power
ability to make others do something they would not otherwise do
exercised through institutions
social systems that structure behavior
may be formal or informal
social system
involves multiple people interacting with one another, becomes a routine, strictly structured
some people have more power and others have less
coercion
power based on force
intimidate: make people fear the state
surveil: spy agencies; societal “minders”
suppress: harsh punishments for critics; corrupt elections
kill opposition
authority
power based on legitimacy; people consent to be governed
more cost effective
legitimacy
leader is rightful, proper for that person to be in charge
traditional legitimacy
leaders selected pursuant to “age-old” practice; invent tradition to gain legitimacy
leadership succession = bloodline
common? = relatively uncommon
charismatic legitimacy
leaders selected based on exceptional personal qualities
leadership succession = hard for a leader to be succeeded
common? = very rare
EX: Gandhi & Dalai Lama
rational-legal legitimacy
leaders selected based on clear, usually written laws/procedures; leader is in office because rules were followed to place them in power
leadership succession = clear who wins
common? = very common in democracy and common in authoritarian govts
EX: US & India
performance legitimacy
leaders selected based on ability to achieve societal goals; people believe the party is helping them do better
leadership succession = performance important in all regimes; dictatorships
common? = not very
country
(geographic/territorial) within borders
government
the individuals in positions of power
change methods = elections & voting
state
actual institutions of politics
EX: presidency, prime minister, Congress
change methods = law making & constitutional amendments
regime
system of power within a country
change methods = violence/revolution
EX: French Rev., Dissolution of USSR, & South African Apartheid
nation
common identity (ideas & ethnicity) that people share, unified purpose
ethnicity - EX: Slovakia & Czech
ideas - EX: US
change methods = succession
nation vs. state
one nation corresponds with one state’s borders
nation and state go hand in hand
EX: Japan, China, & US
one nation does not correspond with one state’s borders
nation and state do not go hand in hand
EX: India, Nigeria, Hungary, & Kurds
direct democracy
all people getting together and voting on issues they want to see addressed
referendum
in addition to candidates, ballots have paragraphs about policy issues to vote on
indirect democracy
voters only vote for candidates for public office, then the candidates will focus on public policy
competitive elections
regular elections
choice of candidates
free expression for all candidates
fairness for all candidates
universal adult suffrage
equal weighing of votes
greater value in choosing Senators when living in less densely populated states
majority rule
the majority doesn’t necessarily when electing presidents
the Electoral College can disagree with the Popular Vote
rights
speech, association, religion, press, protest
rule of law
no one is above the law, the law is the pinnacle in society
constitution
courts
judicial autonomy
rule by law
(non-democratic) use law, constitutions and courts, to oppress people
tyranny of majority
in democracies it is possible for the majority rule to support bad things
liberal democracies
put limits on the majority to protect individuals and minorities
GDP
total goods and services produced in the country divided by the # of people in the country
is there a relationship between democracy and wealth?
it is hard to come up with a clear statement about the relationship between democracy and wealth
is there a relationship between democracy and capitalism?
democratic capitalist theories
necessity and compatibility
necessity theory
need capitalism to have a democracy
as people become wealthier, they will demand for more freedoms
compatibility theory
capitalism and democracy get along
presidential democracy
citizens vote for Legislators & Executive
separation of personnel among branches
POTUS and Cabinet members are completely separate from the legislature
separation of powers among branches
fixed government terms
EX: US & Nigeria
parliamentary democracy
no citizen vote for Executive (PM), citizens only vote for Legislature (MPs)
fusion of personnel among branches
PM and Cabinet members are full members of Parliament
fusion of powers among branches
government terms not certain
coalition governments
political parties cut deals with one another to reach a majority
made up of political parties
no-confidence vote
MPs vote that the PM does not have the confidence of the parliament; a new election is held for the entire country, on MPs
can happen anytime during the term
often respond to the constituents feelings
first-past-the-post (FPTP)
in any single district you just need the most votes to win
plurality (most) votes wins districts
do not need 50%
most common in presidential democracies
proportional representation (PR)
vote for party, not a candidate
% of votes for the party determines how many seats for each party
the # of MPs for each party is proportional to the # of votes per party
single national vote for parties, not individual candidates
most common in parliamentary style democracies
state capacity
whether or not a state can develop and implement policy quickly and efficiently
strong states have high capacity
EX: parliamentary
weak states have love capacity
EX: US
state autonomy
the extent to which institutions of power (state) can act without influence from society
strong states have high autonomy
EX: China
weak states have low autonomy
EX: US
too strong a state can lead to…
authoritarian governments
too weak a state can lead to…
fragile/failed states
fragile & failed states
the government in the capital has very little power & legitimacy
little security to citizens
few basic goods/services
little law
little legitimacy
electoral authoritarianism
allow elections to take place, but are authoritarian in nature
basic rights are repressed - speech, press, religion, association, assembly
independent judiciaries are present
EX: Russia & Iran
authoritarian
single leader, single political party
limited to political control
totalitarian
single leader, single political party
try to control all aspects of society, economy, & politics
more dangerous to people’s survival
EX: Mao’s Communist China
military non-democracy
based on coercion
not motivated by ideas
not fully totalitarian
EX: Sani Abacha = Nigeria
party (one party state) non-democracy
based on coercion + authority
motivated by ideas
belief that the party is the best
can be both authoritarian and totalitarian
EX: Mao = China
personalist non-democracy
involve coercion
can have ideologies that develop
involve a charismatic leader who create strong cults of personality
EX: Juan & Evita Peron = Argentina
racial/ethnic non-democracy
hugely depend on coercion based on the group the dictatorship is organized against
fear mongering against internal enemies
EX: Apartheid South Africa
theoretic non-democracy
based on coercion & religious/ideological ideologies
ideological & religious indoctrination which keeps people giving their consent
EX: Iran
import substitution policy
instead of importing goods, countries produce them domestically
if a country could create new industries, then they could jump forward in development
a lot more expensive initially
requires a lot of state involvement
protectionism
protecting an infant industry from foreign competition
tariffs
taxes on foreign trade
autarky
trying to be completely independent and only rely on goods produced in one’s country
export led
produce domestically what developed countries need - and sell it to them cheaply
start with low value/low tech products
earn foreign currency through exports
slowly shift to higher value products
BRICS
Brazil
Russia
India
China
South Africa
using primarily domestic development politics
foreign aid
occurred b/c there was a real need for the development of these countries
major inequalities among countries
major inequalities within countries
Gini coefficient
how we measure inequalities within countries
bi-lateral foreign development policies
from one country to another
multi-lateral foreign development policies
a MNC gathers money from multiple countries and disperses it
economic development assistance
loans given over long periods of time to help a country develop
foreign aid sources
wealthy nations (bi-lateral)
International Financial Institutions (IFIs) (multi-lateral)
foreign aid types
humanitarian aid
economic development assistance
military (security) assistance
foreign aid doctrine (nation-to-nation aid)
usually tied to strategic interests of donor nations
often “string” attached: meeting donor policy goals
history of development aid
developed countries gave a lot of aid to developing countries
many countries who received this aid did not become developed
instead they became corrupt and the enlargement of government bureaucracies
loan crisis
countries couldn’t pay the loans
structural adjustment programs
lenders told borrowers that they could have another 30 years if they reduced government sector jobs, if not they had to pay back the loan immediately
foreign aid: large or small?
aid as % of developed world GDPs = very small
aid as % of developing worlds GDPs = significant part of the economy
aid promoters
if we give enough aid, these countries will become developed
more aid needed
aid jumpstarts growth locally and nationally
aid creates sustainable economies
chronic poverty
everyday, all the time poverty
UN SDGs
promoted by the UN to encourage development
aid detractors
aid at the elite level can create corruption and aid can create a dependency on foreign nations at the grassroots level
aid creates dependency
aid undermines local production
aid encourages corruption, slowing growth
field experiments
try and figure out what amount and what kind of aid works
have traditional and control villages to monitor development
ethic identity
shared cultural practices among a group
may include religion, language
OBJECTIVE - easily observable by outsider
shared beliefs among a group
in the mind
SUBJECTIVE - often expressed publicly, politicized
ascription
identity assigned at birth; relatively fixed during lifetime
may be assigned by the group - or by others
being assigned by others can be very harmful
national identity
identity held by members of a state or wanna-be state
nationalism/patriotism
pride in one’s nation (for nations without states, desire for own state)
America’s patriotism is a form of nationalism
future of ethnic identitiesv- post-WWII
when colonizers were leaving the countries they colonized, they believed that ethnic identities would disappear as modernization occurred
a single national identity would form
future of ethnic identities - today
realization that these identities are resilient, politically important - and modern
minority-led conflict
smallest or least powerful group leading
self-determination
self-determination
autonomy (in state) & independence (from state) from another state
majority-led conflict
largest or most powerful group leading
exclusion
removal
genocide
ethnic cleansing
dispelling people from a country
genocide
killing people from one group
primordial (bottom-up) theory
people in many societies have strong ethnic identities rooted in their psyche, drives them to take political action against another group
primordial (table)
individual’s identity with group: strong
amount of group intermarriage: small
history of group conflict: long history
role of ethnic elites in conflict: minor
suggested solution to ethnic conflict: nothing; get to the roots
instrumental (top-down) theory
people identify with their ethnic groups, but when it comes to politics people don’t put so much emphasis on their own ethnic group
instead ethnic elites within the ethnic group convince the people to value the group more
instrumental (table)
individual’s identity with group: weak
amount of group intermarriage: large
history of group conflict: small; sporadic; manipulating ethnic elite
role of ethnic elites in conflict: major
suggested solution to ethnic conflict: convince/remove ethnic elites