POSC240 Vocab Exam 1

global politics

Who gets what, how, and when around the globe. Signifies that many interactions in today’s world no longer fit with the term international, which implies that states remain the sole purveyors of global political activity.

intermestic

Characterized by interconnectedness of international and domestic concerns. In decision-making, used to signify the merger of international and domestic concerns.

high-value, low-probability problems

The nature of most problems or threats, in which the likelihood of a given individual being impacted is very low but the consequences if it occurs are very serious.

globalization

A multifaceted concept that represents the increasing integration of economics, communications, and culture across national boundaries.

states

A political actor that has sovereignty and a number of characteristics, including territory, population, organization, and recognition.

anarchy

concept identifying the lack of a governing authority in the global system and the implications it has on global interactions.

intergovernmental organizations (IGOs)

Organizations that are global or regional in membership and scope and whose members are states.

nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)

Formal legal entities distinct from the state, often operating not for profit, and primarily composed of individuals.

Multinational corporations (MNCs)

Private enterprises that have production subsidiaries or branches in more than one country.

peace of westphalia

The peace agreement signed in 1648 to end the Thirty Years War, effectively removing papal authority for dispute settlement in Europe. Viewed as the starting point for the modern nation-state system.

global north-global south divide

(or North-South divide) The economic disparities between the developed North and underdeveloped South that are the roots of tension in global forums. To a large degree, this cleavage is a legacy of colonialism.

theory

An interconnected set of ideas and concepts that seeks to explain why things happen and how events and trends relate to one another. Theories allow us to explain and even predict the occurrence of various phenomena.

realism

The view that world politics is driven by competitive self-interest and that the central dynamic of the global system is a struggle for power among states as each tries to preserve or improve its military security and economic welfare.

zero-sum game

A contest in which gains by one player can only be achieved by equal losses for other players.

classical realism

A branch of realist thought that believes the root cause of conflict is the aggressive nature of humans.

neorealism

A branch of realist thought that attributes the self-interested struggle for power among countries to the anarchic nature of the global system.

rational actors

The idea that people in general aim to maximize their utility and profit from action taken rather than acting against their self-interest.

balance of power

A concept that describes the degree of equilibrium (balance) or disequilibrium (imbalance) of power between and among powerful actors in the global or regional system.

liberalism

The view that people and the countries representing them are capable of cooperating to achieve common goals, often through global organizations and according to international law.

positive-sum game

A contest in which gains by one or more players can be achieved without being offset by losses for other players.

cosmopolitanism

An understanding and appreciation of the shared human experience and the ties that bind people together across nations, borders, and cultures.

liberal internationalism

A theoretical perspective that seeks to transform international relations to emphasize peace, individual freedom, and prosperity by replicating models of liberal democracy globally through various foreign policy objectives.

classical liberalism

A branch of liberal thought that attributes cooperation to human nature and the understanding that people can achieve more collectively than individually.

neoliberalism

The branch of liberalism that recognizes the inherent conflict in an anarchic global system but asserts it can be eased by building global and regional organizations and processes that allow actors to cooperate for their mutual benefit.

complex interdependence

The broad and deep dependence of issues and actors in the contemporary global political system that many scholars believe is a by-product of globalization, evident in how international institutions have emerged to “govern” the multiple and complex interactions.

world systems theory

The view that global politics is an economic society brought about by the spread of capitalism and characterized by a hierarchy of countries and regions based on a gap in economic circumstance.

marxist theory

The philosophy of Karl Marx that the economic order determines political and social relationships. Thus, history, the current situation, and the future are determined by the economic struggle, which is termed dialectical materialism.

imperialism

A term nearly synonymous with colonialism, recalling the empire building of the European powers in the 19th century. The empires were built by conquering and subjugating Southern countries.

center/core

refers to the main hubs of global politics and the economy (mostly Global North countries) where wealth, power, and capital are highly concentrated, making them the focal points around which global influence revolves

periphery

According the Marxist theory, countries in the Global South that are exploited by the countries in the Global North (center/core) for their cheap labor, natural resources, or as dumping grounds for pollution or surplus production.

dependency theory

The view of global politics as an economic system in which the Global South is dependent upon and disadvantaged by the Global North as a perpetuation of the imperialist relationships established in previous centuries

semi-periphery

Those countries that do not occupy a commanding position in the global economy but that serve an important function or fill an important niche in the global system, supporting the primacy of the center/core countries.

constructivism

The view that changing ideas, norms, and identities of global actors shape global politics.

feminist theory

A collection of theoretical approaches that analyze the role of gender in global politics.

Liberal (or orthodox) feminism

The belief that gender equality is best achieved through political and legal reform so that women have equal access and equal opportunity in the workplace, politics, and other public spaces.

Critical (or radical) feminism

The belief that gender equality is best achieved when we restructure the system in order to change what society values in terms of work, leadership, and politics and what society constructs as normal.

fungible

The idea that power of one type (e.g., military power) is not necessarily transferable or applicable to other policy areas. Thus, military power might not prove helpful in the financial or environmental sector.

hard power

The use or threatened use of material power assets by an actor to compel one or more other actors to undertake or not undertake a desired action. relies on coercion.

soft power

The use or prospective use of material or ideational power assets by an actor to induce another actor or actors to undertake a desired action or not undertake an undesirable one. relies on persuasion.

levels-of-analysis approach

A social scientific approach to the study of global politics that analyzes phenomena from different perspectives (system, state, individual).

behavioralism

A strand of intellectual study of global politics that focused on employing scientific methods to the study of social phenomena. Behavioral analysts believe that social science can be studied in ways similar to those employed in the biological and physical sciences.

individual-level analysis

Emphasizes the ways in which people shape the conduct of global politics.

bounded rationality

A concept that rational choices of individuals are bound or limited by time pressures, imperfect information, and biases that influence those choices.

cognitive consistency

The tendency of individuals to hold fast to prevailing views of the world and to discount contradictory ideas and information in the process.

cognitive dissonance

A discordant psychological state in which an individual attempts to process information contradicting his or her prevailing understanding of a subject.

optimistic bias

The psychological tendency of individuals—particularly those in power—to overrate their own potential for success and underrate their own potential for failure.

hawkish

In foreign policy, a term used to describe individuals and/or attitudes that favor a more aggressive, coercive, “hard-line” position and approach often predicated on military strength.

heuristic devices

A range of psychological strategies that allow individuals to simplify complex decisions.

gender opinion gap

The difference in attitudes on various issues between those identifying as male and those identifying as female along any one of a number of dimensions, including foreign policy preferences.

operational code

How an individual acts in a given situation, based on a combination of one’s fundamental world-view and understanding of the nature of politics.

state-level analysis

Emphasizes the characteristics of states and how they make and implement foreign policy choices.

regime type

The type of government prevailing in a given society.

salient

The degree of which an issue, question, or problem can be said to resonate with or “matter” to the general public.

bureaucracy

The bulk of the state’s administrative structure that continues to serve the public even when political leaders change.

overstretch

A concept developed by historians that suggests a recurring tendency of powerful actors to overextend themselves by taking on costly foreign policy commitments that deplete their finances and generate domestic discord.

political culture

A concept that refers to a society’s long-held and fundamental practices and attitudes. These are based on a country’s historical experiences and the values (norms) of its population.

information and communications technology

An umbrella term referring to any communication device or application encompassing radio, television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware and software, satellite systems, and various services and applications.

resource curse theory

Focuses on the difficulties experienced by many resource-rich countries in benefiting from their resource wealth.

system-level analysis

Focuses on identifying and assessing the constraints and opportunities that the global system imposes on state and nonstate actors alike. Also focuses analysis on how different system structures can shape behavior of actors within a system.

transaction costs

Impediments to commercial or other cooperative ventures stemming from a lack of trust between and among involved parties rooted in concerns about the enforceability of agreements.

transnational

Social, political, economic, and cultural activities and processes that transcend and permeate the borders and authority of states.

unipolar system

A type of international system that describes a single country with complete global hegemony or preponderant power.

bipolar system

A type of international system with two roughly equal actors or coalitions of actors that divide the international system into two “poles” or power centers.

multipolar system

A world political system in which power is primarily held by four or more international actors.

hegemony

A systemic arrangement whereby one predominantly powerful actor possesses both the disproportionate material capabilities and the will to enforce a set of rules to lend order and structure to that system.

rogue state

A state that is perceived to be in noncompliance with the majority of prevailing rules, norms, and laws in the global system and therefore constituting a threat to order.

authoritarian

A type of restrictive governmental system in which people are under the rule of an individual, such as a dictator or king, or a group, such as a party or military junta.

nation

A group of culturally and historically similar people who share a communal bond and desire self-government.

self-determination

The concept that a people should have the opportunity to follow their own political destiny through self-government.

ethnonationalism

The desire of an ethnic community to have full authority over its political affairs—often marked by the pursuit of self-determination by that community.

nationalism

The belief that the nation is the ultimate basis of political loyalty and that nations should have self-governing states.

nation-state

A politically organized territory that recognizes no higher law and whose population politically identifies with that entity.

failed states

Countries in which the state is unable to effectively maintain order and provide public goods due to political upheaval, economic instability, crime and lawlessness, violence, ethnic and cultural divides, and other destabilizing forces.

holy roman empire

The domination and unification of a political territory in western and central Europe that lasted from its inception with Charlemagne in 800 to the renunciation of the imperial title by Francis II in 1806.

protestant reformation

The religious movement initiated by Martin Luther in Germany in 1517 that rejected the Catholic Church as the necessary intermediary between people and God.

thirty and eighty years wars

Two partly concurrent periods of declared and undeclared warfare during the 16th and 17th centuries throughout Europe involving the Holy Roman Empire and various opponents of its centralizing imperial rule.

enlightenment

An 18th- and 19th-century Western social and intellectual movement focused on the advancement of science, knowledge, and human rationality.

popular sovereignty

A political doctrine holding that sovereign political authority ultimately resides with the citizens of a state, to whom a state’s rulers are accountable.

social contract

A concept associated with liberal political philosophy referring to an implicit understanding between citizens and government detailing their mutual obligations.

monarchism

A political system that is organized, governed, and defined by the idea of the divine right of kings, or the notion that because a person is born into royalty, he or she is meant to rule.

colonialism

The policy or practice by which a powerful and often distant state acquires political and territorial control over a territory and society, creating a dependent relationship through occupying it with settlers and exploiting it economically.

totalitarianism

A political system in which the ruling regime recognizes no limit to its authority and seeks to regulate and control all aspects of public and private life.

decolonization

The undoing of colonialism, or the unequal relation of polities in which one people or nation establishes and maintains dependent territory over another.

political communities

As defined by the political scientist Karl W. Deutsch (1957), social groups with a process of political communication, some machinery for establishing and enforcing collective agreements, and some popular habits of compliance with those agreements.

democracy

A system of government that at minimum extends to citizens a range of political rights and a range of civil liberties that are important to free government.

xenophobia

Fear of foreigners or other “out-groups.”

exceptionalism

The belief of some that their nation or group is better than others.

nativism

A political attitude demanding favored treatment for established inhabitants of a nation-state and resisting the presence or claims of newer immigrants.

microstates

Countries with small populations that cannot survive economically without outside aid or that are so weak militarily that they are inviting targets for foreign intervention.

fascism

An ideology that advocates extreme nationalism, with a heightened sense of national belonging or ethnic identity and total loyalty to the leader.

state of nature

A theoretical time in human history when people lived independently or in family groups and there were no societies of nonrelated individuals or governments.

state sovereignty

A central tenet of global politics first established in the Treaty of Westphalia, which holds that the administrative unit of the state has the sole right to govern its territory and people, free from outside interference.

diplomatic recognition

The formal recognition of one state’s sovereignty by another, extended through the establishment of an embassy and/or consular relations. it is a key criterion of state sovereignty, bc independence depends partly on how other countries view and accept it

hybrid warfare

combo of traditional war (military and force) and non-traditional (cyberattacks)

gross domestic product (GDP)

A measure of income within a country that excludes foreign earnings and is often used as a primary indicator of a country’s economic performance and standing.

global civil society

The realm of ideas, values, institutions, organizations, networks, and individuals located between the society, the state, and the market and operating outside and apart from the confines of national societies, polities, and economic structures.

transnational advocacy networks (TANs)

A group of relevant actors bound together by shared values, a common discourse, and a dense exchange of information. these are organized around promoting principles and ideas with the goal of changing the behavior and policy of states and IGOs.

norms

Ideas that come to be shared by the majority of the population in a given society, such that they become the basis for assessing and regulating social conduct and behavior.

transnational crime

The accelerated and illicit movement of drugs, counterfeit goods, smuggled weapons and small arms, laundered money, trafficked humans and organs, and piracy from the high seas to cyberspace.

european union (eu)

The European regional organization established in 1993 when the Maastricht Treaty went into effect that encompasses the still legally existing European Communities, including the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Economic Community, and the European Atomic Energy Community.