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131 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
In which following situations would a Most-Similar-Systems design be a good choice? |
The cases have many similarities but the outcomes vary |
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Quantitative research in political science... |
usually analyzes as many cases as possible |
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Statements by politicians obtained in interviews are an example of.... |
QUALitative evidence |
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Which of the following is NOT considered to be a charactersitic of the modern state? |
Democracy |
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Why do modern states tax? |
1. Taxation increases the identification of citizens within a state 2. Taxation is a way to generate revenue for the state |
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There are four "traditional" functions of the modern state: taxation, policing/rule of law, supply of human security, and.... |
administration and legibility |
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Which of the following statements best describes the political status of Taiwan? |
Taiwan is a modern state but not a sovereign state |
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True or False: South Sudan is a soverign state but not a modern state |
True |
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The "market valu of goods and services produced WITHIN a country" is the definition of... |
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) |
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The GINI Index measures.... |
measures the degree of income inequality within countries |
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A country that has fully inclusive economic institutions is characterized by... |
All of the above: 1. well-protected property rights 2. well-functioning education systems 3. well-established Rule of Law |
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Over the past few decades, Americans have become a lot less trusting of each other due to.... |
increasing income inequality |
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"generalized trust" is... |
a character trait of indivudals |
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a theory that explains differences in economic development with variables such as geography or natural resource endowments would be an example of.... |
structuralism |
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Which of the following statements best describes the process of global development in the past 100 years? |
Most poor countries are catching up with the developed world |
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The "Triple Bottom Line" measures progress by taking into account people, planet and... |
profits |
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which of the following aspects is NOT part of the procedural definition of democracy? |
Clear accountability |
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Which of the following statements is true about hypotheses? |
Hypotheses can be tested against empirical evidence |
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Modernization Theory argues that... |
economic development causes democracy |
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What happens during "democratic consolidation?" |
All of the Above: 1. People in a country internalize democratic norms 2. countries strengthen their democracy 3. Democracy becomes the only socially acceptable accepted system of government |
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In class, we watched a short video clip about Eritrea. The country served as an example for... |
exclusive economic institutions |
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according to "diffusion theories" of state formation.... |
colonialism explains why "modern states" can be seen almost everywhere in the planet |
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"Referenda" are an example of... |
Direct democracy |
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The first stage in the process of democratization is called... |
democratic transition |
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Which of the following countries has made a name for itself by measuring national progreess in terms of "happiness"? |
Netherlands |
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The "space in society outside of the organization of the state, in which citizens come together and organize themselves" is called... |
the civil society |
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Neoliberalism can be defined as... |
an ideological tendency that favors liberal democracy and market-led development |
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True or False: Most social scientists recognize that the state generally does NOT play an important role in promoting and facilitating economic performance |
False |
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Marxist theories of global development place a major emphasis on which of the following factors? |
The structure of the international economy |
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What do political scientists means when they talk about the "state-society relationship?" |
that state is a political organization that is embedded in society, and the extent to which it is autonomous from various groups differ from case to case. |
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Which of the following countries is known for NOT having a written constitution? |
United Kingdom |
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True or False: The British head of state is the prime minister |
False, prime minister is head of government |
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True or False: the U.S. Head of State is the speaker of the house of representatives |
False, the president is head of state and head of government |
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Which of the following events qualifies as a social revolution? |
The French Revolution |
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Most political scientists consider France to be an example of... |
Semi-presidential or hybrid systems |
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If a country has an elected president and appointed prime minister, it is a... |
hybrid system |
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When military leaders justify their rule with the need of a "strong hand" for the establishment of order and economics, its usually a..... |
bureaucratic-authoritarian regime |
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in general, congresses are which of the following? |
independent of the executive in a checks-and-balances system |
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In presidential systems, presidents.... |
1. serves as the chief executive (head of state/government) 2. is determined by popular vote |
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which of the activities is a form of contention? |
none of the above are forms of contention (all done in political system) |
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which of the following might be an example of an "everday form of resistance?" |
work slowdown |
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which of the following countries is generally considered to be the only "success story" of the Arab Spring? |
Tunisia |
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Evgeny Morozov (ted talk) made the following argument: |
the internet can help strengthen authoritarian dictatorships |
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in a mixed-member proportional representation system, voters... |
have two votes, one for their preferred party and the other for their preferred candidate |
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unicameral legislatures.. |
are very common in culturally homogenous countries |
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How many districts are there in elections for the U.S. House of Representatives? |
435 |
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True or False: countries that have judicial review usually also rely on parliamentary sovereignty |
False |
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A country that's divided into states, has equal power over their state and shares wealth is a... |
symmetrical and cooperative system |
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Barack Obama is currently... |
1. head of state 2. head of government |
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Nazi Germany and present-day North Korea are examples of what type of authoritarian regime? |
Totalitarian |
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The idea that unelected judges and justices might "legislate from the bench" refers to... |
judicial activism |
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All contemporary democracies have.. |
elected legislators |
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Which of the following countries has a parliamentary political system? |
United Kingdom |
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The creation of districts of irregular shape or composition in order to achieve a desired political result is.... |
Gerrymandering |
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In a pure proportional representation system, a party gaining 25% of the vote would have _________ seats out of 100 |
25 seats |
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The U.S. House of Representatives is an example of... |
a lower chamber |
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The Russian Revolution of 1917 was what kind of revolution? |
social revolution |
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True or False: all countries with constitutions are democratic |
False |
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Relatively "broad definitions" of terrorism hold which of the following to be true? |
All of the Above 1. terrorism can be perpetrated by states 2. terrorism includes attacks on uniformed military personnel 3. terrorism can have multiple goals and aims beyond instilling fear for political purposes |
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Which of the following would be the best characterization of historical-institutional accounts of regime type? |
1. coalitions of actors at different historical moments may help account for the persistence or collapse of regime types 2. political history is largely characterized by institutions that have become more democratic and less authoritarian over time |
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coalitions are most likely to form under what electoral system? |
proportional representation |
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In "Iraq's Federalism Quandary", the authors argue that Iraq should adopt the following political system: |
An Asymmetrical federal system |
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Action taken by indivudals and groups to pursue their ends in formally or informally coordinated ways, often in pursuit of some common/public good is called... |
collective action |
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In "Getting to Democracy", the author identifies a number of important pre-conditions for successful revolution. What is NOT a precondition? |
The country's security forces and its military have to remain independent from civilian leadership |
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Define ideology |
systematically coordinated and cognitively salient set of beliefs focused on politics |
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What are some modern ideologies? |
liberalism fascism socialism |
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What are modern dimensions of ideologies? |
collective vs. individual economic systems (state-led vs. market) political systems (authoritarian vs. democractic) |
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Why is it important to study ideologies in comparative politics? |
its an important component of a country's political culture and beliefs people hold about politics |
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What are the dimensions of liberalism? |
1. Individual over collective, emphasizes individual freedoms 2. economic system is market-led (ex: private) 3. political systems have representative democracy |
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What is social democracy? |
a form of liberalism that favors state action to promote relative economic and social equality |
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what is libertarianism? |
a form of liberalism that seeks to minimize the role of government |
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What are the dimensions of fascism? |
1. Emphasizes collection (the "nation") often to the exclusion of another collective, like Nazie Germany over Jews 2. Economic system is a state-led economy 3. Poltical system is authoritarian or single-party rule |
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What are the dimensions of socialism? |
1. Emphasis of collective equality over individuals 2. Economic system is state-led (public ownership) 3. different political structures from democracy to communism |
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Where does social democracy fall on the spectrum? |
- social democracy is still liberalism, but leans a little closer to collective emphasis and state-led economy - the political system is equal with liberalism |
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Where does libertarianism fall on the spectrum? |
Libertarianism is beyond liberalism in emphasis on individualsim, market-led economy and democracy |
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Comparative Manifestos Project |
- compares party platforms across countries - negative value = very left beliefs - positive value = right beliefs - American parties stand generally stand to the right |
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define race |
a socially-constructed concept that human beings are divided into different groups - based on skin color - often thought of as biological categories - but actually is social construction (a process of racialization) |
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define ethnicity |
socially-constructed concept that human beings are divided into different groups with a strong cultural commonality and shared sense of history - conceptually broader than race (based on more than perceived biology) |
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define indivudal discrimination |
individual choices that select/exclude one groups's members and not others |
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define systematic discrimination |
- policies that target one group over another (racial profiling) - policies that causes disadvantages for particular ethnic groups (voting restrictions) |
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Who are the Kurds? |
- a group of 25-35 million people stretched over 5 states in the middle east - had no common language (4 dialects) - no common religion (muslim, christian, yazidism) |
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What happened to the Kurds when the Ottoman empire dissolved? |
- Post WWI, the kurds called for a state of their own - Treaties of Sevres and Lausanne - allies allowed syrian, iraqi, iranian, turkish border to form but unrealized kurdish state - systematic discrimination in turkey, syria, and iraq - not legally recongized as minority group, denied citizenship and destroyed kurdish villages |
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Define ethnic politics |
- another form of systematic discrimination where political leaders explicitly favor sertain ethnic groups (usually their own) over others - "rent-seeking" behavior - under-provision of public goods |
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What's an example of ethnic politics? |
Ghana - Ashanti ethnic group's major export good was cocoa - other ethnic groups had animousities towards them ans so actively undermined the cocoa-sector |
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what is the global pattern for ethnic diversity? |
countries with higher levels of ethnic diversity ahcieve lower levels of economic performance - the U.S. is fairly diverse, why? |
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What is the precondition for ethnic politics? |
ethnic parties, which emerge when.. - settings with high diversity - no other salient political cleavages exist - PR system instead of single-member district |
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what are quota systems used for? |
- to ensure broad ethnic representation - candidate-quota system - reserved-seat system |
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candidate-quota system |
certain number of candidates from a given group running in an election |
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reserved-seat system |
number of parliamentry seats reserved for given group |
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Pray the Devil back to Hell |
f |
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define identity |
social label ascribed to an individual or group that located them in society more broadly - social science shows the "In group" and "Out group" |
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define a nation |
- typically a large, permanent population - thinks of themselves as 1. soveriegn 2. equal |
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define nationalism |
the belief that "nations" should be the basic unit of political and social life - what does it take to be an "American?" |
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Western/Civic Nationalism |
- membership in the nation depends on membership in the state (citizenship) - shared commitment to political values of the country - examples: France, Britain, Australia, U.S. |
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Eastern/Ethnic Nationalism |
- membership in the nation depends on shared ancestry - even if you don't have citizenship, you might still be a member of the nation - examples: Japan, Russia, Germany |
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Reason for civic nationalism |
France nation and kindgom historically fused - nation-state formed around a single poltical center - living in the French Kingdom hs always meant "being French" |
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reason for ethnic nationalism |
Germany nation and empire were distinct from one another - Prussia was binational (German and Polish) - weak institutions of German states failed to shape state-anchored national consciousness - living in the Holy Roman Empire has not always meant "being German" |
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Indian Nationalism |
independence from UK in 1947 - leaders tried to create "civic nationalism" and was largely unsuccessful - various competing definitions of "what it means to be Indian" |
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what came after Indian nationalism failed? |
hindu nationalism - a core pillar of Indian national identity - beef bans - "National Yoga Day" - increase in hindu birth rates - drive to convert muslims, christians to hinduism |
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Primordialists |
- believe all societies have a form of nationalism - since collective identity is necessary for societies to function, a form of nationalism is universal - study sociobiology and evolutionary psychology (theories that try to explain human behavior and society through evolution) - biologically rooted |
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Perrenialists |
- not all identities are natural and universally present - many think evolved in the Medieval times - national identity present when a sengle, strongly identified group has their own language and territory - define more inclusively than modernists, but more exclusively than primordialists - less popular belief |
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Modernists |
1. nation cannot be just a small elite, but has to correspond to all of society's population 2. society's members are alll equal in some way 3. the nation is soveriegn - emerged in 17th and 18th centuries in Europe, did not happen historically but is common now |
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What are the two dividing approaches to modernist theory |
- structuralism - constructivism |
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structuralism |
sees big, difficult-to-change parts of society as determining what really matters about national identity EX: industrialization leads to social mobility, shared language and common understandings |
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constructivism |
views nations as symbolic constructs and therefore places greater emphasis on creative efforts of individuals and groups to define and redefine their identities |
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instrumentalism |
sees ethnicity as a product of political entrepreneurs seeking to manipulate populations for the pursuit of their own strategic ends |
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What are the theories behind causes of ethno-national conflict? |
1. primordial bonds 2. cultural boundaries 3. material interests 4. rational calculation 5. social psychology |
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primordial bonds |
- groups exist prior, and conflicts take place when these pre-existing groups feel their group and identity is under threat - EX: globalization can make a group feel their identity is being diluted - people's passions and loyalties cause the conflict |
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cultural boundaries |
- conflict is the result of the distinct ways in which groups and their boundaries are constructed - drawing boundaries increases likeliness one group will attack another - "us" and "them" mentallity |
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material interests |
the instrumentalist theory - people pursue material interests - national pride, dignity and purity of ethnic groups don't matter to them - ethno-national identities are just instruments for the pursuit of other purposes |
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rational calculation |
- uses mathematical models - ability of a group to anticipate threats and make rational choices - perceived likelihood of another group being violent, likelihood of winning if conflict broke out, and costs of avoiding violence |
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social psychology |
- colectively held or group feelings and resentments lie behind conflict - relative deprivation - focuses on "us" and "them" and social statuses - response is to an increase in intergroup grievances |
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audit studies |
research carried out by social scientists to measure the extent to which hiring practices are discriminatory |
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what factors influence the political representation of women and minority groups? |
- social movement mobilization - political parties based on gender and ethnicity - institutions for promoting women's and minority group representation |
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secularism |
an ideological complex that favors secular (non-religious) culture secularization = more modern = less religious - religions become differentiated, privitized and loes public influence |
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functional definitions of religion |
defines a given phenomenon by what it DOES |
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substantive definitions of religion |
defines a given phenomenon by what it IS |
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lay state versus religious state |
lay states establish a formal separation between religion and public life religious states have religion play a key part in policy making |
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what are the theories behind religion/ideology remaining prevalent in modern politics? |
1. modernization theory and secularization 2. the "religious economics" approach 3. institutional theories |
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modernization theory and secularization |
1. as societies modernize, religious organizations become more differentiated from other organizations, especially the state 2. as economic development increases, religious beliefs tend to decline |
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the "religious economics" approach |
- there will always be variations in levels of religious demand - a generic level of religious demand is constant - like all markets, religious monopolies are bad, since competition spurs innovation - thus, the US's high levels of pluralsim = high religiousity and UK with an established religion = low religiosity |
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institutional theories |
interdependent institutions that function together systematically, through ordered networks - religious institutions have a core function of creating social legitimacy, providing a narrative that supports the existing social order |
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What factors led to the first Congo War? |
1. Severe ethnic animosities
2. The weakness of the Congolese state (allowed forharboring rebels) 3. The Rwanda Genocide and spillover in refugee camps |
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why was the congolese army so weak? |
- illiterate - no real training - from many different military groups - poor communication - top heavy, more officers than troops, not enough room for everyone |
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what did we learn about nationalism in the Congo? |
idk |
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Why are "ethnicities" so important in this region? |
- Colonial Europeans influenced the design ofethnic groups by categorizing people on looks and behavior
- Cultural geography doesn’t match up withnational boundaries - Colonizers specifically privilege ethnic groupsin specific areas, leaving huge disparities between groups, leaving relativedeprivation - Lack of national identity because ofdisplacement - Tribal remembrance |
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Why did the international community fail to intervene? |
- So many groups involved it was hard to take aside
- had no political interest for leaders, only would bring casualties - Stearn argues the UN and international community viewed the Congo to be in a post-conflict state because of 2006 elections, so focused humanitarianly instead of seeing present conflict - thought building a strong state would get rid of the problems - Worry it would be another Afghanistan |
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Rwanda Genocide |
genocide of 800,000 Hutu and Tutsi at the hands of Hutu militia and army - Hutu regime crumbed and the Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front, led by Laul Kagame, took power - Hutu fled across the border into Zaire along with those who committed the genocide |
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First Congo War |
- ended after the toppling of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997 - installed president Laurent Kabila |
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Second Congo War |
- began after the fall out between Kabila and his backers, Rwanda and Uganda in 1998 - which lasted until peace deal in 2003 |
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Third Congo War |
- after 2006 elections - failed army reform - marginalization of RCD who was only given 4 percent of poltical influence - pressure of elections - led to rebel of RCD backed by Ruwanda - continues in Kivu region |