GLOBAL POLITICS 1.1

political actors

entities, such as a person, organization or movement, that wield some form of political power or engage with the political process

stakeholders

political actors that have an interest, or a stake, in a particular issue

social movement

a collective of individuals advocating a shared goal

non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

any non-provit, voluntary citizens’ groups that are organized on a local, national or international level. They can bring citizens’ concerns to governments, monitor policies and encourage political participation at the community level.

Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs)

organizations made up of states focussed on a specific issue at a global or regional level. They can be of formal or informal character

Multinational or transactional companies (MNCs/TNCs)

companies that operate across a significant number of states through resourcing and selling their products

non-state actors

political actors that are not part of the state

power diffusion

the movement of power away from states to various non-state actors

state sovereignty

a state’s ultimate control over its territory, both externally in realtion to other states and internally in relation to its inhabitants

autocracy

a government system in which one ruler has all the power

democracy

a political system that allows the population to partake in politics, both actively as elected representatives and passively as voters

anocracy

a state that combines elements of democracy and autocracy

globalization

the increased interconnectedness of the world or ‘the world becoming a smaller place’

Urbanization

the increase of the proportion of people living in cities

regionalization of world politics

the growth of regional cooperation, sometimes under the umbrella of regional IGOs or through informal collaboration

Ethnolinguistic groups

relating to a groups language and ethnicity, with the common language of the group often providing the basis for being part of that group

informal IGOs

IGOs of a more fluid nature without explicit formal arrangements

Formal IGOs

IGOs established by a treaty and with a permanent organization structure