POL 101W Study Guide - Final Guide: Global Governance, Post-Materialism, Superpower
6 Dec 2016
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Final exam study guide: potential short answer/essay topics. Politics are activity related to influencing, making, or implementing collective decisions for a political community. Some political scientist, however, define politics as (cid:498)the subset of human behaviour that involves the use of power or influence(cid:499). The ability to achieve an objective by influencing the behaviours of others, particularly by getting them to do what they would not otherwise have done. Political power and influence can be exercised in several different ways: coercion (power) Involves using fear or threats of harmful consequences to achieve an outcome: inducements (power) Involves achieving an outcome by offering a reward or bribe: persuasion (influence) This important aspect of political life involves the use of truthful information to persuade people to think and/or act in a particular way: manipulation (power) The use of misleading information, be it a full-out lie or a distortion of fact, to lead people into acting or think in a particular way.
