Exam #1 Review

Question 1

Anarchy

Answer 1

lacking organizational structure; the international system is anarchic because there is no overarching world government to maintain order; states are left to fend for themselves
there is no international 911 hotline that they can call for help

Question 1

Theory

Answer 1

provides causal logic for why X causes Y; logical explanation for a phenomenon or development
helps make predictions, explain laws, guide thinking, think in abstract ways

Question 2

Self-Help

Answer 2

states must help themselves (they must provide for their own security, doing so by building up their military and being cautious of other states’ intentions)

Question 3

Power

Answer 3

ability to exert one’s will onto others and make them do something they would otherwise not do

Question 4

Balance of Power

Answer 4

don’t let one state get too powerful; If one state gains too much power, it may try to exert that power over others and turn itself into a global hegemon, posing a looming threat to state sovereignty and self-determination

Question 5

Security Dilemma

Answer 5

Measures a state takes to increase its own security usually decreases the security of other states; gain security at the expense of other states; for example, building up your military may make you feel safer and more secure, but that military power poses an external threat to other states

Question 6

Human Nature

Answer 6

Instinctual assumptions about how humans act

Question 7

Prisoner’s Dilemma

Answer 7

By doing what is individually rational, both players get a worse outcome than they could have gotten by cooperating

Question 8

Freeriding (Collective Action problem)

Answer 8

Free riders enjoy the benefits of collective action without actually contributing to it

Question 9

International Institutions

Answer 9

Set of rules, norms, and procedures around which the expectation of actors converge in a certain issue area; Meant to increase transparency by bringing states together in a cooperative fashion

Question 10

Barriers to cooperation amidst anarchy

Answer 10

Fear of cheating (Fear that states will pretend to cooperate, only to back out at the last second or pick the individually rational option that benefits only them)
Free-rider problem
Concerns over relative gains

Question 11

Relative Gains

Answer 11

The actions of states only in respect/regard to power balances, no regard for other factors, such as economics

Basically, the only thing states care about is power and maintaining a balance of power, ensuring that other states do not gain too much and overtake their power

Question 12

Material Capabilities

Answer 12

military power, wealth, etc.

Question 13

Reciprocity

Answer 13

Mutual cooperation between states; a state does something for another state, getting a benefit in return

Question 14

Transaction Costs

Answer 14

What it costs a state to participate in cooperation or institutions (can include opportunity costs like missing out on other deals, or tangible costs like flights, hotels, food, and security for negotiations)

Question 15

Shadow of the Future

Answer 15

A state is understood to comply out of fear that failure to do so will prevent it from using international law at some later time

Institutions make sure that states play the game over and over again, creating space for actors to learn that if they cooperate, they can get more in the long-term (optimal outcome in the long-term better than short-term benefits); produces norms of reciprocity, cooperation becomes self-enforcing → transition from a one-shot game to reiteration

Question 16

Democratic Peace

Answer 16

Democracies don’t go to war with each other, or are less likely to fight each other

Question 17

2 theories of Democratic Peace

Answer 17

Institutional and Normative

Question 18

Institutional theory

Answer 18

checks and balances limit state autonomy, free public debate, constraints on the government provide opportunity for conflict resolution, democratic leaders want to get reelected, worried about policy failure or dragging the state into armed conflict, cautious to engage in conflict, reluctance for war and prone to negotiation

Question 19

Normative theory

Answer 19

democracies believe other democracies are reasonable and trustworthy; intentions of democracies are always pacific (not prone to violence) toward other democracies, want to pursue peaceful negotiation, opt towards conflict resolution

Question 20

Ideational factors (norms, identities, etc.)

Answer 20

Ideas, norms, and identities can govern social interactions between states

An idea can refer to how a process should be carried out or how something should be done

Norms dictate what is appropriate and what is inappropriate, creating unspoken societal rules that states follow so as not to be named and shamed by international community for disobeying or falling out of line

Identities are how a state views itself, self-image, how it identifies