Ch.2 | structure nation-states, power, and order in int'l context

Question 1

Agenda setters

Answer 1

Actors whose actions constrain the choices of others and direct them toward a limited menu of choices

Question 2

Anarchy

Answer 2

A characterization of the relations between states in the global arena; the lack of an overarching central authority to resolve disagreements, which creates a social context that is open to competition and cooperation, dispute and disagreement, negotiation and compromise, and, sometimes, violent conflict

Question 3

Cheap talk

Answer 3

An insincere, empty promise of threat, reward, or commitment

Question 4

Dependence

Answer 4

A political economy’s reliance on a particular resource, which thus makes the state vulnerable to influence

Question 5

Economies of knowledge

Answer 5

The efficiency gained from learning about how to produce a product

Question 6

Economies of scale

Answer 6

The efficiency gained in producing a commodity from the concentration of activities and resources that are required to produce it

Question 7

Elasticity of demand and supply

Answer 7

The relative changeability in consumer demand or producer supply due to a change in price; inelastic demand or supply is relatively inflexible regardless of price, while elastic demand or supply will change with a change in price

Question 8

Empire

Answer 8

A political entity that incorporates far greater territory under a single political authority than does a modern nation-state

Question 9

Functional equity

Answer 9

The principle that, regardless of their abilities, all states attempt to perform similar essential functions; they are equal not in how they perform such functions—only in that they all do attempt to perform them

Question 10

Hierarchy

Answer 10

The structure of the international arena in which nation-states are ranked in terms of their effectiveness and capabilities

Question 11

Intangible attributes

Answer 11

Resources that are created and transformed by people and con­tribute to a state’s capabilities

Question 12

Interdependence

Answer 12

An assessment of the connections and relations across nations, of the degree to which activities in one nation spill over to influence activities in other nations

Question 13

Nation

Answer 13

An abstract form of collective identity or community identification that builds upon a grouping of individuals who share one or more characteristics that help to define who is a member of the specific community and who is not

Question 14

Nation-state

Answer 14

The primary unit of political aggregation in world affairs

Question 15

National policy autonomy

Answer 15

The ability of a government to maintain independence in producing political commodities and in forming and enforcing its own policies

Question 16

Power

Answer 16

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Question 17

Power hierarchy

Answer 17

A structure that reflects differences in the capabilities of different policy-makers to employ the tools and strategies of influence as they think about trying to affect the behavior of others

Question 18

Representation

Answer 18

The processes and mechanisms in society by which demands and prefer­ences are conveyed from the bottom up

Question 19

Self-help system

Answer 19

The idea, influenced by Hobbesian theory, that creatures in a state of nature, without a legitimate central authority to resolve disputes, must rely upon their own means to survive; the global arrangement whereby governments, lacking an over-arching central authority, must resort to their own capabilities and tools in order to obtain their preferred ends

Question 20

Sensitivity

Answer 20

A component of a state’s power potential reflecting the fact that economies and societies need some resources more than others; a state that is sensitive to the availability of a particular resource is vulnerable to potential manipulation and influence because of it, but less so than a state that is dependent upon such a resource

Question 21

Sovereignty

Answer 21

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Question 22

Specialization

Answer 22

An economic practice whereby each producer does not attempt to produce the entire range of commodities, but rather produces a commodity or supplies a service in which she has a comparative advantage

Question 23

Substitutability

Answer 23

The prospect that economic enterprises and societies will find new sources of a commodity or substitutes for that commodity at affordable prices

Question 24

Tangible attributes

Answer 24

Naturally occurring resources or physical assets that can be employed and manipulated by people to advance their agendas

Question 25

Westphalian state system

Answer 25

The modern state system, whereby the government of a state, and by definition a territory, is considered the sole legitimate authority within its territorial boundaries