Political Science 1020E Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Leviathan, Collective Action, Power Law
8 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Two main themes: political ideas, political ideologies. Six big ideas: political authority, social justice, liberty, equality, community, democracy. The decline of violence, steven pinker"s thesis states this. Evidence includes that war is declining, since 1960 the amount of people that have died in wars have stably decreased. In ancient history you had a 15% chance of dying from violence. Now its 1/50th chance of dying from violence, after world war 2, the 75 years was called the long peace. Explanation: the existence of states, the spread of commerce, the spread of reason, the moral development of human beings, and empathy. Politics does involve decisions that affect you. Some meaning of politics: formal government activity, dishonesty seeking personal gain, noble pursuit of the public good, who gets what, when and how. Aspects of politics: collective action, conflict and co-operative, authoritative decisions, enforced against the disobedient.
