Levels of Analysis Flashcards
What level is structural realism?
system level
describe structural realism’s view of the international state system
predicts balancing to protect from threats
–major states join weaker side to balance
bandwagoning (stephen Walt)
–weak states join stronger side–now at the mercy of the major power on that side
–joining weak alliance won’t help anyone
System is anarchic and self-help
–causes security dilemma and game theory
What type of system does Waltz believe is the most stable and why?
bipolarity
- because accidental war is less likely, mistakes are likely in multipolar world and can cause war
- since there are no leads, there is deterrence (equal strength)–actors are risk-averse
What does Rosecrantz argue about bipolarity?
- counters Walts
- looks at historical examples of bipolarity (Western Europe in late 1800s: Triple-Entente fought Russia
- Peloponnesian war
- argues that when two states have equal power, both think they are superior and will fight war to settle
Describe unipolarity as a type of system
- 1990s and early 200s, US was extremely more powerful (economically and militarily)
- even now there is still nobody to truly balance the US
- -states (Iran and North Korea) threaten nuclear attacks and asymmetric threats to deter US attacks,–trying to make conflict too costly for US
- unipolarity could mean less likely for wars because as a weaker power, it is illogical to try to fight against US
- some argue that since there is no true deterrence for US, there will be many small wars
Describe Complex Interdependence and the International state system
- Keohane and Nye–critique structural realism and Walts
- believe that in reality states are dependent, not independent
- ex. IPE: states are tied together through trade
- -interdependence
- to understand different parts of the world, need to figure out where states fit into the world economy
- -Wallerstein (African States), equates them to social, hierarchic classes
- international trade is about specialization, making it interdependent
- economies are intertwined
- –suggests less war because states shouldn’t fit each other if their economies are reliant on one another
- globalization changes the system
How generalizable, parsimonious and accurate are system-level theories
- generalizable, modern or ancient periods
- vague, and therefore accuracy can vary
- some theories are very parsimonious (balance of power)
What are some examples of domestic level theories?
- culture
- regime-type
- ideology
- domestic stability
- economic characteristics
Describe Choucri and North’s “Lateral Pressure”
- considers Population Density and Technology
- Population Density tells us about resources/resource supply
- Technology: how industrialized is it, how much input is needed
- States with high population density and high industrialization (tech) (ex Japan) may not be able to supply its own needs, and thus must trade. If states do not want to trade with them, might take by force (imperialism)
- ex. US (low population density, high tech), can largely feed itself, has its resources despite needing high input—self-sustained for a long time
- ex. Chine (low tech, high PD), becoming more industrialized, needs to trade or conquer to get materials
describe the DPT
- democracies rarely fight other democracies, the fight non-democracies
- emphasis on democratic domestic political structure
- democratic leaders tolerate opposition–translates to international-level : DEMOCRATIC NORMS
- if a leader, going to war is risky–likely to lose popularity: CONSTRAINTS ON SYSTEM
What is Krasner’s argument? (domestic level)
- insulation of top decision-makers
- -are they able to operate independently from domestic pressures (corporate ideals)
- -if insulate, acts in a more realist way
Describe Peter Kazenstein’s views of state-society relations
considers state and society and their relative strengths
- strong state and strong society means more unitary response, coordination
- weak state means decentralized gov system
- weak society means decentralized society/ corporations don’t really communicate or work together
Describe the characteristics of Domestic-level theories
- more accurate than system-level theories
- relatively generalizable, but less generalizable than system level theories
- less parsimonious than system-level theories
describe bureaucratic politics
different bureaucracies with different views, diplomacy
- -narrow views, marrow responsibilities
- different parts of government are acting rationally, but have different and narrow views of what rational action looks like: leads to no UNITARY rational action
What is the organizational process model?
- policy decisions vs. policy implementation
- problems executing rational policy
- bureaucracies might skew things, different from what is chosen at top