacy Devolution E g environmental protection Capacity The ability of states to wield power to carry out basic tasks such as defending territory making and enforcing rules collecting taxes and managing the economy Autonomy Ability to act free from direct public or foreign influence Usually Cartesian plane with capacity by autonomy Strong States vs Weak States Strong states are able to carry out basic tasks expected of them E g security basic goods Weak states are less able to fulfill tasks and may face rivals from organized crime groups guerilla movements or even other states Social disruption among the masses Failed states are states that are so weak that their political structures have collapses which leads to anarchy and violence Society A collection of people bound by shared institutions that define how human relations should be conducted