POLS-Y 205 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Ancient Greek Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Political Methodology
Document Summary
Four subfields: political theory, comparative politics, american politics, international relations. Examines how we should organize ourselves politically. Clarifies and defines fundamental concepts like freedom, justice, equality, democracy and representation. Mostly rooted in normative understandings of the world, examining how people behave and what is the best as a result. But is used to address contemporary political concerns. Politics of different countries and/or regions of the world. Most focuses on politics within a particular country or region. Often develops general rules that can help us understand politics outside of these countries. Examine diverse set of topics, seeks to explain politics. Mostly focused on contemporary politics, draws on history. Mix of theories--focused approaches and data/ empirical approaches. Some interest in foreign policy but not much. Findings from american politics used to study other countries. Transitional from pure constitutional law to political behavior/institutions in 1940s. Us focus on our politics is rare. Politics that happen outside of a single country.
