Midterm Review Vocab Flashcards
Modernization
The process through which societies become ‘modern’ or developed
through Economic, technological advancement
Feudalism
A system of agrarian-based production that is characterized by fixed social hierarchies and a rigid pattern of obligations.
Renaissance
from the French, literally meaning ‘rebirth’; a cultural movement inspired by revived interest in classical Greece and Rome that saw major developments in learnings and the arts.
The Enlightenment
An intellectual movement that challenged traditional beliefs in religion, politics and learning in general.
Belle Epoque
From the French, literally meaning ‘beautiful era’; a period of peace and prosperity in Europe between the late 19th C. and the outbreak of WW1.
Empire
A structure of domination in which diverse cultures, ethnic groups or nationalities are subject to a single source of authority.
Total War
A war involving all aspects of society, resulting from large scale conscription, the gearing of the economy to military ends, and the mass destruction of enemy targets, civilian and military.
Chauvinism
An uncritical and unreasoned dedication to a cause or group, typically based on a belief in its superiority, as in ‘national chauvinism’
Reparations
compensation, usually involving financial payments or the physical requisition of goods, imposed by victors on vanquished powers either as punishment.
Autarky
Economic self- sufficiency, often associated with expansionism and conquest to ensure the control of economic resources and reduce economic dependency on other states.
Appeasement
A foreign policy strategy of making concessions to an aggressor in the hope of modifying its political objectives and specifically, avoiding war.
Social Darwinism
The belief that social existence is characterized by competition or struggle, ‘the survival of the fittest’, implying that international conflict and probably war are inevitable.
Buffer zone
An area, state or collection of states located between potential (and more powerful) adversaries, reducing the likelihood of land-based attack in particular.
Brinkmanship
A strategy of escalating confrontation even to the point of risking war aimed at persuading an opponent to back down.
Mutually assured destruction (MAD)
A condition in which a nuclear attack by either state would only ensure its own destruction, as both possess an invulnerable second-strike capacity.
Detente
(French) literally, loosening the relaxation of tension between previously antagonistic states, often used to denote a phase in the cold war.
Perestroika
(Russian )Literally meaning, ‘restructuring’ used in the soviet union to refer to the introduction of market reforms to a command or planned economy.
Glasnost
Literally, ‘openness’, used in the Soviet Union to refer to freedom of expression within the context of a one-party communist state.
Brezhnev doctrine
The doctrine, announced by Leonid Brezhnev in 1968, that Warsaw Pact only enjoyed ‘limited sovereignty’, justifying possible Soviet intervention.
Autocracy
Ruled by a single person; the concentration of political power in the hands of a single ruler typically a monarch.
The constitutive theory of the state
The theory that the political existence of a state is entirely dependent on its recognition by other states.
Sovereignty
The principle of absolute and unlimited power; the absence of a higher authority in either domestic or external affairs.
Internal Sovereignty
The notion of a supreme power/ authority within the state located in a body that makes decisions that are binding on all citizens, groups and institutions within the state’s borders.
External Sovereignty
The absolute and unlimited authority of the state as an actor on the world stage, implying the absence of any higher authority in external affairs.
Governance
Broadly, the various ways in which social life is coordinated, of which government is merely one.
Super territoriality
A condition in which social life transcends territory through the growth of ‘transborder’ and ‘transglobal’ communications and interactions.
Economic sovereignty
The absolute authority of the state over how economic life is conducted within its borders, involving independent control of fiscal and monetary policies and trade and capital flows.
Pooled Sovereignty
The combined Sovereignty of two or more states; ‘pooling’ sovereignty implies gaining access to greater power and influence than state\ national sovereignty.
Collectivized state
A state that seeks to abolish private enterprise and sets up a centrally planned, or ‘command’ economy.
Welfare state
A state that takes prime responsibility for the social welfare of its citizens, discharged through a range of social security, health, education, and other services.
Competition state
A state that pursues strategies to ensure long-term competitiveness in the globalized economy.
Warlordism
A condition in which locally-based militarized bands vie for power in the absence of a sovereign state.
State-building
The construction of a functioning state through the establishment of legitimate institutions for the formulation and implementation of policy across key areas of govt.
Good Governance
Standards of the process of decision-making in society, including (according to the UN) popular participation, respect for the rule of law, transparency, responsiveness and accountability.
Hierarchy
An organization that is based on graded ranks and a clear and usually top-down authority structure.
Policy Network
A systematic set of relationships between political actors who share a common interest or general orientation in a particular area.
Multi-level governance
A pattern of overlapping and interrelated public authority that stems from the growth, or growing importance of supranational and subnational bodies.
- International Govt
- National Govt
- Devoted Bodies
- Local Govt
Decentralization
The expansion of local autonomy through the transfer of power and responsibilities away from national bodies.
