POL 221 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Wield, Technocracy, Class Conflict
21 Apr 2016
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Society = individuals, interest & advocacy groups, political parties, etc. Political system = authorities: (i. e. various state actors like the legislative branch, executive branch particularly cabinet, the bureaucracy, etc. ) Demands (i. e. various forms of political expression like voting, lobbying, protesting, etc. ) Politics: an activity in which competing interests struggle for influence in the making of public policy and decisions. Political issue: involves the decision on the part of the state to act (or not) for a particular purpose. We recognize the activity of politics as the means by which competing interests pursue in an effort to influence the government"s decision making process in relation to the creation of public policy. Power: the key variable in resolving political issues is the ability one actor to impose its will on another . Coercion the imposition of will based on the threat repercussions in the form of punishment or actual use of force to compel compliance or obedience.
