Social Studies Unit 3: Political Economy

Politics

Decisions about how people live and interact together in society. This often includes the administration and management of state affairs (e.g., taxation, providing healthcare, protecting rights, creating laws, etc.)

Geopolitics

the decision making of government in terms of the geography of the area, on a national and international scale. This often includes interactions between and among groups of countries. (e.g., Determining borders between countries, resolving conflict, creating trade agreements, controlling access to sea and air routes).

Nation-state

an independent nation (group of people) ruled by a government that controls events within clearly marked boundaries.

Sovereignty

the legal concept that the authority of a state is not subject to legal control by another state.

Borders

represent the limits of a nation

Natural borders

territorial limits determined by Earth’s physical features (e.g., a mountain range or river)

Arbitrary borders

are territorial limits determined by human means. These may follow lines of latitude and longitude, or may be the result of conflict and the territory over which a nation-state can exert control.

Arctic Ocean Sovereignty

refers to the struggle between Canada, Russia, Denmark, and the United States over greater access to oil and natural gas reserves in the Arctic region.

Political stability

the general level of predictability associated with the political environment of a nation state. In other words, it is linked to how often changes in governance occur.

Political Instability Index

uses a number of economic and political factors to measure the potential risk of social unrest that exists in a nation state.

Political Risk Score

an indicator that considers political, economic, and operational factors to create a value from 0

Democratic Governments

refers to a system of rule where power is vested in the people, typically exercised through elected representatives.

Authoritarian Governments

characterized by highly concentrated and centralized government power maintained by political repression and the exclusion of potential or supposed challengers by armed force

Economics

the study of scarcity, the study of how people use resources and respond to incentives, or the study of decision-making

Political Systems

The type of government in a state can greatly influence stability, as seen already. For our purposes, the use of democratic and authoritarian government types will be used here.

already. For our purposes, the use of democratic and authoritarian government types will be used here.

Ideology

a system of ideas that forms the basis of economic and political actions.

Communism

believes equality can only be achieved through evolution and elimination of the wealthy class and this is at the expense of the rights of some.

Fascism

sees democracy as weak and diversity in society as unfavourable.

Imperialism

when a country extends its power into other territories for economic or political gain

Capitalism

is based on the idea that the means of production (and therefore the majority of wealth gained from it) should be in the hands of private individuals, not the government.

Socialism

arose as a response to capitalism and involves the government placing legal limits on business to protect the working class.

limits on business to protect the working class.

Right-wing

associated with conservative thought, maintaining the status quo, or of taking a very traditional approach to issues (i.e., maintaining the current order).

Left-wing

more progressive, radical, extreme and in opposition to the status quo (i.e., changing the current order).

Centrist

Many people fall into a middle ground between the two, as they may feel left or right

Nationalism

refers to a person’s identification with and patriotic loyalty to his or her nation and its goals.There are two types of nationalism:

Ethnic Nationalism

is related to common ancestry, homeland, and origin of a group of people. If a nation-state consists of one group of people who identify together, this can promote political stability.

Civic nationalism

focuses on a common territorial homeland as a state that all people (regardless of ancestry) contribute to. It is less about a common cultural heritage and more about building a community within a given geographical space.

Religious fundamentalism

based on strict and unwavering adherence to religious values and is a significant obstacle to political stability.

Fundamentalism

is intolerant of diversity, holding that there is only one acceptable belief system and all other systems must be eliminated. This is sometimes done through violence.

Fragile states

When any form of governance and authority breaks down in a state, the result is almost certainly chaos or anarchy.

Liberal democracies

do not suppress freedoms or interfere with free expression. A separation of government powers (judicial, legislative, executive branches) limit abuses of power, resulting in greater equality and freedom for citizens.

Authoritarian states

are based on the suppression or elimination of political competition. These governments see the ideas of one group (the ruling party or dictator) as the only acceptable ideas.

Intermediate states

are states that share some characteristics of both democracies and authoritarian states or are in transition from one form of government to another.

Ethnic cleansing

the mass expulsion or killing of members of an unwanted ethnic or religious group in a society.

Peacekeeping

actively working to stop or prevent conflict between nations or communities.

Terrorism

actions intended to create fear in a population for political or ideological purposes.

Asymmetric warfare

means that the two sides involved in the conflict are not equal in terms of their weapons and methods.

Global Terrorism Index

provides a score (1-10) that indicates the impact of terrorist activity globally, and in specific regions. The higher the number the greater the risk.

Refugees

a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

Counterterrorism

involves efforts to contain the threat posed by terrorist groups and can be conducted at the national and international levels