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Contents - Lessons & Practice

Social Sciences

Introduction to Political Science

OpenStax book

OpenStax

Introduction to Political Science

16 lessons

One lesson for each chapter of Introduction to Political Science, in the book’s order. The lesson teaches what that chapter says you need to know, then checks it.

  1. 1What Is Politics and What Is Political Science?Public policy—all the actions that governments take that are designed to influence individual, group, institutional, or national behavior—is one of the main products of politics.
  2. 2Political Behavior Is Human BehaviorRawls’s theory of social justice is based on the concept of the choices rational beings would make behind the “veil of ignorance.” Non-Western thinkers, feminist scholars, and Black philosopher/activists have developed…
  3. 3Political IdeologyRousseau added to the social contract tradition the idea of government based on the general will
  4. 4Civil LibertiesCommunity responsibilities are an individual’s duties or obligations to the community—those things that are expected of individuals if they wish to remain members of that community
  5. 5Political Participation and Public OpinionPolitical participation is defined as action that expresses an individual’s political will, and self-government is when the people of a given country are the ones who grant the power to govern that country, through…
  6. 6The Fundamentals of Group Political ActivityPolitical socialization is the process by which individuals develop their political personalities from their youth through their adult years.
  7. 7Civil RightsWhenever a basic right is denied to a group based on a shared characteristic, a civil rights issue exists
  8. 8Interest Groups, Political Parties, and ElectionsNoneconomic groups include public interest groups, single-issue groups, civil rights groups, and ideological groups.
  9. 9LegislaturesLegislatures do a lot of different things, but their primary jobs are to make laws, represent constituents, and oversee other parts of government.
  10. 10Executives, Cabinets, and BureaucraciesIn parliamentary and semi-presidential regimes, the head of government and head of state are separate individuals, and the legislature selects the head of government.
  11. 11Courts and LawThe judicial system or judiciary is the court system for a particular area.
  12. 12The MediaAnother common way of defining the media’s role is to say that it acts as the fourth estate, or the unofficial fourth branch of government that checks the others.
  13. 13Governing RegimesA government can be defined as a set of organizations, with their associated rules and procedures, that has the authority to exercise the widest scope of power—the ability to impose its will on others to secure desired…
  14. 14International RelationsIn international relations, sovereignty is the ability of a state to chart its own path through the international system.
  15. 15International Law and International OrganizationsThe need to cooperate to address common problems and attain collective goods has led to the development of a robust if imperfect system of global governance.
  16. 16International Political EconomyInternational political economy examines the ways in which political factors shape public policies and define who the winners and losers of these policies are.