OUTLINE by Paul Nervy Copyright (c) 2006 by Paul Nervy Visit www.paulnervy.com. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww POLITICS Contents Methodology Basic concepts Types of government International politics. Related areas. Political psychology Peace and conflict studies American government History of politics. Theory and practice. People on the left and right (see other file). Political issues list (see political issues file). wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww METHOLDOLGY wwwwwwwwww Political philosophy Political philosophy is theoretical argument about the concepts used in political science. wwwwwwwwww Political science. Political science is empirical. Gather data. Political science is a social science and thus uses the methodology of the social sciences. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww BASIC CONCEPTS wwwwwwwwww Politics wwwwwwwwww Political thought Political philosophy Political science Conceptual level. Normative level. Ethics. Empirical level. Descriptive. Explanatory. wwwwwwwwww Political action - Thinking is a form of action. Political activism wwwwwwwwww Human nature. Is there a human nature or is there not a human nature? If there is a human nature, what is it like? Is human nature basically good or evil? Hobbes sees people as basically bad. Rouseau sees people as basically good. Rousseau saw primiitive man as a "noble savage". Is human nature innate or learned? Are humans determined or do humans have free will? Are humans social by nature? Are humans political by nature? wwwwwwwwww Nature What is nature? What is the original human situation? What is the situation or environment we call nature? Hobbes saw the state of nature as "nasty, brutish and short." Rousseau saw the state of nature as pleasant. Is there such a thing as an unnatural act or "against nature", that is bad because it goes against the standard way things are done? Law of the Jungle Kill or be killed. That situation is what humans are trying to rise above. The Law of the Jungle is not an adequate justification for action. wwwwwwwwww Power Sociology and power. Power as a social phenomenon. Economic power. Money is a form of power. Political power Authority Legitimacy Hegemony Power Powerlessness. Disempowerment. Empowerment. wwwwwwwwww Coercion. Force Threat of force. Peer pressure. wwwwwwwwww Levels of politics The individual The small group. Family. Tribe. The community The nation The world wwwwwwwwww The state. The individual. Individualism Communitarianism. Group. Community. Society. State. wwwwwwwwww Government wwwwwwwwww Justice. Theories of justice. Distributive justice Distribution of things. Distribution of satisfaction. Distribution of opportunities. Corrective justice Theories of punishment. Brian Barry. Theories of Justice. wwwwwwwwww Equality. wwwwwwwwww Liberty. Negative liberty. Positive liberty. Freedom from. Freedom to. wwwwwwwwww Rights. May do. Obligations Must do. Must not do. wwwwwwwwww Contract Agreement Deal Consent Constitution wwwwwwwwww Altruism versus egoism. Cooperation versus competition. wwwwwwwwww Evolutionary approaches to political thought. wwwwwwwwww Game theory approaches to political thought. Reciprocity. Tit for tat Prisoners dilemma wwwwwwwwww Critiques of politics. Class. Economic critiques. Marxism. Gender. Feminist critiques. Race. Black critiques. Latino critiques. Aisian critiques. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww INTERNATIONAL POLITICS International politics is not the same as foreign policy. Levels of politics Universe World Nation Community Interpersonal Personal World politics. Worldwide, global views of politics. Regional groups. World government - UN. Foreign Policy of specific governments Is importance based on who is powerful (money, assets, knowledge) or who has most people (ex. India or China)? History of the practice of politics Politics is not the same as ethics or justice. International government. World cooperation. United Nations - successes and failures International Humanitarian cooperation. Economic cooperation - free trade. Regional cooperation - European union. Nafta. Military cooperation - Foreign policy choices isolationism interventionism economic tactics military tactics Legacies from the past imperialism colonialism oppression and exploitation vs. civilization and industriousness Global politics or Geo-politics Cold War. Domino theory. Sphere of influence Terrorism East vs. West North vs. South hemispheres How many nations are there? What percentage are democracies? What percentage are communist? What percentage are dictatorships, totalitarian, fascist. Military dictatorships. Religious dictatorships. Specific cases Russia China India Africa South America Europe Middle East Worldwide politics. Worldwide, how many people live under unjust, oppressive, exploitive political regimes? Which countries currently have the worst behaving political regimes worldwide? What can be done about this? What are the traits of a good, just political regime? What are political powers on the subnational and supernational levels. Same question for subnational and supernational levels. Which groups are them most exploited? The poor. The uneducated. Women. Children. Which groups do most of the political exploitation? Men. International government. international cooperation international law international political economy international relations United Nations General Assembly Security Council Economic and Social Council Trusteeship Council International Court of Justice Secretariat International Labor Organization (ILO) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) World Bank International Monetary Fund (IMF) United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) World Health Organization (WHO) UNICEF World Trade Organization (WTO) Third World Debt International organizations Non-profit organizations. Multinational corporations foreign policy diplomacy intelligence wwwwwwwwww International politics Colonialism Mercantalism Raw materials are obtained from colonies at obscenely low prices. Finished goods are sold back to colonies at obscenely high prices. WWI League of Nations. Precursor to the United Nations. Treaty of Versailles. WWII Marshal Plan Cold war. NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Arms race. Nuclear weapons. Bretton Woods. 1944. Deterence. MAD. Mutually Assured Destruction. Iron curtain. Domino theory. SALT START UN 1. General Assembly 2. Security Council. 3. Economic and Social Council 4. Trusteeship Council 5. Secretariat 6. International Court of Justice UN Peacekeeping missions War Peace Isolation Political isolation Economic isolation. No foreign trade. Cultural isolation. Attempts to keep out foreigners. Homogeneous societies. Heterogeneous societies Aid Economic aid. Loans Free Military aid Sanctions Economic sanctions Military sanctions WHO Unicef WTO World Bank Diplomacy Ambassadors Destablization. Attempts Hegemony Superpowers Imperialism Empire LDC. Less developed countries NIC. Newly industrialized countries. Military industrial complex. MNC. Multi-national corporations Most favored status Least favored status Rogue nations North - South. Northern - Southern hemispheres. East - West. Eastern - Western hemisphers. First World - capitalist Second world - communist Third world - poverty Crime goes international. Crime goes digital. Examples, terrorist use of internet to commit international terrorism. Disease goes international. Examples, AIDS, SARS. Population boom in last 300 years. Technology boom in last 300 years. Environment Global level impact of humans on environment. Example, global warming, pollution, extinctions. Rio Kyoto wwwwwwwwww Foreign policy options Isolationism Isolationism is a foreign policy that means keep to yourself. Imperialism. Imperialism is the opposite of isolation. Take over everything. World domination. Total control of resources. Motivated by the fear that other countries are trying to do the same. World dictatorship. Imperialism is a bad idea. Imperialism by the British British Imperialism from 1700's to 1900's provides an interesting case study. Why did the British Empire roll back in the 1950's? People want to rule themselves. People want self rule. Without exploitation and oppression and other injustices. And people can make that happen. Imperialism by the United States. American Imperialism is unjust. Its is not possible long term. It is very tempting. The arguments for American imperialism (intervention). Spread democracy. People love our products (jazz, rock, music, movies). Global government. Global government is a good alternative to national imperialism. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Nation. Nations are seen as having geographic boundaries. By being born in a nation one usually becomes a citizen of that nation. Nationalism - a world of nation states Nationalism was not always so. The nation state is a development of the last few hundred years. Nationalism may not always be so. What breaks down national barriers? Communication. Transportation. Immigration. What would it be like if the nation state system declined in power? Today, nation states are decreasing in power in the face of two trends. Firstly, in the face of the increasing power of international organizations and multinational corporations. Secondly, in the face of the increasing power of individuals who are better informed. wwwwwwwwww Citizens A citizen if a member of a nation. Second class citizens are citizens who are not afforded the full rights of citizens. Slaves are afforded no rights. Slavery is wrong. Unfortunately slavery continues today in some countries. State. State is sometimes used to mean nation. State is sometimes used to refer to states within a nation. Citizen. World citizen. Dual citizenship. Ideology Ideology defined as the philosophy underlying a state. Explicit (publically proclaimed) or implicit (assumed, implied). What they say they do vs. what they actually do. Any individual can hold any ideology. Everyone holds some philosophy or ideology. Holds it strongly, tightly, or weakly, loosely. Simple vs. complex Just vs. unjust. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Government. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Types of government wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Democracy. Types of democracy Direct democracy Representative democracy. Elements of democracy Free press. Public education. Actual democracies. English democracy. French democracy. American democracy. Arguments that democracy is best. Arguments that democracy is inevitable. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Socialism Government regulation Government ownership of land, transportation system, communication system, etc. Utopian socialism Some thought utopian socialist communities are possible. Saint Simon Charles Fourier Robert Own Most attempts have failed. Ex. Shakers. That's different from socialism. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Communism Communism in theory. Marx. Engels. Marx criticized capitalism, an economic theory. Marx did not directly criticize democracy, a political theory. Communism in practice Russian Communism Lenin and Trotsky Stalin. Terror. Gulags. KGB. Chinese Communism Mao Tse Tung Invasion of Tibet. Cuban Communism Fidel Castro Has there been any good that came from communism? What have been the drawbacks of democracy? No religious freedom. Assigned jobs. Assigned pay. Communism - is an economic system (see philosophy of economics) Arguments that communism is best. Arguments that communism is inevitable. domino theory cold war Fall of Communism 1989 perestroika wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Anarchy. William Godwin Pierre Prodouhn. Mikhail Bakunin Peter Kropotkin. Anarchy defined as no government. Anarchy defined as no law. Anarchy defined as no rules. Anarchy defined as disorder, chaos. Anarchy defined as injustice. Is anarchy incompatible with justice? One could argue yes. Does anarchy result in the "law of the jungle"? One could argue yes. Are there any examples of societies without rules, law or without government? Even the utopian socialist communities had rules. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Authoritarianism Monarchy. Aristocracy. Fascism German fascism. Nazi's. Italian fascism. Spanish fascism. Dictatorship Military dictatorship Religious dictatorship. Economic dictatorship by corporations that hold monopolies. Totalitarianism wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Politics and related subjects wwwwwwwwww Philosophy and politics Human nature Are humans basically good or evil? Do humans have freewill or no? Are humans determined? Was Rouseau correct in positing early humans as "noble savage"? No, early humans had many of the same problems as humans today. Was Hobbes correct in describing life for early humans as "nasty, brutish and short" and subject to the "law of the jungle"? Are human relations basically cooperative, competitive or conflict? Are humans bascially altruists or egoists? Ethics and politics Politics is supposed to be ethical. wwwwwwwwww Psychology and politics wwwwwwwwww Sociology and politics Is man a social animal? To what extent? What is the nature of human society? wwwwwwwwww Technology and politics Technology gives small groups more power. Example, dirty bombs. Technology changes the way humans interact politically. New technologies can make new political systems possible. Technology can change political systems. Example, writing, printing, telephone, internet. wwwwwwwwww Biology and politics Evolutionary theory and politics. How much of political behavior can be explained by human evolution? Sociobiology shows evidence of the roots of political behavior in animals other than humans? wwwwwwwwww Law and politics Law as the way to do politics vs. politics outside the law. Jurisprudence. wwwwwwwwww Religion and politics Theocracy - religious government Religious dictatorships. Religious wars and conflicts abound. Freedom of religion. Religious tolerance. Seperation of church and state. wwwwwwwwwww Math and politics Decision theory Social choice theory. Arrow. Game theory. Tit for tat strategy. Prisoners dilemma. Nash equilibrium. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Other issues wwwwwwwwww Class and politics. Economic classes: The lower class poor. The middle class. The upper class rich. Religious classes. Example: Hindu castes. The masses. The most. The majority. The minorities. The masses of the world are lower class poor. The masses in the US are middle class. Elites Who are the elites? The physically strongest? The mentally smartest? The richest? The most powerful? Who are the experts? The academics? The scientists? The engineers? The philospohers? The administrators? The business men? The masses. The many. Minorities. The few? The elites can be few but they have most of the power. The oppressed and disempowered? For example, in the pre-civil war south the slaves outnumbered the whites but were a minority because the whites had the power. Protect minority rights. wwwwwwwwww Feminism and politics. Women are a majority in the world, at over 50%. wwwwwwwwww Race and politics. wwwwwwwwww Ethnicity and politics. Racial, ethnic and religious strife abound in this world. wwwwwwwwww Environment and politics wwwwwwwwww Crime and politics States like Columbia in the 1980's, where criminals try to vote themselves into office. States where organized crime assasinates elected officials, judges, journalists, etc. States where criminals extort politicians. States where criminals entrench themselves in business. wwwwwwwwww Diversity vs. homegeneity. Usefulness of diversity. Tolerance of diversity. wwwwwwwwww Economics and politics. Corporations and their influence on politicians. Top 500 multinational corporations. How much influence do they have on politics vs. individual people. Corporations and their accumulation of money. Top 500 multinational corporations. How much money do they make vs. individual people. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Parties Two party systems Multi-party systems How many parties is best? wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Elections Primaries and caucuses. Run-offs. Electoral College. Candidates. Platforms. Candidate's views. Party's views. Campaign Finance Reform. Political Action Committee (PAC) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Voting What will we decide by voting? Right to vote. Who has the right to vote? Voter turnout. What % of eligible voters vote? wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Polling How influential are polls? How accurate are polls? Who does the polling? What is Gallup? How many people are polled. Sample size. How can polls be done randomly? Random samples. How is polling done? By phone? On the street. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Interest groups Lobbying A lobbyist is a person paid to influence politicians. How many lobbyists are in Washington? Who do most of the lobbyists work for? Corporations. How much do lobbyists get paid? How do lobbyists influence politicians? What methods do they use? wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Policy Domestic policy. Foreign policy. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Domestic Policy Economic policy. Fiscal policy Monetary policy Spending Taxes Healthcare Education Jobs. Economy. Welfare Social Security Local government Schools Post Office Fire department Police department Military Highways Healthcare. Medicare. Food stamps. Garbage collection. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Foreign Policy Economic measures Economic sanctions. Embargoes Boycotts. Economic aid. Military measures Military aid Military sanctions Foreign Policy Strategies. Interventionism. Imperialism. Isolationism Neutrality. Other FP terms Diplomacy. Ambassador. Embassy. Treaties. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Political ills Warlords. Organized crime. Inquisition Terror. Political assassinations. Excessive secrecy. Lies and propaganda. Threats. Blackmail. Extortion. Corruption. Fraud. Bribery. On the take. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Separation of powers. Checks and balances. wwwwwwwwww Levels of politics today. World Region Nation State County Town Levels of political development. History of political development is one of larger areas and more people.. Family. Clan. Tribe. Hunter-gatherers. Village. Town. City. City-states. Feudalism. Nationalism. World level. U.N. wwwwwwwwww Bureaucracy. Organization. Administration. wwwwwwwwww Religion and politics Separation of church and state. Freedom of religion. Religious fundamentalism. wwwwwwwwww Parliament - English government. wwwwwwwwww Census. wwwwwwwwww Law enforcement. Local Police. State police. State troopers. Federal. FBI. International. CIA. NSA. wwwwwwwwww Fanatics and extremists. Fundamentalists. wwwwwwwwww Constitution. Strict interpretation. Strict construction. Broad interpretation. Loose construction. Contract Contractarianism. Social contract theories. wwwwwwwwww Property Should everything be private property? Should everything be public property? wwwwwwwwww Judicial activism. Judicial restraint. wwwwwwwwww Tolerance, pluralism and heterogeneous societies vs. Homogenous societies and intolerance. wwwwwwwwww Free markets command economy Deregulation. No laws. Regulation. Laws. privatization nationalization private property Public property. community property wwwwwwwwww Interest groups. Lobbying. wwwwwwwwww Pork. wwwwwwwwww Public opinion. wwwwwwwwww IRS. NASA. Smithsonian. wwwwwwwwww Enumerated powers. Implied powers. wwwwwwwwww Local politics County. City. Town. Village. Zoning Property taxes. Education based on tax base. wwwwwwwwww Civil rights Civil disobedience wwwwwwwwww Justice. Equality. Liberty. wwwwwwwwww Independent agencies. Independent regulatory agencies FCC FTC wwwwwwwwww Free speech. Free press. wwwwwwwwww Minority rights. Protect minority rights. wwwwwwwwww Administration OMB Civil service Post office Civil service examination Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 Administrative law. wwwwwwwwww Labor Arbitration AFL CIO ACLU wwwwwwwwww Left Right Liberal Conservatives. Status quo. Laissez faire. wwwwwwwwww Republic or Representative democracy. wwwwwwwwww Colonialism. The colonizer usually exploits the colony. Colony supplies raw materials at a low price.. Colonizer supplies finished goods at a high price. During the 18th and 19th centuries the western powers colonized the world, and by doing so got wealthy by oppressing, exploiting and keeping down the peoples of the world. The lame excuse the colonizers used for their actions was the spreading of religion. wwwwwwwwww Political ills Slavery. Second class citizens. Segregation. Denying the right to vote. Warfare. wwwwwwwwww Trouble spots. Repressive regimes. North Korea. Cuba. Chaos and corruption. Columbia. Poverty and lack of infrastructure. Africa. Religious wars: Middle East. Ireland. Balkans. Invasion of one country by another: Tibet. Civil war: Angola Ethnic strife: Sudan. wwwwwwwwww Constitutionalism The view that governments should have a constitution. Constitutional government A government that has a constitution. Constitution Written constitution. Public constitution. wwwwwwwwww Legislature. Unicameral legislature. One house. Bicameral legislature. Two houses. wwwwwwwwww Corporatism. Corporations holding power and controlling the state. wwwwwwwwww Corruption. Demagogues. Bossism. wwwwwwwwww Democratic, Egalitarian, political philosophers. John Locke Rousseau John Dewey - Karl Popper - The Open Society and its Enemies wwwwwwwwww Federalism wwwwwwwwww Rawls vs. Nozick. wwwwwwwwww civil disobedience Non-violent resistance. Revolution Violent revolution. Peaceful revolution. wwwwwwwwww Class. Economic classes. Marx critiqued economic class. Other types of classes. Peasants and elites. Rich and poor. Theory that monied elites hold the power and control the nation. wwwwwwwwww rights, human rights (can do) (individual can demand of society) duties, responsibilities, obligations (must do) (society can demand of individual) illegal (must not do) legal (can do) wwwwwwwwww rights human rights - by being born civil rights - by law rights defined as a freedom to do something rights defined as a freedom to have something. Rights defined as freedom from something. Human rights. What are human rights? See UN declaration of human rights. Duties. Legal duties. Legal obligations. Contractual obligations. wwwwwwwwww geo politics north - south geopolitics. east - west geopolitics. wwwwwwwwww one party systems two party systems multi party systems wwwwwwwwww pluralism populism elitism wwwwwwwwww public choice theory social choice theory game theory. public goods the plight of the commons. wwwwwwwwww Other terms welfare welfare state command economy realism federalism tribalism autonomy dirty hands efficiency secession toleration trust balance of power comparative politics reciprocity Liberalism Classical liberalism. Libertarianism. Welfare liberalism. Colonialism. Imperialism. Mercantalism. Slavery. These are about the exploitation and oppression of people. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY Apolitical individuals Asocial Apractical Political individuals activists Retreat. Withdrawl. Isolation. vs. Engagement. Interaction. wwwwwwwwww What actions can the individual take? Political activism Political action Write your elected representitives. Send an email to elected representitives. Start a petition. Sign a petition. Start or sign an online petition. Elections Register and vote. Get other people to register and vote. Phone banks. Media Gather information. Know what's happening. Read widely. Read and watch media produced by various nations. Get viewpoints from all sides. Read and watch independent media. Non-profit. Non-commercial. Write a letter to editor. Place and ad in newspaper. Talk to people. Ring doorbells. Donate money. Donate time. Community service. Analyze the issues. Analyze the arguments. Think. Be a critical thinker. Form a position on the issues. Develop a personal platform. Join special interest organizations. Go to a rally. Go to a protest. Go to town meetings. Campaign. Run for office. Know what bills are coming up for vote. Analyze bills. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Peace and Conflict Studies Spectrum of interaction Cooperation Friendly and mutually beneficial Competition Friendly competition - no animosity Fair competition - follows ethical rules and mutually agreed rules Unfriendly Competition - animosity. For example, trash-talking. Unfair competition - unethical Conflict War with rules (on either side), limited location or combatants. War with no rules. Total rules. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Peace Things that contribute to peace between parties Peace initiatives Communication Understanding Agreement Civility Mutual respect Trust Toleration Cooperation Sharing Interdependence - ex. economic interdependence Reasoning - logical reasoning, ethical reasoning Debate Deal making Development of notions of justice, fairness, equality, liberty, etc. Development of law - ex. tort law Other peaceful means of dispute resolution Negotiation Arbitration Economic embargoes wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Conflict Types of conflict Individual vs. individual Crimes of violence - assault, rape, murder Group vs. individual Gang assaults on individuals Government vs. citizens. Ex. dictators. Group vs. group Tribe warfare Nation vs. nation - war Types of conflict Psychological - emotions and thoughts Verbal Physical Abuse and neglect Technology of conflict Weapons - stones, knife, spear Projectiles - bow and arrow, slings, catapults Defense - shields, armor, forts Gunpowder - pistol, rifle, cannon and artillery Rockets Platforms - Horses, Tanks, Battleships, Warplanes Cold war Guerrilla war - American Revolution and Vietnam Shoot and run No uniforms Terrorism Killing civilians Rules of war Combatants only War zone only Peace truces Don't shoot international relief agencies Logistics Intelligence reconnaissance spying code breaking PsyOps militarism military rule military dictatorships disarmament arms control deterrence arms race nuclear weapons war force torture military industrial complex security war crimes Military Size in budget dollars, people, assets Political power of the military. Coup de tat. US Military Pentagon. Joint chiefs of staff. Civil war. Separatist movements Quebec. Basques. Military What percentage of the federal budget should the US spend on the military? What percentage does the US currently spend? What percentage of the GNP should the US spend on the military? What percentage does the US currently spend? How many people should the US have in its military? How many man hours? Nukes. We have them. Everyone wants them. Mandatory military service. Is bogus. The draft. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Terrorism. Don't kill non-combatants. Don't send people on suicide missions. Don't encourage suicide missions. Don't make suicide missions a policy. Example. French resistance, under Nazi rule, subject to heisnous atrocities, still resisted suicide and killing non-combatants. Objections. What about when you can't tell combatants from non-combatants. Like in Vietnam. Reply Objections What if they do it first. They did it to me so I'm doing it to them. Reply. Two wrongs don't make a right. An endless cycle of violence is wrong. Do relatives of murder victims have the right to murder? Lynchings often lynch the wrong person. Vendettas often get the wrong person. The people committing terrorist acts are usually not the ones who have experienced the loss of a relative. The people committing the terrorist acts are usually ideologically motivated. They have been told that they will get a reward in heaven. They are part of a culture that teaches and promotes terrorism. Objection What about when U.S. Has used those tactics in past. Reply Two wrongs don't make a right. Objection They have no other means. Reply People always have other means. For example, Gandhi led India to independence through non-violent protest. Objection Some other factor caused the terrorists to act that way. Reply People have free will. People are not determined. People try to blame it on guns, parents, peers, society, or rock music, or prozac, or illegal drugs, or the media, or the culture, or the bullies themselves, They should use non-violent means. Or else fight combatant vs. combatant. It will get to the point where anyone unhappy with any issue will kill anyone else. That is wrong. Its wrong. Its not justified. Its not understandable. Examples Columbine. 1920 school bombing with dyanminte in Michigan. Leopold and Loeb. Oklahoma City bombing. Birmingham church bombers. Abortion clinic bombers. Dresden Hiroshima. Kamikazees. Terror defined as violent actions against the many by the few. Date. Action, and how many killed and injured. Who did it. What was the response. World Trade Center bombing. World trade center. 9/11/2001. Two jet airliners hit world trad center, killing 3000 and injuring thousands more. Bombing of abortion clinics. McVeigh bombing. Unabomber. Palestinain sucide bombers in Israel. US Coles Bali bombings Kenya bombings Spain. 3/2004. Ten bombs on four trains kill 200 and injure 1000. Beirut. US marine barracks hit by car bomb. Russia. 9/2004. Two airlines downed, kills hundreds. School hostage situation kills hundred. Muslim Chechnyan rebels did it. Munich Olympics, 1972. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww AMERICAN GOVERNMENT wwwwwwwwww USA is a federal republic. Federalism - Multi-level. Powers split between federal government and states. Republic - representative democracy rather than direct democracy. wwwwwwwwww Declaration of Independence. Gives reasons why the colonies are breaking away from England. "No taxation without representation." wwwwwwwwww U.S. Constitution Preamble Article 1. Legislature. Section 1. Section 2. House of Representitives. Section 3. Senate. Section 4. Section 5. Section 6. Section 7. Bill to Law. Section 8. Powers granted to Congress. Section 9. Powers denied to Congress. Section 10. Powers denied to States. Article 2. Executive. Section 1. Section 2. Presidential powers. Section 3. Presidential duties. Section 4. Impeachment. Article 3. Judiciary. Section 1. Section 2. Section 3. Article 4. The States. Section 1. Section 2. Section 3. Section 4. Article 5. Article 6. Article 7. Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments) Amendment 1. Amendment 2. Amendment 3. Amendment 4. Amendment 5. Amendment 6. Amendment 7. Amendment 8. Amendment 9. Amendment 10. Other Amendments Amendment 11. Amendment 12. Amendment 13. Amendment 14. Amendment 15. Amendment 16. Amendment 17. Amendment 18. Amendment 19. Amendment 20. wwwwwwwwww Jefferson. Rural. Agrarian. States power. Hamilton. Urban. Industrial. Federal power. wwwwwwwwww Structure and function of U.S. government Branches of government Executive branch - president, vice president, cabinet, executive agencies Legislative branch - Congress made of Senate and House of Representatives Judicial branch - Supreme Court Levels of government. Federal vs. State powers Explicit and implied powers Denied powers. The debate between Jefferson and Hamilton on Federal vs. State power. Centralized vs. decentralized power. wwwwwwwwww Mechanism of the U.S. government Elections Campaign Financing (reform) Electoral college (abolishment) How Congress makes laws Presidents power to veto laws Supreme Courts power to interpret laws. Federal budget Revenues Personal taxes Corporate taxes Expenditures Social Security Military Committee system. Bills. Laws. Filibuster. Cloture. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww United States Executive Branch President Executive powers of the president. Can declare war. Can veto bills. Can appoint a cabinet. Can appoint Supreme court judges. Vice President US Cabinet: Secretary of State, Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Health Education and Welfare, Secretary of Housing and Urban development, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Education Attorney General, Executive Agencies - 75 of them. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww United States Legislative Branch Congress is bicameral (two houses), Senate and House of Representatives wwwwwwwwwwwww Senate Two senators from each state, for a total of 100 senators. Elected for terms of 6 years. US Senate Committees: two dozen wwwwwwwwwwwww House of Representatives The number of congressmen a state gets is based on population of the state. There are currently around 435 congressmen. Congressmen are elected for terms of 2 years. US House of Representatives Committees: two dozen Speaker of the House. Whip. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Judicial Branch United States Supreme court 9 Supreme Court Justices Famous Supreme Court Cases Packing the court Judicial restraint Judicial activism. Strict interpretation. Literal interpretation. U.S. Court structure. Courts by political level - federal, state, local. Courts by geographic area. Courts by subject matter. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww States States rights. State government. Governor. wwwwwwwwww Local government. County level Country government County supervisor. Municipalities. Cities. Towns Mayors. Town council. Town meetings. Judges. Villages. School boards. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww American Interest groups Lobbying wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww American Parties. Change through time. wwwwwwwwww Democratic Party. History of its platform. Teddy Roosevelt. F.D.R. New Deal. Keynesian economics. Kennedy. Civil rights movement. Carter Clinton. The centrist. Coopt the right. Current Democratic platform Pro choice Pro labor Pro health care Pro gun control Pro education Pro welfare wwwwwwwwww The Green Party Ralph Naders run for president in 2000 wwwwwwwwww Republican Party. History of its platform. Nixon. impeached. Regan. Supply side economics. Deregulation. Republican congress in mid-nineties. Current Republican platform Pro life Pro corporations Pro private schools Against public schools Against welfare Against gun control wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Views of the left wing and right wing wwwwwwwwww Views of the left wing Labor Minorities The poor Women. Pro-environment. The disempowered wwwwwwwwwww Views of the right wing The libertarian right. Want small government or no government. Want no laws. Want law of the jungle. Believe "might makes right". Critique The religious right. Fundamentalists. Creationists. Anti-abortionists Critique The monied right. The rich. The corporate right. Big business. Critique The military right. Critique The power right Want to keep their power. Want to abuse their power. Old boys networks. Bullys Critique The criminal right. Want no law to keep them from pursuing crime. Organzied crime. Critique Traditionalist right. Dogmatic. Stick in the mud. Critique The Pro War right. The Business right. Corporate. Entreprenuers. Criminals. The right has a better propaganda machine than left. Simplistic arguments appealing to base fears and desires. Appeals to greed and fear, like the in the stock market. Greed for money motivates the monied right. Fear of hell motivates the religious right. Religion is an easy sell and no taxes is an easy sell but those are wrong answers. The abortion issue. The stem cell issue. The gay marriage issue. People don't care about their paychecks, they care more about religion. Anti-intellectualism. Diebold stealing elections. Isolationists in foreign policy. Imperialists in foreign policy. Right wing agenda. Privitize social security Eliminate all forms of welfare. Deregulate as much as possible. Disempower the FDA, SEC and all other federal, state and local regulatory agencies. Privatize any public services that cannot be eliminated. Privitize schools. Privatize public television and public radio. Privitize the military. Hire mercenaries, not accountable to military law. Torture. Surveilance without warrants. Phones, email, websurfing. Increase the size and budget of the military. Strategic Defense Initiative. Star Wars. Space wars. Grab all the oil. Grab all the water. Make abortion illegal. Reverse Roe v. Wade. Eliminate the seperation of church and state. Teach creationism in school. Anti-gay. Bankrupt the US government. Destroy public schools. Privitize education. Imperialism. Intervention. Pre-emptive war. Media control, propaganda, disinformation. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww HISTORY OF POLITICS HISTORY OF THEORY OF POLITCS: (see history database) Socialism Claude Henri Saint Simon. Father of French Socialism. Roberrt Owen. Father of English Socialism. Charles Fourier. Utopian socialist. Anarchists Mikhail Bakunin. Peter Kropotkin. Pierre Proudhon. William Godwin. Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793). French revolution Voltaire and Diederot. American Revolution Jefferson, Hamilton, Franklin, Paine, Dec of Independence, Constitution. Communitarians Taylor, Charles Sandel, Michael MacIntyre, Alasdiar Walzer, Michael Marxists Lukacs Adorno. Frankfurt School. Marcuse. Frankfurt School. Recent Walzer, Michael Feinberg, Joel Raz, Joseph Chomsky, Noam. Critiques of power and the media. wwwwwwwwww HISTORY OF PRACTICE OF POLITCS Primitive egalitarianism (?) Egyptian dynasties Greek city states Roman empire Fall of rome Monarchy: Kings Feudalism Renaissance Colonialism, Imperialism, Mercantalism, Slavery. Nation States Democracy. English revolution. Magna Carta. Cromwell. Locke. Hobbes. American revolution. Jefferson. Hamilton. Madison. Franklin. French revolution. Sans coulottes. Communism. Russian (rise and fall). Engles. Marx. Lenin. Chinese. Mao. Fascism: German. Hitler. Nazi's. Italian. Mussolini. Spanish. Religious fundamentalism: Islamic Christian. Feminism and politics. Half the world is oppressed. Racism and politics. Environment and politics. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww