Key Concepts in Global Politics and Governance

Sovereignty

Absolute and unlimited power and authority.

Nation state

Autonomous political community held together by citizenship and nationality.

Non-state actors

Participants in international relations with significant power and influence, which are not states.

Globalisation

Emergence of a complex web of interconnectedness in many forms.

Economic globalisation

Growing economic integration and interdependence of economies through intensified cross-border movement of goods, services, technologies and capital.

Political globalisation

Growing importance of international organisations.

Cultural globalisation

Growing transmission of ideas, meanings and values around the world.

Homogenisation and monoculture

Coming together of global cultures and development of a single, homogeneous culture without diversity or dissension.

Interconnectedness

Mutual reliance of two or more groups.

World government

Idea of a common political authority with legislative and executive power over states.

Global governance

Broad and complex process of decision making at a global level.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)

This is any non-profit, voluntary citizens' group organised on a local, national or international level - e.g. Christian Aid. NGOs perform a variety of service and humanitarian functions, bring citizens' concerns to governments, advocate and monitor policies and encourage political participation through provision of information.

Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP)

Conditional loans provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to countries that experienced economic crises.

Political

The United Nations Organisation created in 1945, following the Second World War, to promote international co-operation and to prevent another such conflict.

Security Council

The United Nations' most powerful body, with primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation - military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in 1949.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

International organisation working to foster global monetary co-operation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.

World Bank

International organisation that offers concessional loans and grants to the world's poorest developing countries in order to reduce poverty.

World Trade Organization (WTO)

Organisation that regulates international trade.

G7(8)

Organisation - Group of Seven states/Eight states.

G20

Organisation - Group of Twenty states.

North-South divide

Global socio-economic and political divide.

Dependency theory

Emphasises structural imbalances within capitalism that impose dependency on poorer states.

Human rights

Rights that people are entitled to by virtue of being human.

International law

Law that governs states and other international actors.

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

Principal judicial organ of the United Nations.

International Criminal Court (ICC)

Organisation that prosecutes individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

International tribunals

Organisations set up to prosecute individuals in specific states for the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Universal human rights

Rights that apply to people of all societies regardless of cultural or other differences.

Humanitarian intervention

Military intervention carried out in pursuit of humanitarian rather than other objectives.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

An international environmental treaty negotiated at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

UN body set up as an internationally accepted authority on climate change.

Global commons

Areas and resources that are un-owned and consequently beyond national jurisdiction.

Tragedy of the commons

Situation within a shared-resource system where individual users acting independently and rationally according to their own self-interest behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting that resource.

Sustainability

The capacity to endure.

Sustainable development

Development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Hard power

Hard power is the use of military and economic means to influence the behaviour or interests of other political bodies.

Soft power

The ability to attract and co-opt and to shape the preferences of others through appeal and attraction.

Great power

State that is recognised as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale.

Superpower

State with a dominant position in international relations, pre-eminent among great powers, and characterised by its unparalleled ability to exert influence or project power on a global scale.

Emerging power

State that is considered to be rising, primarily in economic power and influence.

Polarity

Describes the nature of the international system at any given time in terms of how power is distributed.

Unipolarity

International system in which there is one dominant pole.

Bipolarity

International system revolving around two poles.

Multipolarity

International system revolving around three or more poles.

Democratic state

A state with a system of government in which all the people are involved in making decisions about its affairs.

Semi-democratic state

A stable state that combines democratic and authoritarian elements.

Non-democratic state

A state that lacks the central characteristics of a democratic state.

Autocratic state

A state that is ruled by a single person with unlimited power.

Failed state

A state that is unable to operate as a viable political unit.

Rogue state

A state that has a foreign policy that poses a threat to other states.

Regionalism

Creation and implementation of institutions that express a particular identity and shape collective action within a geographical region.

European Union (EU)

Political-economic union of 28 member states (2015) located in Europe.

European integration

Process of industrial, political, legal, economic, social and cultural integration of states in Europe.

Supranationalism

Refers to a large amount of power given to an authority, which, in theory, is placed higher than the state.

Intergovernmentalism

Interaction among states based on sovereign independence.

Federalism

Legal and political structures where power is distributed between two distinct levels of government on the basis that neither is subordinate to the other.

Global actor

Entity that participates or acts in international relations.

Widening-deepening

Process by which the EU has attempted to expand membership while furthering integration.

Realism

Wide school of thought in international relations theory that has a belief that world politics will remain a field of conflict among actors pursuing power.

Liberalism

Wide school of thought in international relations theory that rejects power politics as the sole outcome of international relations and emphasises mutual benefits and co-operation.

International anarchy

Concept that the world system is leaderless: there is no universal sovereign or worldwide government.

Security dilemma

Theory that actions by a state intended to increase its security, such as increasing its military strength, can lead to other states responding with similar measures, producing increased tensions that create conflict.

Complex interdependence

Theory that states and their fortunes are inextricably tied together.

Global governance

Movement towards political integration of transnational actors aimed at negotiating responses to problems that affect more than one state or region.

Anarchical society and society of states

Theory that the states of the world can be members of a society despite the anarchical nature of the international system.