Week 1 Flashcards
How is Development measured?
Development (& underdevelopment) is measured by economic and governance indicators.
Economic Indicators for underdevelopment?
countries that have not achieved economic development & industrialization are classified as developing/underdeveloped.
Governance Indicators for underdevelopment?
non-democracies or fragile democracies are classified as developing/underdeveloped.
What are the main roles/purposes of a state? (3)
1) Solving collective action problems
2) Protecting domestic populations from foreign attack
3) Protecting citizens from each other
What is a Collective Action Problem?
a situation in which everyone would be better off cooperating, but fail to do so because of conflicting selfish interests
Ex: climate change
What is the Treaty of Westphalia?
Origins of the Modern State
* Ended the 30 Years War in central Europe, 1648
* Enshrines beginning of sovereignty, recognition of borders, and separation of church & state
Charles Tilly on European State Formation (& its aftermath) (3)
1) “War made the state & the state made war”
2) ** Interstate War Mechanisms**
3) Results of state formation process
Explain what Charles Tilly meant by “War made the state & the state made war” (4)
The ongoing process of frequent wars between states (interstate) at the very beginning of formation has resulted in the states we see now: (4 formative mechanisms)
1) Raising an army (centralization of political power)
2) Collecting taxes
3) Building infrastructure
4) The ‘rally around the flag’ effect (built up nationalism)
Charles Tilly: “War made the state”
The ongoing process of frequent wars between states at the very beginning of formation has resulted in the states we see now
Charles Tilly: “The state made war”
States decide to go to war with one another
What’s the difference between an Interstate War & a Civil War?
Interstate Wars occur between states while Civil Wars occur within states
What are the Impacts of Wars Within States? (civil wars)
- More civil wars than interstate wars
- Weaken/divide states
- Colonial legacies prevail
- Drawing borders
What effect do Interstate Wars have on the population of a country?
may generate a sense of nationalism (strengthens states)
What effect do Civil Wars have on the population of a country?
create divisions within a state (weakens state)
What kind of wars have there been more of since 1945?
More civil wars than interstate wars
Civil wars are often the result of what?
Colonial legacies, arbitrarily drawing borders
What was the Berlin Conference? 1884/5
pivotal moment in border drawing, Eu & US delegates met to ‘carve up’ Africa (‘Scramble for Africa’/ partitioning/ mapping)
What were the drivers of European colonialization? (2)
1) Greed for Resources
* Land: agri plantations, mines
* Labour: cheap & available (slavery)
2) Beliefs of White Racial Superiority
What two roles did the colonial state have? (2)
1) Maintain Control over Territory: with enough military, governing by force
2) Extracting Resources: maximizing resource wealth, to become profitable & self-sufficient
What were the results of the Berlin Conference? (‘Scramble for Africa’)
- their strategy was ‘Divide & Conquer’:
- borders were drawn arbitrarily, split up pre-existing political/ethnic/religious groups (not viable), creating conflict between them
- this made it easier for the colonial powers to rule; if they were fighting each other, they weren’t fighting the colonial power
What does it mean by ‘Path Dependency’?
States & societies often have difficulty changing their trajectory after formative experiences & processes
* ‘habits’ based on histories
Ex: Colonial Legacies
Colonial Legacies (ex: Path Dependency)
Colonization has left certain broad legacies:
* Economies overwhelmingly reliant on certain NR
* Export economies
* Social/Political marginalization of darker-skinned peoples
* Violent coercion of the labour force, remnant from slavery
Example of Path Dependency: Mineral extraction & forced labour in the Spanish Colonial Empire
- Mita: forced labour system for mineral extraction carried out in Peru/Bolivia from 1573-1812
- Required 1/7th of Indig. men to work local mines
- Resulted in: lower incomes, poverty, less edu., worse health ==> less developed infra., less prod. in market economy
What does the Gini Coefficient (G) or Gini Index measure?
the level of income inequality in a country, based on disproportionalities in wealth
* Share held by top 10% wealthiest vs Share of bottom 10% equates to the rate of inequality
- Ex: if the top 10% controls 50% of the country’s wealth while the bottom 10% controls only 1%, this is highly unequal
Does income inequality (Gini Index) have anything to do with colonialism?
Yes, those countries that rank the highest on the Gini Index (the highest rates of income inequality within a country) have all been impacted by colonization at some point in their histories.
- countries involved in TAST
- very strong correlation, not necessarily causation
What is the importance of the Case of Nigeria in explaining the effects of colonialism? (borders)
Nigeria is the quintessential example of a state whose borders were arbitrarily drawn by colonial powers.
* British colonizers pinned ethnolinguistic groups against one another, causing post-colonial instability
* Independence in 1960, led to: 1) Numerous coups d’etats, 2) Civil wars, 3) Repeated patterns of political violence
* Has been since difficult to govern, no real majority
* Much oil wealth, but not distributed equally (economic/religious marginalization)
Describe Boko Haram in the Case of Nigeria
Boko Haram radical Islamist militant group in northeast Nigeria, reject their national gov’t as ‘weak’
* Translates to “Western education is sacrilegious”
* Perpetrator of many murderous attacks, suicide bombings, and is responsible for the kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls from Chibok
* Aligned itself with ISIS
* Operates primarily in northern/major cities (Kano, Jos, Maiduguri), but activity spreads to neighbouring countries (Niger, Chad, Cameroon)
What is a De Facto State? +example
A territory that organizes and acts like a country (has government, police, court systems, etc) but is not officially recognized by the rest of the world
Ex: Somaliland
What is a De Jure State? +example
A ‘state’ that has legal legitimacy but cannot exercise sovereignty
* Exists by law
Ex: Somalia
What limitations to statehood might De Facto & De Jure states tell us? (Trappings of Statehood)
Many developing nations whose existence and borders are internationally recognized (De Jure) are weak in reality (in De Facto terms)
Somaliland: Example of a De Facto State
- Somalia collapsed into factional fighting in 1989, and there has been no successful government since, its government has little capacity of legitimacy, and the country is plagued by rebels and insecurity
- the former UK colony Somaliland has a strong, centralized government, robust economy, effective security forces, and popular legitimacy
- however, Somalia is internationally recognized as a state (de jure) even though it does not seem to possess the proper characteristics (de facto), while Somaliland is not (de jure) and only exists de facto
Somali: Example of a De Jure State
- Somalia collapsed into factional fighting in 1989, and there has been no successful government since, its government has little capacity of legitimacy, and the country is plagued by rebels and insecurity
- the former UK colony Somaliland has a strong, centralized government, robust economy, effective security forces, and popular legitimacy
- however, Somalia is internationally recognized as a state (de jure) even though it does not seem to possess the proper characteristics (de facto), while Somaliland is not (de jure) and only exists de facto
What kind of non-state actors may come into power?
Rebel Groups: weak states leave a vacuum for these armed, non-state actors who resent a state to challenge it for its failures, giving rise to entire rebel movements (Ex: Star Wars)
* Rebel groups usually seek to control territory & have influence over people, and are sometimes more successful at this than actual De Jure governments
* Successful rebel groups often behave like states: collecting taxes, setting/enforcing laws
