Theories and Paradigms

Question 1

What are the 4 assumptions of Classical idealism?

Answer 1

1. Human behaviour can be perfected
2. a “harmony of interests” exists between people and between states (mutually beneficial)–war was bad regardless of whether you were the victor
3. war is never an appropriate way to resolve disputes (find harmony)
4. with the correct laws and institutions guiding behaviour, the harmony if interest will be revealed

Question 2

What are the 3 assumptions of classical realism

Answer 2

1. humans have a will to survive, which makes them selfish
2. the will to survive equals a will to dominate
3. This creates competition, which triggers search for power

Question 3

Waltz believed there shouldn’t be a focus on human nature (as classical realists do) because _______

Answer 3

it wouldn’t explain variation because it was supposed to be a constant

Question 4

Waltz believes that conflict is about ______

Answer 4

states dealing with other states (system level)

Question 5

4 Assumptions of structural realism

Answer 5

1. States are the most important actors
2. States are unitary and rational actors
3. International system is anarchic (no government/higher political authority/states consider themselves sovereign actors)
4. states seem to maximize their power

Question 6

What does assuming rational action entail?

Answer 6

• actions are purposive
• actors have perfect information
• actors know their preferences and can rank them
• actors know all possible options, including the consequences of each
• actors calculate the costs and benefits associated with each option

Question 7

What are the 5 assumptions of classical liberalism

Answer 7

1. Individuals are the primary actors (individuals as economic units (ie can be firms or households)
2. Individuals are rational actors
3. Individuals maximize utility (can be tangible or intangible)
4. Everything (utilities) can be traded
5. Individual preferences can be summed into societal preferences (the mechanism you do this can change the results)

Question 8

all types of liberalism share an emphasis on ______

Answer 8

voluntary exchange to attain mutual benefits

Question 9

In what way do paradigms vary?

Answer 9

in assumptions of key actors and their desires: individuals vs. states, wealth vs. power

Question 10

What are some key liberal ideas

Answer 10

• individuals know their own desires, they should determine outcomes
• voluntary exchange (through markets) works well to satisfy individuals’ desires
• cooperation can affectively resolve most problems
• trade and open economic ties deliver material (and nonmaterial) benefits

Question 11

What is most dominant approach in IPE today?

Answer 11

analytical liberalism

• which starts with liberalist assumptions but abandons normative suggestions
• uses assumptions to do description and analysis of outcomes

Question 12

What is the four-step cycle of analytical liberalism (Moravcsik)?

Answer 12

1. Economic models identify array of domestic interests
2. Domestic politics to control policy (compete to control it)
3. States pursues preferences of dominant group
4. International politics as states interact

Question 13

marxism is a criticism of what theory?

Answer 13

liberalism, specifically classical liberalism

Question 14

What are some reasons for Marxism’s critique of liberalism?

Answer 14

• believes it doesn’t deliver what it promises
• people have to work to live (not voluntary like Smith and Ricardo suggest)
• believe it will cause widespread poverty

Question 15

What does it mean to say Marx’s arguments are driven by dialectical logic?

Answer 15

events are driven by contradictions/collisions

• social events are moved forward by a collision of different forces (social systems aren’t smooth)
• contradictions are defined as logically identified inconsistencies which may or may not appear obvious

Question 16

What did Marx think would emerge after collisons?

Answer 16

socialism

Question 17

What is the Labor Theory of Value

Answer 17

V= K + W +SV
V= value of good
K= capital input (starts off as labour)
W= wages (what is being paid for labour)
SV= surplus value (profit) (Marx believes this shows exploitation of workers)

Question 18

What are the 3 assumptions of Marxism

Answer 18

1. social classes are the primary actors
2. classes act in their own material interests
3. expropriation of surplus value is exploitation

Question 19

What is Lenin’s extension of Marxism

Answer 19

4. each state acts in the interest of its own national capitalist class

Question 20

What are International regimes?

Answer 20

rules, norms, principles around which actors’ decisions converge
–can be implicit or explicit, they will tell you how to operate in an environment

Question 21

What is the hegemonic stability theory

Answer 21

realists

most powerful country decides the rules/benefits the most

Question 22

how does Keohane tweak structural realism?

Answer 22

says states want power and WEALTH , they want absolute gains, not relative

• complex interdependence (keohnae and Nye)
• states may share interests–leads to international regimes

Question 23

What are the 3 assumptions of Institutionalism?

Answer 23

1. Actors are self-interested, rational utility maximizers
2. international regimes can facilitate agreements and cooperation
3. some of the actors’ goals are not zero-sum

Question 24

What main event did realism fail to predict?

Answer 24

end of the Cold War

structural realism about security, thought that this bipolar conflict would have no endpoint

Question 25

What are Constructivism’s 3 assumptions

Answer 25

1. Identities, interests, and preferences are socially constructed
   - -identity comes first–determined by social setting and norms
   - -states and individuals can become socialized (sovereignty)
2. Ideas are important forces shaping identities, preferences, and interests
3. Rationality is contextual
   - -habit, don’t consciously think about norms

Question 26

Describe Katharine Moon’s Sex among Allies

Answer 26

• showed how prostitutes played an important role in threatening the alliance between
• “camptowns” around US bases developed–where prostitutes lived
• frictions between prostitutes, soldiers and military leaders primarily surrounding race (manage with Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA))
• when US altered its military deployments with the Nixon Doctrine (1970s), prostitutes were forced to move, creating competition in other camptowns
• Problems emerge due to this competition, causes conflict between US and South Korean governments, making SK gov want to challenge SOFA
• challenging SOFA threatens the alliance between US and SK

Question 27

What is the usual focus in IPE? And why?

Answer 27

state policy (eg trade policy, capital controls, exchange rate policy, etc.)

• concentrate on these because of their impact: change in wealth
• policies often have unintended and maybe unobserved consequences
• -ex: liberalize trade policy

Question 28

Where does gender fit into IPE?

Answer 28

trade can be a gendered process, with gendered effects

• -women take part in informal trade
• specialization affects some parts of the economy more than others and can have a gendered impact
• Kiratu and Roy: trade liberalization and development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
• in SSA, women dominate participation in:
• -informal trade (ex. textiles)
• -production of particular manufactures (different areas than men)
• –different tariffs, therefore affect men and women differently
• certain types of farming

Question 29

What is the concept of everyday economics?

Answer 29

int’l politics affects everyday politics

–for example poor individuals working illegally and travelling across borders to find work (eg illegal nanny)