POLSCI 51A Final Study Guide (RELEASED)

European Union

After WWII, several European leaders believed that repeated international conflicts were a result of a disconnect between countries (fostered through insecurity, nationalism, and inequality). They agreed that a common political agenda would save them.

Economic Crisis

South Korea and Australia responded using public investment and stimulus policies; they temporarily cut taxes and infrastructure spending. While avoiding recessions and witnessing their employment grow, critics predict a future decline due to public debt. The United Kingdom responded with austerity measures; they raised taxes and spent less money, which had immediate consequences of public protests and declining economic growth

Welfare States

Are becoming more expensive due to rising healthcare costs, aging populations, and ideologies that frown upon welfare services; as advanced democracies moved towards a new service-based market, job losses in the manufacturing sector raised demands for welfare services, like gender equality.

Intergovernmental System

A system in which two or more countries cooperate on issues, like the UN; states are responsible but not bound.

Supranational System

An intergovernmental system with its own sovereign powers over member states; sovereignty is shared between member states, like the EU.

Democracy

Advanced/developed democracies institutionalize democratic principles, economic development, and prosperity differently. We define developed democracies based on the degree and institutionalization of participation, competition, and liberty.

Capitalism

Advanced/developed democracies are capitalist democracies, meaning that they emphasize private property and free markets to generate a great deal of economic prosperity.

Communism

A set of ideas that views political, social, and economic institutions differently than most political ideologies; it seeks to create human equality by eliminating private property and market forces.

Communism acts as

An explanation for how society operates (including theories about why economies grow, why people start revolutions, etc.) and an ideology about how society should function (workers should organize and overthrow market-based systems).

Base

The economic system of a society, made up of technology (the means of production) and class relations between people (the relations of production).

Superstructure

All non-economic institutions in society (religion, culture, national identity); these ideas and values derive from the base and serve to legitimize the current system of exploitation.

Karl Marx

The first philosopher to construct a theory explaining why capitalism would fail and be replaced by communism; father of modern communist thought.

Lenin/Vladimir Ulyanov

Russian leader who applied Marxism to lead a successful revolution in 1917; modified Marx's original idea by arguing that revolutions would occur in struggling countries, such as Russia, rather than developed societies; believed that a revolution could be possible with the Vanguard of the Proletariat.

Joseph Stalin

Led the Soviet Union and embarked on the rapid industrialization of the country, arguing that socialism could be built within a single country; extended communism across Eastern Europe after WWII.

Mao Zedong

Led the Chinese Communist Party, fighting against Chinese and Japanese occupiers during WWII; modified communism to focus on peasantry rather than the working class (given the agarian nature of China); unleashed the Cultural Revolution in 1966 to weaken the party and increase its own power.

Deng Xiaoping

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party; emerged as the country's leader after Mao's death, and pursued economic liberalism.

Fidel Castro

Led the Cuban Revolution and defended the communist system against US opposition; defended communism even after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Mikhail Gorbachev

General secretary of the Soviet Union; implemented perestroika (economic restructuring/criticism) and glasnost (political liberalization/openness), which led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Social Impacts of Communism: Religion

The opiate of the masses; a drug that legitimizes inequality and power. Most communist countries suppress it, but it is not fully eliminated.

Social Impacts of Communism: Gender Roles

Believed to open the door for capitalism; men exploit women and sexuality, so there should be complete equality. Opportunities for women were increased, but they were still expected to fulfill traditional duties in the home.

Social Impacts of Communism: Sexuality

Viewed as repressive; marriage should be replaced by a system of free love. However, many communist countries remained sexually conservative.

Social Impacts of Communism: Nationalism

Defined the main features that encourage the subculture; communists tend to reject any expression of ethnic or national identity. People still clung to old national/ethnic identities, though.

Marketization

The re-creation of the market forces (supply and demand) after communist or state control.

Privatization

The transfer of state-held property into private hands.

Post-Communist States

Romania, Hungary, Albania, Bulgaria, China (continued to be communist but included capitalism), Poland (replaced by liberal democracy), and Russia (became authoritarian/concentrated wealth and power).

Less Developed Countries

An alternative name to developing countries; states that have not made much progress in economic development or have experienced uneven development. For example, the African Union has low socio-economic indicators with serious "jobless" problems.

Newly Industrializing Countries

An alternative name to developing countries; states that have made progress towards becoming advanced industrial countries (ex. BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa)).

Social Identities under Imperialism

People who had not been specifically defined by ethnicity were now defined by the empire. Even within the empire, certain ethnic groups were promoted to positions of power and economic advantage; inequality became interconnected with race and ethnicity. The people had no sense of a strong national identity; nationalism and imperialism destabilized the empire. Empires viewed their people as inferior subjects, giving them limited abilities.

Imperialism

A system in which a state extends its power to directly control territory, resources, and people beyond its borders. Driven by economic, strategic, and religious motivations, it often leads to colonialism.

Colonialism

The physical occupation of a foreign territory through military forces, businesses, or settlers; the means of consolidating an empire, including politics, commerce, and society. An imperialist physically occupying a foreign territory using military force, business, or settlers.

Dependent Development

Colonies are governed to supply resources to the empire and are not designed to be self-sufficient; there are limits on trade with rival empires, and little development of local and regional trade (since all developments go towards the empire/mother country).

State Capacity After Imperialism

Many developing states are unable to perform basic tasks expected by the public due to an absence of a professional bureaucracy (in charge of supplying jobs, resources, and benefits to the public); weak states share a high degree of clientelism, which political leaders use to gain power.

State Autonomy After Imperialism

Many developing states are run by patrimonial systems; the state is not highly independent, but penetrated by groups to be exploited.

States with weak levels of capacity and autonomy

Cannot establish a rule of law. They may also be pressured by international factors, like the UN, World Bank, and more.

Middle-Income Trap

A situation when a country experiences economic growth but is unable to develop at a speed necessary to catch up with developed countries.

Globalization

Linkages between states, societies, and economies appear to be intensifying and increasing rapidly, challenging institutions, assumptions, and norms.

Institutional Globalization

Long-standing institutions like states, cultures, national identity, and political/economic systems face a range of international forces that can transform, challenge, or threaten them.

Political Globalization

Globalized institutions could limit a state's sovereignty (ex. The EU); states may be bound to international institutions that take on tasks that the state usually takes on, causing state sovereignty to decline and forcing states to be dependent on the globalized world. Others believe that globalized institutions fragment democracy; they can empower violent international actors and movements that oppose the modern state.

Economic Globalization

The merging of markets across the world. Economic integration was a post-WWII US project led by the Bretton Woods system, which aimed to increase economic activity by limiting barriers.

Social Globalization

The widening circle, including people in other countries, forms politically relevant peer groups. Relevant political identities transcend borders. For example, environmentalism, gender equality, children (health, education, social wellbeing), and working against "fast fashion."

Is globalization new?

Some argue that we have lived in a globalized world for a while now (migration, the spread of knowledge, technological advancements, etc). These connections, while extensive, do not necessarily affect large bodies of individuals; globalization connects entire societies to global affairs; communities are directly participating in business, education, and travel.

Multinational Corporations (MNCs)

Firms that produce, distribute, and market goods/services in more than one country; they can influence politics, economic development, and social relations through goods and services. Can encourage institutional globalization.

Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs)

National/international groups that are independent of states and pursue policy objectives and public participation, shaping domestic and international politics by mobilizing support. Can encourage institutional globalization.

Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs)

Groups created by states to serve particular policies, like the UN, WTO, and the EU. Can encourage institutional globalization.

Bretton Woods System

An economic regime that was created after WWII to manage international economic relations; this includes the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Liberal Paradox

A tension between the role of markets and the role of political values/rights; the conflict of states to regulate migration in economic and security forces. Since the end of WWII, international economic forces (trade, investment, and migration) have been pushing states towards greater openness, while the international/domestic political forces push states towards greater closure.

Markets vs. Rights

For example, though gathering immigrants to provide high-tech services, the German government declared that foreign high-tech workers would not be allowed to bring their families with them, because the state wanted workers, not families, who would settle down and bring their cultural identities with them.

Migration as a Security Threat

The Demographic Maintenance Regime sees how migration and citizenship policies can be used to maintain the demographic balance within states; such a link could lead to conflicts within and between states (ex. US and Mexico, Zimbabwe and South Africa, Colombia and Venezuela, India and Bangladesh).

Domestic Challenges to Immigration

Strengthened nationalism and guarded sovereignty lead to people viewing migration as a political issue. Policies were put into place to discourage and prevent settlement and family reunification due to the sentiment of a guest worker acting as an "economic shock absorber" (Konjunkturpuffer).

Immigration

According to Sadiq, illegal immigration has continued from the Philippines to Malaysia. Malaysia lacks the capacity to combat document fraud and has not even developed the systems necessary to properly document nationality in the first place. These immigrants have arrived thanks to networks of complicity, doccument fraud, and geographic proximity.

Citizenship

It determines who gets what kinds of rights. Access is normative. In Malaysia, it is not well institutionalized.

Documentary Citizenship

Illegal immigrants in developing states are voting in large numbers because they can illegally procure documents that allow them to enjoy all the privileges of citizenship. The political participation of these individuals alters political outcomes in favor of governments that enable illegal immigrants to acquire proof of citizenship and the ability to vote.

Voting

Legalizing illegal immigrants becomes the preferred strategy of the dominant Malay parties; since most of the illegal immigrants are Muslim, they are more inclined to vote for the dominant Muslim party (profit and party politics).

Rights and Status

The goal of the dominant Malays is to change the demographic and political character of Sabah so that it becomes Malay Muslim-dominated. This is why there is an incentive for Malaysian authorities to give more rights to noncitizens over actual citizens.

Human Rights

Not an abstract fight for freedom, but a matter of a poor person's daily survival in the developing world. For a poor person in the developing world, it is a struggle to avoid extortion or abuse by local police, against being forced into slavery or having land stolen, and to avoid being jailed without a fair trial.

Lawlessness

Leads to forced labor, police abuse, and domestic violence. Without functioning justice systems, lawlessness allows corrupt officials and criminals to steal crucial goods and services provided by the international community.

Rule of Law Aid

International assistance to build up the public justice system; the help to implement existing laws and to help build up the legal justice systems.

Judiciaries in the Developing World

They serve a narrow set of elite interests.

Police in the Developing World

Tend to abuse poor people in developing countries.

Justice in the Developing World

Most public justice systems in the developing world have their roots in the colonial era. As the colonial powers departed, authoritarian governments took their place, protecting their own interests and power. In the absence of functioning justice systems, the private sector developed substitutes (companies/wealthy individuals hire private security forces).