EXAM 3 POSC

What is economic development?

The process of increasing a country's wealth, productivity, and standard of living.

Primary commodities

Raw materials and basic agricultural goods.

Hard currency

Stable currency used for imports and paying foreign debt.

Structural adjustment

IMF loan conditions requiring market-based reforms.

Rent-seeking

Making profits through protection or favoritism instead of efficiency.

Comparative advantage

Producing what a country makes most efficiently and trading for the rest.

Major problem with primary commodities

Price volatility.

Declining terms of trade

Manufactured goods become more expensive relative to commodities.

Why are commodity economies vulnerable?

Natural disasters and substitute products can destroy markets.

Why can commodity dependence slow development?

Less investment in education and wealth stays with elites.

Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI)

Using tariffs to protect domestic industries.

Why did ISI fail?

Debt, small domestic markets, and rent-seeking.

Neoliberalism

Development strategy emphasizing free markets and limited government.

Three neoliberal reforms

Privatization, trade liberalization, and price liberalization.

Export Processing Zones (EPZs)

Tax-free manufacturing zones with low labor costs.

How did neoliberalism affect the poor?

Higher living costs and reduced social spending.

Embedded autonomy

Temporary government protection of industries until they become competitive.

Chinese development model

Mix of state control and market reforms.

How can geography affect development?

Access to trade routes and disease burden influence growth.

International law

Rules governing state behavior.

Sovereignty

A state's supreme authority within its borders.

Primary rules

Rules that directly regulate behavior.

Secondary rules

Rules for creating and enforcing other rules.

Customary international law

Law created through accepted state practices.

Treaty

Formal agreement voluntarily accepted by states.

Obligation

How binding a law is.

Precision

How specific a law is.

Delegation

How much authority is given to organizations or courts.

Hard law

Binding, precise, and highly delegated.

Soft law

Voluntary, vague, and weakly delegated.

Why do states obey international law?

It helps cooperation and reduces uncertainty.

International norm

Shared expectation about appropriate behavior.

Difference between norms and law

Norms may exist without legal rules.

Norm emergence

Stage where entrepreneurs promote a new norm.

Norm cascade

Rapid spread of a norm.

Norm internalization

Norm becomes widely accepted and unquestioned.

Transnational Advocacy Networks (TANs)

NGOs and groups promoting international norms.

Examples of TANs

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Boomerang model

Domestic groups seek international pressure when their government ignores them.

Naming and shaming

Publicly exposing violations to pressure governments.