INR2002 Test 1 Study Guide Introduction Theory A logically consistent set of statements that explains a phenomenon of interest Interests What actors want to achieve through political action their preferences over the outcomes that might result from their political choices Interactions The ways in which the choices of two or more actors combine to produce political outcomes Institutions A set of rules known and shared by the community that structure political interactions in particular ways Bargaining An interaction in which actors must choose outcomes that make one better off at the expense of another Bargaining is redistributive It involves allocating a fixed sum of value between different actors Cooperation An interaction in which two or more actors adopt policies that make at least one actor better off relative to the status quo without making the others worse off Anarchy The absence of a central authority with the ability to make and enforce laws that bind all actors Chapter 1 Mercantilism An economic doctrine based on the belief that military power and eco nomic influence were compliments applied especially to colonial empires in the six teenth through eighteenth centuries Mercantilist policies favored the mother country over its colonies and over its competitors Peace of Westphalia The settlement that ended the Thirty Years War in 1648 often said to have created the modern state system because it included a general recognition of the principles of sovereignty and nonintervention Sovereignty The expectation that states have legal and political supremacy or ulti mate authority within their territorial boundaries Hegemony The predominance of one nation state over others Pax Britannica British Peace a century long period beginning with defeat at Water loo in 1815 and ending with the outbreak of World War 1 in 1914 during which Brittan s economic and diplomatic influence contributed to economic openness and relative peace Gold Standard The monetary system that prevailed between about 1870 and 1914 in which countries tied their currencies to gold at a legally fixed price Treaty of Versailles The peace treaty between the allies and Germany that formally ended World War 1 on June 28 1919 League of Nations A permanent international security organization formed in the after math of World War 1 The League was supplanted by the United Nations after World War 2 and was dissolved in 1946 North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO A military alliance created in 1949 to bring together many Western European Nations the United States and Canada form ing the foundation of the American led military bloc during the Cold War Today NATO s role includes handling regional problems and developing a rapid reaction force Bretton Woods system The economic order negotiated among allied nations at Bret ton Woods New Hampshire in 1944 Which led to a series of cooperative arrange ments involving a commitment to relatively low barriers to international trade and invest ment Warsaw Pact A military alliance formed in 1955 to bring together the Soviet Union and its Cold War allies in Eastern Europe and elsewhere dissolved on March 31st 1991 as the Cold War ended Decolonization The process of shedding colonial possessions especially the rapid end of the European empires in Africa Asia and the Caribbean between the 1940 s and the 1960 s Chapter 2 Interests What actors want to achieve through political action their preferences over the outcomes that might result from their political choices Actors The basic unit for the analysis of international politics can be individuals or groups of people with common interests State A central authority with the ability to make and enforce laws rules and decisions within a specified territory Sovereignty The expectation that states have legal and political supremacy or ultimate authority within their territorial boundaries National Interests Interests attributed to the state itself usually security and power Interactions The ways in which the choices of two or more actors combine to pro duce political outcomes Cooperation An interaction in which two or more actors adopt policies that make at least one actor better off relative to the status quo without making others worse off Bargaining An interaction in which actors must choose outcomes that make one better off at the expense of another Bargaining is redistributive it involves allocat ing a fixed sum of value between different actors Coordination A type of cooperative interaction in which actors benefit from all making the same choices and subsequently have no incentive to not comply Collaboration A type of cooperative interaction in which actors gain from working together but nonetheless have incentives to not comply with any agreement Public Goods Individually and socially desirable goods that are nonexcludable and nonrival consumption such as national defense Collective Action Problems Obstacles to cooperation that occur when actors have incentives to collaborate but each acts in anticipation that others will pay the costs of cooperation Free Ride To fail to contribute to a public good while benefiting from the contribu tions of others Iteration Repeated interactions with the same partners Linkage The linking of cooperation on one issue to interactions on a second issue Power The ability of Actor A to get Actor B to do something that B would otherwise not do the ability to get the other side to make concessions and to avoid having to make concessions oneself Coercion The threat or imposition of costs on other actors in order to change their behavior Means of international coercion include military force economic sanc tions and embargos Outside Options The alternatives to bargaining with a specific actor Agenda Setting Power A first mover advantage that helps an actor to secure a more favorable bargain Institutions Sets of rules known and shared by the community that structure po litical interactions in specific ways Anarchy The absence of a central authority with the ability to make and enforce laws that bind all actors Chapter 3 War An event involving the organized use of military force by at least two parties that satisfies some minimum threshold of severity Interstate War A war in which the main participants are states Civil War A war in which the main participants are within the same state such as the government and rebel group Crisis Bargaining A bargaining interaction in which at least one actor threatens to use force
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