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Liberalism
A political theory founded on the natural goodness of humans and the autonomy of the individual. It favours civil and political liberties, government by law with the consent of the governed, and protection from arbitrary authority. In IR liberalism covers a fairly broad perspective ranging from Wilsonian Idealism through to contemporary neo-liberal theories and the democratic peace thesis. Here states are but one actor in world politics, and even states can cooperate together through institutional mechanisms and bargaining that undermine the propensity to base interests simply in military terms. States are interdependent and other actors such as Transnational Corporations, the IMF and the United Nations play a role.
Neoliberalism
is a contemporary form of economic liberalism that emphasizes the efficiency of private enterprise, liberalized trade and relatively open markets to promote globalization. Neoliberals therefore seek to maximize the role of the private sector in determining the political and economic priorities of the world.
Levels of Analysis
In political science we use three widely accepted levels of generalization to help understand highly complex problems in world politics. They are: Systematic/International level, State level and individual level
Idealism
level of analysis: Individual: moral principles of individuals may translate into that of nations. &/or form of government: democratic governments are preferred means for transferring those moral principles of individuals into those of the international system. Democratic governments exist as moral examples for other nations still struggling on the path to Enlightenment.
Neoidealism
level of analysis: international system: Like classical idealism, neoidealism accepts the notion that peace may be established in international politics through democratic principles applied to real situations. It differs from its classical predecessor in that it views the workings of other states as central to its own survival. Therefore, all states must and will eventually adopt a democratic form of government. Neoidealists actively advocate intervention in the inner workings of other states to promote stability prior to the transfer of democratic principles to that state. Neoidealists, unlike their classical predecessors, do not use state power to intervene, but instead focus on forming transnational actors (NATO) to act as the democratic force in the interventions. Further, they point to the gradual world acceptance of liberal democratic principles and liberal economic programs to justify their interventions. For them, the democratic path has widened enormously and it is the job of those in power to help those struggling on it along a little faster than a classical idealist might advise.

Neoidealists: Hegel, Francis Fukuyama
Realism
 Statism: Realists believe that nation states are the main actors in international politics. As such it is a state-centric theory of international relations. This contrasts with liberal international relations theories, which accommodate roles for non state actors and international institutions. This difference is sometimes expressed by describing a realist world-view as one, which sees nation states as billiard balls, liberals would consider relationships between states to be more of a cobweb.
 Survival: Realists believe that the international system is governed by anarchy, meaning that there is no central authority. Therefore, international politics is a struggle for power between self-interested states.
 Self-help: Realists believe that no other nation states can be relied upon to help guarantee the state’s survival.
Neo-Realism
International system: states seek to survive within an anarchical system. Although states may seek survival through power balancing, balancing is not the aim of that behaviour. Balancing is a product of the aim to survive. And because the international system is regarded as anarchic and based on self-help, the most powerful units set the scene of action for others as well as themselves. These major powers are referred to as poles; hence the international system (or a regional subsystem), at a particular point in time, may be characterised as unipolar, bipolar or multipolar.
Communism
a political theory founded by Karl Marx which advocates for a classless society in which all property is publicly owned and the State is the executive committee of the ruling class: the Proletarians (The Rise of the West and Marxism, Sept. 26)
Complex interdependence
Linkages & connections. Economical and cultural globalization. More tendency to war
Marxism
A body of thought inspired by Karl Marx. It emphasises the dialectical unfolding of historical stages, the importance of economic and material forces and class analysis. It predicts that contradictions inherent in each historical epoch eventually lead to the rise of a new dominant class. The era of capitalism, according to Marx, is dominated by the bourgeoisie and will give way to a proletarian, or working class, revolution and an era of socialism in which workers own the means of production and move toward a classless, communist society in which the state, historically a tool of the dominant class, will wither away
Leninism
Marxism as interpreted and applied by Vladimir Lenin; argues that evolutionary socialism could not have worked in Russia under conditions of authoritarianism, that workers would never create a revolution because their support could be bought with better working conditions and pay (trade union consciousness), and that a party and leadership were needed to bring them the truth (The Fascist and Communist Challenges, Oct. 17)
Power transition theory
It describes international politics as a hierarchy with
(1) a "dominant" state, the one with the largest proportion of power resources (population, productivity, and political capacity meaning coherence and stability);
(2) "great powers," a collection of potential rivals to the dominant state and who share in the tasks of maintaining the system and controlling the allocation of power resources;
(3) "middle powers" of regional significance similar to the dominant state, but unable to challenge the dominant state or the system structure, and
(4) "small powers," the rest.

The principle predictive power of the theory is in the likelihood of war and the stability of alliances. War is most likely, of longest duration, and greatest magnitude, when a challenger to the dominant power enters into approximate parity with the dominant state and is dissatisfied with the existing system. Similarly, alliances are most stable when the parties to the alliance are satisfied with the system structure.
Historical Materialism
Marx’s conception of history; the view that culture, ideas, art, law, morality and religion are all determined by a mode of production/material goods; the idea that being/material existence creates consciousness (The Rise of the West and Marxism, Sept. 26).
Evolutionary Socialism
the belief that gradual democratic changes in a society can ultimately change a society's fundamental economic relations and political structures, as opposed to revolutionary socialism which believes in the necessity of revolutions (Wikipedia); ultimately accepts and celebrates the tenets of liberalism, ceasing to view it as a form of hypocrisy (The Fascist and Communist Challenges, Oct. 17)
Balance of Power
As a theory, balance of power predicts that rapid changes in international power and status—especially attempts by one state to conquer a region—will provoke counterbalancing actions. For this reason, the balancing process helps to maintain the stability of relations between states. A balance of power system functions most effectively when alliances are fluid, when they are easily formed or broken on the basis of expediency, regardless of values, religion, history, or form of government. Occasionally a single state plays a balancer role, shifting its support to oppose whatever state or alliance is strongest. A weakness of the balance of power concept is the difficulty of measuring power.
Bi-polarity
: (as opposed to multipolarity, unipolarity, etc.) a distribution of power in which two states have the majority of the power and influence in the international system (Cold War Realism, Nov. 28)
Proxy-war
is a war that results when opposing powers use third parties as substitutes for fighting each other directly. While powers have sometimes used governments as proxies, violent non-state actors, mercenaries, or other third parties are more often employed. It is hoped that these groups can strike an opponent without leading to full-scale war. Proxy wars were common in the Cold War, because the two nuclear-armed superpowers (the Soviet Union and the United States) did not wish to fight each other directly, since that would have run the risk of escalation to a nuclear war
MAD (Mutually Assured Distruction)
is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which a full-scale use of high-yield weapons of mass destruction by two opposing sides would effectively result in the complete, utter and irrevocable annihilation of both the attacker and the defender,[1] becoming thus a war that has no victory nor any armistice but only effective reciprocal destruction.
Theory of Deterrence
the deployment, and implicit menace of use, of strong weapons is essential to threaten the enemy in order to prevent the use by said-enemy of the same weapons against oneself. The strategy is effectively a form of Nash equilibrium in which neither side, once armed, has any incentive to disarm thereafter.
Constitutionalism
a complex of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behaviour elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law (Wikipedia)
Multiculturalism
the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place (Wikipedia); demographic reality of heterogeneity in a polity; a state policy that recognizes, accepts and respects plural ethnic and cultural groups within a given polity; the endorsement, even celebration, of communal diversity, based on communal diversity (TA Yi-Chun Chien)
Soft & Hard Power
Hard power is a theory that describes using military and economic means to influence the behavior or interests of other political bodies. It is used in contrast to soft power, which refers to power that comes from diplomacy, culture and history.
Totalitarianism
a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible (Wikipedia)
Constructivism
Constructivism argues that international reality is socially constructed by cognitive structures, which give meaning to the material world. Constructivist theory criticizes the static assumptions of traditional international relations theory and emphasize that international relations is a social construction.
Hegemons
Strategic geopolitical situation.
Strong military
Strong economy
Set laws of the international system
Dominant World Power
Strong State
Ancient vs. Modern Liberalism
liberty of the collective vs. liberty of the individual (Constant)
Levels of Analysis:

International System
It examines state behavior by looking at the international system. In this level of analysis, the international system is the cause and state behavior is the effect. Characteristics of the international system cause states to behave the way they do. Change in the international system will cause change in state behavior. The key variable in the international system is the power of a state within the system. Some states are powerful; others are weak. This level examines the international system to see how that influences the way in which a state acts; focusing on the way a state reacts to changing international influences. The most important factor here is how powerful the state is within the international system.
For example, the cold war had two powerful states. Therefore the central cause of all state behavior in the cold war was the fact that the US and USSR were the two powerful states in a bipolar system. Today, there is unipolar system – one superpower (or hyperpower) -- and that defines the behavior of all other states in the system. (See neo-realism below). So this level of analysis might explain the US intervention in Iraq as a matter of the US, the one and only powerful state, flexing its muscles to police the world against states that threaten it. The US wants to preserve its dominance and therefore crushes all challengers.
Levels of Analysis:

State Level
Examines foreign policy in terms of state characteristics: religion, culture, Vision: Democracy/free market culture in the case of the U.S. The state level of analysis looks at the nature of the state and the impact it has on the way it behaves internationally. It analyzes cultural influences, the state's geographical location and its historical legacy to explain how it acts internationally.

State level of analysis might explain the US intervention in Iraq as a function of the missionary quality of US foreign policy. The US has always had an idealist streak in its foreign policy (some disagree with this) and sees “bad guys” out there in the international system. The US is compelled by the nature of its political system and its belief that some day all states will be like the US. It has a drive to remake the world in its own image. The job of US foreign policy is not done until all states are democratic and all nations have free market economies.
Levels of Analysis:

Individual Level
It focuses on people. People make decisions within nation states and therefore people make foreign policy. Scholars might look at the roles of different leaders.The individual level of analysis focuses on decisions made by individual people that go on to shape foreign policy. This type of analysis will involve examining the traits, desires and ideals of the individual, and the impact that they had on decisions that affected world politics.
Affirmative Action
an action or policy favouring those who tend to suffer from discrimination; enforces demographic quotas; meant to prevent racist decision-making (Problems of Democracy, Oct. 24)
Ancient Democracy
a participatory, direct form of democracy based on freedom of the collective over freedom of the individual (Constant and the Rise of Liberalism, Sept. 19)
Balance of power:
a system of alliances in which weaker states band together against stronger states, creating an equilibrium that generally prevents continental war (Cold War Realism, Nov. 28)
Bourgeoisie:
to Karl Marx, the ruling class that owns the means of production and exploits those who are beneath them (The Rise of the West and Marxism, Sept. 26)
Consequences of Industrial Revolution
1. Allowed us to produce a surplus, which lead to the creation of the ‘middle class’
2. Division of labour increase – specialization
3. New forms of social consciousness – the notion of ‘right and wrong’
Clash of Civilizations
a book by Samuel P. Huntington that reacts to Fukuyama’s “end of history” theory; argues that Fukuyama presents an Eurocentric, narrow reading of world history, that “liberal peace and prosperity” are illusory, and that what matters in the post-Cold War era are civilizational fault lines
Class/Class Struggle
according to Marx) the material struggle between the two major classes of society, the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat; the inevitable polarization of the two classes, the disappearance of the middle class (petite bourgeoisie), and the eventual uprising of the Proletariat to create a Communist society, abolishing private property as well as the ruling class (The Rise of the West and Marxism, Sept. 26)
Democracy
a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them
Duverger’s Law
a principle that asserts that a plurality rule election system tends to favour a two-party syste m (Wikipedia)
Economic Interdependence
the theory that the decline of military force as a policy tool and the increase in economic and other forms of interdependence should increase the probability of cooperation among states (IRtheory.com)
Equality of opportunity
political equality; concerned with the procedures of democracy (Problems of Democracy, Oct. 24)
Public contestation
the right to advocate for individual views; that individuals have the same standing as anybody else
Inclusive participation:
the rights of political equality are extended to all individuals
Challenges of equality of opportunity
 Collective action problem
 Fallacy of democratic pluralism
 Elite democracy
Equality of outcome
political-economic equity; concerned with the consequences of democracy (Problems of Democracy, Oct. 24)
Challenges of equality of outcome
 Protecting the disadvantaged
 Projecting the majority’s will
 Unelected courts as policymakers
False Consciousness
: in Marxist theory, a failure to recognize the instruments of one's oppression or exploitation as one's own creation; when a worker is led to believe that his/her share of life is the outcome of a just and fair system of capitalism
First Past the Post:
(as opposed to Proportional Representation) an electoral system in which a candidate does not need to win a majority, but a plurality; the number of seats is not proportional to the popular vote; allows for strong majorities and tends to moderate parties (Modern Democracy, Oct. 3)
Hegemonic stability:
a theory that states that the stability of the international system requires a single dominant state to articulate and enforce the rules of interaction among the most important members of the system (IRtheory.com)
Institutionalized Uncertainty
: a key element of democracy, the guarantee against dictatorship and authoritarianism afforded by the ability of the people vote a government out of power (Modern Democracy, Oct. 3)
Modern Democracy
an indirect form of democracy based on the freedom of the individual rather than the freedom of the collective; driven by commerce and private property instead of war (Constant and the Rise of Liberalism, Sept. 19)
Parliamentary System
a system of government in which the executive branch reflects the legislative branch, the prime minister must first be elected as an MP and becomes prime minister by being the head of the party that has the most seats, and the cabinet is made up of MPs; the system tends to lead to majoritarian governments, which lead to strong prime ministers (Modern Democracy, Oct. 3)
Presidential System
a system of government in which the executive branch (president and cabinet) is separate from the legislative branch (Congress); the president is elected separately from the representatives in Congress and the two branches are distinct (Modern Democracy, Oct. 3)
Prisoner's Dilemma
Cooperation is usually analysed in game theory by means of a non-zero-sum game called the "Prisoner's Dilemma" (Axelrod, 1984). The two players in the game can choose between two moves, either "cooperate" or "defect". The idea is that each player gains when both cooperate, but if only one of them cooperates, the other one, who defects, will gain more. If both defect, both lose (or gain very little) but not as much as the "cheated" cooperator whose cooperation is not returned. The problem with the prisoner's dilemma is that if both decision-makers were purely rational, they would never cooperate. Indeed, rational decision-making means that you make the decision which is best for you whatever the other actor chooses. Suppose the other one would defect, then it is rational to defect yourself: you won't gain anything, but if you do not defect you will be stuck with a loss. Suppose the other one would cooperate, then you will gain anyway, but you will gain more if you do not cooperate, so here too the rational choice is to defect. The problem is that if both actors are rational, both will decide to defect, and none of them will gain anything. However, if both would "irrationally" decide to cooperate, both would gain.
Game Theory
A decision-making approach based on the assumption of actor rationality in a situation of competition. Each actor tries to maximize gains or minimize losses under conditions of uncertainty and incomplete information, which requires each actor to rank order preferences, estimate probabilities, and try to discern what the other actor is going to do. In a two-person zero-sum game, what one actor wins the other loses; if A wins, 5, B loses 5, and the sum is zero. In a two-person non-zero or variable sum game, gains and losses are not necessarily equal; it is possible that both sides may gain. This is sometimes referred to as a positive-sum game. In some games, both parties can lose, and by different amounts or to a different degree. So-called n-person games include more than two actors or sides. Game theory has contributed to the development of models of deterrence and arms race spirals, but it is also the basis for work concerning the question of how collaboration among competitive states in an anarchic world can be achieved: The central problem is that the rational decision for an individual actor such as a state may be to "defect" and go it alone as opposed to taking a chance on collaboration with another state actor. Dealing with this problem is a central concern of much of the literature on international regimes, regional integration, and conflict resolution
Proletariat
according to Marx, the working class that has been exploited by the Bourgeoisie throughout history, and will eventually become conscious of this and revolt (The Rise of the West and Marxism, Sept. 26)
Proportional Representation
: (as opposed to First Past the Post) an electoral system in which people vote for parties rather than representatives and the number of seats is proportional to the popular vote; usually results in a large number of parties, more radical parties, and coalition governments (Modern Democracy, Oct. 3)
State
according to Weber, an entity that has “a monopoly of legitimate use of violence” in a given territory (Constant and the Rise of Liberalism, Sept. 19)
Responsible Government
: a system in which a government answers for its actions to elected representatives of the people
The End of History
suggested by Hegel, Fukuyama and others, “the end point of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of government,” which, according to Hegel took place after the French Revolution, according to Fukuyama took place with the fall of the Berlin Wall, but according to Huntington, is yet to come, due to civilizational clashes, widespread inequality, exclusion, etc. (Introduction, Sept. 12)
Consequences of Industrial Revolution
1. Allowed us to produce a surplus, which lead to the creation of the ‘middle class’
2. Division of labour increase – specialization
3. New forms of social consciousness – the notion of ‘right and wrong’
Democracies Virtues
• Liberty: saying what I think with out fear of imprisonment, this is what allows us to descent or disagree with the government
• Equality: a vote is a vote, same weight for all
• Rule of Law: my right to vote, charter of rights
• Pluralism: the interests of the voting public,
• Institutionalized Uncertainty: How we vote, elections, we don’t know who will when and allows for democracy to correct itself through term elections
- 1963 the right to vote was opened up to all, ‘The universal franchise act’
Building Democracies Foundation: (Modernization theory)
• Economic transformation: capitalism and trade. Onset of technology and the creation of more complex infrastructure
• Economic Development: The rise of incomes, class separation, economic Growth.
• Demographic Change: Over all age, education, family dynamics
• Social Change: Mass increase of literacy, the lack of importance on the church/ religion.
• Demand for more Political Rights: the people want to participate in politics and want to have a say.
• As societies become more modernized the idea is that we should see more Democracies.
• No two democracies are the same: they are like this because the institutions that make a democracy are tailored to their specific society (resilience in its variation)
• The democratic welfare state: coincides with the rise of industrialization and thus the rise of the working class
Why did they choose democracy? (Chile, South Africa, Soviet Union, etc...)
• Bottom up pressure, demands
• International System pressure
• Legitimacy Crisis: the leaders and the countries them self were starting to be seen as illegitimate to the world as states
China: Sun Yat-Sen – “Three Principals of the People”
1. Nationalism: Modern Nation: one that was self reliant and could defend itself
2. Democracy: Would become a Democracy; a version of; allow for the virtues of democracy to flourish
3. People’s livelihood: Welfare, Chinese would not starve or be weak
Challenges for Chinese Democracy
•Benevolent Dictator
•Nationalism
•Authoritarianism
•Choosing Democracy
Samuel P. Huntington
-Skeptical about liberal democratic project Fukuyama's ideas
-Liberal peace and prosperity is illusory
-West vs significant Rest (Different alternative to the West)
Francis Fukuyama
-Believes in the triumph of liberal democracy at the end of the cold war (last ideological stage in the progression of human history)
-West won over the rest
Constant: Athens
- Ancient state that most resembles the modern one
- Unlike the rest a trading republic
- More individual liberty compared to Rome & Sparta
- Limited Social jurisdiction compared to unlimited in other ancient states
Constant: Ancient states
-Small
-War was a constant concern/price for security & independence
-Slavery