POLİTİKA BİLİMİ - Deneme Sınavı - 11

Winston Churchill argued that “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.”

Women in Switzerland received their right to vote in government decision making in 1971.

Citizens determine government through indirect voting.

Citizens are cut off from the process of governing. There are usually few civil liberties and little support for social services in a hybrid democracy. Hybrid regimes can be found mostly in developing countries. These democracies combine citizen participation (frequent and direct elections) with an autocratic style of leadership (leaders decisions cannot be questioned).

The Westminster Parliamentary system established in Great Britain.

Oligarchy is a form of government by a few with a continuous base of power through privilege or through corruption.

Stratocracy is a form of government headed by military chiefs.

Plato’s resistance to the democracy practiced in Athens at the time suggests that participation by large groups of citizens could lead to the mob-rule. He supported a more oligarchic form of government, because elections were limited to higher-class society. Plato’s government would not accept that all citizens should participate in politics unless they were properly trained.

The concept of individualism became popular as the result of social movements at the end of the 18th century. Individualism was often said to be the foundation for the kind of democracy practiced in the United States.

Somewhat later, during the nineteenth century when liberal individualism became more common in political discussions, the French sociologist Emile Durkheim (1858–1917) provided explanations for how individualism (the concept of self ) could be known. His subdivisions of individualism, that is, egoism (belief about self) and rationalism (rule-based behavior) became the basis for renewed thinking about politics.

Political culture as a concept is recent. It is credited to Gabriel Almond (1956) as a unifying idea to help understand how people who work together and share common beliefs and common expectations, deal with political issues.

Any individual lacking enough employment to earn the money needed for a minimal level of satisfaction will be motivated to speak out against the government. Those individuals with enough money are less likely to participate in groups that are concerned about job availability, employment levels or pay levels.

The value of education has two dimensions. One is to increase employment potential, and as a result of more employment also to increase the tax base; the other is to support the development of self interests aligned with Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of individual needs. Citizens pursue issues of self-fulfillment based on liberal values found in 18th century claims for support of citizens.

Often claims are made against youth for its lack of participation in politics, especially compared to levels of activity from senior citizens. As a relatively large segment of the voting population in any country, lack of participation by the youth could have a major changing effect on the messages sent to government. But, we should be cautious about any criticism about apathy or indifference. Younger people have less interest in government, own less property, do not have substantial loans, and are generally unaware of benefits from participation.

More active involvement could include demonstrating through marches, boycotts, sit-ins, or other forms of disruptive protest.

In reality, while only 8% of employees in France belong to a trade union, a figure that has collapsed from a high of about 30% in the 1950s, union members are extremely reactive to government policies that threaten both wages and retirement benefits. The figure today is well below that of Britain (26%), Germany (25%) and even the United States (13%), according to OECD. In the French private sector, the rate is lower still at only 5%, compared to 14% among civil servants. France’s long tradition of street protest sometimes allows unions to secure policy concessions.

immigration control

Effects from military engagement

Global security

These concerns go under the major issue of Conflict and Poverty.

Check figure 6.14 on page 146 for a more detailed answer.

"Perhaps the best way to express this is to say that the liberal always divides the world into three: into what is intrinsically necessary (the self)..."

There are as many different political landscapes as there are countries around the world. Generally speaking though, most political systems include three main components: citizens, government, and non-governmental organizations.

Political parties in other types of democracies differ from the U.S. model. Most systems have far more parties. Table 7.1 provides a list of countries and their major political parties. In this list there are countries that have a high number of political parties such as Haiti with 54 political parties, Jordon with 40 political parties, and Brazil with 32 political parties. Of the countries listed, most countries have a modest amount of parties (between 10 and 17), such as Bahrain (15), Ireland (10), and Greece (12). There are also countries with just one political party such as China.