International Politics Ch. 5

Conventional Wisdom

Conventional Wisdom

a generally accepted theory or belief.

“Arab Spring”

a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s; in response to corruption and economic stagnation

Constraints

limitations or restrictions

Foreign Policy

a government's strategy in dealing with other nations.

Semantics

the meaning of a word, phrase, or text; logic concerning meaning

Democratic Peace Theory

a state-level theory asserting that the ‘kind’ of state matters; Claims democracies are more peaceful than other types of states

Theoretical

concerned with or involving the theory of a subject or area of study rather than its practical application.

Regime

a system or ordered way of doing things; typically governmental

Scrutiny

critical observation or examination.

Dyadic

two similar things acting as one; related to DPT; states that democracies do not go to war with each other, but tend to go to war with non-democracies

I. Kant

German enlightenment philosopher, whose writings influenced the Simple Model of DPT.

Bargain

an agreement between two or more people or groups as to what each will do for the other.

Audience Costs

the accountability that democratic leaders face; domestic political cost that leaders incur from their constituency if they fail

Renege

to go back on a promise

Coerce

to persuade someone by threats and force

Disdain

the feeling that someone or something is unworthy of one's consideration or respect.

Averse

having a strong dislike of or opposition to something.

Operationalizing

translating a theoretical concept into attributes that can be measured

Tantalizing

tormenting or teasing with the sight or promise of something unobtainable.

Criteria

a principle or standard by which something may be judged or decided.

Hamas

Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization; seeks to liberate Palestine

Militia

a military force that is raised from the civil population to supplement a regular army in an emergency.

Arsenal

a collection of weapons and military equipment.

State Strength

the capacity of the state to command loyalty, to extract the resources necessary to rule and provide services, to maintain that essential element of sovereignty, a monopoly over the legitimate use of force within defined.

Autonomous

having the freedom to govern itself or control its own affairs.

Interests Groups

organizations with a specific purpose that are diverse and have specific goals; affect international and domestic politics.

“Asian Tigers”

Countries of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea; have experienced great technological development

Public Opinion

collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to society.

National Interest

the assumption that states have a single set of interests; the people in the state’s goals and ambitions becoming the goals of the government

Lobbying

a form of advocacy with the intention of influencing decisions made by the government by individuals or groups

Lobbyists

professional advocates that work to influence political decisions on behalf of individuals and organizations

Lucrative

producing a great deal of profit.

Labor Unions

an organized association of workers, often in a trade or profession, formed to protect and further their rights and interests; a trade union.

A “Cardinal Rule”

a rule that is central/essential and should not be broken.

Consensus

a general agreement.

Deploy

bring into effective action; move into position for military action

Latent

existing but not yet developed; lying dormant

Mainstream

the ideas, attitudes, or activities that are shared by most people and regarded as normal or conventional.

Partisan

a strong supporter of a party, cause, or person.

Credible

believable and convincing

Objective

not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts.

Media

the main means of mass communication; influences politics by influencing public opinion; profit driven; have an agenda.

Mogul

an important or powerful person, especially in the film or media industry.

CNN Effect

media places items on agenda forcing government action; theory in political science and media studies which states that global television networks play a significant role in determining the actions policymakers take and the outcomes of events.

Sensationalist Journalism

a type of editorial tactic. Events and topics in news stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers.

Yellow Journalism

sensationalistic or biased stories that newspapers present as objective truth. “I will write whatever it takes, even if it is 100% a lie.”

Public Relations

the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization to the public in order to influence their perception.

Dissent

the holding or expression of opinions at variance with those commonly or officially held.