Chapter 1: Seeking New Lands, Seeing with New Eyes

Dangers and Opportunities in a Shrinking World Events taking place around the world affect us all. –Globalization – popular term used to describe how international economic, social, cultural, and technological forces are affecting events inside individual countries. We live in a time of crisis. –A critical turning point. The world is changing significantly and quickly.

Leaders in Transition –David Cameron, United Kingdom –Dmitri Medvedev, Russia –Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran

The State: One Focus Among Many Power – the ability to get people or groups to do what they otherwise would not do. Politics – the process through which a community, state, or organization organizes and governs itself. Not exclusively about power. What is the State? –Government – the formal part of the state; particular set of institutions and people authorized by formal documents (such as a constitution) to pass laws, issue regulations, control the police, etc. –State – all individuals and institutions that make public policy and exercise power, whether they are in the government or not. –Regime – the institutions and practices that endure from government to government, such as the constitutional order in a democracy. –Nation – primarily a psychological term to describe attachment or identity rather than a geopolitical unit such as the state. Types of States Industrialized democracies Current & former Communist Regimes The Third World Strong and Weak States –Strong states – one with the capacity and political will to make and implement effective public policy. –Weak states – one without this capacity.

Comparative Politics What are the key similarities and differences among states? How can we explain those patterns? Comparative analysis

Three Templates The Political System –Systems Theory Inputs: the supports for and demands on the system (political culture, politics, and lobbying). Decision making: the leadership in action, using the structure of the state. Outputs: public policy regulating behavior, distributing resources or serving as symbols (an output might be inaction) Feedback –Reactions to policy –Results of policy –Reporting on policy and decision-making –Feedback as another input to the system The Environment –Historical forces that limit or enable state power –The assets and liabilities of society, the economy, and geography –Global forces impinging on the state

Three Templates, cont. Historical and Conceptual Factors –Imperialism –State and Nation Building –Economic Globalization and the end of the Cold War –The international political economy State, Society, and Globalization –State and society exist in an inverse relationship: for the power of one to increase, that of the other must be reduced

Five Themes –Conflict –Democratization –Capitalism –Globalization –Challenges of the Twenty-First Century

Using the book –Each country chapter follows a format –An introductory anecdote to raise questions about the peculiarities of the nation –A profile of the nation and society –A section on the stakes of politics (what is to be gained and lost) –A description of the state –A summary of public policy issues –A summary of historical background –A description and analysis of political culture –An analysis of political participation –A conclusion with some speculation about the future