2: Politics, Conflict, Violence, and the State

Question 1

what is politics fundamentally about?

Answer 1

conflicts of preferences and their resolutions

Question 2

explanation of the nature of the puzzle of war

Answer 2

puzzling because whatever settlement is reached at the end of war could have in principle be reached before war, minus the costs of war

puzzle of why wars occur

Question 3

commitment problems

Answer 3

occurs when an actor would like to commit to respect an agreement but has incentives to renege on that commitment and not follow through (not credible)

one of the most fundamental issues in politics

e.g. trust games

Question 4

asymmetric information

Answer 4

lack of information or friction during bargaining

e.g. Athens vs Sparta (do not know how strong/weak the other is)

Question 5

multilateral bargaining

Answer 5

more than 2 parties in the bargaining process

due to a commitment problem that arises in the presence of more than 2 states

Question 6

unchecked elites

Answer 6

elites are not affected by war in the same way as the local population (do not bear the costs or benefit in a way other do not) and locals are unable to hold elites accountable

Question 7

violent preferences

Answer 7

we could negotiate but we may have violent preferences that manifest

instances where humans experience emotional rewards (doing God’s work - moral belliefs/religious values, revenge, etc.)

e.g. dictator games, ultimate games

Question 8

systematic mistakes

Answer 8

wars as a consequence of inaccurate belief formation: overconfidence bias, projection bias, decision-making under arousal

Question 9

how can the contractarian view of the state be thought of in terms of solving commitment problems?

Answer 9

contractarian view of the state means that individuals transfer power to the state in exchange for protection

this view and creation of the state solves problems that individuals have with each other but may create problems between individuals and the state