The Bases of Politics and the Study of Them

I.   The Nature of Politics

    A.    Conflict Resolution

        1.     struggles over desired scarcities

        2.     human acquisitiveness -- natural or learned

    B.    Enhancement of Cooperation

    C.    Government

        1.     formalized politics

        2.     development and growth

II.    Key Concepts of Politics

    A.    Power

    B.    Legitimacy

    C.    Authority

    D.    Sovereignty

III.    A "Science" of Politics?

    A.    Nature of Science

        1.     observation

        2.     data collection and organization

        3.     development of generalizations

        4.     construction of theories

        5.     construction of "laws"

        6.     achievement of predictability

    B.    Three Basic Approaches to Political Studies

        1.     traditional

            a.     normative

            b.     legalistic

            c.     formalistic

        2.     behavioral

            a.     quantification

            b.     descriptive

        3.     post-behavioral

            a.     merges fact and values

            b.     structural/functional analysis

            c.     systems analysis

IV.    Fields of Study (partial list)

    A.    Nation-State Studies

    B.    Comparative Politics

    C.    International Relations

    D.    International Organizations

    E.    Political Theory

    F.    Political Economy

    G.    Public Law

    H.    Public Administration

Text Web Site Suggestions

American Political Science Association

Yahoo Political Science Section

Adam Smith Institute

(Also see various sites on my home page)