Final Flashcards
Nation-State
Defined by territory and order
Tribe
social/political associations based on descent and marriage
city-state
independent cities dedicated to trade, often relied on stronger political actors for protection from invaders and thieves
empire
powerful city levying tribute upon groups that are self-governing and lie far from imperial power
nationalism
an imagined political community (limited and sovereign)
4 causes of nationalism
urbanization, mass communication, total war, decline of the church
Before nationalism, what cultural systems?
religious communities and dynastic realms
ethnic identity
membership in an ascriptive category
piketty’s fundamental force for divergence
rate of return on capital > growth rate, inherited wealth grows faster than output and income and capital becomes extremely concentrated increasing inequality
piketty’s second law of capitalism
capital.income ratio = savings rate / growth rate, when g is low capital becomes more important than income, impacts social structures and wealth distribution
lorenz curve
proportion of total wealth held by the poorest percent of the population
property rights
1) Right to restrict access to an asset 2) Right to use, divide, mortgage, transform or alienate an asset 3) Right to earn income from asset and contract with others 4) Ability to have these rights predictably protected
selective enforcement
enforce rights of only privileged group of asset holders
enforcement as public good
protect rights of asset holders equally w/o discriminating based on political power or class
3 P’s of property
1) Precision - rights are consistent and precisely defined 2) Predictability - if something happens, resolution is same because rule of law is predictable 3) Prevention of Predation - prevent theft of assets and income by people or gov
progressive taxation
those who have more resources and earn the most pay higher taxes - reduces inequality
social conflict theory
rulers know that institutional arrangements not good for development but works for the rulers (property rights gap can allow ruler to have tight grip on rural population)
economic model of property rights
rulers needs long term horizon (Albertus argues this is not a sufficient explanation)
median voter theorem
median voter sets tax rate and redistribution level - when mean income is higher than median, then expect higher taxes and high redistributions
empathy gulf
people in one social stratum cannot imagine goods pursued by others
bandit
extracts
stationary bandit
stays in one place, extracts and in return provides public goods (eliminates anarchy, return of public good)
roving bandit
moves from place to place, takes taxes, not settling down, leads to anarchy, unsettles people - rational thing is stationary bandit
Weber state
human community that claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a territory
legitimations of domination
traditional, legal, charisma
nation state (Tilly)
state whose people share a strong linguistic, religious, and symbolic identity (Sweden, Ireland)
backward-looking framing
direct attention to the past (presents alternative as past and not progress)
downward-looking framing
direct attention to less fortunate (destroy would be alliances, feeds racism, keeps middle/low classes fighting)
physical gulfs
reinforce empathy gulfs
inward-looking framing
forget inequality and focus on self (blame self and not institutions)
redistributive thesis
favor taxing rich to help poor
kuznets curve
inequality increases then decreases as country gains wealth (industrialization increases then gov involvement decreases)
GAAP
Allows diverse firms with different investments to produce comparable financial statements
PR Gap
when gov redistributes land but does not grant land beneficiaries property rights over that land
social conflict theory
Poli elites/rules may choose bad/inefficient economic institutions even if cause stagnation
