CPO2001 MID TERM REVIEW - Essentials (+Readings and Cases) of Comparative Politics 2022

What is comparative politics?

the study and comparison of domestic politics across countries

What are institutions?

organizations that embody the rules, norms, and values that give meaning to human activity and are deeply embedded in our lives

What is the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning? (In this order)

going from specific to general vs. going from general to specific

What is multicausality?

when many variables interact to produce particular outcomes

What is endogeneity?

the problem of distinguishing cause and effect

What is the modernization theory?

the idea that as societies developed, they would become capitalist democracies, converging around a set of shared values and characteristics

What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative? (in this order)

depth over breadth vs. breadth over depth

What makes a formal institution different from an informal one? (in this order)

One is based in official sanction rules while the other is unwritten and unofficial, yet no less powerful

What does Max Weber define a state as?

the organization that maintains a monopoly on violence

Why does a state need sovereignty?

so it has the ability to carry out actions and policies within a territory independently of external actors and internal rivals (it would need to use the continuous threat of force to maintain order otherwise)

What is an example of a state?

Ex. France, Germany, Canada, etc.

What is an example of a regime?

Ex. Democratic rule, Authoritarian rule, etc.

What is an example of a government?

Ex. the administrations of Donald Trump, Xi Jinping, Emmanuel Macron, etc.

How institutionalized are states, regimes, and governments? (in this order)

they range from extremely institutionalized to barely institutionalized

How does consensus differ from coercion? (in this order)

people coming together to protect themselves and create common rules vs. individuals brought together by a ruler who imposes authority and monopolizes power

According to the text, what likely induced state building and creation?

circumstances where the inherent conflict between people intersected with agricultural technology, population density, and urbanization

What is the importance of the Treaty of Westphalia?

it established state sovereignty in Europe

Why do newer states often face significant challenges when it comes to sovereignty?

they often lack resources, infrastructure, shared national identities, and capital compared to their older, more institutionalized counterparts

What is legitimacy?

a value whereby an institution is accepted by the public as right and proper, thus giving it authority and power

What are some examples of states with traditional legitimacy? (era sensitive)

Ex. Kingdom of Great Britain, the Empire of Japan, Kingdom of France, etc.

What are some examples of states with charismatic legitimacy? (era sensitive)

Ex. the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea, the First French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte, Nazi Germany, etc.

What are some examples of states with rational-legal legitimacy? (era sensitive)

Ex. the United States of America, the French Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, etc.

What is the main quality of charismatic legitimacy?

it is not institutionalized and thus fairly tenuous

How does a federal state differ from a unitary state? (in this order)

one devolves power to regional bodies while the other centralizes more power at the national level

What is federal asymmetry?

when power is divided unevenly between regional bodies

What is devolution?

the decentralization of power to regions and local governments

What can devolution do to a state's legitimacy?

it increases, by moving political power to the people

What are the main differences between a strong, weak, and failed state? (ranged in this order)

they range from a good ability to fulfill basic tasks to an inability to do the same

What is capacity?

the ABILITY of a sate to carry out basic tasks

What is autonomy?

the FREEDOM of a state to carry out its basic tasks, outside of internal or external interference

What is an example of a state with high autonomy and high capacity? (in general)

Ex. China, Japan, etc.

What is an example of a state with high autonomy and low capacity? (in general)

Ex. Russia, etc.

What is an example of a state with low autonomy and high capacity? (in general)

Ex. the United States, Canada, etc.

What is an/are example(s) of a state with low autonomy and low capacity?

Ex. developing countries, weak states

What is society?

broadly, a collection of people bound by shared institutions that define how human relations should be conducted

What is ethnicity or ethnic identity?

a set of institutions that bind people together through common culture and is ascribed at birth.

What best describes the majority of countries on earth in terms of ethnic diversity?

most states are not ethnically homogenous and are made up of various ethnic groups (rarely are society and ethnicity the same)

What is the main set of attributes that differs one ethnicity from another?

there are none, differences range and are often vague or even undetectable at first glance

What is a nation?

a group that desires self-government, inherently political

What is national identity?

an institution that binds people together through common political aspirations

What does national identity often develop from?

usually from ethnic identity, but not always (as seen in the United States)

What is nationalism?

a pride in ones PEOPLE

What is patriotism?

a pride in ones STATE

What does nationalism require?

there must exist a people (nationality)

What does patriotism require?

there must exist a state

What is citizenship?

an individual's relationship to the state, wherein they swear allegiance to that state and the state in return is obligated to provide rights to those people

Why is national identity different from ethnic identity? (nationalism being the subject)

it differs in that it specifically implies political aspirations and a drive for sovereignty

What is a nation state?

A state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity

How does ethnic conflict differ from national conflict? (in this order)

one is defined by conflict between ethnic groups to achieve certain political or economic goals whereas the other seeks to gain (or prevent one from gaining) sovereignty

Why do national and ethnic conflicts break out?

primarily over society (ethnic heterogeneity), economy (struggle for resources), or politics (state or regime issues)

How do political attitudes differ from political ideologies? (in this order)

one focuses on the PACE and SCOPE of change towards the IDEAS that the other presents

What do radicals believe?

that dramatic or revolutionary change of existing political structures is needed

What do liberals believe? (in terms of political attitudes)

that evolutionary change through the current system of government is needed rather than revolution

What do conservatives believe?

that little to no change is needed in the government, pursues the status-quo of political institutions

What do reactionaries believe?

that a restoration of past political institutions is needed

What makes attitudes dependent on context?

attitudes are in relation to the standing government, which varies across the globe (ex. Chinese conservatives verses American conservatives)

What is the ideology of liberalism?

an aptitude for more individual political and economic freedom

What is the ideology of liberal democracy?

an aptitude for balance between liberal and communist ideologies (freedom and equality)

What is the ideology of communism?

an aptitude for more government control over personal liberties and prioritizes equality

What is the ideology of Fascism?

an aptitude for social hierarchy, rejects freedom and equality in preference for the state

What is the ideology of anarchism?

an aptitude for the dissolution of the state

What is the ideology of fundamentalism?

an aptitude to unite religion with the state

What is political culture?

a society's norms for political activity

Why are political and economic institutions similar?

they are hard to replace or change once they have been constructed

What is political economy?

how politics and economics are related (how their relationship tilts the balance of freedom and equality

What are markets?

the interaction between forces of supply and demand, hard for the state to control properly as they form spontaneously

What is property?

the ownership of goods and services exchanged through markets

What are property rights?

rights given to citizens regarding the ownership of goods and services (this is MALEABLE by the state in different economic systems)

How do public goods and social expenditures differ? (in this order)

one is provided to the state as a whole (whether or not the people decide to use them) while the other is only given to those who are determined by the state as requiring greater care (unemployed, children, elderly, disabled, etc.)

Who do social expenditures tend to benefit?

ironically, the middle class rather than the poor

What is Gross Domestic Product (GDP)?

the total market value of goods and services produced by one country in a year

What is money? Who manages it?

a creation by the state (managed by the state) created to be a medium of exchange

What does the central bank do?

it controls how much money is flowing throughout the economy and how much it costs to borrow

Why may a central bank lower interest rates?

it is done in order to stimulate the economy

Why may central bank raise interest rates?

it is done to check inflation

What is inflation?

an increase in the general level of prices

When does inflation become hyperinflation?

when it is higher than 50% a month for more than two months in a row

When does deflation occur?

when too many goods are chasing too little money

What is a monopoly?

a market entirely controlled by a single producer

What are the three ways in which a state can regulate trade?

it may use tariffs (taxes imported goods), quotas (limit the quantity of imports), and nontariff regulatory barriers (any other restriction that makes it difficult to sell specific imported goods)

What is comparative advantage?

the ability to produce a particular good or service more efficiently than other countries

Why might a state want to regulate trade?

to generate revenue, foster local industry, protect local jobs, or keep wealth in the country.

Why might a state not want to regulate trade?

to promote competition, keep the costs of goods low, or stimulate domestic innovation in areas of comparative advantage

What is a political-economic system?

the actual relationship between political and economic institutions in a particular country, as well as the policies and outcomes they create (can be seen as the attempt to realize abstract ideology in the form of real economic institutions and policies)

Which ideologies have no political-economic counterpart?

they are anarchism and fascism

What is the political-economic system of liberalism?

the practice of limited state intervention on the market, laissez-faire economics

Which states are reported as sharing liberal economic systems?

Ex. the United States, Singapore, the U.K., etc.

Are all liberal economic states liberal politically?

they are not always liberal politically, (ex. Singapore, Bahrain, U.A.E., etc.)

What is the political-economic system of social democracy?

the economic balance of freedom and equality, limited (but wholly present) state intervention on the economy, pioneered by Eduard Bernstein

Where are social-democratic economic systems most common?

they are more common in Europe, especially in Scandinavia

What is the political-economic system of communism?

the control of the economy entirely by the state in order to foster equality, squashes internal competition

What is the political-economic system of mercantilism?

it focuses on the economic needs of the state on an international scale, left over from early imperialism, and may rely on partial or full state ownership of specific industries (sometimes called PARASTATALS)

Do countries today still use mercantilist economic systems?

some common examples of modern mercantilist states exist in Japan and South Korea, although they are much less so compared to their historical practices

What is a common criticism of mercantilism?

often inefficient industries survive only because they are protected from outside competition

What does Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) do to the perception of GDP?

it calculates GDP by taking into account the cost of living and buying power of states into account, better top measure wealth as an aspect of quality of life

What is the Gini index?

a mathematical formula that measures the amount of economic inequality in a society on a scale from 0 to 100 (complete equality being 0 and complete inequality being 100)

In what kind of states is inequality most prevalent?

it is more prevalent in very poor states

What does the Human Development Index do?

it assesses health, education, and wealth of a population, created by the United Nations

What is happiness in terms of comparative politics?

the result of the interaction between freedom and equality, generally more prevalent in richer countries but it does not constitute a function of ones relative wealth

What has happened to economic liberalization in recent years?

though it saw a dramatic increase in the late 20th century, it has slowed following the mid 2000s and possibly decreased in a few notable cases