ultimate guide POL SCI 20

lock in brother

Human rights

The rights possessed by all individuals by virtue of being human, regardless of status as citizens of particular states or members of a group or organization

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

A declaration, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, that is defined as a “common standard of achievement for all peoples” and forms the foundation of modern human rights law

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

The agreement, completed in 1966 and in force from 1976, that details the basic civil and political rights of individuals and nations. The ICCPR and ICESCR together are known as the “twin covenants.”

International Bill of Rights

The UDHR, ICCPR, and ICESCR collectively. Together, these three agreements form the core of the international human rights regime.

Nonderogable rights

Rights that cannot be suspended for any reason, including in cases of social or public emergency

Prisoners of conscience (POC’s)

Individuals imprisoned solely for the peaceful expression of their beliefs. The term was coined by the human rights organization Amnesty International

Individual petition

A right that permits individuals to petition appropriate international legal bodies directly if they believe a state has violated their rights

International Criminal Court (ICC)

A court of last resort for human rights cases that possesses jurisdiction only if the accused is a national of a state party, the crime took place on the territory of a state party, or the UN Security Counical has referred the case to the prosecutor

International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)

The agreement, completed in 1966 and in force from 1976, that specifies the basic economic, social, cultural rights of individuals and nations. The ICCPR and ICESCR together are known as the “twin covenants.”

Less developed countries (LDC’s)

Countries at a relatively low level of economic development

Infrastructure

Basic structures necessary for social activity, such as transportation and telecommunications networks, and power and water supply

Primary products

Raw materials and agricultural products, typically unprocessed or only slightly processed. The primary sectors are distinguished from secondary sectors (industry) and tertiary sectors (services)

Oligopoly

A situation in which a market or industry is dominated by a few firms

Terms of trade

The relationship between a country’s export prices and its import prices

Import-substituting industrialization (ISI)

A set of policies, pursued by most developing ocuntries from the 1930s through the 1980s, to reduce imports and encourage domestic manufacturing, often through trade barriers, subsidies to manufacturing, and state ownership of basic industries. Compare export-oriented industrialization

Export-oriented industrialization (EOI)

A set of policies, originally pursued in the mid-1960s by several East Asian countries, to spur manufacturing for export, often through subsidies and incentives for export production. Compare import-substituting industrialization

Group of 77

A coalition of developing countries in the UN, formed in 1964 with 77 members, that seeks changes to the economic order to favor the developing world. It has grown to over 130 members but retains the original name

Commodity cartels

Associations of producers of commodities (raw materials and agricultural products) that restrict world supply of their products and thereby cause the price of their goods to rise.

Commodity cartels

Associations of producers of commodities (raw materials and agricultural products) that restrict world supply of their products and thereby cause the price of their goods to rise.

Portfolio investment

Investment in a foreign country via the purchase of stocks (equities), bonds, or other financial instruments. Portfolio investors do not exercise menagerial control of the foreign operation. Compare foreign direct investment

Sovereign lending

Loans from private financial institutions in one country to sovereign governments of other countries.

Foreign direct investment (FDI)

Investment in a foreign country via the acquisition of a local facility or the establishment of a new facility. Direct investors maintain managerial control of the foreign operation. Compare portfolio investment

World Bank

An important international institution that provides loans at below-market interest rates to developing countries, typically to enable them to carry out development projects.

Recession

A sharp slowdown in the rate of economic growth and economic activity. Compare depression.

Depression

A severe downturn in the business cycle, typically associated with major declines in economic activity, production, and investment; a severe contraction of credit; and sustained high unemployment. Compare recession

Default

To fail to makepayments on a debt

Austerity

The application of policies to reduce consumption, typically by cutting government spending, raising taxes, and restricting wages.

Bank for International Settlements

One of the oldest international financial organizations, created in 1930. Its members include the world’s principal central banks, and under its auspices they attmept to cooperate in the financial realm.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

A major international economic institution established in 1944 to manage international monetary relations. It has gradually reoriented itself to focus on the international financial system, especially debt and currency crises.

Multinational corporation (MNC)

An enterprise that operates in a number of coutnries, with production or service facilities outside its coutnry of origin. 

Global supply chains

A network of customers and suppliers involved in the production and distribution of a product. Parts of it may be inside a multinational corporation; parts may also involve links between corporations.

Bilateral investment treaty

An agreement between two countries about the conditions for private investment across borders. Most of these treaties include provisions to protect an investment from government discrimination or expropriation without compensation as well as mechanisms to resolve disputes.

Comparative advantage

The ability of a country or firm to produce a particular good or service more efficiently than it can produce other goods or services, such that its resources are most efficiency of other economic activities that the actor might undertake given all the products it can produce—not to the efficiency of other countries or firms. Compare absolute advantage

Absolute advantage

The ability of a country or firm to produce more of a particular good or service than other countries or firms can produce with the same amount of effort and resources. Compare comparative advantage

neo-mercantilism

A belief that national economic policy should encourage exports and discourage imports, and that thte country should aim to run a trade surplus. So called in relationship to the classical mercantilism of the colonial powers, which aimed at running trade surpluses with their colonies

Heckscher-Ohlin trade theory

The theory that a country will export goods that make intensive use of the factors of production in which it is well endowed. For example, a labor-rich country will export goods that make intensive use of labor

Protectionism

The imposition of barriers to restrict imports

Trade barriers

Government limitations on the international exchange of goods. EX tarriffs, health and safety standards that discriminate against foreign goods

Tariff

A tax imposed on imports. Tarriffs raise the domestic prices of the imported good and may be applied for the purpose of protecting domestic producers from foreign competition 

Quantitative restriction (quota)

A limit placed on the amount of a particular good that is allowed to be imported and sold domestically

Nontariff barriers on trade

Obstacles to imports other than tariffs (trade taxes); EX include restrictions on the number of products that can be imported (quantitative restrictions, or quotas); and other measures that discriminate against foreign goods or services. “Buy American” laws that govern what state and local governments can buy, for example, are an implicit—but nontariff—obstacles to the purchase of imports

Stolper-Samuelson theorem

The theorem that trade protection benefits the scarce factor of production. This view flows from the Heckscher-Ohlin theory: if a country imports goods that make intensive use of its scarce factor, then limiting imports will help that factor. So in a labor-scarce country, labor benefits from protection and loses from trade liberalization

Ricardo-Viner (spcific-factors) model

A model of trade realtions that emphasizes the sector in which factors of production are employed rather than the nature of the factor itself. This differentiates it from the Heckscher-Ohlin theory, in which the nature of the factor—labor, land, capital— isthe principal consideration

Reciprocity

In interantional trade relations, mutual agreement to lower tariffs and other barriers to trade. Reciprocity involves an implicit or explicit arrangement for one government to exchange trade-policy concessions with another

World Trade Organization (WTO)

An institution created in 1995 to succeed the GATT and to govern international trade relations. The WTO encourages and polices the multilateral reduction of barriers to trade, and it oversees the resolution of trade disputes. Compare General Agreement on tariffs and trade.

General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

An interantional institution created in 1947 in which member countries committed to reducing barriers to trade and providing similar trading conditions to all other members. In 1995, the GATT was replaced by the WTO. Compare World Trade Organization

Regional trade agreements (RTAs)

Agreements among three or more countries in a region to reduce barriers to trade among themselves

Most-favored-nation (MFN) status

A status established by most modern trade agreements guaranteeing that the signatories will extend to each other any favorable trading terms offered in agreements with third parties.

Exchange rate

The price at which one currency is exchanged for another

Appreciate

In terms of a currency, to increase in value relative to other currencies

Depreciate

In terms of a currency, to decrease in value relative to other currencies

Devalue

To reduce the value of one currency relative to other currencies

Monetary policy

An important tool of national governments to influence broad macroeconomic conditions such as unemployment, inflation, and econmic growth. Typically, governments alter their monetary policies by changing national interest rates or exchange rates

Central bank

The institution that regulates monetary conditions in a country’s economy,typically by raising or lowering interest rates and the quantity of money in circulation

Fixed exchange rate

An exchange-rate policy under which a governmnet commits itself to keeping its currency at or around a specific value relative to another currency or a commodity, such as gold

Gold standard

The monetary system that prevailed between about 1870 and 1914, in which countries tied their currencies to gold at a legally fixed price

Floating exchange rate

An exchange-rate policy under which a government permits its currency to be traded on the open market without direct government control or intervention

Bretton Woods monetary system

The monetary order negotiated among the World War II allies in 1944, which lasted unitl the 1970s and which was based on a U.S. dollar tied to gold. Other currencies were fixed to the dollar but were premitted to adjust their exchange rates

adjustable peg

A monetary system of fixed but adjustable rates. Governments are expected to keep their currencies fixed for extended periods but are permitted to adjust the exchange rate from time to time as exonomic conditions change

International monetary regime

A formal or informal arrangement shared by most countries in the world economy to govern relations among their currencies