Intro to Comparative Politics Midterm (O'Neill Textbook)

State (according to Max Weber)

The organization that maintains a monopoly of violence over a territory

Sovereignty

The ability to carry out actions and policies within a territory independent of external actors and internal rivals

State (Definition and characteristics)

(1) The monopoly of force over a given territory (2) a set of political institutions to generate and carry out policy (3) typically highly institutionalized (4) sovereign (5) characterized by such institutions as an army, police, taxation, a judiciary, and a social welfare system

State as a protection racket

Demands money in return for security and order

Institutions

Organizations or patterns of activity that are self-perpetuating and valued for their own sake; embody norms or values that are considered central to people's lives and thus not easily dislodged or changed

Regime (definition and characteristics)

(1) Norms and rules regarding individual freedom and collective equality, the locus of power, and the use of that power (2) institutionalized, but can be changed by dramatic social events such as revolution (3) Categorized as either democratic or authoritarian at the most basic level (4) often embodied in a constitution

Government (definition and characteristics)

(1) The leadership or elite in charge of running the state (2) weakly institutionalized (3) limited by existing regime (4) often composed of elected officials, such as a president or prime minister, or unelected officials, such as a monarch

State, Regime and Government (Most to least institutionalized)

State --> Regime --> Government

Country

Shorthand for state, regime, and government

When did sedentary communities form?

8000 B.C.E

Hobbes Philosophy on State-Building

Humans voluntarily submitted to political authority to overcome anarchy, which ensures neither freedom nor equality. In return, people gained security and a foundation upon which to build a civilization

Rousseau's Philosophy on State-Building

Human beings were "noble savages," instinctively compassionate and egalitarian, who were then corrupted by civilization and the rise of the state by being institutionalizing a system of inequality.

Consensus --> Democratic Rule

Individuals band together to protect themselves and create common rules; leadership chosen from among people. Security through cooperation.

Coercion --> Authoritarian Rule

Individuals are brought together by a ruler(s), who impose authority and monopolize power. Security through domination.

Rise of Modern State (Tilly)

(1) Fall of Roman Empire led to Dark Ages in Europe (2) Europe's fragmented, unstable and violent environment led new political organizations to develop in constant competition with their rivals (3) Modern state emerged from organized crime

Why did Europe rule the world instead of China (Competition Explanation)?

Centralization of Chinese empire (absence of internal geographic boundaries, homogenization of population, absence of political rivals) limited its organizational evolution, whereas Europe's weaknesses hindered the creation of a single state and forced them to keep competing

Four Advantages of Modern State

(1) States encouraged economic development

(2) States encouraged technological innovation

(3) States fostered domestic stability

(4) States encouraged interaction and the emergence of a shared identity

Treaty of Westphalia (1648)

Marked the end of the Thirty Years War between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, radically curtailing the authority of the pope over Europe's people--> redefined state sovereignty

Legitimacy

A value whereby people recognize and accept something or someone as right or proper, conferring authority and power that relies NOT on coercion but CONSENT

Traditional Legitimacy (Form 1)

Built by habit and custom over time, stressing history; STRONGLY institutionalized

Example of Traditional Legitimacy

Monarchs/Families (Queen Elizabeth II, Indira Gandhi in India)

Charismatic Legitimacy (Form 2)

Built on the force of ideas and the presence of the leader; typically embodied by someone who can move and persuade the public through ideas and the manner in which they present them; weakly institutionalized

Example of Charismatic Legitimacy

Revolutionary Hero (Vladimir Lenin); Charismatic political figures (Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela); Dictators (Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un)

Rational-Legal Legitimacy

Built on rules and procedures and the offices that create and enforce those rules; STRONGLY institutionalized

Examples of rational-legal legitimacy

Elected executive (Barack Obama)

Federalism

Powers (taxation, lawmaking, security) are devolved to regional bodies and to local legislatures that control specific territories within the country (US)

Asymmetric Federalism

Power is divided unevenly between regional bodies--some regions are given greater power over taxation or language rights than others (Canada, India)

Unitary States

Political power is concentrated at the national level and local authority is limited (China, Japan, France)

Devolution

Otherwise known as decentralization; viewed as a way to increase state legitimacy by moving power to the people

Strong States

Able to fulfill basic tasks such as defending their territory, making and enforcing rules, collecting taxes, and managing their economy

Weak States

Weakly institutionalized and lack authority and legitimacy; cannot execute tasks that strong states can

Failed State

A state whose institutions break down completely

Capacity

The ability of the state to wield power in order to carry out the basic tasks of providing security and reconciling freedom and equality

Autonomy

The ability of the state to wield its power independently of the public or international actors; closely related to the idea of sovereignty

High Capacity, High Autonomy

- State is able to fulfill basic tasks with minimum of public intervention

- highly centralized power

- strong state

- DANGER: may prevent or undermine individual freedoms

- Ex. China

High Capacity, Low Autonomy

- State is able to fulfill basic tasks but public plays a direct role in determining policy

- Public can limit state power and scope of activity

- DANGER: State may not be able to respond efficiently/effectively to new challenges owing the power of organized opposition

- Ex. US, Canada

Low Capacity, High Autonomy

- State is able to function with a minimum of public interference or direct control

- Its capacity to fulfill basic tasks is limited

- DANGER: State is ineffectual, limiting development, and may provoke public unrest

- Ex. Russia, Venezuela

Low Capacity, Low Autonomy

- State lacks the ability to fulfill basic tasks

- Subject to direct public control and interference

- Power decentralized among state and non-state actors

- "Weak state"

-DANGER: May lead to state failure

- Ex. Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan

Case Study: Why Has Pakistan Slid Toward State Failure?

- Newly created Pakistan had to construct a state largely from scratch

- Pakistan braced a war with India that led to an emphasis on building a new state with strong military force, ultimately becoming stronger than the government

- Minority of Indian refugees dominated the government and were less inclined toward democracy

- Muslim League didn't have the leadership to establish a new regime

RESULT: New military government has become primary institution of power and national identity, which has expanded control but has yet found a way to solidify that control into effective state capacity.

Society

A collection of people bound by shared institutions that define how human relations should be conducted

Ethnicity/Ethnic Identity

- A set of specific attributes and societal institutions that makes one group of people culturally different from others

- Often based on customs, language, religion, or other factors

- Ascriptive, generally assigned at birth

- Not inherently political

Examples of Confusing Ethnic Divisions

- BOSNIA: Croats, Serbs and Muslims divided among religious fractures; GERMANY: Grouped into one ethnicity, but all have different religions

- RWANDA: Ethnic distinctions between Hutus and Tutsis are unclear (based on nuances like diet), but have led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.

National Identity

- A sense of belonging to a nation and a belief in its political aspirations

- Often but not always derived from ethnic identity

- Inherently political

- Basis for nationalism

Nation

A group that desires self-government through an independent state

Nationalism

A pride in one's people and the belief in their own sovereign political destiny that is separate from those of others

Citizenship

- An individual's relation to the state

- The individual swears allegiance to the state, and the state in turn provides certain benefits or rights

- Purely political and thus more easily changed than ethnic or national identity

- Basis for patriotism

Patriotism

Pride in one's state and citizenship

Nationalism vs. Patriotism

- Palestinians (Nationalism without Patriotism)

- US (Patriotism without Nationalism)

Origins of ETHNIC Identity

- Came with the rise of the modern state: mobility within state increased commerce, fortified capitals, and standardized language and dialect

- New institutions shared with many thousands of other people across space and time became foundation for ethnic identity

Origins of National Identity

- Rose in the eighteenth century from ethnic identity; the idea that people and their state were bound together allowed states to mobilize the public in ways never before possible

- Revolutions wrought new national identities

nation-state

A sovereign state encompassing one dominant nation that it claims to embody and represent

Ethnic Conflict

Defined as conflict between ethnic groups that struggle to achieve certain political or economic goals at each other's expense

National Conflict

Conflict between groups that seek to gain sovereignty, clashing with one another over the quest to form an independent state

Examples of ethnic Conflict

- Afghanistan: Afghan groups are NOT seeking independence but rather greater power over each other

- South Sudan

- Nigeria

Examples of National Conflict

- American Revolution

- French Revolution

Example of Ethnic AND National Conflict

Yugoslavia and Soviet Union in the 1990s, where various ethnic groups seceded to create their own nation-states.

Why do such conflicts break out in the first place (Social, Economic, Political Explanations)

- Social: Emphasize such issues as ethnic heterogeneity

- Economic: Emphasize poverty and the struggle for natural resources

- Political: Emphasize state capacity/autonomy and the type of regime in power

Political Attitudes

- Views regarding the necessary pace and scope of change in the balance between freedom and equality

- Broken up into categories of liberal, radical, conservative, and reactionary

- Concerned with speed and methods of political change

- Distinct from political ideologies

- Particularistic: relative to the specific context of the given country

Radicals

- placed on extreme left

- believe in dramatic, and often revolutionary change of existing political/social/economic order

- no slow, evolutionary change: politics only improve with fundamental changes to structure

- Either resort to violence or raising public consciousness through mass mobilization of support

Liberals

- between center and extreme left

- much can be improved: supporters of widespread change

- liberals favor EVOLUTIONARY change: change that happens within the system without overthrow, using existing institutions as instruments for positive change

Conservatives

- Between center and extreme right

- Question whether any profound change in existing institutions is necessary

- View change as disruptive and leading to unforeseen outcomes

- Existing institutions are KEY to providing order and continuity --> no illegitimacy

Reactionaries

- Extreme right

- Opposed to further evolutionary change (like conservatives) but view current order as UNACCEPTABLE (like radicals)

- Seek to restore political/social/economic institutions by changing back to previous regime/state

- Some may envision past ideals that never existed

- May be willing to use violence to advance their case

Similarities Between Reactionaries and Radicals

- Dramatic Change

- Use of violence/ contemplation of violence

- Similar means

Political Ideologies

- Sets of political values regarding the fundamental goals of politics

- Exemplified by five dominant modern ideologies: liberalism, communism, social democracy, fascism, and anarchism

- Universalistic: NOT specific to one country or time

- Distinct from political attitudes

Liberalism

- High priority on individual political/economic freedom

- Polities should create max degree of liberty for all people, including free speech, right of association, etc.

- State should have low degree of autonomy/capacity

- No intervention of state in political affairs

Liberal Democracy

- A system of political, social and economic liberties, supported by competition, participation, and contestation

- High degree of freedom = greater productivity

Communism

- Rejects the idea of personal freedom

- Believes that in the struggle for economic resources, a small group will eventually dominate both market/state and use it for exploitation

- Liberal democracy = Bourgeois democracy of the rich, by the rich, for the rich

- State should control ALL economic resources and produce true economic equality for community as a whole

- Requires a powerful state with high autonomy and capacity

Socialism/Social Democracy

- Accepts strong role for private ownership and market forces while maintaining an emphasis on economic equality

- State needs strong capacity and autonomy to ensure economic equality through policy

- DOES recognize the importance of individual liberty as complementary to freedom, but limits individual freedom MORE than liberalism through taxation/regulation

Fascism

- Hostile to both individual freedom AND equality

- Rests on the idea that people can be classified as superior/inferior, justifying a hierarchy

- do NOT see potential in every person

- Conceives of society as an organic whole, a single living body

- Freedom and equality are REJECTED

Anarchism

- Departs from other ideologies DRASTICALLY by rejecting the notion of a state altogether

- Believes a state can't solve inequality

- Views the state as a threat to freedom/equality--> people would cooperate BETTER without a state

- Never realized, but serves as a driving force behind wars/revolutions

Ideologies Corresponding Political Attitudes (US)

Liberalism--> Conservative

Communism --> Radical

Social Democracy --> Liberal

Fascism --> Reactionary

Anarchism --> Radical

Fundamentalism

- An ideology that seeks to unite religion with the state or, rather, to make faith the sovereign authority

- To create a theocracy.

- To restructure religion AS an ideology.

Ideologies: Balance Between Freedom and Equality

Anarchism --> High Freedom, High Equality

Communism --> Low Freedom, High Equality

Liberalism --> High Freedom, Low Equality

Fascism --> Low Freedom, Low Equality

Socialism --> SQUAT in the middle

Culture

The content of institutions that help define a society; a social road map, providing norms and priorities that help guide people as they organize their lives

Political culture

- Society's norms for political activity

- A determining factor in what ideologies will dominate a country's political regime

- Unique to a given country or group

- Distinct from political attitudes and ideologies

Inglehart Values Map

- Chart that shows the political culture of different countries

- Secular-rational values vs. Traditional values (y axis)

- Survival values vs. Self-expression values (x-axis)

Secular-rational Values vs. Traditional values

T: Emphasize religion, family values, deference to authority, national pride

SR: Much less emphasis on these same values

Survival values vs. self-expression values

Su: Emphasize economic and physical security, associated with low levels of trust

Se: Focused on higher levels of tolerance and demands for individual participation in politics

Nondemocratic Means of Control (Name Three)

- Coercion

- Co-optation

- Personality Cult

Coercion

- Public obedience enforced through violence and surveillance

- Ex. "death squads" in Latin America in the 1970s, "purges" in Stalin's Soviet Union during the 1930s

Surveillance

- Allows the government to prevent opposition from organizing and instill uneasiness among the population by maintaining a close watch over the population

Co-optation

The process by which members of the public are brought into beneficial relationships with the state and the government, often through corporatism or clientelism

Corporatism

- A method by which nondemocratic regime attempt to solidify their control over the public by creating or sanctioning a limited number of organizations to represent the interests of the public and restricting those not set up or approved by the state

- Empowers organizations to have a monopoly of representation over a given issue or segment of society

-ex. Spain and Portugal up to the 1970s, presence of "syndicates"; Cuba, single labor union controls all labor

Clientelism

- A less-structured form of co-optation where the state co-opts members of the public by providing specific benefits to a person in return for public support.

- Relies on individual patronage

- State targets individuals and groups as they see fit

Political Rent

- A method of co-optation by which the government rents out parts of the state to their supporters, who as a result control public goods that would otherwise be in the hands of the public

Kleptocracy

- "rule by theft": Those in power seek only to drain the state of assets and resources

Personality Cults

- The promotion of a leader not only as a political figure but as someone who embodies the spirit of the nation, possesses far more strength and wisdom than the average individual, and is thus portrayed quasi-religiously as all-wise, all-seeing, and all-knowing

- Perpetuated by media and culture

- May take weaker but still salient forms

Examples of Personality Cults

- Nicolae Ceausescu (Romania, 1989): assassinated due to political decompression

- Ayatollah Khamenei (Iran, 1979): adorns shops and billboards countrywide, shown as symbol of Shia Muslim faith

- Hugo Chávez (Venezuela, recent): Personal popularity was strong and amplified by state-run media

Models of Nondemocratic Rule

-Personal and Monarchical Rule

-Military Rule

-One-Party Rule

-Theocracy

- Illiberal Regimes

Personal and Monarchical Rule/Primary Tool of Control

- Rule by a single leader with no clear regime or rules constraining that leadership

- State and society are seen as possessions of leader

- Rulers justify control with logic that they are the embodiment of the people and therefore are qualified to act alone on the people's behalf

- Controls primarily by patrimonialism

Patrimonialism (Definition, Example)

- Benefits are not distributed in an ad hoc way among individuals in society but are instead limited to a small group of regime supporters inside the state itself

- Similar to co-optation but only the leader's personal followers benefit

- Ex. Mobutu Sese Seko (DRC, 1965-1997): siphoned off natural resources and gave them exclusively to his followers, enriching himself and killing his country's GDP

Military Rule/Primary Tool of Control

- Rule by one or more military officials, often brought to power through a coup d'état (armed forces seize control of the state)

- Political parties and most civil liberties are restricted: civilian political leaders/opponents are arrested and may be killed

- Use of coercion is common

- Lacks both a specific ideology and a charismatic or traditional source of authority

- Controls primarily using armed forces, sometimes also allied with business/state elites (Bureaucratic authoritarianism)

Bureaucratic Authoritarianism

- A regime in which the state bureaucracy and the military share a belief that a technocratic leadership, focused on rational, objective, and technical expertise, can solve the problems of the country (unlike emotional ideologically based party politics)

- Public participation is seen as INEFFECTIVE

Examples of POSITIVE EFFECTS Of Military Rule

- South Korea

- Taiwan

- Chile

- Supporters believe military rule that dispenses with democracy can lead to modernization and development.

One-Party Rule/Primary Method of Control

- Rule by one political party that bans or excludes other groups from power

- Helps incorporate people into the regime through membership and participation

- Can rely on a large segment of the public that is willing to develop the policies of their rule as well as transmit info. back to the leadership on developments in all aspects of society: segments function as "cells"

- Members of the party are rewarded for their service

-Controls through large party membership which helps mobilize support and maintain public control, often in return for political economic benefits

Examples of One-Party Regimes (FIVE)

- Mexico (PRI, Institutional Revolutionary Party)

- Cuba

- North Korea

- China

- Laos

Theocracy/Primary Method of Control

- "Rule by God"

- Holy texts serve as constitutional foundations for regimes and politics in general

- Controls by fusing religious leadership and political leadership into a single sovereign authority

- No existing theocracies, but countries with theocratic elements

Countries that Come Closest to Theocracies

- Iran: Traditional forms of secular government are mirrored by unique institutions controlled by religious leaders

- Afghanistan (1996-2001): Lacks any constitution and relies instead on local clerics authorized by the Taliban to rule on judicial matters based on their interpretation of Islamic law

- Saudi Arabia: Combines monarchical and theocratic forms of rule

Illiberal/Hybrid Regimes/ Primary Method of Control

- Rule by an elected leadership through procedures of questionable democratic legitimacy

- Represent a gray area between nondemocratic and democratic rule

- Controls through manipulation of democratic procedures, such as vote rigging or harassment of opposition

- "Illiberal" --> Used because these regimes do not fully institutionalize liberty

- "Hybrid" --> Used because they combine democratic and nondemocratic institutions/practices

General Characteristics of Nondemocratic Regimes

- A small group of individuals exercises power over the state

- Government is not constitutionally responsible to the public

- Public has little or no role in selecting leaders

- Individual freedom is restricted

- Nondemocratic regimes may be institutionalized and legitimate