Glopo vocab IB HL

Political Actors

- Those who have the power to bring about change as actors

- Actors can be seen at all levels of our global society, from international to local

Political Actors Example

- A worker holding up a sign protesting for better wages

- Factory owner who has the power to give those higher wages

Stakeholders

- Those who are not directly involved but are affected by the choices political actors take

Stakeholders Example

- Student (Child of a factory worker, this student is able to attend school because their parent took action to receive higher wages and send their kid to school)

State

- An independent government that has control over a clearly defines area

- this area must have internationally recognized borders

- systems of government, which can be national, regional and or local

-Some kind of legal system in place

- Primary actors in glopo

State Example

- United States, United Kingdom, Canada, India

Nation-State

- A state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity

- Nations can however exist without a physical homeland and also include members of the nation who do no live int heir original homeland

Nation-state Example

- Japan, Palestinians, Kurds

Government

- The institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies

Government Example

- Dictatorship, Democracy

Political Parties

- Groups of people who have common views about how the government of a state should function

Political Parties Example

- Democratic party, Chinese Communist party

Political Leaders

- Those who are in charge of a group of people

Political Leaders Example

- The president

Inter-governmental organizations (IGOs)

- Consists of 2 or more states who promise that they will work together on political issues that are of common interest to all

- They usually operate under a signed treaty so all states are held accountable

IGOs Example

- The United Nations, European Union, African Union, NATO

Civil Society

-Organizations or groups of people that are not linked to the government

- These orgs usually have some kind of common purpose and goal

- They want to make changes in society and can challenge existing problems, attitudes or beliefs

Civil Society Example

- Churches, Charitable groups, Cultural Institutions, Professional associations

Non-governmental organizations (NGO)

- Aims to help people, independent form any kind of government influence and are usually non-profit

NGO Example

- Red cross, Doctors w/o Borders, Oxfam

Private Actor

- Those not directly involved in the government but have the ability to make change and influence people

Private Actor Example

- Amazon (Jeff Bezos),

- Facebook/Meta (Mark Zuckerburg)

- Elon Musk

Social Movements Example

- Women Suffrage, Civil Rights Movement

Resistance Movements (More directed towards particular government policies, laws, and leadership) Example

- French Resistance: A network of movements that resisted Nazi occupation during World War II

Interest Groups

- A formally organized group of people that aims to influence public policy

Interest Group Example

- National Rifle Association, American Medical Association, American Bar Association

Political Forums

- Meetings of actors to discuss and debate different perspective on a political issue

- Formal: The UN

- Informal: The residents of a city street

Media

- think OPCVL

Media Examples

- In china the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre are heavily censored nowhere online can you find a trace of it.

Realism

- Seeks to explain the world as it really is rather than as it should be

- Humans are, by nature, selfish and competitive

Neorealism

- Emphasizes the anarchic structure of the international system as the primary driver of state behavior contrasting with classical realism's focus on human nature and domestic factors

Liberalism

- Cooperation in glopo

Neoliberalism

- Free market capitalism, Economic policies

- Focusing only on the economic side of freedom. You can buy or sell whatever you like, but social freedom isn't necessarily accepted. So, your free to sell a cake, but maybe you should not be allowed to refuse service to a gay couple

- Economic liberalization including privatization, deregulation, globalization, free trade, austerity, and reductions in government spending in order to increase the role of the private sector in the economy and society

Critical Theory

- Is an umbrella term for theoretical foundations that critique one or more major aspects of other theoretical foundations, the current world order and/ or ways of organizing life. Examples of critical theories include communitarianism, constructivism, feminism, Marxism, post-colonialism and environmentalism.

Constructivism

- Challenges more traditional theories of glopo

- The physical world matters more than the social world

- glopo is socially constructed through norms, beliefs and discourse

Feminist Theory

- Exclusion of the experience of women from glopo

Marxist Theory

- A socio-economic philosophy arguing that history is driven by class struggle, specifically the conflict between the bourgeoisie (owners of the means of production) and the proletariat (working class)

Postcolonial Theory

- Sees impact and legacy of colonialism as significant (yk dis one it's chill)