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questions cours lecture Flashcards

1
Q

Chap 3 : Politics and the state

What are the different understanding of the state?

A
  1. Idealist understanding: state = universal altruism (Hegel)
  2. Functional understanding: state = a set of institutions that saveguards public order and stability
  3. Organisational understanding : state = the “political association that establishes sovereign jurisdiction within defined territorial borders, and exercises authority through a set of permanent institutions”
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2
Q

What are the internal features of the state ?

A
  1. Sovereignty: absolute and unrestricted authority within defined territorial borders
  2. Public institutions: responsible for making and enforcing collective decisions
  3. Legitimacy: decisions of the state are accepted because they are supposed to reflect the common good
  4. Instrument of domination: monopoly on legitimate violence
  5. Territorial association: jurisdiction is limited to specific territory and all citizens living within it
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3
Q

What are the external features of the state?

A

According to the Montevideo Convention (1933):
- Defined territory
- Permanent population
- Effective government
- Capacity to enter into relations with other states

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4
Q

Define a pluralist state

A
  • Liberal thought:
    State = neutral arbiter (autonomous) that operates in the general interest and protests “life, liberty and property”
    Pluralist state, separation of political and executive power:
    Political authority is based on democratic principles giving all citizens an equal voice
    Executive bureaucracy is neutral
  • Neopluralists:
    Not all groups are equally powerful
    The bureaucratic elites also have interests
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5
Q

Define a Marxist state

A
  • state = instrument of oppression
  • It reproduces existing class-based inequalities between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat
  • Neo-marxists: state is a dynamic entity, reflecting balance of power in society, stage of struggle
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6
Q

Define the “Leviathan state” / bureaucratic state

A
  • Associated with the New Right
  • Leviathan (Hobbes) = expanding seamonster
  • State is an autonomous entity that pursues its own interests
  • State bureaucracy will inherently pursue growth and needs to be restrained
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7
Q

What is a nation?

A
  • “Essentially contested concept”
  • Def (Heywood 2019: 131):
    Cultural: A group of people bound together by a common language, religion, history, traditions

Political: a group of people who regard themselves as a natural political community

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8
Q

What is the nation defined as a cultural community?

A
  • Shared language, religion, history, traditions
  • Nation as natural entity
  • But: emergence of thinking about nation states is 19th century European
  • Nation as new form of cultural cohesion based on shared ethnicity/history
  • Stable but exclusive -> outsiders can never really belong
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9
Q

What is a nation defined as a political community?

A
  • Group of people bound by shared citizenship
  • An ‘imagined community’ (Anderson), bound by ‘invented traditions’ (Hobsbawn -> nationalism creates nations) -> anthems, flags
  • Marxism: nation as invention of the bourgeoisie
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10
Q

Define the liberal view of nationalism :

A
  • Inspired by French revolution
  • Every nation is entitled to self-determination
  • All nations are equal
  • Aim: construct a world of sovereign nation states
  • But: not at the cost of the individual (hence: universal human rights)
  • International legal order necessary to prevent expansion and war
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11
Q

Define the conservative view of nationalism

A
  • Traditionalism, patriotism, defence of historical values and institutions
  • Nationalism as means to maintain social cohesion and order
  • National unity is threatened from within (e.g. by “progressives”) and without (immigration, EU)
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12
Q

Define expansionist nationalism

A
  • Imperialism -> agressive, militaristic expensionism
  • Chauvinism: not all nations are equal, own nation is superior
  • Other nations (or races) form a threat
  • Myth of glorious past and future
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13
Q

According to Max Weber, what are the three sources of legitimacy/authority ?

A
  1. Traditional: that’s how we’ve always done it
  2. Charismatic: leader as hero or saint
  3. Legal-rational: based on agreed rules
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14
Q

Chap7 : Political Economy and globalization

What is political economy?

A
  • The science that deals with the interaction between politics and economics
  • Consequences of political interventions on the market and the distribution of wealth
  • Consequences of economic developments for political decision-making
  • State-market relationship
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15
Q

Define mercantilism/economic nationalism

A
  • Mercantilism: heyday in the 15th – 18th centuries
  • Goal: to increase the power and wealth of the state
  • Inextricably linked to colonialism and imperialism
  • Protectionism: discouraging imports through import duties (“tariffs”)
  • Economy as a zero-sum game
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16
Q

Define Classical Political Economy

A
  • Economic liberalism / Capitalism
  • Adam Smith: The Wealth of Nations (1776)
  • Emphasis on the individual as economic actor and utility maximizer
  • Specialization and division of labour
  • The “invisible hand” of the market brings supply and demand together through competition
  • Laissez faire
  • Economy as “positive sum game”
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17
Q

Define keynesianism

A
  • Laissez-faire resulted in crisis and unemployment
  • Government must maintain aggregate demand by investing in employment
  • Influential in post-war European economies
  • More stability, less inequality, but…
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18
Q

Define neoliberalism

A
  • Market fundamentalism: market solves all economic and social problems
  • Stimulating supply through favourable conditions for companies
  • Very popular since the 1980s
  • Liberalisation of the economy in the US, UK and far beyond
  • “Washington Consensus” (stabilize, privatize, liberalize)

But: a lot of inequality and focused on the short term

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19
Q

What is the marxist approach of political economy?

A
  • Class = relation to means of production
  • Profit is made by “Extraction of surplus value from workers“
  • Exploitation is inherent but normalized (false consciousness / cultural legitimation)
  • Commodity alienation
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20
Q

What is the feminist approach of political economy?

A
  • Women and men have been differently affected by the interaction between politics and markets (Brassett et al. 2021)
  • Social reproduction = effort required to educate and care for people (and to reproduce workers)
  • Kept out of the public/economic sphere
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21
Q

What are the 3 types of capitalism?

A
  1. Entreprise capitalism
  2. Social capitalism
  3. State capitalism
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22
Q

Define the concept of entreprise capitalism (aka liberal market economy)

A
  • Closest to ideas of classical economists and neoliberalism
  • Government intervention limited to regulatory bodies and minimal social safety net
  • Flexible labour, weak trade unions
  • Result: high inequality

ex: USA

23
Q

Define the concept of social capitalism (aka coordinated market economy)

A
  • Long-term investments rather than short-term profitability
  • Social partnership
  • Strong trade unions, protection against dismissal, minimum wage
  • Extensive social provisions: healthcare, unemployment benefits, public pensions…

ex: Germany, The Netherlands

24
Q

Define the concept of state capitalism

A

From: State-led investment, research, and trading decisions
To: economy that is significantly controlled by the state

25
Q

Chapter 8 : Politics, society and identity

What is society?

A
  • A group of people living in a certain territory
  • Characterized by regular patterns of interaction + by social divisions
26
Q

What are the 3 different perspectives on society?

A
  • liberal : artifact formed by individuals to meet their individual needs, ideally based on harmony between competing interests and groups
  • conservative : organic, naturally grown
  • marxist : “The history of all existing societies is the history of the class struggle”(Communist manifesto 1848)
27
Q

What is the idea developped by Robert Putnam in Bowling Alone (2000) ?

A
  • Less political involvement due to declining participation in voluntary clubs and associations
  • Cause: suburbanisation, two-income households and TV
  • Note: creates image of a glorious past, ignores exclusion of women and people of color
28
Q

What is identity politics?

A
  • Fights against the oppression of certain groups
  • A process of political-cultural self-affirmation
  • Fights stereotypes and values developed by dominant groups
29
Q

Define race and ethnicity

A
  • Race:
    A social construct that groups people based on physical characteristics (skin color, hair type, facial features)
    No biological basis, but shaped by cultural, historical and social contexts.
  • Ethnicity:
    Shared cultural characteristics, including language, traditions, customs, and a sense of shared history or religion
30
Q

What is the famous saying of Simone de Beauvoir?

A

“One is not born but rather becomes a woman”

31
Q

Chap 9 : Political culture and the media

What do we mean by political culture?

A
  • Culture = way of life
    (norms, values, behaviour)

Political culture = the ‘pattern of orientations’ towards political objects such as parties, government and the constitution, expressed in beliefs, symbols and values

  • “Civic culture” (Almond & Verba 1963):
    Culture influences politics
    Certain political attitudes are better for democracy
  • Marxist approach:
    Politics and capital influence culture
    ‘False consciousness’
    Gramsci: bourgeois hegemony operates also through e.g. education, media..
32
Q

chap9

What is the relationship between media, politics and society (4 models)

A
  • Pluralistic model
    = media as an ideological marketplace in which a wide range of viewpoints are discussed
  • Dominant ideology model
    = the media reproduce capitalist hegemony (marxist pov)
    Chomsky, consent is manufacturer through:
    Ownership of media by large corporations
    Dependence on advertisers
    Threats of legal action
  • The Values of Elites
    = Assumes sufficient independence of journalists from owners/management
    But bias stems from disproportionate representation of certain groups among senior journalists and editors
  • Market model
    = The media reflect the opinions and preferences of the general public rather than shape them
    Media gives people “what they want”
    Tyranny of ratings, advertisers and market share
33
Q

chap9

Positive aspects about social media and democracy

A
  • Access to political information, news
    “Blogosphere”
  • Creating petitions, using social media to organize protests
  • Enabling Global Social Movements
  • Alternative source of information in the absence of free media
34
Q

chap9

Negative aspects about social media and democracy

A
  • Polarizing
  • spread hate
  • Power of big technology corporations
  • AI, “Post truth” and anti-intellectualism
35
Q

**Chap 18. Security : Domestic and International **

What is the relation between security and the state?

A

Safety = basic human need

  • Internal :
    state maintains order within its borders (with the help of police, judicial system, sometimes the military)
  • External :
    state provides protection against external threats (military)
36
Q

What is the role of the police as main actor of the internal security?

A
  • Civil policing as an alternative to military intervention
  • Aims to fight crime and maintain law and order
  • Routine and everyday
  • Unarmed or armed for self-defense (but: militarization)
37
Q

What are the 3 perspectives on the role of the police?
How neutral is the police?

A
  1. Liberal perspective: police as a neutral body to protect citizens

2.Conservative perspective: Police as enforcers of government authority, essential to quell unrest

3.Radical perspective: police as an instrument of oppression (e.g. through institutional racism)

38
Q

What is a police state?

A
  • A state where the police operate outside the legal framework and outside democratic control
  • Fundamental civil rights are not guaranteed
  • Climate of fear and intimidation
  • Police as a private army under the control of the ruling elite

ex: Northe Korea

39
Q

What is the role of the army?

A

Instrument of war, virtual monopoly on legitimate use of weapons
Tightly organized and disciplined
Serves national security in the public interest

40
Q

The military and internal security

A

Emergency aid
Maintaining law and order in the event of major internal unrest
Support for dictatorial regimes
Military regime

41
Q

What is realism in International Relations ?

A
  • “Realist” perspective on international relations -> power realism
  • Each state is power-oriented and rationally pursues national self-interest
    Its main purpose is to maintain national security
  • International conflicts can only be contained by a balance of power
42
Q

What is liberalism in International Realtions?

A
  • “Idealistic” approach
  • Optimistic view of human rationality and moral goodness (most people don’t want war)
  • Acting in self-interest results in a balance
    Importance of national political situation (democratic peace thesis)
  • Liberal Institutionalism: an international regime to impose order (United Nations)
43
Q

What are the new types of war today?

A
  • ‘”New” wars tend to be civil wars’ (Heywood 2019: 428)
  • Power asymmetry
  • guerrilla
  • Cyber war
  • terrorism
44
Q

What is transnational terrorism?
Reactions of the states?

A
  • Used in anti-colonial and/or by ethnic minority nationalism (IRA, ETA, Hamas), and by Islamic extremists (ISIS)
  • Leverages global movements of people, goods, money, technology, and ideas

==> State responses:
* Extension of the legal powers of governments: surveillance, border control
* Military responses: “war on terror” (often counterproductive)
* Political negotiations and agreements (often the only lasting solution)

45
Q

Chap.9 : World order and global governance

What do we mean by world order?

A

the distribution of power between and between states and other key actors, creating a relatively stable pattern of relationships and behavior

46
Q

What are the three faces of power?

A
  • Decision making power
  • Agenda setting power
  • Power to influence thoughts
47
Q

What are the 4 main types of power?

A
  • Military power = size and effectiveness of the armed forces; access to advanced weapons
  • Economic power = size of the economy that leverages trading partners
  • Structural power = the ability to decide how things are done, for example in international organisations
  • Soft power = the ability to influence the preferences of others
48
Q

A bipolar world : the cold war

A
  • U.S./NATO vs. Soviet Union/Warsaw Pact
  • Both have great economic and, above all, military power
  • Balance of terror; “Mutually Assured Distruction” MAD
  • Proxy-wars (Korea, Vietnam)
49
Q

What is the meaning of “war on terror”?

A

The Global War on Terror is an international, American-led military campaign launched following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks (9/11)

–> War in Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003)
–> Led to more terror (“arc of extremism”)
–> Undermining America’s “soft power”

50
Q

Towards a multipolar world order?

A
  • The decline of the U.S.:
    -> Dominance of military/destructive force remains
    -> But combined with political weakness
    -> Relative economic decline
  • The Rise of China:
    -> Rapid economic growth
    -> Growing soft power
  • Emergence of BRICS
51
Q

What are the key features of global governance?

A
  • Process of interactive decision-making that enables sovereign states to engage in sustainable cooperation and collective action
  • “Intergovernmental“
  • Polycentric
  • Emergence of international organizations Because:
    -> Liberals: cooperation leads to absolute gains
    -> Realists: cooperation only realized because of U.S. interests
    -> Critical Approaches: fair structures that Support Hegemonic Power of Neoliberalism
52
Q

Politics definition

A

“the making, preserving and amending of general social rules”

53
Q

What is ideology?

A
  • Marxist approach: ideology as instrument of social control by the ruling class
  • Conservative view: ideology is used by others to distort social reality
  • Approach followed here: ideology as coherent set of ideas which provide a basis for organized political action.
    –> Account of how the world works and what’s good or bad about that
    –> A model of a desired future
    –> An outline of how political change can and should be brought about

IPOL (5 decks)

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