Final Exam Flashcards
Learn concepts for the final exam.
The institutions created to govern the international economy after World War 2 and the ways in which they changed over time
*They were originally Western bloc organizations that depended on the US
- International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), later World Bank and General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT), later World Trade Organization (WTO)
- UN was created post-WWII to preserve peace
• During Cold War, less UN involvement
• Post-Cold War, more focus on internal developments in states; UN served national interest and morality
• 1990s: UN attempted to resolve internal disputes (i.e. Civil wars); improved states’ economic, social, political conditions
• 2001: Responsibility to Protect; increase in number of UN institutions that address economic/social issues
- IMF, World Bank, GATT were created in 1945 to improve social/economic arrangments
• 1980s: industrialization, economic growth; however gap between the richest and poorest 20% of world population widened drastically
• 1990s: More debt for developing countries than 1980s; economic decline in Eastern bloc countries
The motivation behind the creation of the European Union and (later) the Euro currency and the origins of the European debt crisis
- European Union was created to: reconcile France and Germany; supranational management of coal and steel; to create and regulate an internal market/trade/transport
- Euro currency was created to: economically integrate Europe
- Origins of European debt crisis: when countries joined the EU they agreed to follow criterion (i.e. budget deficit less than 3% of GDP per year); Countries borrowed money to fuel their own economies expecting that other parts of the Eurozone would bail them out; Greece lied about GDP; this sparked an investor crisis
The predominant religious groups in the Middle East
- Mostly Muslims, Jews in Israel, some Christians
The different institutions of the European Union
- European Commision writes laws, implements policies
- European Parliament is the voice of the people (elected officials)
- European Council sets the agenda
- Council of the EU represents the views of nations
- European Central Bank sets interest rates
The relationships between international organizations, international law, national sovereignty, humanitarian crises, and interventions
- International organizations/laws are created to stabilize global monetary system, facilitate and encourage free trade, provide assistance to countries facing crises, assist development and investment
- When countries participate in international organizations, they are agreeing to help one another out in the case of humanitarian crises; also, they agree that other countries may intervene if they have a crisis
The different approaches to the study of development
- Orthodox development considers things like GDP per capita, economic growth, industrialization
• Poverty is a lack of money to buy food
• Top-down study - Alternative view of development considers things like general well-being
• Poverty is a condition; something that usually effects marginalized groups through a lack of ability to provide for themselves
• Bottom-up study
The relationship between globalization and development
- Neo-liberal: Globalization aids development with free trade and is better for economies
- Dependency theorists: globalization is bad for development because it creates income inequality; it makes developing countries depend on developed
Which countries are the leading powers in South America?
Brazil
Dahl’s framework for studying democracy and the economic and cultural modernization theories
- Two views for studying democracy: substantive and minimalist
- Substantive View: Classify political regimes in terms of the outcomes that they produce
- Procedural/Minimalist View: Classify political regimes in terms of their institutions or procedures
- Dahl argued that we should use a procedural or minimalist view of democracy
- Economic modernization theory
• Modernization theory predicts that as countries develop economically, they are 1) more likely to become democratic; and 2) more likely to remain democratic
• Choice between democracy and dictatorship can be thought of as a choice between (a) a system in which you are guaranteed a minimal standard of consumption (democracy) and (b) a system in which you win or lose everything (dictatorship) - Cultural modernization theory argues that socioeconomic development does not directly cause democracy; instead, economic development produces certain cultural changes and it is these cultural changes that ultimately produce democratic reform
Political culture and its importance for democracy
- Political culture: how individuals think and feel about the political system
- Three types of political culture:
• Parochial–suitable for traditional system of African tribes
• Subject–suitable for centralized authoritarian systems
• Participant–suitable for democracy - Only “participant” or “civic” culture is compatible with democracy.
The different approaches to the study of international political economy and the idea of embedded liberalism
- Core questions of IPE: What explains events in the world economy? What creates and sustains institutions? How do institutions impact the world economy?
- Different approaches to IPE from IR: liberal, mercantilist and Marxian traditions
- Embedded liberalism: market liberalism and political stability
The types of poverty as described by Professor Larkins in her guest lecture, as well as the types as defined in the Baylis text
- Types of poverty:
1. Monetary-based (orthodox view)
2. Condition suffered by people (alternative view)- Larkins explained structural violence as the human suffering from inequalities in society
- Lack of access to community resources (critical alternative view)
- Larkins explained structural violence as the human suffering from inequalities in society
The main decision-making organs of the United Nations, the current weaknesses of the UN, and the arguments in favor of and opposed to the UN
- Argument for UN: Reflects tension between needs and interests of people and states, an international community working toward some sort of peace
- Argument against UN: it has not responded effectively to Congo, Darfur, and other humanitarian issues; needs to change to face the world’s injustices
- Weakness of UN: Coordination problematic, funds limited, has not held US accountable for ignoring its decisions
- Decision-making organs of UN:
• Security council: maintains international peace
• General assembly: all UN member states represented; parliament of nations
• International court of justice: judicial organ
The arguments for and against the Arab Spring
- Argument for Arab Spring:
- Argument against Arab Spring:
What are the leading sources of economic assistance to South America?
- Leading sources of economic assistance to South America:
