Political Science Final

1. Other actors in the political process. What are interest groups; what are “social movements”? (Give examples.) What role can /should the church, the army, and the media play in the political process? (Comment on this only very briefly.) What are public opinion polls (surveys)? What is “lobbying”?

interest (or “pressure” or “lobby”) groups (IGs) =

IGs =organizations acting to influence the political process / public policy in order to promote their common interest are separate from government and political parties; but sometimes work in close partnership with them; examples:

trade unions [= профсоюз]

business organizations

environmentalist groups

bankers, etc.

social movements – in Western countries esp. since 1970s – they are part of “civil society”

example in KZ: social movement (ecological, anti-nuclear) Nevada-Semey of the late 1980s

churches as IGs – ‘state churches’ in some countries play unifying “ideological” role & receive support from the state;

the army (as one of the “siloviki”) in a democratic country, the army is under the civilian control (i.e. the Minister of Defense is not a professional soldier!) and cannot act on its own…

the (mass) media the mass media are often seen as the guardians of democracy, defenders of public interest... in the West – a long tradition of the free (=no censorship) & independent media

public opinion (not an “actor” as such but important in the political process)

public opinion polls

= surveys of public opinion from a particular sample of people – what they think, i.e. about various issues

use questionnaires, interviews to inquire about people’s opinion o various issues

usually done by independent agencies; but sometimes by “pollsters” associated with political

2. Civil service /Bureaucracy. What is civil service / public administration (or “bureaucracy”)? What are its main functions? What characteristics should civil service have? Are you aware of any typical problems related to the system of public administration?

Civil service – also: state / public administration - or bureaucracy*) =

the “hands of the executive”; government employees working in many administration offices /services run by the state

& implementing government policies

they are not “politicians”, but career civil servants

Functions of the bureaucracy - summary:

- to administer and carry out the policies of the government

- to provide professional advice to the political executive by evaluating and initiating new policy proposals

- to act as the direct link between the government and the people of the state by informing the public of government policies and also by receiving input from the public, interest groups, etc.

some characteristics of “bureaucracy”:

neutrality (should be “non-partizan”)

professionalism

hierarchy but often also negative ones:

patronage

nepotism

corruption

3. Civil society and political participation. ? Explain briefly what we understand by the term civil society. What is the normal relationship between civil society and the state? What forms of political participation do you know? (Mention at least 4 of them.)

civil society [гражданское общество] = a bit controversial concept = the citizens who are - politically, socially or culturally - playing an active part in society, but who are not necessarily involved in the political and economic decision-making consists of various voluntary organizations not controlled by the state, e.g. “non-governmental organizations” (NGOs) another possible definition: an organized (self-organized) public space between official political & private spheres

What is political participation?

(= how much people participate in the political process; see in the note below)

During their life, citizens take part in the political process in various ways, for example:

Example:

Political participation in the U.K.

4. Democracy. Try to explain what democracy / democratic political system is about. How would you characterize modern democracy? Mention the main features /elements of a (good) democratic political system. Mention also at least some highlights from the history of democracy? What is a “direct democracy”?

Also, What do you know about non-democratic political systems / regimes? (Optional: How would you characterize Kazakhstan – how much democratic we can consider it?) (Optional: How democratic Kazakhstan is?)

• Democracy is system which people can choose the country's leader. Ancient Greeks considered that democracy was a system/constitution in which for classical demos (the poor part of the population) exercised power in their own interest as against the interest of the rich and aristocratic(for them it meant what we call now “direct democracy”). direct democracy includes:

1)referenda or plebiscites are elements of DD

2)when they are introduced in modern democracy, we speak of "participatory democracy”

3)in DD all citizens may vote on every important governmental decision (as in the ancient Athens)

• modern democracy is representative democracy = a system of government based on the election of decision-makers by the people. Modern democracy is representative & liberal and requires the rule of law (= constitutionalism)

• basic elements of modern democracy:

1)political competition of parties and individuals in elections

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