GOV312L Exam Questions

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What are institutions?

Rules of the game in a society/humanly designed constraints that shape interactions

What is the difference between institutions and organizations?

Institutions are rules and organizations are actors

What are some examples of institutions in domestic and international politics?

How international institutions shape international politics through guiding behavior and shaping expectations

How international institutions shape \n international politics through providing information about state interests and incentives to \n comply

How international institutions shape \n international politics through allocating and generating power for states

How does U.S. membership in international organizations like the UN, NATO, and \n WTO demonstrate the ability of international institutions to solve a fundamental problem \n of international politics – to create and preserve coercive power and, at the same time, \n constrain that same power?

Describe the tradeoffs associated with participation in international organizations and \n national sovereignty.

States have to delegate some of their decision-making agency to IOs since IOs will make some domestic decisions for them

What are the two main political bodies of the UN?

General Assembly and Security Council

How do the General Assembly and Security Council confer legitimacy?

Which states have the most power within the General Assembly and Security Council?

Security Council: US, Russia, UK, France, China

Why does the United States participate in the United Nations and often abide by its \n decisions when it could just ignore it instead (because it possesses much greater military \n capacity than the UN)?

UN can legitimize the US’ decisions and recieving this political legitimacy makes it more likely the international community will support the US

According to the reading (Section 21.2), what is interstate cooperation?

International cooperation between different states/countries, usually achieved through IOs

What are some of the primary impediments state face when trying to reach cooperative settlements \n with each other?

Collective action problem

According to the reading, (Sections 21.2, 21.3, 21.4), what are the incentives for global \n governance through international institutions?

Reduce transaction costs and externalities, contribution will allow state access to public goods, and enforcement. self-enforcement so that states have no reason to cheat, allowing other states to retaliate in the WTO, and indirectly punishing states for acting without international approval

(Sections 21.2, 21.3, 21.4), How are efforts at global governance \n confronted by the collective action problem?

States agree on a common goal that will lead to more good, but there are few incentives for a state to help pay for that goal to be accomplished, so they rely on the fact someone else will do it.

(Sections 21.2, 21.3, 21.4) Once international agreements are established, what types of problems of compliance and enforcement do international \n organizations face?

Self enforcement (states have no reason to cheat), diffuse enforcement (enforcement is provided by central members instead of central authrority), WTO legal framework, etc

What are the Cold War origins of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)?

The goals of NATO were to contain Russia and to keep American protection in Western Europe

What did Lord Ismay mean when he said the goal of NATO was “to keep the Russians \n out, the Americans in, and the Germans down”?

The goals of NATO was to keep Russia from expanding, to make sure the US could protect them, and to maintain Germany as a low level threat

What are the two main dilemmas facing NATO and how has the Trump administration addressed these dilemmas?

European shirking and US as a reluctant hegemon

According to lecture and the reading (Section 19.1), what is democracy? Describe \n Robert Dahl’s three “procedural minimal” conditions of democracy.

Democracy is a type of government where leaders are chosen through competitive elections. Democracy requires public contestion, inclusion, and democratic sovereignty are needed to have competitive elections

What are the major historical expansions of voting rights during American history and how have \n expanded voting rights affected descriptive representation of women and ethnic \n minorities? How has universal suffrage affected election outcomes?

Expansion of white male democracy, 15th ammendment, 19th ammendment, The Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the 26th ammendment. Expanding who gets to participate in democracy legitimizes the political system, makes legislature more diverse, and completely change voting outcomes

According to the reading (Section 19.2), how does democracy affect foreign policy?

Democracies are less likely to get away with passing laws that only benefit one group of people since more groups now get a say in policy-making AND punishment mechanism that pressures governments to make laws only the majority favors

Explain how mass participation through elections expands the range of societal interests \n that can affect foreign policy. (Section 19.2)

Certain groups have different political beliefs, so having more inclusive voting allows fo those opinions to also be expressed

Explain how competitive elections create a punishment \n mechanism that influences foreign policy. (Section 19.2)

According to lecture and the reading, (Section 19.3), what is the democratic peace \n theory?

Democratic states are unlikely to be hostile to other democratic states

How do the factors that contribute to democracy’s influence over foreign policy in general – electoral constraints, institutional constraints on power such as checks and balances, and a shared democratic identity – help to explain peaceful relations between democracies?

Electoral contraints raise the political costs of war, checks and balances make peace settlements more durable by solving commitment problem, and shared democratic identity creates less public support for fighting other democracies

According to the reading (Section 19.4), what are some critiques of the democratic \n peace theory?

“Democratic” states do not fight each other because they are democratic, but because they have shared goals or enemies

How and why has Democracy Promotion been a more or less important element within U.S. foreign policy over the years?

More democracies in the world meant more possible potential trade partners and allies, the US wanted to stop spread of Communism, 90s was height of optimism for spreading democracy, counter terrorism. However, the negative effects of Iran War led to less democracy promotion. After the Ukraine War, there is now more emphasis on promoting democracy

Describe some of the efforts by the United States to promote democracy around the \n world. What are the political challenges associated with American efforts to promote \n democracy?

Promotion of democracy requires interfering with the affairs of other states and potentially creating conflict with neighboring states

Using the module’s reading (Section 19.5), describe historical waves of democracy

3 historical waves of democracy: 19-20th century before WWI, after WWII, 1970s-1980s

Demonstration Effects

When actors attempt to replicate an event that happens in another state in order to replicate their effects. Examples: fall of Berlin Wall and Tunisian mass demonstrations 19-20th century before WWI: democracies were rare

According to the Krasner reading, what are the two main tendencies within US foreign policy regarding democracy promotion and dealing with authoritarian regimes?

In general, the US either attempts to mold countries into their own image through democratization or still practice these values but don’t impose democracy on other countries

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What third option does Krasner propose in how the U.S. should deal with long-standing \n dictatorships?

Rational choice institutionalism. Elites are willing to tie their own hands and adopt policies that benefit the population as a whole only in under certain conditions, so the US shouldn’t enforce their own policies but instead cooperate with dictators

According to the textbook reading (Section 26.2), what are the chief indicators of the \n increase of globalization since World War II?

Increased number of exports, increased GDP, and increased integration of economies

According to the reading (Section 26.3), what is comparative advantage and how does \n it contribute to aggregate economic gains for states from trade?

States will make more money by producing the goods that are most efficient to produce and trading for the things they need instead of trying to produce everything they need

How does trade contribute to the economic sources of order in the international system? (Section 26.3)

It makes people richer through specialization

According to lecture and the reading (Section 26.3), what is the Ricardian model of \n trade?

Theory of Comparative Advantage. Governments can boost national income by promoting international trade and specialization. Eliminate all trade barriers. They produce a good, sell their surplus, and use surplus to obtain goods they need. You cannot determine trade flow by just comparing the cost of production of a single good tho

Describe the processes by which it suggests that trade and specialization can increase aggregate national income. (Section 26.3)

Exporting goods they have a surplus of allows for a bigger market to make money off of. Additionally, states can instead import the goods they need and would be cheaper to import instead of attempting to make domestically.

If trade makes states wealthier, why is there political resistance to globalization?

Globalization alters the distribution of income within an economy, so some states impose tariffs to protect industries

According to lecture and reading (Section 27.3), what are the domestic distributional \n consequences of globalization?

Even though international trade increases national wealth, some groups see gains and others see losses. International trade also creates jobs in sectors that rely disproportionately in resources that US posesses in abundance

Which groups win and lose from globalization inside the United States? (Section 27.3)

Manufacturing sector has declined and tech and financial services have grown. Groups that rely on abundant resources grow, but groups that rely on scarce materials decline

According to the reading (Section 27.3), what is the Heckscher-Ohlin model of trade?

Globalization altars the distribution of income within an economy.

What does the H-O model of trade demonstrate about the relationship between access to the international market and redistribution of income within countries? (Section 27.3)

How do trade and globalization shape political relations and order in the international \n system?

Industries across nations are trading with each other, so governments form their foreign policy in order to make this trade and production more or less expensive

Why did the United States launch a trade war against China in 2018?

Trump Administration grand strategy of “America First”, to protect steel and manufacturing industry which China was “hurting”, US wanted China to protect foreign intellectual property, and there was a trade deficit which indicated unfair trade policies

What are some of the important stages in this trade war between China and the United \n States?

4 rounds of tariffs applied July 2018, Fall 2018, June 2019, and Fall 2019 to agricultural goods, steel, raw iron, machinery, etc. Trade war eased in 2020 but then pandemic undermined it

How have domestic political considerations (and the distributional consequences of trade) in the United States contributed to this trade war?

COVID-19 Pandemic

What does globalization in financial terms look like?

More economies that are influenced by each other

According to the reading (Section 28 – Introduction, Section 28.2), what is an exchange rate? How do shifts in exchange rates alter patterns of imports and exports? How can exchange rate changes influence trade policy?

Exchange rate is the price at which one currency can be traded for another currency. When a state’s currency is weaker compared to another’s, they’ll import less but export more. When it is stronger, they’ll import more and export less.

According the reading (Section 28.3), what is the Mundell-Fleming Trilemma?

You can have two of the following: monetary policy autonomy, exchange rate flexibility, and capital mobility. But not all three. Trade off: exchange rate stability. Result is that the US currency is a floating currency (determined by the market)

How does this trilemma highlight the tradeoffs for states as they strive to achieve three goals: \n monetary policy autonomy, exchange rate flexibility, and capital mobility?

monetary policy autonomy and fixed exchange rate: no capital flow (mobility).

monetary policy autonomy and capital flow: can’t have a fixed exchange rate

capital mobility and exchange rate flexibility: the government needs to peg their currency to another existing currency

According to lecture and the reading (Section 28.4), what is a trade deficit?

When a state imports more than it exports.

How are trade deficits related to foreign capital inflows and investment in the United States? (Section 28.4)

Since the US dollar is strong, it can discourage other states from importing goods from the US, which leads to trade deificits. As a result, US needs to borrow money from foreign countries to balance out trade deficit. Foreign capital flows into US in form of investment into US Treasury bonds

What is the political significance of the dollar’s reserve currency status in the global economy?

Many international transactions occur in dollars because it is regarded as the “safetest currency”. It also ensures domestic and international capital holders provide financial resources to pay for these policies. United States gets political and economic power

How can global capital markets discipline or influence the economic policy of governments?

When foreign capital holders lose confidence in a government's monetary policy, they tend to sell assets denominated in that currency

What emergency actions did the Federal Reserve undertake to help prevent a broader global financial crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Extend credit to all types of business, banks, and local and state governments. Direct lending to state + local governments and foreign banks so they don’t sell their US Treasury bonds.

How does the status of the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency of the global economy help the Federal Reserve to take such dramatic steps during the pandemic to support the U.S. economy? How is this related to the Hegemonic Stability Theory?

Since US has been center of global economy since 1919, there is huge dependence on the US economy which indicates that US has hegemony over global economy

What do the Fed’s actions say about the costs and benefits of American hegemony/leadership in the global economy?

US spends a lot of money in order to invest into the rest of the world, however, it gains huge economic benefits from doing so and promotes US hegemony in the specific instance since it gets to gain trillions of dollar with almost 0 interest

According to lecture and the reading (Section 30.2), what is the Bretton Woods economic order?

There will be a gold standard

What were the main forces that served as an impetus for the U.S. to construct the Bretton Woods order? (Section 30.2)

To create more economic growth through international trade to prevent anything similar to the Great Depression and WWII from happening

What are the main organizations that emerged from \n Bretton Woods?

World Trade Organization (WTO) and GATT

According to lecture and the reading (Section 30.1), what are the main elements of international economic cooperation?

Joint reduction in trade barriers, monetary cooperation (countries coordinate monetary policies to preserve stable exchange rates), foreign aid, and emergency lending

Why is political cooperation between states on \n international economic affairs difficult to achieve? (Section 30.1)

Uncertainty about political interests of other states, states cheat in long-term contracts, distributional hurdles (which side is getting a better deal), and its hard to monitor other states

How might international economic organizations, like the WTO and the IMF, facilitate economic cooperation among states and higher levels of international trade?

Provide enforcement mechanisms (WTO judicial panel and IMF conditionality), help reveal information about states’ interests, monitor compliance, reduce distributional challenges

According to lecture and the reading (Section 30.3), what is the GATT and what is the \n WTO?

World Trade Organization and General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade. GATT is precursot to WTO. Both are multilateral international organizations designed to reduce trade barriers

How do these organizations differ? What are some of the norms, principles, and rules associated with the GATT and WTO?

GATT has no enforcement mechanisms, but WTO has judicial panel that could punish states

How does the dispute settlement mechanism \n in the WTO support international trade?

States who were victims of being cheated in trade can file a grievance, and the complaint is settled in court by WTO judicial panel. If the state wins, the WTO will set up economic sanctions against the offending country as compensation

According to lecture and the reading (Section 30.4), what is the International Monetary Fund?

A collective amount of money used to help states whose economies are depressing. Each state contributes to the fund

What are its main functions? What is the main source of its influence in the international economy? (Section 30.4)

It “acts like a bank”, limits exchange rate fluctuations (to prevent currency wars), and lends money to struggling governments

(Section 30.4) What is conditionality and how does the IMF use it to promote economic reforms within countries?

The IMF uses conditionality in order for the country to cut trade barriers or undergo reforms before it can be eligible for a/additional loans.

(Section 30.4) hy does the U.S. have so much influence within the IMF?

It contributes the most to the IMF (over 16%)

According to the reading (Section 33.1), what is the basic scientific claim about the causes and extent of climate change?

It exists and it’s caused by a growing amount of greenhouse gases in the atosphere

What are the main environmental consequences \n that scientists fear will result from climate change?

Rising temperature averages, rising sea levels

What countries and regions will be \n most affected by climate change (see Section 33.2)?

Lower-income states and states near the equator

According to lecture and the reading (Section 33.3), what is the tragedy of the commons?

Even though it would be more beneficial long-term to cooperate together, it is more beneficial to immediately not cooperate. To prevent being out-competed by the other, both parties will not cooperate. After awhile, not cooperating to conserve resources leads to depletion of the entire resource

Why is it rational for individuals to overuse public goods?

It is more beneficial to themselves to use as much of the public good as possible, even though it is not beneficial long-term

How does this phenomenon help to explain the difficulty of managing the sustainable use of commonly held public property? Know some examples

Atmosphere, bodies of water, fisheries, oil fields, grazing fields

What is an externality?

A situation that affects an uninvolved 3rd actor

How might it be applied to the challenges of \n managing climate change?

States agree that carbon emissions need to be cut down as a whole, but there are few incentives for a state to commit to a policy that will help accomplish that, so they rely on the fact someone else will do it.

What are some of the political solutions to the collective action problem in the case of carbon dioxide emissions?

Penalize non-compliance or coerce states into participating in reducing carbon emission efforts

What are the three different distributional struggles related to the problem of climate \n change?

According to lecture and the reading (Section 33.6), what is the Paris climate accord?

Agreement between 190 nations to reduce global carbon emissions

How did it navigate the tension between developed and developing countries?

X should bear the most responsibility for reducing carbon emissions

What are the main components of the Paris Climate Accord? How should it operate to limit the growth of carbon dioxide emissions?

Two main components: states do not adopt legally-binding emission targets + instead volunteer their own goals AND get developed countries to transfer 100 billion to developing countries. Pressure countries to reduce their emissions

Which group of countries will be the recipients of foreign aid under the Paris Climate \n Accord?

Developing countries

How did this aid help facilitate the construction of this international agreement? And how might this aid help countries fulfill their emission targets?

Since developing countries do not have the same resources to invest into more environmentally friendly ways of manufacturing and production, this aid will help “lift” them out of poverty without contributing to climate change

What is a Nationally Determined Contribution?

State’s own voluntary pledge to reduce carbon emissions

Describe how President Obama’s use of executive orders to commit to the Paris climate accord made the U.S. commitment to the agreement vulnerable. How did President Biden reverse President Trump’s decisions on the Paris climate \n accord? Why would other countries potentially question the stability of the U.S. commitment to the agreement of a Democratic president reenters the Paris accord?

Since it was an executive order, it can be easily reversed. However, Biden re-entered the Paris Climate Agreement after Trump withdrew from it, and then designated a “climate” envoy and integrated climate change into all diplomatic relationships. Since climate change is a partisan issue, so when one side is in power it cooperates with climate issues, but whe the other side comes to power, it undos the progress done

According to the Baker reading, what are the economic and national security benefits \n of ambitious U.S. leadership in combatting climate change?

Economic growth and environmental protection are not mutually exclusive and US already has comparative advantage in low-emission manufacturing so stronger environemntal protections would provide equal playing field for American companies. Also benefits national security since the winner of the clean energy race sets the rules of the new clean energy economy (hegemony)

What are the four pillars of the Baker-Schultz plan to reduce carbon emissions?

1. Economy-wide, revenue neutral carbon fee
2. Revenue from carbon fee returned to American citizens as dividends
3. Carbon pricing will replace environmental regulations
4. Carbon tariff would be applied to energy-intensive imports to level playing field

According to the reading (Section 32.1), what are the main differences between \n voluntary and forced migration?

One is forced the other is not

Discuss the global patterns of international migration (see Section 32.1). What are the countries with the largest inflows of international migration and which countries have the largest inflows of refugees?

According to the reading (Section 32.2), what are the main types of immigration policy? What are the main differences between merit-based migration policies and family-based migration policies?

According to the reading (Section 32.3), why is there a gap between public opinion regarding the preferred levels of immigration and immigration policies adopted by democracies? How does the collective action problem help to explain this gap?

Public opinion about immigrationis volatile, so government can’t form migration policy fast enough. Additionally, policy formation is “top-bottom” (authority figures attempt to find a solution that will “trickle” down). Also, collective action issue

According to lecture and the reading (Section 32.4), how is international migration a part of the broader phenomenon of globalization?

The movement of labor and people represents increased increased integration into a single economy (aka globalization)

How does the international flow of labor through international migration create winners and losers within domestic economies? (Section 32.4)

What are remittances? How do remittances help to redistribute wealth from wealthy countries to poorer ones (see Section 32.4)?

Remittances is money immigrants send back to their families in their home countries

According to the reading (Section 32.5), how does international migration affect the demographic composition of countries? How do these demographic changes create conflict within countries over issues of national identity?

According to lecture and the reading (Section 32.6), how does international migration intersect with national security?