Balance of terror (20TH CENTURY)

An aggressive version of balance of power. When nations possess massive destructive weaponry then they are deterred from attacking each other not by the likelihood of effective defence, but by the probability of their own destruction. Source: Roger Scruton, A Dictionary of Political Thought (London, 1983) Plot The USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain Kirk, is investigating

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Balkanization (20TH CENTURY)

A theory of the fragmentation of states, its name derived from the area of south-eastern Europe. States are broken up into smaller and more numerous units, formally autonomous but so small and so taken up with conflict amongst themselves that they present no threat to their more powerful neighbors. Nations and societies Map of

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Bargaining theory (20TH CENTURY)

A theory of politics as negotiation. Politics – particularly the internal politics of government, legislatures, and parties – is usefully seen as a series of negotiations or bargains between groups with differing but not fundamentally incompatible interests. Such a view discounts the likelihood of significant zero-sum situations, and is opposed to conflict theory. Source: Geoffrey Roberts and Alistair

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Behavioralism (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of politics, particularly prevalent in North America in the third quarter of the 20th century. Social and particularly political life are best studied in a manner analogous to that used in the natural sciences: observation, measurement, calculation. When this is done, regularities or laws of human political behavior will be discovered, which will

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Benito Mussolini

Mussolini was born in Predappio, near Forli, in Romagna, on July 29, 1883. His father, Alessandro, was a blacksmith, and his mother, Rosa, was a schoolteacher. Like his father, Benito became a fervent socialist. He qualified as an elementary schoolmaster in 1901. In 1902 he emigrated to Switzerland. Unable to find a permanent job

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Bentham’s theory of utilitarianism (19TH CENTURY- )

Originally developed by English political philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), Bentham’s theory of utilitarianism asserts that actions and institutions should be judged by their contribution to utility, which is measured by calculating the relative contribution to happiness or pleasure, as opposed to pain. The aim of government should thus be ‘the greatest happiness of the greatest number’.

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Billiard ball model (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of international relations. It is not necessary to study the internal politics of nations or governments, since their interactions on the international scene can be understood in terms of the pressures they exercise upon each other, and the responses to those pressures. An application to international politics of behavioralism. Source: Graham Evans and Jeffrey

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Black box model (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of national and international politics. The actions of parties, pressure groups and states, and the relations between them, are fruitfully studied by looking at ‘inputs’ and ‘outputs’ or pressures and actions on the one hand, and the resultant policies on the other. The internal responses and calculations – or the ideological or pragmatic

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Blanquism (19TH CENTURY)

Theory of politics ascribed to and derived from the French socialist Louis-Auguste Blanqui (1805-1881). Capitalist and reactionary regimes are to be overthrown by a revolutionary coup d’etat, carried out by an elite of dedicated revolutionaries. They will then use the power of the state to introduce a regime based on equality. Critics of Leninism often portray it as a species of Blanquism. Source:

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Bolshevism (1903- )

Theory of revolutionary action associated with the Bolshevik (Red) Party in Russia under the leadership of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870-1924). In order to move from capitalism to socialism and eventually to communism, a vanguard party is necessary to lead the working class against the capitalist state. This party will hold opinions in advance of the class which it leads, and in

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Budget-maximization theory (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of bureaucracy. Bureaucrats will seek to expand the budgets of their departments, irrespective of what their formal political commitments or personal ambitions may be. This will lead them both to expand the numbers of their staff and the volume of their funds and facilities, and to extend or develop the areas over which they

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Capital logic (20TH CENTURY)

A theory within Marxism. The form and character of political institutions are determined by those of economic ones. The ‘logic’ of capital thus shapes that of government. The theory has been criticized as mechanical and inflexible. Source: Bob Jessop, The Capitalist State (Oxford, 1982) Capital Logic is a powerful graphical and design-management environment for authoring

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Centralization

An belief in the efficiency of the concentration of powers. Organizations will run more effectively, and policies be formed and implemented more efficiently, if power is exercized centrally. This is believed to facilitate coherent action, and the most appropriate mobilization and application of resources. It is contrasted with subsidiarity. Centralisation in politics History of the

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Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu

Montesquieu was one of the great political philosophers of the Enlightenment. Insatiably curious and mordantly funny, he constructed a naturalistic account of the various forms of government, and of the causes that made them what they were and that advanced or constrained their development. He used this account to explain how governments might be

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Che Guevara (Ernesto Rafael Guevara de la Serna)

Ernesto Guevara was born in Argentina on June 14, 1928. He became an Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary and Cuban guerrilla leader. “Che” is an Argentine expression for calling someone’s attention, and in some other parts of Latin America, a slang for someone from Argentina. In 1951, Ernesto set off from his home town of Córdoba

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Chicken (20TH CENTURY)

An application of game theory. Political conflicts arise which are analogous to the game of chicken in which two contestants will, for instance, drive towards each other in motor cars. If both hold their course, both will crash. The one who saves herself, and so her opponent, is the ‘chicken’. As in other ‘games’, the

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Christian socialism (19TH CENTURY)

Religion theory of the social responsibility of the Christian Church, developed within the Anglican Church in Britain in the 19th century. Christian teaching has social and economic implications, and the Church should take a lead in both improving the conditions of the working class and providing moral and cultural leadership to allow its members

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Circulation of elites (19TH CENTURY- )

Theory of political change described by Italian social scientist Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923). Changes of regime, revolutions, and so on occur not when rulers are overthrown from below, but when one elite replaces another. The role of ordinary people in such transformation is not that of initiators or principal actors, but as followers and supporters of one

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Citizenship

Theory of the value of political participation. People are citizens when they participate to the fullest possible extent in the politics and government of their societies. Ideally all citizens are available for public office, though this is not feasible in large modern states. Citizens engage in political discussion and participation not as means to

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Civil disobedience

Theory of principled law breaking. The expression was used by the American writer Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) in his essay ‘On the Duty of Civil Disobedience’, and put into action by Mahatma (Mohandas) Gandhi (1869-1948). There is a conflict between a general obligation to obey the law in free and constitutional societies, and the

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