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Chapter 5 — The Physical, Social and Cultural Environment of Politics Study Chapter Summary Politics does not occur in a vacuum.
Although political actors are free to make choices to fulfill their values,
they must make these choices in an environment not entirely of their own
choosing. Politics is embedded in a physical, social, and cultural environment.
The key question in this chapter is, How does the larger environment
influence politics and political science? The physical world we inhabit has a
number of characteristics that impact politics. Currently, our planet supports
approximately 6.5 billion people, and estimates of future population levels run
as high as 7.8 billion people by the year 2025. This population tidal wave will
likely put enormous strains on political systems in the future as government
seeks to assist in the fulfillment of human needs. Finite resources pose
another problem. There is only so much arable land, fossil fuel, and critical
minerals. Even the availability of renewable resources can be threatened if
those resources are mismanaged. Forests, arable land, safe drinking and
irrigation water, and breathable air can be squandered and polluted to the
point of seriously threatening health and raising additional problems for
political systems. In addition to the influence of our
physical environment, human nature significantly influences our political
values, behavior, and judgments. Many political values are rooted in human
needs. We do not have to believe that biology is destiny to recognize that
cooperation and conflict may have some relation to our human endowment.
Furthermore, self-awareness of ourselves as human beings is critical to
understanding our propensity to adopt or resist certain forms of behavior, such
as racism and sexism--behaviors that pose enormous challenges to our political
systems. In addition to the behavior of human
beings as individuals, how we form and behave in social communities is
important to understanding political behavior. Our cultural history, our
economic and religious philosophy and institutions, our racial and ethnic
origins, and our class structures all provide context for our political
behavior. Finally, modern science and technology
have significantly affected the world in which we live. They have facilitated
industrialization and urbanization. They have brought people and goods closer
together through rapid transportation and communication. And they most
certainly have increased our economic independence. Modern medicine, science,
and technology have assured population growth. Most dramatically, science and
technology have intensified war’s destructive powers. Ensuring that science and
technology be harnessed for beneficial ends has been and will continue to be an
enormous challenge for political leaders. Chapter Objectives After reading this chapter, you should understand...
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