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How does the social environment in which people are embedded impact their political behavior and attitudes? This dissertation provides substantive and methodological advances in answering this key question in political science research. Chapter 1 analyzes a get-out-the-vote field experiment involving more than 61 million individuals. The results show that the messages influenced political self-expression, information seeking, and real world voting behavior of millions of people. The effect of social information versus non-social information differed by characteristics of the treated individual such as age, education, relationship status, and the number of social contacts the individual has. These results suggest that while social information increases participation for overall, it is especially effective for subsets of the population. Chapter 2 analyzes the effect of one individual's turnout on that of her social contacts. Results indicate that when a friend votes an individual is about 7% more likely to vote. Chapter 3 develops a statistical model to estimate the ideology of politicians and their supporters using Facebook data about which users publicly support which political figures by 'liking' them on the site. Then, using this measure, I study the topography of ideology across a social network of more than 6 million people, and show that those individuals who are embedded in diverse ideological networks are less likely to turnout to vote than those in homogeneous social networks

This article reports on the evaluation of political science research internships & considers their costs & benefits for a political science education. Students indicated high levels of appreciation of the inaugural Political Science Research Internship Unit at the U of Western Australia in terms of its contribution to their personal development & work experience. A substantial number of interns gained insights into the policy process through this form of experiential learning. Many came to appreciate the contingency & the normative dimensions of knowledge in the policy process. Whereas about half of the students found the transition from the seminar room to the policy world difficult, the other half were more successful in applying their theoretical knowledge to practical experiences. The article also indicates how this evaluation informs future course design. 10 References. Adapted from the source document.

Essays concerned with the current debate on how the field of politics ought to be restructured.

The voice of a renowned professor of philosophy in Poland, who is also a Roman Catholic priest, is introduced to the United States in this collection of his provocative essays on the interplay of science and religion. Michael Heller progressively outlines systematic steps that might lead to a peaceful coexistence of these traditionally separate fields of study. Some essays have their roots in the author's work in physics and cosmology, while others present his theories on the language of God, creation, and transcendence, inspired by his work in the applications of so-called noncommutat

Intro -- Table of Contents -- Introduction -- About This Book -- Conventions Used in This Book -- Icons Used in This Book -- Beyond the Book -- Where to Go from Here -- Part 1: Understanding Political Science -- Chapter 1: Discovering the Discipline of Political Science -- Looking at Politics and Political Science -- Studying Political Power -- Searching for Sources of Legitimacy -- Chapter 2: Shaping Research in Political Science: Looking at Major Approaches -- Starting with Traditionalism -- Switching to Behavioralism -- Moving Leftward with Post-Behavioralism -- Comparing Political Science Theories -- Looking at Historical Sociology -- Seeking Benefits: Rational Choice Theory -- Chapter 3: Dealing with Political Culture -- Analyzing Political Culture -- Sustaining Democracy: The Civic Culture -- Working on Political Socialization -- Moving from Materialist to Postmaterialist -- Part 2: Comparing Governments -- Chapter 4: Discussing Different Forms of Government -- Identifying Types of Governments -- Dividing Powers -- Chapter 5: Setting the Rules: Constitutions -- Looking at Constitution Basics -- Creating a New Country: The U.S. Constitution of 1789 -- Checking on a New Document: The Russian Constitution -- Chapter 6: Comparing Political Institutions: Systems of Government -- Comparing Democratic Political Systems -- Studying the U.S. Congress -- Looking at Great Britain -- Analyzing Executives -- Going Bureaucratic -- Settling Disputes -- Chapter 7: Elections, Political Parties, and Interest Groups -- Studying Elections -- Political Parties - Necessary for Democracy -- Interest Groups: Influencing the Government -- Part 3: Going Global: International Relations -- Chapter 8: Thinking Globally: The Study of International Relations -- Understanding the Origins of International Relations -- Getting into the Theories of International Relations.

Written by a powerful international team of theorists, this book offers a sophisticated analysis of the central political concepts in the light of recent debates in political theory. All political argument employs political concepts. They provide the building blocks needed to construct a case for or against a given political position. To address such issues as whether or not development aid is too low, income tax too high, or how to cope with poverty and the distribution of wealth, citizens must develop views on what individuals are entitled to, what they owe to others, and the role of individual choice and responsibility in these areas. These matters turn on an understanding of concepts such as rights, equality and liberty and the ways they relate to each other. People of different political persuasions interpret such key political concepts in different ways. This book introduces students to some of the main interpretations, pointing out their strengths and weaknesses. It covers a broad range of the main concepts employed in contemporary political and theoretical debates. Separate chapters look at liberty, rights, social justice, political obligation, nationalism, punishment, social exclusion, legitimacy, the rule of law, multiculturalism, gender, public and private, democracy, environmentalism, international justice and just war. This book is perfect for students of political theory and political ideology, and indeed anyone approaching political theory for the first time.

Over two decades ago, anthropologist Gayle Rubin began a now-classic article with a deceptively simple declaration: "The time has come to think about sex" (1984). Although Rubin was not the first thinker to place sex at the center of her work, her systematic sketch of Western sexual ideology made it possible to think about the political ramifications of sex in new and productive ways by disentangling the physical acts of sex from gender and sexuality (i.e., how we understand, interpret, and ascribe meaning to those acts). Among her many useful insights was the recognition that sex and sexuality are part of a hierarchical value system that serves as the basis for other forms of social, economic, and political power. Sex is the starting point of all human life and, consequently, sexuality subtends all other institutions from marriage to families, communities, states, and international organizations. What Foucault (1978) called biopower—the regulation of bodies, including sex—has continued to change and expand, giving rise to new forms of biopolitics—the regulation of populations and sexuality. Such regulations include moral policing and criminal sanctions, biomedical intervention, family and immigration laws, and a host of other tools that have tended to establish heterosexuality as the only normal and sanctioned sexual behavior. Regulating sex, and particularly reproduction, is an essential objective of the state because, ultimately, sex and reproduction are key to how the state regulates the fundamental element of its own composition: citizenship.

The first of a four-volume survey and explorations in political science conducted by the Indian Council of Social Science Research, this volume while referring to studies before and after the period 2003-2009 does nonetheless focus more specifically on the literature of this period by analysing four key themes - the social character of the Indian state; political economy; social policy; and law and rights.

The work of Pierre Rosanvallon has increasingly found itself at the center of debates in democratic and political theory - although only few of his numerous monographs have thus far been translated from French. This interdisciplinary volume, the first comprehensive collection on his political thought in English, seeks to lay the groundwork for the study of this eminent political thinker and historian. Following a hitherto untranslated opening essay by Rosanvallon, the chapters - written from a variety of disciplinary perspectives including political theory, political science, philosophy, and history - cover a wide range of topics from the history of democracy to sovereignty, populism, and the function of the press in liberal democratic regimes.