Comparative Politics Exam 2

Society

collection of people bound by shared traits, institutions, etc. that define how human relations should be conducted.

Social identity

sense of who a person is based on membership in different groups

Ethnic Identity (ethnicity)

attributes or social institutions that make one group culturally distinct from one another

• language, religion, location, customs, appearance, genealogy, ancestry, etc.

• Ascriptive: born into them and remain fairly stable

Ethnic Group

people who share an ethnic identity

• ethnic groups have closer cultural ties than nations and don’t always share the same political goals (can overlap, but not always)

What might be more importance than actual difference?

Perceived difference

Examples of perceived difference

Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks - identical except for religion

Hutus and Tutsis - identical to the point that they even had a hard time differentiating

Why ethnicity matters

• can provide social support, encourage beneficial relations among group members, encourage collaborative public policy

• Can shape norms and practices

• differences in ethnic identities could lead to violence under certain conditions

National identity

shared identity created by common political aspirations

• can sometimes be derived from ethnic identity

Nationalism

pride in one’s people and the belief that they have a unique, sovereign political destiny

Citizenship

your relationship with the state

Patriotism

pride in one’s state

Citizenship does not guarantee patriotism. How does each categorize?

Ethnicity - mostly social identity

Nation - social and political

Citizenship - political

Nationalism and patriotism can overlap

When nations and statehood overlap…

Example of different state-nation divisions

Divided nation - North and South Korea

Multiple nations in one state - US, Nigeria, UK

Nations lacking a state - Palestinians, Kurds, Mapuche

Many identities emerged alongside the modern state…

increased commerce and urbanization

New social interactions

New institutions

View of identity from a state leader:

identity creation is a means of reinforcing power

presenting another group as a bad actor is a common strategy to mobilize a large state

Nation-State

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

• France in Napoleonic era

  • Nationalist sentiment motivated a huge volunteer army that conquered much of Europe

Early 20th Century

Multinational empires in Europe are replaced by nation-states

Ethnic conflict

between ethnic groups that struggle to achieve certain political/economic goals at each other’s expense

• Hutus and Tutsis

National conflict

conflict between groups who seek to gain sovereignty (or prevent another nation from gaining it)

• Israel-Palestine

Why does conflict occur?

Social, Economic, Political explanations

Social Explanation for conflict

ethnic heterogeneity; degrees of integration vs. polarization

Economic explanations

struggle for resources, economic inequalities (or perception)

Political explanations

state and regime

• eg. state capacity and autonomy, democracy vs. non-democracy

Nigeria’s Identity Crisis

Extreme divisions (societal) - perceived

Political exclusion and conclusion (political)

Income inequality (economic)

Conflict over oil revenue (economic)

Solutions for Nigeria’s crisis

Federalism

• has worked sometimes, also hasn’t sometimes

• Cases where unitary states adopt it and avoided secession

Political attitudes

views regarding the necessary speed of political change and how to achieve it (interpretation varies from place to place !!)

Radicals

prefer large institutional change

Liberals (political attitude)

prefer smaller (but still significant) changes within institutions

Conservatives

skeptical of change whatsoever and favor the status quo

Reactionaries

seek to restore political, social, and economic institutions from the past.

• often romanticized

Attitudes on the “left”

Radicals - dramatic, often revolutionary changes to the system; willing to make large actions

Liberals - want change, but don’t need to tear the whole system down

Attitudes on the “right”

Conservatives - skeptical of change; value continuity of institutions

Revolutionaries - current order is unacceptable; extreme methods; revolution

Methods of change for radicals and reactionaries

Willing to engage in violence/tear down the system for dramatic change

Methods of change for conservatives and liberals

more willing to engage with the status quo to best support institutions

Political ideologies

basic values held by an individual about the fundamental goal of politics and the ideal balance of freedom and equality (universal! pretty similar across the world)

Liberalism

Limited state role in politics, society, and economy

Emphasis on individual freedoms, free markets, pluralism over equality

Communism

Rejects idea that personal freedom will ensure prosperity for majority

Prioritizes equality over freedom

Social Democracy

Balances freedom and equality

• Strong free markets and role for private ownership but…

• Also strong state to regulate industry and engage in social spending

• Inspired many modern European states

Fascism

Rejects broad application of freedom and equality

Believes in strict hierarchies and inherent inequalities

• Explicitly racist or ethnocentric

Resulted in fascist regimes, including Nazi Germany

Anarchaism

Views state as a threat to freedom and equality

• Eliminate the state and private property

Religious Ideology

Not common

Economic challenges, demographic shifts, social attitudes have led to calls to revert to older religious institions

Secularism is weakly institutionalized

Fundamentalism

Seeks to make faith the sovereign authority (ex. Iran)

Belief that state and religion should be closely intertwined

• Theocracy

Can be radical, reactionary, or both

Can be any religion

Political Culture

Broadly held beliefs about politics should work in a setting

• In democracy, citizens might expect and value open elections and civic freedoms

• In non-democracy, they may not share those, but value economic stability and security.

Political Economy

study of the interaction between states and market

• examines balance of freedom and equality, and which is more prioritized

Markets

interactions between the forces of supply and demand that allocate resources

• sellers and buyers

• complex and difficult for states to manage

Property

goods/services that are owned by an individual or group

• private or public

• tangible or intangible

• traded or exchanged in markets

Public Goods

things that single individuals/companies are incapable of providing; only the stat/government is seen as well-suited to provide

Taxation

used to pay for social expenditures, public goods.

Social Expenditures

public benefits like education, healthcare, subsidized things

• welfare

• prioritizes equality

• middle class benefits

Advantages of Social Expenditures

lower poverty, food insecurity, etc.

Disadvantages of Social Expenditures

very expensive

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

total market value of goods and services produced by a country in a year

Tax advantages

more government revenue; may decrease harmful behavior (alcohol tax, cigarette, tariffs, tax write-offs)

Tax Disadvantages

May penalize work and investment

May decrease competitiveness (don’t want to enter a heavily-taxed area)

Central Bank

institution that controls how much money is flowing through the economy as well as how much it costs to borrow money in that economy.

Big tool for central banks

setting interest rates on borrowing

• Higher interest rate: less loans + more saving = less money flowing (cools economy/fights inflation)

• Lower interest rate: more loans + more spending = more money flowing (speeds economy/raises employment)

Inflation

increase in general price level of goods/services in the economy (Fed’s goal is 2%)

• money becomes less valuable, goods cost more

• poverty increases

Hyperinflation

Extreme level of inflation

• greater than 50%/month for two consecutive months

• Ex. Venezuela in 2018: peaked at 1 million %

Deflation

decline in the prices of goods/services

• “liquidity trap”

• Problem: not enough money

  • businesses don’t do as well → downsizing → going under → unemployment increases

Stagflation

when high inflation occurs at the same time as stagnant economic growth AND high unemployment

• Rare

• Central banks must choose between slowing growth and raising unemployment

• Must choose which fire to put out

Regulations

rules or orders that set the boundaries of a given procedure

• could limit commerce, orgs, operations of business

Trade

mechanisms states use to regulate trade

Tariff

tax on an imported good (not applied to similar domestic goods)

Quota

a limit on the number of a certain foreign good that can enter the country

Non-tariff regulatory barriers

health, packaging, or other restrictions that make it more difficult for foreign good to sell in local markets

Reasons for regulation

Generate state revenue

Foster local industry

Protect local jobs

Keep wealth in the country

Reasons against regulation

Promote competition

Keep costs of goods low

Stimulate domestic innovation in areas of competitive advantage

Political-Economic System

relationship between political and economic institutions in a particular country, as well as the policies and outcomes they create.

Liberalism

goal is to maximize economic freedom to promote growth

State’s role is limited; focused on supporting free markets

• protect private property

• enforce contracts

• break up monopolies

US, UK< UAE, Chile, Australia, etc.

In the US…

• weaker regulations

• lower social expenditures

• lower taxation

Laisezz-Faire

letting the economy operate with minimal regulation → best outcome

Capitalism

system of production based on private property and free markets

Social Democracy

goal is to balance freedom and equality

State policies play an active role in shapeing markets

• strong protections for private property

• free trade

• significant redistribution of wealth

  • high taxes

  • public investment

  • strong safety nets

Germany, Norway, Sweden

Communism

goal is to eliminate individual economic freedom to achieve equality

Active state intervention in economy

• Little to no private property

  • viewed as public good

• Massive redistribution

• Prices, wages, trade, even the jobs you can have = regulated by state

Very rare

• Projection and planning an artificial economy do not usually work

Mercantilism

where national economic power is paramount and the economy is an instrument

Goal: maximize state wealth in order to increase state power

State is the primary economic actor; prioritize developing national economic power

• low taxes, low social expenditures

Parastatals: industry partially owned by the government

• the BBC, Japan investing in tech and cars

Japan, South Korea