Question:
Describe about the following..
1. Political science; legitimacy
2. winner-take-all; two-party system
3. Political parties; interest groups
4. Classical liberalism; fascism
5. Environmentalism; conservatism
Answer:
This assignment aims to define and state the significance of the given pairs of terms. It will also compare and contrast the pairs of terms individually.
1. Political science; legitimacy
Definition and significance of the first term
Political science refers to the discipline of social science, which deals with the government systems, and studying the political behavior together with the investigation of political activity. It is concerned with the theory as well as practice related to politics that is generally considered as determining the distribution of resources as well as power. It provides important information as well as ideas regarding the government, state and several political institutions. It establishes balance between a state and a person. In addition, it also contributes to societal change (Dunleavy, 2014).
Definition and significance of the Second term
Legitimacy refers to an authority’s right as well as acceptance and is generally a regime or a governing law. In the absence of a political legitimacy, a government will experience collapse or legislative deadlocks. There are different forms of legitimacy such as numinous legitimacy, positive and negative legitimacy, civil legitimacy, substantive and instrumental legitimacy, output, input and throughput legitimacy (Beetham & Lord, 2014).
Compare and contrast
Political science involves the study of governance through the application of pragmatic and systematic methods of investigation (Hero, 2016). On the other hand, legitimacy is concerned with the identification of the right for governing. Legitimacy concerns the study of the character of the rights of the public. Political science is concerned with the investigation and does not generate specific measurements as well as predictions (Dunleavy, 2014). It is generally believed that political science will never lead to the development of a solitary, universal paradigm. On contrary, the act of making consent to a rule is followed by legitimacy (Beetham & Lord, 2014).
2. winner-take-all; two-party system
Definition and significance of the first term
The electoral system in which a single political group or party is allowed to elect every office within a particular given district or jurisdiction is known as winner-take-all. In winner-take-all elector system type of system the selection of a state’s electors for the Electoral College are awarded on the basis of winner-take-all. In this type of system the voters do not directly vote for electors, they vote for the presidential and vice presidential candidate team and for this the electors are pledged. The slates of electors who are pledged to the team with the maximum votes are all elected together (Hopkin & Lynch, 2016).
Definition and significance of the Second term
The party system in which the two major political parties dominates the politics present within a government. Among the two parties one party holds a majority in the legislature and is generally referred as the majority or governing party while the other party is consider as the minority or opposition party. The advantage of this system is that it support the policies that are appealed to a broader segment of population and generally more stable (Lawler et al., 2015).
Compare and contrast
Only a single winner for each possible legislative seat is allowed in the winner-takes-all voting system and this is sometimes described as plurality voting system or single winner voting system. However the two party system is a system which comprises two major political parties who dominates almost all the election at every level of government and subsequent result of it is that the majority of the elected officers are the members of any one of the two major parties (Cox, 2015).
3. Political parties; interest groups
Definition and significance of the first term
The political party is an alliance or group of like-minded people who works together so that they can win the election and thus can achieve the control over the government. The people present in a political party have same views regarding some programs and policies of the society to promote the collective good of their supporter’s interest. Always a competition prevails between the political parties to get the political power and ability to bring their policies and philosophies into effect (Lawson & Merkl, 2014).
Definition and significance of the Second term
The interest groups are the organized group of individual who shares common objectives and they attempt to influence the policy makers. Moreover the interest groups normally rally around a particular central issue like labor rights, marriage equality and gun control. Interest groups are the people who tries to influence legislation member of the government so that the administrative decision they make pass the laws that are favorable for the central agendas of these peoples. Basically the interest group persuade the government to pass the laws that are favorable to the objectives of their groups (Hrebenar & Scott, 2015).
Compare and contrast
Like the family where everyone is related and shares the common characteristics still there remains some notable differences among the members of the family. The same is also very much true with the relationship between the political party and interest groups. Though both the political party and the interest groups have very prominent roles in the formation and effectiveness of the government still they differs slightly in some ways. These ways are their purpose, the methods for accomplishing their goals and the internal politics of each group. The political party is the group of people who are organized to win the election, operate the government, and determines the public policies. Whereas the interest group is the group of the people who shares a common goal and actively influence the policy makers so that their goals can be fulfilled (Gilens & Page, 2014).
4. Classical liberalism; fascism
Definition and significance of the first term
The term Classical liberalism defines a political ideology which gives value to the freedom given to the individuals. This freedom includes the freedom of speech, religions, assembly, and markets. This term classical liberalism first came to the knowledge of the people in the eighteen century in Europe. The peoples who follow classical liberalism believes that every individual should be free to get work from the highest paying employer, the labour should get the greatest possible reward, and production would be organised in such an efficient manner that it can meet the consumers demand (Dewey & Rogers, 2012).
Definition and significance of the Second term
The term fascism focuses on three concepts anti-liberalism, anti-communism, and anti-conservation. It is basically a political system which is headed by a dictator. In this system the government controls business and the labour section and the opposition is not permitted. the word fascism is an Italian word derived from fascio which means bundle of rods. This word was first used to refer the group of political organisation in Italy. The symbolism of the fasces is strength through unity. A single stick is very easy to break but it becomes very difficult to break a bundle of stick (Diggins, 2015).
Compare and contrast
A huge difference is present between classical liberalism and fascism. The classical liberalism is based mainly on the idea that all people should be treated as individual who have rights that must be protected. It believes that people should have the ability to tolerate the one another’s differences. In contrast to this fascism follows the idea that all people should be considered the same. These people should all identify themselves with each other and the ultimate goal of them should serve their country (Stepan, 2015).
5. Environmentalism; conservatism
Definition and significance of the first term
Environmental rights or environmentalism is a term which has a board ideology, philosophy, and social movement which is concerned with the improvement and protection of the environmental health. This health of the environment incorporates the concerns of non-human elements. Environmentalism advocates the lawful improvement, restoration, and preservation of the natural environment (Dunlap & Mertig, 2014).
Definition and significance of the Second term
The term conservativism or conservatism is originally a political philosophy that favors the tradition that is the various types of cultural, religious, customs and beliefs in the presence of different external forces which tries to change. Some of the conservatives tries to preserve the things, and thus emphasizing the continuity and stability of the things (Wald & Calhoun-Brown, 2014).
Compare and contrast
Generally the conservationists promotes the process of a wise use of the policies, on the other hand the environmentalists promotes the policies of protection. For an example a conservationist approach towards a forest is like that fifty of the forest can be logged and allowed to regrow. However an environmentalist will prefer to leave the forest untouched and tries to find another way out. It is clear from this example that both the ideas can be helpful because it is required to harvest the resources sustainably to a limit of extent, still some areas are there that should be left alone as the habitat for some other couple of million species those who are living on this planet with us (Mertig, 2015).
References
Beetham, D., & Lord, C. (2014). Legitimacy and the European Union. Routledge.
Cox, G. W. (2015). Electoral Rules, Mobilization, and Turnout. Annual Review of Political Science, 18, 49-68.
Dewey, J., & Rogers, M. L. (2012). The public and its problems: An essay in political inquiry. Penn State Press.
Diggins, J. P. (2015). Mussolini and fascism: the view from America. Princeton University Press.
Dunlap, R. E., & Mertig, A. G. (2014). American environmentalism: The US environmental movement, 1970-1990. Taylor & Francis.
Dunleavy, P. (2014). Democracy, bureaucracy and public choice: Economic approaches in political science. Routledge.
Gilens, M., & Page, B. I. (2014). Testing theories of American politics: Elites, interest groups, and average citizens. Perspectives on politics, 12(03), 564-581.
Hero, R. E. (2016). American Politics and Political Science in an Era of Growing Racial Diversity and Economic Disparity. Perspectives on Politics,14(01), 7-20.
Hopkin, J., & Lynch, J. (2016). Winner-take-all politics in Europe? European inequality in comparative perspective. Politics & Society, 44(3), 335-343.
Hrebenar, R. J., & Scott, R. K. (2015). Interest group politics in America. Routledge.
Lawler, M., CSPL, A. C. C., Finn, P. J., & Adelstein, R. (2015). Partisan Fragmentation in the American Polity: Policymaking and Democratic Accountability in a Two Party System.
Lawson, K., & Merkl, P. H. (Eds.). (2014). When parties fail: emerging alternative organizations. Princeton University Press.
Mertig, A. G. (2015). 2 From Conservationists to Environmentalists: The American Environmental Movement. In Cultural Dynamics of Climate Change and the Environment in Northern America (pp. 55-76). Brill.
Stepan, A. C. (2015). The state and society: Peru in comparative perspective. Princeton University Press.
Wald, K. D., & Calhoun-Brown, A. (2014). Religion and politics in the United States. Rowman & Littlefield.
