By carolynt on Oct 5, 2009 in Class Agendas | 0 Comments
Our Topic of the Day: Political Attitudes, Ideologies and Culture
Links to Wordles:
By carolynt on Oct 5, 2009 in Class Agendas | 0 Comments
Overview: Political attitudes and political ideology are two ways that individuals view the relationship between freedom and equality. Remember, that balancing act lies at the foundation of politics which is of course the struggle for power to make decisions for the group. The one who wins that struggle gets to define the relationship between the two!
- Political attitudes focus on the speech and methods of political change. They are specific to a given country. What’s liberal in the US is not going to be liberal in China.
- Political ideologies are more universal and can be applied/compared across countries. These ideologies are sets of values about the goals of politics–basically how should freedom and equality be balanced and what role should the state play in achieving this balance?
Directions
- There are lots of online quizzes out there that are designed to identify your political ideology. Take this one: Politiopia to see where you lie.
- Then divide up into two groups.
- Group #1: CREATE a quiz– for someone your age — that will help to identify your political attitude.
- Group #2: CREATE a quiz — for someone your age—that will help to identify your political ideology.
- I want to see evidence in your questions that you have a strong understanding of the differences between radical, liberal, conservative, and reactionary or between liberalism, social democracy, fascism, communism, and anarchy.
- To create the quiz, take a look at the visuals in O’Neil. You want the questions in your quiz to place the quiz taker on a continuum: from radical to reactionary or in one of the quadrants on the graph of political ideology. What kinds of questions would help to place your quiz taker appropriately? Give it a shot. See how you do. Email me your questions when you’re done.
By carolynt on Sep 14, 2009 in Class Agendas | 0 Comments
Before we begin. . .
Osama bin Laden released an audio tape on radical Islamic web sites on September 13. The audio message warned that President Obama will not succeed in his mission in Afghanistan. It’s interesting to compare the headlines on this event from media sources around the world.
Class Agenda Seminar Discussion
The three goals for this seminar: by the time we have completed our discussion, you will be able to:
- define democracy from a comparative perspective
- explain the connection between civic participation and democracy
- discuss the consequences of depriving citizens of opportunities to participate in government
- identify the reasons for the existence of semi authoritarian regimes
By carolynt on Sep 8, 2009 in Class Agendas | 0 Comments
Before we begin. . .
Take a look at this article on Kenya in the New York Times today. How is the current climate crisis in Kenya affecting the ability of the state to carry out its functions?
Today’s Agenda: States
Guiding Questions:
- What is a state? What is a regime? What is a government?
- Why are some states strong and other states weak?
- How do you measure the relative power of states?
- How would you rank your country in terms of legitimacy, autonomy, and capacity?
- Why do some states fail? What can we do about it?
Small Group Activity
- Take a look at this slide show “Portraits of Instability” and the 2009 index of failed states.
- Choose ONE of the nations represented and assess why that state is at the top of the failed state index using the concepts and terms in O’Neil chapter two–specifically state, regime, government, legitimacy, capacity and autonomy.
- Based on your analysis, how would you propose to strengthen the state and move it out of the critical/borderline category and toward stability?
- Organize your ideas into a brief speech. Imagine that the audience for this speech is the United Nations Security Council. Your purpose is to convince the assembled group to adopt your course of action. Be specific and keep in mind some of the considerations that might arise. For example, China is a member of the security council and receives oil from the Sudan. Any course of action that looks to bring sanctions to bear on the Sudan will not receive support from China.
- You will most likely need to do some additional research.
By carolynt on Sep 1, 2009 in Class Agendas | 0 Comments
Classifying Political Systems
There are just under 200 nations in the world. Some have been around for a very long time. Others are brand new. How do comparativists classify these countries? We’re going to take a look at this question today in class.
The Old Way of Classifying Nations
The New Way of Classifying Nations:
- Consolidated or Advanced Democracies: Free–Green
- Transitional Democracies: Partly Free–Yellow
- Authoritarian Regimes: Not Free–Blue
How do you determine where a country falls on this continuum?
Small Group Activity
- Locate your country on the Democracy Web: http://www.democracyweb.org/new-map/
- Use the resources linked on the web site to classify your assigned country. Post your assessment on your country’s page. (find links at the top of the page)
Another Approach: Different Questions\Different Results
