Political Science 1020E Midterm: POLITICAL SCIENCE 1020E SEMESTER 1 NOTES (lectures/readings for first two midterms)
11 May 2018
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POLITICAL SCIENCE 1020E FULL YEAR NOTES
SEMESTER 1
LECTURE 1: Syrian Refugee Crisis
Refugee Crisis:
• What is a refugee? Hans Roslen gave a short video about stats of Syria fleers
• Refugee: Someone whos had to fee their country because of
marginalization/war/violence/etc.
• Why Discuss? It affects us indirectly by influencing our policies about refugee
status. Also, extremely topical and front-page news.
• What should we do because of our involvement in the Geneva Convention?
• There are 20 million refugees currently, half under 18. Country with largest number
of refugees is Turkey. Refugees come from a variety of countries (i.e. Afghanistan,
Yemen, etc.)
• So topical recently because of Alan Kurdi, a young Syrian who drowned in a boat
ride from Turkey to Greece and his beach photo has been in the paper
o Sister lives in Vancouver
o Conflict began in 2011, Family moved to Damascus (bombed) to Elepo and
then to Turkey (Bodroom)
• Their total journey is equivalent of here to Toronto eight(check) times
Refugee Crisis in Europe
• Europes quota plan is to take , spread out over the EU
• Some Countries are resisting
• Hundreds of thousands more to come
• Canada is resistant, Harper says no because we need to fight ISIS where they are.
• Other candidates are saying yes, therefore hurting harper in polls, probably an
election issue
Syria and Denmark
• Denmark being a placeholder for a happy developed sort of place
• Syria in civil war since 2011; 200,000 has BEEN killed
• 12 million displaced total, 8 being internal
• Denmark however is well governed, peaceful, healthy, tolerant, etc.
o Hell vs. Heaven on Earth
• Why are they so different?
o The breakdown of Iraq having an effect on its neighbour Syria
o A dictator took power in Syria (Arab Spring), destabilizing the Syrian
government.
o Politics makes the difference (His Answer)
▪ It is not intelligence, propensity to violence, or even geography that
explains the difference
▪ It is the state, the rule of law, and accountable government
• In Denmark there is functioning state, rules, consequences
therefore stability
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
• Politics has helped Denmark and absence of politics has made
it worse in Syria
▪ Politics is about collective choose we make to reduce conflict and
promote cooperation
Three Types of Questions
• Descriptive: How Things Are? What actually is the case? Who has the power to
accept refugees?
• Explanatory: Why things are this way? Observing the world and asking why this is
happening. Why does Syria have so many refugees/Europes response to the crisis
• Normative: How things should be? What would be a just and fair response to the
current refugee crisis?
Two Central Questions in Politics
• Who gets what?
o i.e. Brazil being very notorious for their divide in wealth
• Says who?
o Democracy is supposed to be the people who decides
o Recently there has been a power centralization in Canada with the PM
making more and more large decisions
Two Main Themes
• Political Ideas (Currently)
• Political Ideologies (Last 200 Years)
Six Big Ideas (First Six Weeks)
• Political Authority
o Where do these people get the power to control others
• Social Justice
o Who gets what? Fairness
• Liberty/Freedom
• Equality
• Community
o Individual rights and freedoms vs. community values
• Democracy
Second Six Weeks (Ideologies)
• How do I fit into the world?
• How does the world work?
• What should be done?
Lecture 2: Power, Politics, and Authority
What is politics?
• The Elements of Politics
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
o Social Process in which individuals in Groups face Conflict and reach
Binding Decisions which are Enforced upon those who disobey
o Inherently Social process
o On a spectrum between love and war
▪ Pure Conflict = War. War is a continuation of politics
▪ Pure Cooperation = True Love
▪ Politics = Conflict and Cooperation
• Where is Politics?
o Family, economy, state
o Happens in all these places and more
o It is international
o Found inherently in politics
• Aspects of Politics
o Collective actions
o Conflict and Cooperation
o Authoritative Decisions
▪ A legitimate reason to listen to someone not a give me your
money!
o Enforced Against the disobedient
• Examples: Elections, Demonstrations (i.e. Protests), Policy Decisions (i.e. tolls on
Don Valley Parkway, Health care policies, education policies), Law-Making (How
money should be spent through taxation)
• Politics Matters
o Involves decisions that affect you
o Laws assign rights and duties
o Decisions are enforced
• Hispaniola Discussion
o First place Christopher Columbus arrived
o None of the descendants of their Natives live today
o Comprised of Haiti and Dominican Republic
▪ They have different environmental decisions (green land vs. brown
land)
▪ 30% DR is forested, 1% Haiti is not
▪ Haiti is the poorest country outside of Africa in the world
▪ DR is seven times richer
▪ DRs economy is tourist central, (aiti are farmers
▪ DR has 74 Natural Reserves (Third of the land), Haiti has four
o Consequences of political decisions
▪ In the 19th century wealth spread was opposite. Switch was due to the
dictator they had
• Politics matter, but what is it?
o Formal Government Activity
o Dishonestly seeking personal gain
o Noble pursuit of the public good
o Who gets what, when, and how?
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
It affects us indirectly by influencing our policies about refugee status. Also, extremely topical and front-page news: what should we do because of our involvement in the geneva convention, there are 20 million refugees currently, half under 18. Country with largest number of refugees is turkey. Refugees come from a variety of countries (i. e. afghanistan, Heaven on earth: why are they so different, the breakdown of iraq having an effect on its neighbour syria, a dictator took power in syria (arab spring), destabilizing the syrian government, politics makes the difference (his answer) It is not intelligence, propensity to violence, or even geography that explains the difference. It is the state, the rule of law, and accountable government. In denmark there is functioning state, rules, consequences therefore stability: politics has helped denmark and absence of politics has made it worse in syria, politics is about collective choose we make to reduce conflict and promote cooperation.
