GOV312L EXAM 2 REVIEW

What is politics?

The use of authority to allocate scarce resources

What are two components of politics?

Authority and allocation of scarce resources

What is authority?

The ability to direct social behavior using actions

What does the allocation of scarce resources imply?

Social competition and conflicts for resources

What is the legitimacy of authority?

The target of authority recognizes the right of an authorized person to make a decision

What is political order?

Stabilities and regularities of social behavior induced by authority or coercion

All coercive groups are legitimate

False

Why is organized violence necessary?

The threat of organized violence is necessary to maintain political order and enforce directives

What is the coercion dilemma?

Occurs when a government is strong enough to enforce directives and leverage its authority for its' own gain. 

What is predation? 

the forcible distribution and abuse of resources 

What is an example of a predator?

Hitler and Nazi Germany

What is an example of organized violence being used as a defense against predators?

The Allied nations’ involvement in WW2

What dilemma does the US face regarding coercion? 

How should US military presence and power be legitimized? Is military presence afterwards still legitimized? 

What is war?

War is defined as a military contest among coercive competing organizations that meets some threshold of death or destruction, usually when more than 1000 soldiers are killed in a conflict. 

What are the domestic and political consequences of war?

Strengthens governments and states, governments leverage external threats to justify restrictions on individual liberties and strengthen their political position, states may lose or gain land, the demographic of a state can change due to refugee flows, war may trigger revolutions

What is the 7 years War?

There were two lines of conflict, in which the British warred with the French and Spanish over claims to colonies and in which Prussia fought Austria over who would rule German speaking people in Central Europe. 

What is an example of war being used to justify the restriction of individual liberties in a state?

• Increased taxes on the colonies, such as the Stamp Act, Sugar Act, Townshend Act and the Monopoly on Tea Trade Act 

• Imports and exports from the colonies had doubled, and colonies were indebted to Britain.  

What are political correlates that make states less likely to go to war?

• Democratic states do not usually go to war with each other 

• Democratic states are also less likely to wage civil war against internal rebel groups 

• Cooperative political relationships and formal agreements reduce the chances of war between states. 

• States are less likely to start wars with members of international organizations, such as EU or NATO. 

What is a political correlate that makes a state more likely to go to war? 

Newly democratic states that have undergone regime changes are at the most risk of war

What are economic correlates that make a state less likely to go to war?

• Positive economic outcomes reduce the likelihood of war because states are deterred from foregoing these economic fortunes and entering into a war that may wreck their economy. 

• High levels of trade between states reduces the chances of conflict between them. 

• Higher GDP and national income levels are correlated with lower chances of entering into war 

• Economic growth reduces the risk of civil war. 

Are states with military power more or less likely to go to war?

The states with the most military power are less likely to enter a war, as other states will be deterred from challenging them. 

What geographical correlates make a state more likely to go to war?

• States are more likely to go to war when they share a common border. 

• Rough or mountainous terrains make civil war more likely, as it is more difficult to consolidate political authority and the terrain provides plenty of spaces to house rebel groups. 

What social correlates make a state more likely to go to war?

• Greater ethnic diversity can activate grievances against the state. 

• Ethnic groups isolated from society may demand secession 

• Minority groups excluded systematically from society and the government may trigger a civil war 

What is a key assumption of the Bargaining Model of War?

All wars are costly

What two components are important to any explanation of why war occurs?

Private information and the commitment problem

What is private information?

Information about a states’ military capabilities that a state is not aware of

How does private information lead to war?

States overestimate their own military power and chances of winning a war, making them more likely to enter into conflicts.

How can peace be preserved in light of what we know about private information?

• Use costly but credible measures to communicate necessary private information 

• Always back up claims and commitments 

  

What is the commitment problem?

A problem associated with states contracting over time, occurring when states believe their adversaries will use their power imbalance to demand further concessions and not hold up their end of a peace deal.

What are ways the commitment problem can potentially be solved?

• Institutional mechanisms that preserve a static mechanism of power 

• Arms control agreements (ex: Iran Nuclear Accord) 

• Democracy 

• Membership in international organizations such as NATO 

How did the commitment problem contribute to the outbreak of WW1?

Russia could not commit to respecting Austria-Hungarian influence in the Balkans

How did US entry into WW1 shape its’ consequences?

• Military consequences: Shifts in balance of military power altered the German perception of chances of victory 

• Facilitated the collapse of imperialism 

• Formed a collective security system centered around the League of Nations 

• US was established as a victor's creditor and global power 

 

What did Trump say to the General Assembly in his speech at the UN?

• Trump has criticized world leaders' for pursuing green energy and addressing climate change 

• Trump has expressed disbelief in climate change and global warming, declaring it as a hoax 

• "If you don't get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail." 

• Labels immigration and green energy as a "two tailed monster" 

• Trump has criticized their openness to immigrants, and has pushed for laws restricting the distribution of asylum  

• Criticizes the effectiveness of the UN and their financial support for immigrants 

How does the UN influence global politics?

• Providing institutional forum for meetings of world leaders 

• Reveals info about national interests of leaders 

• Provides administrative resources to address transnational problems 

• Convenes experts and scientists on certain issues 

• The UN, however, possesses limited enforcement capacity 

What did Trump do that changed his stance on the Ukraine-Russia war?

Trump stated that Ukraine could reclaim all of its' territory that was controlled by Russian military forces, a shift from him initially being dismissive of Ukraine's ability to reclaim territory 

How has Russia been escalating against NATO?

3 Russian jets flew within 10 miles of the Estonian parliament and an unprecedented amount of Russian drones entered Poland.

What is a Great Power? 

• Defines a subset of states in the international system 

• Greater influence and resources 

• High amounts of wealth and military power 

• Global interests extending beyond territorial bodies 

 

What is polarity?

the number of great powers existing in a system at any given time

What is unipolarity?

1 great power has greater power over the others 

• The gap in military power discourages challenges to the international order 

• Fosters peace between unipolar power and middle powers 

• International outcomes depend almost entirely on internal characteristics or conditions of the leading states 

What is bipolarity?

2 great powers have greater power over the others

• International outcomes depend mostly on internal conditions of the leading states. 

• Alliances are more certain and stable. 

 

What is multipolarity?

A group of 3 or more great powers have greater power over the others

• The potential for alliance changes and coalitions is more important to international outcomes 

• Alliances are less stable and certain 

• States can dissent by forming rival blocs within the system. 

• Shifts in power can destabilize relations between states.  

 

What is an example of unipolarity?

American dominance post Cold War

What is an example of bipolarity?

Cold War era of competition between the US and Russia

What does the power transition theory hold?

Holds that the risk of conflict increases when the challenger’s rising power begins to approach the level of the hegemony

What are the sources of a commitment problem in the civil war?

• Shifts in the internal distribution of military power 

• Ethnic imbalances and ethnicity as a device to mobilize people: Minority groups may want to secede, risk of tyranny from the majority.  

How did the commitment problem contribute to Civil War in the US?

Southern states chose war because Northern states could not commit to respecting their right to hold slaves 

What is second-strike capability?

The ability of a state to survive an initial nuclear attack with enough remaining weapons to retaliate, ensuring the destruction of the attacking state

Are there clear winners in a nuclear war?

A nuclear war is likely to end in unacceptable destruction for all states, leaving no clear winner 

What is the difference between defense and deterrence?

Defense prevents actors from taking unwanted actions while deterrence uses threats to discourage actors from taking unwanted actions

What is Mutually Assured Destruction?

A condition in which competing nuclear powers each possess a second strike capability and any nuclear war would result in the mutual destruction of both sides. 

What were the terms of the Gaza Ceasefire?

• No forced expulsions of Palestinians from Gaza 

• Temporary technocratic interim leadership of Gaza 

• Creation of an International Stabilization Force to provide security in Gaza and monitor settlement terms. 

• Israel won't annex territories 

Why is there peace in Gaza now?

• Israel successfully leveraged the war to diminish outside support for Hamas and felt more "secure" in ending the war. 

• Isolation and outrage from other states pressured Israel into not fighting, as Israel did not want to lose the US as its only ally. 

• Hamas leadership in Quatar gave the Trump administration more leverage to pressure Israel to cease fighting 

• President Trump invested political capital into securing a ceasefire and incorporated the demands of other Arab and Muslim states into the terms. 

What does a credible nuclear threat depend on?

Capabilities and resolve

What is a good example of a state demonstrating the capability to carry out a nuclear threat?

North Korea launching missile tests

What is the problem of credibility?

Occurs when a state makes a threat of a nuclear attack but has good reasons not to follow through on that threat, undermining its’ credibility

What is capability?

Ability to carry out a threat

Do national missile defense systems undermine second-strike capability?