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Expand your political science knowledge with a book that explains concepts in a way anyone can understand!
The global political climate is dynamic, at times even volatile. To understand this evolving landscape, it's important to learn more about how countries are governed. Political Science For Dummies explores the questions that political scientists examine, such as how our leaders make decisions, who shapes political policy, and why countries go to war. The book is the perfect course supplement for students taking college-level, introductory political science courses. Political Science For Dummies is a guide that makes political science concepts easier to grasp.
Get a better understanding of political ideologies, institutions, policies, processes, and behavior
Explore topics such as class, government, diplomacy, law, strategy, and war
Learn the specialized vocabulary within the field of political science
Help prepare for a range of careers, from policy analyst to legislative assistant
Political science crosses into many other areas of study, such as sociology, economics, history, anthropology, international relations, law, statistics, and public policy. Those who want to understand the implications of changing political economies or how governing bodies work can look to Political Science For Dummies. It's the book thatcuts through the jargon as it focuses on issues that interest readers.
Auteur
Marcus A. Stadelmann, PhD, is a professor of political science and chair of the Department of Political Science and History at the University of Texas at Tyler. Along with teaching at universities in California, Utah, and Texas, Dr. Stadelmann has published and given presentations in the fields of American politics and international relations.
Texte du rabat
Understand why countries go to war Explore the world's fluid political landscape Love it or hate it, political science impacts our daily lives in so many ways. Get a step ahead by learning about the structure of various political systems, exploring the evolution of political science, understanding key terms, and finding out how international relations shape our world. Discover the differences in various authoritarian regimes, how different legislatures work, a bit about international law, and the basis of assorted political ideologies. Just don't be surprised to find yourself becoming fascinated with it all! Inside...
Contenu
Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Conventions Used in This Book 2
Icons Used in This Book 2
Beyond the Book 3
Where to Go from Here 3
Part 1: Understanding Political Science 5
Chapter 1: Discovering the Discipline of Political Science 7
Looking at Politics and Political Science 8
Going back to the history of political science 8
Being a part of the social sciences 9
Being fragmented 10
Studying Political Power 11
Exercising political power 12
Different thoughts on political power 12
Views on who holds the power 12
Checking on sources of political power 14
Searching for Sources of Legitimacy 15
Political structures 15
Results 15
History 16
Habit 16
International recognition 16
Religion 16
Nationalism 17
Chapter 2: Shaping Research in Political Science: Looking at Major Approaches 19
Starting with Traditionalism 20
Switching to Behavioralism 21
Being a behavioralist 22
Turning the social sciences into a real science 25
Moving Leftward with Post-Behavioralism 25
Agreeing with behavioralism 26
Differing from behavioralism 26
Comparing Political Science Theories 27
Creating theories 28
Grand theory 28
Medium-range theory 29
Narrow-range theory 29
Looking at Historical Sociology 29
Seeking Benefits: Rational Choice Theory 30
Chapter 3: Dealing with Political Culture 31
Analyzing Political Culture 31
The importance of political culture 32
Changing political cultures 33
Sustaining Democracy: The Civic Culture 34
Being behavioral in nature 35
Asking questions 36
Finding three political cultures 37
Needing three political cultures to sustain democracy 38
Working on Political Socialization 39
Goals of political socialization 40
Agents of political socialization 41
Moving from Materialist to Postmaterialist 44
Part 2: Comparing Governments 47
Chapter 4: Discussing Different Forms of Government 49
Identifying Types of Governments 49
Diving in to democracy 50
Testing totalitarianism 52
Answering to authoritarianism 55
Dividing Powers 56
Centering on a unitary system 56
Focusing on federalism 57
Dissecting federalism versus a unitary system 57
Checking on confederations 59
Classifying the three systems of governments 61
Chapter 5: Setting the Rules: Constitutions 63
Looking at Constitution Basics 64
Discovering the purpose of constitutions 65
Checking out constitution components 65
Creating a New Country: The U.S Constitution of 1789 66
Framing the U.S Constitution 67
Facing problems 67
Writing a constitution 68
Using checks and balances 69
Forming an electoral college 69
Getting stronger 70
Using three principles 71
Protecting citizens' rights 72
Making changes 74
Checking on a New Document: The Russian Constitution 75
Looking at similarities 75
Noting the differences 76
Structuring government 76
Guaranteeing civil rights and liberties 77
Changing the Russian Constitution 78
Chapter 6: Comparing Political Institutions: Systems of Government 79
Comparing Democratic Political Systems 80
Parliamentary democracies versus presidential democracies 80
Unicameralism versus bicameralism 82
Studying the U.S Congress 82
Looking at Great Britain 85 Analyzing Executives 86</p&...