POLI 100 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Anthony Giddens, European Balance Of Power, Austrian Empire
22 Feb 2016
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Document Summary
Regular patterns of behaviour that give stability and predictability to social life. Informal-no clear written rules, such as the family, social class, or ethnic group. Formal codified rules, such as governments, political parties, bureaucracies, legislatures, constitutions, law courts. Institutions play a vital role in structuring political behavior. Can also serve as tools or resources. Political scientists tend to focus on formal institutions. Attempt to identify regularities that might serve as laws (for example, first-past the post electoral systems produce two party systems) System political system; arena in which institutions compete for influence. Structuration - factors that both constrain and provide resources for changes in the operation of both systems and structures. Political, economic, and social factors all provide structuration in political life and determine particular outcomes. Structuration can account for highly complex decision making. However, rarely are political decisions made by structures alone. Agency, the impact of actions taken by one or more agents, plays an important role.
