The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics (245 page)
Read The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics Online
Authors: Iain McLean
BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics
8.77Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
self-interest
Regard exclusively to one's own advantage. The false belief that rationality and self-interest are the same thing has bedevilled rational-choice approaches to politics. Because examples of altruism are all around us, many people have rejected rational choice out of hand. Some careless or provocative statements by leading rational-choice theorists such as Anthony Downs and Gordon Tullock have encouraged this misconception. A better approach is to say that, until evidence to the contrary is produced, it is best to assume that people are neither more nor less self-interested in politics than in the rest of social life.
self-ownership
The claim of an individual to sovereignty over his or her person, typically taken to include not only his or her body (and possibly a foetus within it—see
right to life
), but also labour, talents, and ‘moral space’. ‘Ownership’ confers a wide range of rights (and possibly duties) with respect to its object, so the claim to self-ownership is typically a claim to be allowed to dispose of or control one's person as one sees fit. Although the idea has plausibility when contrasted with slavery, an institution which allows one person to be owned by another, and although ‘self-ownership’ or ‘self-propriety’ have historically been used to assert freedoms, the identification of the subject and object of the ownership relation has led to the criticism that it is incoherent.
AR
right to life
), but also labour, talents, and ‘moral space’. ‘Ownership’ confers a wide range of rights (and possibly duties) with respect to its object, so the claim to self-ownership is typically a claim to be allowed to dispose of or control one's person as one sees fit. Although the idea has plausibility when contrasted with slavery, an institution which allows one person to be owned by another, and although ‘self-ownership’ or ‘self-propriety’ have historically been used to assert freedoms, the identification of the subject and object of the ownership relation has led to the criticism that it is incoherent.
AR
self-regarding action
An action that affects no one other than the agent. Some authorities locate this categorization of action in
Kant's
treatment of the ordinary moral consciousness, others in Bentham's account of the relationship between pains, pleasures, and motives. But whether this is so or not, the most extended classical treatment is undoubtedly in J. S.
Mill's
On Liberty (1859). Here Mill distinguishes a province of virtue from a province of duty. An action in the former province is self-regarding and subject only to personal persuasion and inducement. Such an action becomes other-regarding and open to public sanction if, and only if, it either harms an interest, violates a right, or neglects a duty owed to another person or persons. Hence a soldier or policeman merely drunk is self-regarding, a soldier or policeman drunk on duty is other-regarding. This kind of categorization is often regarded as one essential foundation of the liberty principle.
JH
Kant's
treatment of the ordinary moral consciousness, others in Bentham's account of the relationship between pains, pleasures, and motives. But whether this is so or not, the most extended classical treatment is undoubtedly in J. S.
Mill's
On Liberty (1859). Here Mill distinguishes a province of virtue from a province of duty. An action in the former province is self-regarding and subject only to personal persuasion and inducement. Such an action becomes other-regarding and open to public sanction if, and only if, it either harms an interest, violates a right, or neglects a duty owed to another person or persons. Hence a soldier or policeman merely drunk is self-regarding, a soldier or policeman drunk on duty is other-regarding. This kind of categorization is often regarded as one essential foundation of the liberty principle.
JH
senate
Literally, ‘council of old men’. The legislature in ancient Rome. Now, the upper house of the legislature in a number of countries, including the United States. The minimum age for a US Senator is 30 and for a member of the House of Representatives 25. The framers of the US Constitution intended the Senate to be a more conservative body than the House; not just because its members would be older on average, but because as originally arranged they were elected indirectly—by state legislatures, not by the people. Direct election of Senators was introduced by the Seventeenth Amendment (1913). See also
Congress
(US).
Congress
(US).
seniority
A convention, or unwritten rule, widely used in legislatures, especially in the United states, whereby status and other resources are allocated in proportion to length of service.
In the past seniority has been an organizing principle of great importance in both houses of the US
Congress
. Seniority determined the size and situation of members' office space, the quality of their committee assignments, their speaking opportunities in those committees and, above all, their chances of becoming a committee leader. In the early twentieth century, seniority was itself seen as a reform to modify the arbitrary power of the Speaker of the House. In the last two decades, the significance of seniority has diminished considerably but has by no means been eliminated.
It is in the House of Representatives where the changes in seniority have assumed greatest significance and as the Democrats controlled that chamber continuously from 1955 to 1994, it is the initiatives emanating from that party that are particularly worthy of attention. In the pre-reform Congress the chairmanship of standing committees went automatically to that member of the majority party with the longest continuous service on that committee. The rationale for such arrangements was twofold. First, it avoided the intrigue, the conflict, and the damage to personal relations that would otherwise result. Second, specialist committees are much dependent for their strength on expertise. In a seniority system the most senior members will normally have become experts and the career ambitions of others will encourage them to remain on committees where they will acquire the specialist knowledge and understanding needed for effective committee work.
Reformers, on the other hand, objected that seniority favoured members from one-party areas of the country, most notably the Democratic South, who were well placed to achieve the repeated re-election necessary to move up the seniority ladder. As a consequence, committee chairmanships in the House became the preserve of conservative Southern Democrats, unrepresentative of the nation as a whole. It was also argued that seniority allowed positions of great power to be bestowed on intellectually mediocre and sometimes tyrannically inclined legislators. Seniority, moreover, was destructive of party, allowing members hostile to the wishes of the majority of the congressional party to move into agenda control positions.
Early in the 1970s, the selection of committee chairmen was made subject to House Democratic
caucus
approval and in 1975 three chairmen were actually removed. Ten years later the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee was deposed and replaced by a congressman who leap-frogged over several colleagues with greater seniority. Seniority has been followed in the appointment of all other standing committee chairmen, but the fact that successful challenges have been made has profoundly altered the ethos. It has become particularly weak in the appointment of
sub
committee chairmen.
DM
In the past seniority has been an organizing principle of great importance in both houses of the US
Congress
. Seniority determined the size and situation of members' office space, the quality of their committee assignments, their speaking opportunities in those committees and, above all, their chances of becoming a committee leader. In the early twentieth century, seniority was itself seen as a reform to modify the arbitrary power of the Speaker of the House. In the last two decades, the significance of seniority has diminished considerably but has by no means been eliminated.
It is in the House of Representatives where the changes in seniority have assumed greatest significance and as the Democrats controlled that chamber continuously from 1955 to 1994, it is the initiatives emanating from that party that are particularly worthy of attention. In the pre-reform Congress the chairmanship of standing committees went automatically to that member of the majority party with the longest continuous service on that committee. The rationale for such arrangements was twofold. First, it avoided the intrigue, the conflict, and the damage to personal relations that would otherwise result. Second, specialist committees are much dependent for their strength on expertise. In a seniority system the most senior members will normally have become experts and the career ambitions of others will encourage them to remain on committees where they will acquire the specialist knowledge and understanding needed for effective committee work.
Reformers, on the other hand, objected that seniority favoured members from one-party areas of the country, most notably the Democratic South, who were well placed to achieve the repeated re-election necessary to move up the seniority ladder. As a consequence, committee chairmanships in the House became the preserve of conservative Southern Democrats, unrepresentative of the nation as a whole. It was also argued that seniority allowed positions of great power to be bestowed on intellectually mediocre and sometimes tyrannically inclined legislators. Seniority, moreover, was destructive of party, allowing members hostile to the wishes of the majority of the congressional party to move into agenda control positions.
Early in the 1970s, the selection of committee chairmen was made subject to House Democratic
caucus
approval and in 1975 three chairmen were actually removed. Ten years later the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee was deposed and replaced by a congressman who leap-frogged over several colleagues with greater seniority. Seniority has been followed in the appointment of all other standing committee chairmen, but the fact that successful challenges have been made has profoundly altered the ethos. It has become particularly weak in the appointment of
sub
committee chairmen.
DM
Other books
The True Adventures of Nicolo Zen by Nicholas Christopher
Run For It by Matt Christopher
Losing Ladd by Dianne Venetta
Where The Heart Leads by Stephanie Laurens
The Present by Nancy Springer
The Other Mr. Bax by Rodney Jones
Operation Barracuda (2005) by Clancy, Tom - Splinter Cell 02
The Black Dress by Pamela Freeman
Breene, K F - Growing Pains 01 by Lost (and) Found (v5.0)
Trail of Blood by Lisa Black