Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Social sciences

Chapter 10: Postcolonial and Race Studies

• Postcolonialism emerged as a driving force in literary studies, helping to reshape scholarship and teaching across the humanities and social sciences.
• Postcolonial Studies considers writing from colonizing peoples, colonized peoples, and, increasingly, formerly colonized peoples.
• Scholars described colonizing nations as “metropolitan” and sometimes divided the colonies into two different kinds: settler and occupation colonies.

Occupation Colonies

• Occupation Colonies: In colonies such as India, a small proportion of the population leaves their homes to exploit the colony and then returns home. Other colonizers then replace them.

Settler Colonies

• Settler Colonies: In colonies such as Australia, colonizers

Model Code of Conduct

In addition to the laws, all political parties in the country have agreed to a model code of conduct for the election campaign. This includes:

• (i) Any place of worship shall not be used for election propaganda.
• (ii) Criticism of the opposing candidates shall be limited to their policies and programs, past record of public service, and not mention of their private personal lives.
• (iii) Government official transport like cars, vehicles, machinery, aircraft, and personnel shall not be used by government officials or ministers.
• (iv) No posters, pamphlets, notices, or slogans shall be placed on any building without the permission of the owner.
• (v) After the elections have been announced, no minister shall lay down foundation stones

Systems Approach to Public Administration

The systems approach explains the phenomenon of public administration by applying principles from general systems theory. Originally developed in biology, this theory now serves as a valuable viewpoint and analytical tool for understanding social phenomena and natural events. From this perspective, public administration is viewed as a set of interconnected elements that interact with their political system. It receives inputs, processes and transforms them under governmental guidance, ultimately translating them into public services and outcomes.

Public Administration as a Discipline

Defining Public Administration

• A discipline must possess its own body of postulates and theories to explain its object of

Government: The organs of the state, comprising the executive (president, vice presidents, ministers, and other comparable bodies). Voting rules include: 1) Majority rule—the party with the most votes forms the government; other policy options are excluded. These governments tend to be more stable. 2) Proportional representation—the government is formed according to each party's vote share, often requiring coalitions.

Parliament and Political Parties: Three ways to influence government decisions:

• As a legislative body, preparing, discussing, and approving laws.
• Controlling the executive branch's actions.
• Using parliamentary debates to shape public opinion on economic policy (note that some economic policy instruments, due to the element of

Means and Techniques of Historical Research

Scientific Theories

• Positivism: A philosophical system that supports only the experimental method and rejects any notion of a priori and all universal and absolute concepts.
• Hermeneutics: The study of the internal coherence of texts, philology, the exegesis of sacred texts, and the study of consistency of standards and principles.
• Dialectic: The way to get at the truth through discussion and conflict of opinion, trying to find contradictions in the arguments of the speaker.
• Critical Rationalism: Research that uses the method of trial and error removal and tests the hypothesis.

Methods of Knowledge

• Inductive-deductive: Reasoning that, based on individual cases, amounts to general knowledge. This method allows

Management Philosophy

• Mid-Nineteenth Century

  Management was pyramidal, with the manager as the highest authority, dictating fixed ideas and implementation methods. Employees simply executed activities.

• Late Twentieth Century

  Managers and employees collaboratively set objectives. Employees have autonomy in organization and control, driving results.

Historical Features of Management

Administration predates Christ, originating in court administration. Mid-eighteenth-century methods persisted until 40 years ago. Subsequent industrial-level investigations led to:

• Increased use of machinery
• Centralization of production activities
• New employer-employee relationships
• Separation of customer and producer

The need for evolving goal-setting methods led to the emergence...

**T8 Group: Defining Characteristics**

Identity, interdependence, interaction (structure), and common objectives.

**Other Characteristics**

• Climate
• Cohesion
• Communication
• Standards
• Values

**Structure**

Set in roles, status (derived from specific features and diffuse), and communication networks (set of rules that establish whether and how the exchange of information occurs).

**Working Groups and Group Performance**

**Factors Influencing Group Performance**

**Type of Task (Steiner)**

**Criteria**

• Divisible or unitary
• Optimizing or maximizing individual and group contributions

**Types**

• Additive: Sum of individual contributions
• Compensatory: Average of individual contributions
• Disjunctive: Product of each individual's contribution
• Joint Discretionary: The group

Social Change

Societies can evolve, progressing to more advanced stages or, conversely, decline as seen with the Roman Empire. Changes can be involutive (reversals), such as natural disasters or shifts from democracy to dictatorship. Other changes can be beneficial and progressive.

Resistance to Change

Social institutions maintain stability and resist disruptive pressures, sometimes suppressing or neutralizing these forces to prevent structural transformation.

The Law's Role

The law plays a significant role in resistance to change. Some theories posit that law obstructs social change, while others argue it's a tool for class domination, perpetuating existing social structures.

Law as Obstacle and Factor

The law isn't always an obstacle or solely...

Constitution of 1837

Key Features:

• Sovereignty: Shared between the King and the Cortes.
• Division of Powers: The Crown maintained greater powers than in the Constitution of 1812.
• Individual Rights: Recognized individual rights and freedom of the press.
• Bicameral Cortes:
  • Upper House (Senate): Composed of large landowners, half appointed by the monarch and half elected by popular vote based on a census.
  • Lower House (Congress): Composed of members elected by direct vote based on a census.

Constitution of 1845

Key Features:

• Sovereignty: Shared between the King and the Cortes.
• Division of Powers: Strengthened royal authority but with responsibility.
• Recognition of Some Rights: Limited recognition of individual rights.
• Bicameral Cortes:
  • Senate: Composed of an unlimited

The Human Basis of the State: Population, People, and Nation

B) People.

It is the human basis of the state. A first concept may be: the set of individuals who are under state jurisdiction. However, it should distinguish between three concepts: population, people, and nation.

a) Population

When using this term, it is usually done with a mathematical or statistical sense. Population means here the sum of all the individuals who compose the nation. Numeric data is useful to quantify, measure, and classify the human component of the state. From this point of view, it relates to other concepts that also have a political impact, including: census, population of fact and law, birth rate, mortality, etc.

b) People

However, the concept of "people" goes beyond...