Final Exam Terms

Front 1

Civil Society

Back 1

Consists of institutions, such as interest groups, which stand in an intermediary position between the individual and the state.
(Robertson, 1993) The framework within which those without political authority live their lives- economic relationships, family, and kinship structures, religious institutions, etc. It is a purely analytic concept because civil society does not exist independently of political authority, nor vice versa, and it is generally considered neither could live without the other.
EXAMPLE:
Fall 1989- Eastern Europe: Civil society brought down the communist regimes and hastened the end of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Front 2

Political Socialization

Back 2

Refers to the process by which the central values of the political culture are transmitted from one generation to another.
1st: individuals- family, friends
2nd: organizations- churches, professional groups
3rd: classes- lower, middle, & working class
4th: life cycle effect- political views might change from before to after having a family

Front 3

United Nations

Back 3

An international organization founded in 1945 with the goal of facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace. There are currently 192 members, including nearly every sovereign state in the world.

Front 4

Globalization

Back 4

Term used to describe the process of increasing economic, political, social, and cultural interdependence which has, for good or ill, reduced the autonomy of sovereign states.
EXAMPLE:
N.A.F.T.A

Front 5

Responsibility to Protect

Back 5

A recently developed concept in international relations which relates to a states responsibility towards its population and to the international community's responsibility to protect in case a state fail's to fulfill its responsibilities.

Front 6

Proportional Representation

Back 6

A family of voting systems that make their highest priority a close approximation between the votes given to all the parties putting up candidates and the number of seats into which this is translated in parliament
EXAMPLE:
Germany, India, Japan, Russia, Australia, all use proportional representation.

Front 7

Political Culture

Back 7

The aggregate attitudes of members of a society towards the institutions of rule and how they should operate.

Front 8

Collective Security

Back 8

A security arrangement in which all states cooperate collectively to provide security for all by the actions of all against any states within the groups which might challenge the existing order by using force. In order for it to work, all states, especially major states, must be committed to it for it to work.
EXAMPLE: The League of Nations- failed because the US did not participate and therefore the League could not properly operate.
Also, for sanctions to work properly, all countries involved must be wanting the sanctions to be implemented. As soon as one country breaks the sanction, it fails.

Front 9

Ethnosymbolism

Back 9

The manipulation of mainly cultural symbols to strengthen national identity.
(A form of nationalism)

Front 10

Free Market Approach

Back 10

An idea advocated by Hobbes and Locke; the idea of a market with no economic intervention or regulation by the government; closely related to the laissez-faire economic philosophy.
The meaning of the "free market" has changed over the years. Classically, it means free of unnecessary charges, but developed to express the underlying long-term approach from feudalism to capitalism in the Marxist theory, to the Liberalist theory, which heavily involves government intervention in the US and Canada.

Front 11

Nationalism

Back 11

In politics, nationalism refers to the doctrine or ideology which holds that "the nation" is more or less entitles to political autonomy, usually in a state of its own. It also involves the identification of an ethnic identity within a state. National self-determination was on the rise after WWII and became popular within the colonized countries of the time in Africa and the Middle East.

Front 12

Party Systems

Back 12

A concept in comparative political science concerning the system of government by political parties in a democratic country. The idea is that political parties have basic similarities: they control the government, have a stable base of mass popular support, and create internal mechanisms for controlling funding, information and nominations.

Front 13

Identity Politics

Back 13

Refers to political arguments that focus upon the self interest and perspectives of social minorities, or self-identified social interest groups. Not all members of any given group are necessarily involved in identity politics.
To participate in identity politics, a group may, or may not be marginalized class of people. However, group advocates will often have a self-belief, a self schema or explanatory narrative, that they are in fact a marginalized group. Typically, these group identities are defined in terms of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or neurological wiring.

Front 14

Democratization

Back 14

The transition to a more democratic political regime. It may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy or transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a democratic political system. The outcome may be consolidated (as it was for example in the United Kingdom) or democratization may face frequent reversals (as it has faced for example in Argentina). Different patterns of democratization are often used to explain other political phenomena, such as whether a country goes to a war or whether its economy grows. Democratization itself is influenced by various factors, including economic development, history, and civil society.

Front 15

Global Political Economy

Back 15

The ways in which political forces (states, institutions, individual actors, etc.) shape the systems through which economic interactions are expressed, and conversely the effects that economic interactions (including the power of collective markets and individuals acting both within and outside them) have upon political structures and outcomes.

Front 16

Social Democratic Approach

Back 16

Emerged in the late 19th century from the socialist movement, the concept has changed throughout the decades since its inception. The fundamental difference between social democratic thought and other forms of socialism, such as orthodox Marxism, is a belief in the primacy of political action as opposed to the primacy of economic action or economic determinism.
Supports the idea of a mixed economy with elements of both socialism and capitalism.

Front 17

Critical Theory/Marxist Approach

Back 17

The examination and critique of society and culture.
-

-

-

-

-

-

Front 18

Feminist International Relations

Back 18

Not a single body of theory, but rather incorporates a range of approaches to the problem of patriarchy including liberal, socialist, critical, constructivist, postcolonial, and postmodern variants.
The sphere of the international- characterized largely by the struggle for power in an anarchical world- has often been depicted in such masculinist terms that women seem to disappear as active agents