Liberalism Flashcards
Who was an early liberalist?
Immanuel Kant
Kant’s essay argued that if the whole world consisted of states with _____________ there would be no aggressors
popular representation
Why were liberalists criticized by early realists?
- for being “idealists”, “utopian”
- portrayed the world how it should be not how it is, can lead to dangerous misunderstanding and can leave you exposed
- says its an ideology, not a theory
Why are early realist critiques not justified?
-not a critique of real Liberalism, critique of stereotypical liberalism
Moravcsik argues that liberalism claims to describe what three factors?
- the nature of fundamental social actors (domestic-level actors)
- the nature of the state
- the nature of the international system
Which factor of liberalism does realism not account for?
-nature of social (domestic) actors
What factor does Moravcsik argue makes liberalism more accurate?
-analysis/description of domestic-level actors
What is has the biggest influence according to liberalism?
preferences
___________ act at the domestic level and are transmitted from the domestic level to ________ _______
preferences, state decision
Preferences can be shaped by what three things
-societal ideas, interests, and institutions
preferences shape ___________________
strategic calculations of governments
while realism is based on state capabilities, liberalism considers ______ to determine state behaviour
preferences
Is liberalism a mid-level theory or general theory?
General theory
liberalism shows us which ________ cause a given ________
independent variables cause a given dependent variable
What is realism’s key weakness?
doesn’t explain change in world politics
How does liberalism explain change in world politics?
argues that change in preferences explain these shifts
Is liberalism a bottom-up view or top-down view?
Bottom-up view: people shape the state, not vice-versa
Moravcsik argues that liberalism is __________
analytically prior
What does analytically prior mean in terms of liberalism?
- “socially differentiated individuals define their material and ideational interests independently of politics and then advance those interests through political exchange and collective action”
- ie preferences come before behaviour
- peoples political preferences (either materoal or ideas) are formed separate from politics and can be held in human nature
What is a similarity between liberalism and realism?
- individuals are assumed to be rational, risk-averse actors
- however, liberalism acknowledges that some individuals might be risk-acceptant or irrational
Liberalism posits that individuals will cooperate where ________
incentives to do so exist
individual cooperation leads to _______
State-level: cooperation and harmony
Societal level: the formation of interest groups, political parties, NGOs
the ____________, the more likely harmony is
greater the perceived gain
According to liberalism, why do conflict and violence occur? (3 reasons)
- diverging fundamental beliefs
- conflict over scarce material goods
- inequalities in political power
States represent _________
a subset of domestic society
state officials define state interests on the basis of ___________
the interests of the most influential domestic group
ex. winning political party in a democracy
ex. winning communist party in authoritarian states like USSR or Cuba
states transmit preferences and social power of individuals and groups into _________
state policy
Preferences are transmitted through _________ and lead to ________
strategies and tactics, lead to different outcomes
What leads to states not always acting in a unitary or rational fashion?
States often pursue particular interpretations and combinations of security, welfare, and sovereignty preferred by powerful domestic groups
-these interpretations and combinations of preferences can vary greatly
What is an example of non-unitary decision making?
US under Trump
- -removing troops from Syria
- divergence between Trump’s views from democrats + republicans (ex. Lindsay Graham, Pat Robinson)
Liberalism argues that states’ interest are neither naturally______ nor partially _________
naturally conflictual (realism) nor partially convergent (institutionalism)
Where preferences are ________ everyone gets along
compatible
Where states preferences __________, it leads to conflict
impose costs on another
What are some examples of preferences overruling capabilities?
-if based on capabilities, US would have won in wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and in Iraq as they were more militarily powerful
If a state wants an outcome badly enough, strong preferences can compensate for ____________
a deficiency in capabilities
Who is the liberalist scholar we studied?
Moravcsik
What does liberalism being a general theory entail?
needs to be fully comprehensive and well articulated paradigm that can describe everything
-only allowed a few key assumptions
liberalism provides a “limited number of microfoundational assumptions that _________________”
link a broad rand of previously unconnected theories and hypotheses
shifts in preferences imply _______
possibility of shifts in the international state system
