POLS 1150 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Political Philosophy, Social Capital, Voluntary Association
9 May 2016
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Document Summary
What is politics: who gets what, when and how, natural tendency to come together and create groups, decision making by public authorities that result in laws, policies and rules, activities by government. 4 major themes: government: make and force public decisions, force a code of conduct. Settle disputes in society and organize public services such as health care. Society: exist when members share common codes of conduct. Ideas, beliefs and values: institutions and processes in society. Power and conflict: people who do well in politics and get others to do what they want. Politics: without politics man would be in a state of nature, means of organizing to preserve security of life, decides what members of society deem to be acceptable. Purpose of politics: organize people and groups, distributes wealth, benefits and public goods, allows for collective survival. Lasswell: allocation of essential public goods to members of society through decision making process.
