Liberalism Flashcards
main thesis of liberalism
institutions and cooperation
Ir is being transformed in a way that promotes greater human freedom through peace, prosperity, and justice.
intellectual debt (kant, Jocke, Rousseau)
there are things standing in the way of cooperation but there are ways to overcome it
Classic Realism vs Liberalism
CR: pessimistic, HN was inherently evil. always fear what we don’t know.
Lib: its not that bleak. we can rely on human reason and better the human experience. we can think our way out of problems.
mazlos heigherarchy
3 key assumptions of Liberalism (shared assumption)
cooperation has increased over time because of industrialization (more advanced economies. more industrial activities and now we have more things to mutually care about) and modernization (survival is no longer the most important factor).
however, there are still things that stand in the way of cooperation (differences in resources, stuff of politics)
information and communication can help overcome barriers to collective action
North Korea is an excellent example of the vitality of info and communication
neoliberalism
explains the conditions under which anarchy prompts states to seek multilateral cooperation
which kinds of situations we will see cooperation occur.
Anarchy exists, but what are the situations below anarchy that cooperation happens
3 ways formal international institutions make cooperation easier to attain
International institutions grease the wheels to let international relations more smoothly by three ways
- defines acceptable behavior and punish defectors (norms).
- provide legitimacy for states that enforce norms. deputizes other states. given authority to enforce norms
- smooth out the wrinkles of decision making by facilitating the flow of information. provides the platform of communication
how do the benefits of international institutions relate to the problems identified by realists?
the reason why we’re uncertain is because we don’t know.
keep your enemies close. if we never talk to our enemies, we definitely fear them.
liberalism can overcome uncertainty, fear
Public Goods Liberalism
fully joint and non-excludable
consumption of one party does not reduce the amount available for consumption by another
once a good or bad is made available to one party, no other party can be barred from consuming it
pub bad= pollution
pub park= park
free rider problem: actors will decide not to contribute and free ride on the contributions of others in the collective
examples of pub goods liberalism
the dinner with friends analogy
the group project
peace
clean air
knowledge
3 strategies for overcoming under provisions of public goods and oversupply of public bads
best shot, summation, weakest link
best shot
one actor or small group of actors. depends on the willingness and ability of a single actor or few actors to bear the lion’s share of provisions cost
summation
a collective has a high degree of common interest and everyone is wiling and able to contribute to a public good
weakest link
Lowest common denominator
when provision of a public good is a function of the weakest link in the chain of actors will provide it
relay race: you are only as good as the slowest runner
3 conditions that help understand coalition dynamics
why are countries choosing to cooperate?
- the mix of private and public goods perceived by the actors as necessary to produce their involvement
- mix of costs and benefits that actor bear though their participation
- the evolution of circumstances surrounding that involvement over time, and effects of these changes on actor perceptions of first two considerations
examples of what cooperation can do
crack head
Hispanic family
the ones that people look down upon
“movement is life”
“good to see you my friend”
“the tenth man”
“every human being we save is one less zombie to fight”
