Politics, Power, and Purpose: An Orientation to Political Science
This textbook is intended to orient students to the study of politics and the discipline of political science. By the end of this course, students will gain comprehensive understanding of political behavior, political institutions, and normative ideas of political theory.
Book Description:Politics, Power, and Purpose: An Orientation to Political Science is an introductory textbook designed to help students understand the nature of politics and the discipline of political science. The book examines how individuals, groups, institutions, and states interact through power, conflict, cooperation, law, political ideas, and collective action. Politics-Power-and-Purpose-An-O...
The book is divided into two major parts. The first part, "What is Politics?", introduces fundamental political concepts including justice, freedom, equality, democracy, political ideologies, institutions, public law, and theories of democracy. It emphasizes that political concepts can have competing interpretations and that these interpretations influence people's political beliefs. Politics-Power-and-Purpose-An-O...
The second part, "Understanding the Discipline of Political Science," introduces the major areas of political science, including political theory, international relations, comparative politics, American politics and public policy/administration, and research methods. It also explains how political scientists use qualitative and quantitative evidence to study political behavior and institutions. Politics-Power-and-Purpose-An-O...
A central theme of the book is the relationship between politics and power. Politics is presented as a social activity in which power can be contested, shared, gained, lost, legitimized, or challenged. The book also explores the tension between conflict and cooperation, including collective-action problems and the Prisoner's Dilemma. Politics-Power-and-Purpose-An-O... Politics-Power-and-Purpose-An-O...
The book also explores major political ideologies such as classical liberalism, modern liberalism, conservatism, socialism, and different forms of feminism, examining how each approaches fundamental questions about freedom, equality, justice, individual rights, government, and society. Politics-Power-and-Purpose-An-O...
Overall, this book serves as a foundation for students beginning the study of political science, connecting abstract political ideas with institutions, political behavior, real-world conflicts, and the methods used by social scientists to explain political phenomena.
Author:Jay Steinmetz is an assistant professor of Political Science at Fort Hays State University specializing in political theory, American politics, and public law. His research lies at the intersection of law, culture, and political regulation. He is the author of Beyond Free Speech and Propaganda: The Political Development of Hollywood and Politics, Power, and Purpose: An Orientation to Political Science. He is currently working on a monograph detailing the cultural memory of Abraham Lincoln in the Progressive Era.
Dr. Steinmetz is the host of a program called Talking Democracy, produced by the Tiger Media Network in coordination with the American Democracy Project. As a policy fellow at the Docking Institute, Dr. Steinmetz is coordinator and host of the program The Kansas Legislature on Smoky Hills Public Television.
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