Chapter 4 Flashcards
Conceptualizing International Relations as a system suggests that
Actors involved in international Ralations interact with each other in regularized ways
The move to conceptualize international politics as a system grew out of
The behavioral revolution to the social sciences
For realists the basic ordering principle of the International system is
Anarchy
For liberals the basic ordering principle of the International system is
interdependence
For Radicals the basic ordering principle of the International system is
Capitalism
Which two theories consider the structure of the system vital to their analyses?
- Realists
2. Radicals
Which theory sees the international system as a process?
Liberals
What does Polarity refer to?
The number of influential allies that exert power in the international system
What are the 4 norms of the balance of power system?
1, Any state trying to assume dominate power must be constrained
- negotiating is better than fighting
- states seek own national interests defined in terms of power
- states want to increase territory, population and economy
Alliances in a bipolar international system tend to be (2 things)
- long term
2. based on relatively permanent interests.
Kenneth Waltz (a neorealist) argues that bipolar international systems are
more stable than multipolar systems
Advocates of unipolarity attribut the stability of such a system to be the
Hegomon’s willingness to enforce norms needed to maintain the system
Realists attribute changes in the International System to
changes in the number of major actors in the system
What is a realists assesement of the possibility of change in the international system?
change happens, but it is slow
Liberals see the international system as what kind of system?
Interdependent and evolving
Multilaterlist actions involve
coordination among several states
Neoliberals see international institutions as
making state commitments more credible and enforceable
Liberals acknowledge and welcome changes in the international system and see them as a result of
the participation of new actors in global civil society.
In examining the international system, radicals are concerned primarily with
Stratification
What is stratification?
An unbalance of resources in the world
Why can stratification lead to instability?
Dominant powers can be challenged by those just beneath them as the latter try to gain access to the former’s resources.
What was the New International Economic Order?
A radical call in the 70s to improve the south via economic power
According to constructivists, what causes change in the international system?
changing ideas and cultural change
The text argues that “international system theorists have always been hampered by The problem of boundaries”, what does this problem entail?
It is not clear how states influence the system and how the system influences states
