Political theory 402 final exam
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David Robinson II
December 3
rd
, 2020
Political Theory (POSC 402)
Final Exam Based on the assigned chapter, we have discussed about the rights and obligations of citizens. Accordingly, governments must protect economic and social rights. What are these
rights and discuss? Economic rights refer to the rights of citizens as they operate in the economy. There are several of these rights and the government must make sure these rights are protected. Economic rights that a country provides to its citizens are the right to work, the right to adequate wages, the
right to property, the right to rest and leisure, the right to economic and social security, and the right to fixed hours of work
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. All these rights have something to do with working and benefits from working (except for the right to property). In this next paragraph, I will highlight a few and explain them in much more detail. First and foremost, we have the right to work law which is a fundamental law that allows workers the choice on if they want to join a union in their workplace. The right-to-work law also gives employees in workplaces with unions a choice on whether they want to pay for union dues or other membership fees required for union representation
2
. Right-to-work can be simplified as 1
Ghai, K. (2014, May 17). Rights of Citizens: Civil Rights, Political Rights and Economic Rights. Retrieved December 02, 2020, from https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/essay/law-
essay/rights-of-citizens-civil-rights-political-rights-and-economic-rights/40375
2
Kenton, Will. “What Is the Right-to-Work Law?,” August 28, 2020. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/righttowork-law.asp.
“workplace freedom” or giving citizens the freedom of choice. Next, we have the right to adequate wages which is somewhat self-explanatory. A person has the right not only to work but,
also the right to be a fair amount in wages for his or her work. To satisfy this, states set minimum
wages to make sure that no matter what job you work, you get paid above a certain amount. Switching gears in a sense, we’re now going to examine the right to property. The right to
property is defined as the legal
ownership
of resources and how they
can
be used. These resources
are usually
tangible and
can
be owned by individuals, businesses, and governments. It protects every person’s right to acquire, use, and dispose of
property
freely. Lastly, we have the right to fixed hours of work. This right guarantees a person that they will not be overworked. In the United States, the workweek is 40 hours a week and typically 8 hours a day. This has been determined to be satisfactory for the average citizen and not too overwhelming. Social rights
include the
rights
to an adequate standard of living, affordable housing, food, education, and equitable health system, and
social
security
3
. All these rights are bestowed to citizens to support the less fortunate, they’re assistance for those that need it. Having a standard for living guarantees people to be able to live somewhere knowing it is secure and safe, and that they will be granted peace by living there.
3
Hunt, Paul. “Social Rights Are Human Rights: But the UK System Is Rigged.” Centre for Welfare Reform. Centre for Welfare Reform, September 2017. https://www.centreforwelfarereform.org/uploads/attachment/584/social-rights-are-human-
rights.pdf.
Do we need to keep traditions or change them? Discuss this issue and provide examples. I believe we should keep some political traditions, but also make room for new ones if we
see fit. A political tradition in the United States is the dual-party system we utilize (Democratic and Republican parties). For the most part, if you’re an elected official, you are either a Democrat or a Republican. This is a tradition that I like, and I don’t feel needs changing. Although both parties are decades old, they have done a very good job at evolving with the times
and keeping up with more modern issues. I attribute this, in part, to the electing of younger officials. Both sides have done an amazing job at getting younger crowds more involved and thus
inspiring a new generation to being more passionate about politics and on growing problems in our country. I also think that having just the two political parties is all we need. The ideologies for both of the parties cover an extremely wide spectrum. Wide enough to where almost every person in the country can look at the values of both and, at the very least, loosely align themselves with it. Tradition is something that I would say I don’t mind and at times is something that I enjoy, but I do not think that it is something that we should blindly follow. Tradition is defined as
“
an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior (such as a religious practice or a social custom)
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”, and because it’s looked at as something that “everyone else before us did” sometimes people blindly follow it. For example, the confederate flag is considered a “southern tradition”. The Confederacy, of course, was a group
of southern states that seceded from the United States (and fought the United States in the 4
“Tradition.” Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Accessed December 3, 2020. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tradition.
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Civil War), because they wanted to maintain slave labor. Many people today see the Confederate flag as a symbol of hate and racism, but to others, it’s the ultimate symbol of southern pride. Sometimes it’s best when traditions change with time. Ideologies and norms change, so traditions should as well (if need be). What is your understanding of political theory and why do we need political theory? Discuss. Political theory is the study of an array of topics, including politics, laws, justice, and rights among many other things. It also better helps us understand the way our governments interact with each other and gives us an overview of the way that our governments have been shaped over the last several decades. and helps explain why they do the things that they do.
Political theory involves the analytical study of ideas and concepts that have been fundamental in
laying the groundwork for political thought. From its inception, political theory has taken from the political thoughts and texts of the world’s greatest thinkers, such as Plato and Karl Marx, and studies the ends and outs of them. Using them to create theories that have shaped the political landscape to this day. There are many reasons why political theory is important in the world today. The first reason is it helps us better understand the concepts that have shaped our politics, including freedom, equality, individuality, democracy, and justice. The second reason why we need political theory is it is relevant to our problems and better helps us solve them. Political theory is extremely similar to numerous areas of academic subjects such as economics, sociology, history, and many other areas of study. These subjects provide theorists with theories and data which they
then use to construct political theory. Finally, the last reason why we need political theory is it
helps expand the mind for an individual to think more clearly and logically. Political theory teaches one to be more tolerant of other people’s beliefs and choices. So, studying political theory helps shape people to be better members of society. References
Ghai, K. (2014, May 17). Rights of Citizens: Civil Rights, Political Rights and Economic Rights.
Retrieved December 02, 2020, from https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/essay/law-
essay/rights-of-citizens-civil-rights-political-rights-and-economic-rights/40375
Hunt, Paul. “Social Rights Are Human Rights: But the UK System Is Rigged.” Centre for Welfare Reform. Centre for Welfare Reform, September 2017. https://www.centreforwelfarereform.org/uploads/attachment/584/social-rights-are-
human-rights.pdf
. Kenton, Will. “What Is the Right-to-Work Law?,” August 28, 2020. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/righttowork-law.asp
. “Tradition.” Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Accessed December 3, 2020. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tradition.
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