Comparative Politics

Front 1

Stages of the Policy Process

Back 1

Issue Identification, Problem Definition, Specification of Alternatives, POlicy Selection, Implementation, Evaluation

Front 2

Elite Approach

Back 2

Political Stratification, Politics: Struggle for power to control policy.
Political Elite, Political understructure, Mass

Front 3

Class Approach

Back 3

large group of individuals who are similar in their possession of or control over some fundamental value.

Marx: Capitalist Class, Proletariat
Class Conflict: Classes Lower in the class system can increase their share of key values at the expense of the classes above them.

Front 4

Pluralist Approach

Back 4

Multiple groups compete actively in the pursuit of their political interests.
2 assumptions:
1. Group Memberships are multiple and nonoverlapping
2. Many different political political resources might influence those who make public policy decisions

Politics: The interaction among groups that are pursuing their political interest.

Public Policy: Balance point of the competition among groups on an issue at the time when government makes a policy decision

Front 5

Statism

Back 5

emphasizes strong actions by the state to manage the system of production and distribution of goods

Front 6

Neoliberal Approach

Back 6

Maximize the economic freedoms of firms, households and individuals.

Front 7

Developmental State Approach

Back 7

Emphasis on private, market-based system of firms with a state that actively intervenes to promote and protect the country's firms in the global economy
1. State-supported, export-oriented capitalism
2. Target market niches: identify particular goods that canbe sold in the international marketplace.
3. Agrarian support: Gov. Policy that strongly supports efficient domestic food production

Front 8

Political Development

Back 8

emergence of more extensive capabilities in the political system.
Characteristics:
1. Concentration of Power in the state
2. Specialized political structures
3. Political Institutionalization
4. Extensive capabilities of the state

Front 9

What might account for the broad expansion of democracies since 1970?

Back 9

1. Economic development can cause changes in the social system that facilitate democratization
2. External actors
3. Breakdown of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes
4. Changing norms favoring democracy
5. nonviolent people power movements

Front 10

Political Institutionalization

Back 10

depth of capabilities, stability and citizen support for the existing political system.

Front 11

Political Decay

Back 11

Significant decline in the capabilities of the political system and its level of political institutionalization, and especially in its ability to maintain order.

Front 12

In the absence of mechanisms of cooperation, the state may adopt one of several patterns of behavior;

Back 12

Altruism: State acts in accordance with moral principles, not its national interest

Accommodation: State willingly makes concessions one one or more values of importance in order to promote an acceptable outcome or a nonviolent resolution of a dispute with another actor

Neutrality: A state claims its right to be impartial among competing states and to refrain from support any states in conflict

Front 13

International Law

Back 13

Natural Law: universal principles of behavior that are recognizable through human reason and human nature and that direct us to act with goodness.

Positivist Law: Explicit written agreements that define both appropriate and unacceptable behaviors between states.

Front 14

Colonialism Styles

Back 14

state having extensive dominance over another estate, including manipulation or control of key economic and military structures.
Segregationist: style of colonialism that interaction is pure exploitation
Assimilationist: style the dominant state makes some attempt to transform the subordinate state into an external extension of itself
Indirect rule: The dominant state works with the traditional leaders and institutions of governance and culture in the subordinate state as intermediaries in it control, but it also introduces modern forms of the dominant state that will eventually supplant traditional forms.

Front 15

4 Main Domains of Globalism:

Back 15

Economic, Social, Military, Environmental

Front 16

Establishment Violence

Back 16

State's excessive reliance on force and oppressive laws

Front 17

Group Violence against an Individual

Back 17

Terrorism: Premeditates, politically motivated violence perpetuated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents

Front 18

Political Society

Back 18

Thomas Hobbes claims that the formation of a political society is an attempt to overcome the frequent reliance on force and violence in human interactions.
Individuals accept the social contract in an attempt to submit force to reason-- to ensure force is the last resort (ultima ratio) and not the first (prima ratio)
In a political society: individuals accept the authority of the state and cede to the state a monopoly over the legitimate use of violence

Front 19

Changes in Terrorism

Back 19

Increased capacity to inflict massive damage and disruption
Many terrorists are now operating on very small cells so penetrating and destructing terrorist networks is almost impossible
Some groups, especially religiously motivated terrorists, now seem less constrained regarding the scale of death and destruction they are willing to inflict.

Front 20

Nation-based violence

Back 20

the use of force between identity groups

Front 21

Individual or Group Violence

Back 21

Riots--usually spontaneous and relatively disorganized
Rebellion--more frequent, premeditated and widespread violence
Separatist Violence--Achieve substantial or total political autonomy from the existing political system
Coup--top leader or part of the leadership group is replaced by violent means or the explicit threat of violence

Front 22

Revolution Strategies

Back 22

Terrorism
Revolution from above: violent resistance to the regime, occurs primarily in urban centers
Guerrilla War: long protracted campaign of political violence against the state from rural bases
Democratic Revolution: legal generally nonviolent political action is effectively mounted to achieve a fundamental transformation of the political system

Front 23

Revolution Conditions

Back 23

1.Long standing explanation: substantial inequality (Marx)
2."Theory of rising expectations" a sudden increase in the disparity between the values the population expects to enjoy from the government and the actual value distribution a population receives
--J curve Theory: disparity resembles an inverse J
3.Conflicting Elites
4.Deep ethnic division
5.Rapid economic growth--followed by a sharp decline in prosperity
6.a relatively short history as an autonomous state
7. Divisive interventions by actors in the international system.
8. Rapid population growth
9. Social mobilization

Front 24

Conventional War

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War that entail the direct, sustained confrontation of the military forces of two or more states within a defined space on the soil of one of the combatants

Front 25

Major Armed Conflicts Characteristics:

Back 25

1. Use of armed force between two or more governments and at least one organized, armed group.
2. At least a thousand battle-related deaths a year
3. Conflict over control of the government or territory

Front 26

Characteristics for War

Back 26

1. Newer nations are more likely to initiate war
2. More likely in states that have effectively socialized their citizens to accept the government's actions on national security
3. Rising prosperity but are relatively poor, though they are not the poorest states
4. Countries with desirable geopolitical features
5. Countries not well linked to the global economy
6. States that are most highly militarized and especially those that are quickly expanding their military power
7. Countries whose political culture reflects a high degree of nationalism

Front 27

Conservative Perspective of War

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The only legacy of violence is to undermine order in a society
--contrary: political violence is often the best or even the only mechanism for liberation from oppression or tyranny

Front 28

Social Development Calculation

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1. Knowledge (literacy rate amongst adults)
2. Urban lifestyle (percent of population in urban areas)
3. Health (life expectancy)
4. Communication capabilities (measured as cellphones per capita

Front 29

Postcommunist Developed Countries

Back 29

Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Russia

Front 30

Newly Industrialized Countries

Back 30

Export centered economies that are rapidly growing.
Newly Industrialized Countries
i. Asia
1. Taiwan
2. S. Korea
3. Singapore
4. Malaysia
5. Thailand
6. Mauritania
ii. Latin America
1. Brazil
2. Chile
3. Mexico
4. Argentina

Front 31

Social Market System

Back 31

The state encourages an extensive free market economy byt is also committed to social welfare distribution and economic regulation

Front 32

Market Economies

Back 32

Developed countries in which most economic activity is in the private sector and the government has a limited role in regulatory and redistributive policies

Front 33

Most Developed Countries Economy

Back 33

Mixed Economy

Front 34

Challenges to Security in Post Cold War Era

Back 34

1. Disorder in developing countries
2. Proliferation of weapons
3. Globalization of terrorism
4. International Economic Order

Front 35

Asian Tigers

Back 35

High growth rates and rapid industrialization:
highly free and developed economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Front 36

Communist goal for Prosperity:

Back 36

Prosperity + equality=stability
In absence of prosperity communist party used:
1. Party members were watchdogs
2. governmental apparatus of administrators, police, and others who enforced obedience
3. Rewards: were allocated to those who were obedient
4. Political socialization agents: to drill in communist ideology