1. UBC POLI 101 Canadian Politics
What is Politics? What is Political Science?

2. What is Politics? Why Study it?
What would happen if all governments in Canada just got up and quit, and all citizens believed the Constitution had no more authority?
Politics, Government, and Law are amazing:
Millions of people, huge distances; differences of values, religions, experiences, economic situations
Making decisions collectively that bind each other to laws
Fundamentally, law reduces uncertainty: about economic transactions, security, and now for health, income, etc.
The power to make these decisions and enforce them is immense
So… Who gets that power?
By force, or by agreement (law)
Holding and turning over that power without violence is a considerable accomplishment in such large, diverse societies
Doing it democratically means all citizens decide, and the most preferred group (party) takes power

3. What does ‘Politics’ cover?
Simply put: Everything
Governments regulate food, water, transportation, environment, economy, marriage/divorce/child custody, education, communication…
And they enforce all this by a monopoly on the legitimate use of force
Around 40% of the economy
“Politics is about who gets what, when, and how” (Laswell)
Politics is conflict (peaceful or violent) over the leadership, structure, and policies of government
Or, in some places, over the most powerful force (military)
But… Not quite everything
We have a liberal democracy, which implies that there is a private sphere which politics (the State) can’t intrude on
But what is private? Educating one’s children? Abortion? Marriage? Economic Dealings?
The limits of politics are themselves political questions!

4. What is Government?
Government is the term used to describe the institutions and procedures through which a territory and its people are ruled. We’ll study Canadian government.
Different forms of government are defined by who governs, and how much government control is permitted.
Forms of government defined by “who governs” include autocracy/monarchy (rule of all by one), oligarchy (rule of the few or elite), and democracy (rule of all by all).
Forms of government defined by the degree of government control include constitutional, authoritarian, and totalitarian governments.
Canada has a liberal-democratic constitutional monarchy
How do we understand government and politics?
A: We use social scientific techniques

5. Social Science
Social science is an attempt to understand human behaviour, and describe regularities in that behaviour, so that behaviour can be predicted. And all of that behaviour takes place in society - interpersonally.
economics, political science, sociology, parts of psychology, human anthropology
Standards and goals differ from those of the natural sciences and of the humanities

6. Social Scientific Terms & Concepts
Theory is the key element of the social scientific enterprise: “a theory is a statement linking specific instances to broader principles.” A story without proper names.
Empirical statements – address the way things are; descriptive. These are necessary before theory.
Normative statements – address the way things should be, judgmental. (relating to “norms” or expectations)
Theories provide explanation and prediction
But they need to be tested with….
Falsifiabile statements – those that can be disproved. Can’t automatically be true – are not tautologies. (Note that some things might be falsifiable but we don’t have the tools to test them, for some reason or another.)
Causation versus correlation – does something make something else happen, or are they just linked/coincidental/both caused ? E.g. Canadian and Australian dollars fall together  correlation.

7. Political Science
Political science: study of the political world, its institutions and behavior, in a systematic way
description, explanation, analysis, sometimes prediction. Particular emphasis on the state and individual interaction with the state.
Political science is also analysis and argument about the values, principles, and identities that form the basis for much of political behaviour and the policies of governments (e.g. national identity & unity)
At this point, Political Science doesn’t have overarching theories that have great success at prediction, as in the natural sciences. But understanding of behaviour and institutions has grown.

8. Canadian Political Science
Like other ‘domestic’ political science
Practice of political science to understand, explain, and predict how Canadian politics and government work.
Preoccupation with unity: Quebec and national identity, regional grievances, political parties as ‘brokers’ keeping the country together, the Charter of Rights as a unifying symbol, multiculturalism, etc.
But also study of citizen behaviour, party organization, elections, media, policy formation, policy effectiveness, political economy, foreign policy, equality and inequality, etc.

9. Approaches to Political Science – Non-Critical
Pluralist – Approaches to Political Science
groups compete for access (often through parties)
public involvement through interest groups
non-participation is voluntary, indicates satisfaction
elites protect democracy because they understand it
power is dispersed
policy is a result of compromise or ‘brokerage’
Rational Choice –
foundation is self-interest
politicians simply compete for power
they maximize votes by appealing to the ‘median voter’
result is policy that satisfies the median voter

10. Approaches to Political Science –Critical
Class Analysis –
Often called Marxian political economy (after Marx!)
The ‘State’ and ‘Capital(ism)’ are co-dependent
Welfare, public health care, etc, are ways to keep the “working masses” quiescent (also called ‘legitimation’)
Now, transnational corporations dictate a “race to the bottom” – governments forced to intervene less in the market
State-Centred Approach –
Other three see the State responding to society
State-Centred analysis sees the state as a big, autonomous, self-aggrandizing ‘actor’
Little democratic input; politicians and bureaucrats do what they like
Authorities manipulate information for power

11. Big Questions for Political Science
Which political institutions best contribute to happiness, prosperity, equality, individual development, community cohesion?
Can political equality coexist with economic inequality? Is equal citizenship possible?
Does democracy work better if citizens are informed, participate in politics, and debate collective decisions in a rational, critical way?
Is the structure of the state inevitably hierarchical? Do states constantly expand to snuff out freedom?
How much cultural diversity is optimal in a political community? How much is enough to break up the community?