Super Tuesday

Super Duper Tuesday... it was long and it was hard, and it still is not over yet.

But after only 6 hours of sleep for 2 days, I'm heading off to sleep.  I will save my full comments on the results (YAY CT!, YAY BOSTON!) until tomorrow- or rather later today- when I am more fully rested.

In the mean time, check out Barack Obama's speech tonight- it was great and further reiterated to me why I like Barack Obama and why I believe that America needs Barack Obama.

Also, check out my TF's blog post on tonight (not a full analysis, but a good outline of some major points I will make later today).  Alex is an amazing teaching fellow, a great resource, one of the most informative politics-junkie, and one of the hardest workers (and by far one of the best phone-bankers) that I have ever met in my life.  Alex's views on Barack Obama are the same as mine- something that I hope will work well for my grade in my Public Policy  class.  He is great- check out his post!

Intro to Compare: Midterm-Final

Political Development Theories

Political Culture- attitudes about role in government, governments in general, and democracy

Britain- compromise on the part of elites

• Expanded the franchise- willing to give into demands
• Consensual culture
• Lost with Thatcher in 1970s

France- divided into camps that don't trust each other

• Conflictual culture
• Reflects history- French Revolution / Paris Commune- French elites crushed working class

Germany- authority-oriented

• Trust bureaucrats over politicians

Class Analysis- Barrington Moore- the way conflict between classes emerge and play out

Britain- conflict between aristocracy and monarchy

• Wool- land intensive
• Enclosure Acts- kick peasants off the land- monarchy does not want this
• Glorious Revolution- peasants are big losers, thrown off land and forced into industrialized cities
• Peasants are the democratic force always fighting for more rights

France- 

• Wine- labor intensive = wanted to keep peasants on the land
• Feudal dues were increased = peasants revolt
• French Revolution- Middle Class / Peasants vs. Aristocracy / Clergy
• Peasants Win = land goes to them
• Remain a rural society that doesn't have a great push for democracy because peasants are big winners

Germany- elites challenge traditional feudal political system

• Elite modernized economically without political change
• Prussian aristocracy
• Grain- labor intensive so wanted to avoid a revolution
• Put high tariffs to make industrialists happy
• Created a welfare state to make the workers happy

Sectors- conflicts between sectors of economy

Britain- agriculture sector vs. industrial sector

• Ag. didn't want to increase franchise because a call for cheaper food would hurt the ag. sector
• Industry wanted to increase franchise because lower food prices would mean that they could decrease wages and make more money
• Gradually increase franchise (reform acts)

France-

• Wanted laws to protect farmer and small shopkeepers
• Wanted to slow industrialization so that industry would not become a major power because that would increase competition
• Kept the industrial class from developing
• Missing the force to promote democracy

Germany-

• Marriage of Iron and Rye- conflict between agriculture and industry
• Kept tariffs on food = ag. happy
• Put tariffs on industry = industry happy because there is not strong foreign competition
• Can increase food prices because industrialists can afford to pay higher wages so that workers can buy more expensive food

• Within industry- export-oriented vs. import-oriented
• Modern- chemical / wanted government to abide by Versailles Treaty (ended WWI) because it was competitive and sold abroad / supported SPD govt. and small coalition parties
• Traditional- steel / didn't want government to abide by Versailles Treaty because wanted to keep Germany remilitarizing / supported Nationalist parties
• Support from chemical industry helped Weimar Republic survive for as long as it did

Timing of Development- Gershencrown- the later you develop, the less likely you are do be democratic / when a class needs protection it is not going to challenge an authoritarian state

Britain-

• Developed slowly without competition = democratic

France- too early to realize that they were late

• Small-scale industrialization
• Government protected farmers and small shopkeepers = created laws that delayed industrialization

Germany- 

• Marriage of Iron and Rye
• Industry was late and needed protection
• Led to tendency to favor authoritarian leaders who would offer this protection (Hitler)

Neocolonialism- Africa

Failures of Democracy- democracy brought down by military coups

Ethnic Reasons- faction of ruling military dominated by one ethnic group

Economic Reversal (1970s)- stagnation and contraction because of oil crisis and cheap credit

Colonial remainders hurt developing, former colonies:

Borders- cross-cut ethnic groups / colonial power favored 1 ethnic group

Ethnic rivalry- because of colonial favoritism

State structures- new systems that resemble that of old colonial power

• State-run economy
• Bureaucracies rule from the top

Economic dependency- 

• Developed to supply raw materials to colonial powers
• Highly specialized

Dependency Theory- Latin America

• Economic structures set country up for economic and political failure

Prebisch-

• Highly specialized economies- favor foreign capital and investors
• Late developer- specialized in areas where there is foreign investment
• WWI economy collapse- nation can't just develop trade, need to develop their own economies

Export Basics / Import complex-

• Theory of Unequal Exchange- price over time of exports falls in relation to the value-added imports

Import Substitution- need to start producing what you import

• Used tariffs
• Didn't work because when governments do this, they need to import technology
• Still depended on traditional exports
• Dual economies = inequality

Super-exploitation of Labor- still needed foreign capital

Washington Consensus Macroeconomic Policies- 

• Set policies to keep foreign investors
• Made best terms for creditors
• Place payment of foreign debt above all else

Alternative Explanations

Pathways from Periphery-

• Can get from periphery to core
• Failures of Africa / Latin America vs. successes of Asia

Ideology of Dependency Theory-

• Put blame on other countries
• Blame international economy, richer countries

Culture-

• Wrong culture = fails
• Latin America- Iberian Culture of hierarchy, mysticism, patronage, look to elites to give out favors
• But then why do periods of democracy exist?

ISI is the Problem-

• Labor becomes too strong / can't get capital = leads to authoritarian regimes

Export Promotion-

• Asian countries
• Produce exports with higher value-added

Strong States vs. Weak States-

• Latin America- weak states
• Asia- strong states

Distributions of Land-

• Asia- ISI and export promotion where equal domestic wealth
• Redistributed land = more equality in wealth
• Allowed for domestic market / can develop domestically

Bresser-Periera: New Developmentalism-

• Asia never did Washington Consensus
• Appreciation of Latin American currencies because of Washington Consensus = encourages consumption and less competitive industry

Transitions to Democracy

Causes- crisis in old regime

Ideological Weaknesses- need to justify themselves  = need to appeal to national interests, but they still favor international investors

Economic crisis- 1970s

External Context-

• External defeats- military government defeated militarily
• Argentina- Faulklands War- defeated by Britain
• Greece- Greek military government wanted to help Cyprus but defeated
• Portugal- tried to hold onto African colonies but military officers staged a coup
• Eastern Europe- Poland's solidarity movement- demonstration effect, Sinatra Doctrine- USSR does not want to intervene
• EU- businesses and multinationals want to invest in countries with EU membership
• Economic sanctions- lead to economic pain, worked in South Africa

Demonstration Effects-

• Russians did not stop solidarity
• French Revolution- republican government is possible
• Portugal- change with little violence (War of the Carnations) / Spain- when Franco died, regime negotiated transition with opposition

Elite Dominated? / Social Movement?-

• Elite led
• Spain
• South Africa- ANC and reformist sects negotiated
• Key elites control resources

Structural Factors? / Chess Game?

• Structure- culture, level of development / democracy needs to come out of a broad base consensus among the population
• Chess game- leaders make calculations about what will happen if they give up authoritarian government / democracy needs key players who decide that it is in their best interests to transition

Consolidation

Alternations in Power- stability

• Look at elections
• Spain

Economic Development-

• Poor- distribution conflict
• Rich- easier to compromise

Outcome of First Election-

• Better if it is won by forces that are close to segments of power that supported the former authoritarian regime
• Spain
• Problem- Eastern Europe- first elections won by anti-communists
• Need to build up trust that democracy does not mean dictatorship by the opposition

Institutions-

• Parliamentary- forces the new democratic government to continue working for compromise / Spain, Greece / leads to a smoother transition
• Presidential- government can rule without compromise / Portugal, Poland, Russia- semi-presidential
• Electoral system- everyone needs to feel secure
• Consociationalism- constitution designed to give access to different groups / Lebanon, Northern Ireland

Sequence of Economic and Political Reforms-

• Put economic reforms off until the political system is consolidated?
• Do economic and political reforms at the same time?- shock therapy

External Aid-

• Ease social dislocations
• Can help new democratic system provide better transitions
• Helps democracy build legitimacy

That's it for now... I won't bore you with current events around the world, but that's on the final too.  Last final- I'm almost there!

PO101 Major Topics- Beginning to Midterm

Some more PoliSci...

Democratic Theory

• Order- structure, laws
• Power- can be seized
• Justice- rights
• Hobbes- state of nature was state of war, form govt. to keep peace and order, monarchy
• Locke- private property leads to war, civil society needed rules, citizens give up liberty to commonwealth to preserve their wealth, constitutional democracy
• Rousseau- property led to inequality which led to a naturalized social contract, normative social contract- man has free will and chooses to create a society that is more just, politics restores freedom, direct democracy
• Federalist #10: need to control factions through rep. democracy
• Republic- enough representatives to guard against whims of few, but not too many, larger area = strength of majority unknown, govt. power depends on consent of governed, has: constitution, limits against absolute power, mechanisms of freedom
• Presidentialism- president elected, chooses cabinet from outside govt.
• Parliamentarianism- PM chosen by Parliament, party power stronger, cabinet chosen from MPs
• Constitutional democracy- adaptive constitution, minority rights, some centralized control, electoral systems, limits (check and balances, separation of powers, federalism, reelection, rule of law
• Dahl's characteristics: maintain system, protect rights, ensure fairness, encourage consensus, provide govt. that can solve problems

Nationalism

• Canada- short history, no authoritarianism, similar religions, British majority, 2 national languages (status for minority), no influence by other nations, everyone was an immigrant, 1 war
• Yugoslavia- long history, authoritarianism, various religions, various majority that share power, Serbs oppress others, impacted by WWI, WWII, and USSR, some people have always lived there, constant warring

Race

• Parties need to appeal to a moderate electorate to be successful
• Race and culture can be used as tools for political gain
• Ghetto underclass because of concentration effect in 1960s
• Plight deepens b/c of: concentration effects, unemployment, racism, incarceration, bad schools, breakdown of families, subculture that glorifies swagger over work, decrease in blue collar jobs
• Loury- Social Capital- need targeted performance enhancement, education, and training / problems need to be addressed as trans-racial

Civic Culture- civic culture, political socialization, social capital, public opinion, voting constraints

• Political socialization- good citizenship: identification with nation, actions, civic training, voting: minimum degree of invovlement, agents of socialization: family, school, religion, peers, media, workplace, gender, events
• Tocqueville- Americans volunteer
• Civic culture (Amond and Verba)- political culture (independent variable) affects effectiveness and stability of govt.
• Characteristics: orientation to political system, talk about politics, pride in nation, self-confidence in govt., involved in elections, participate, membership in voluntary organization, tolerance to opposition parties, civil cooperation and trust
• Parochial citizen- politically unaware / subject citizen- passive relationship with government / participant citizen- active with govt.
• Political cultures may or may not be congruent with political system
• Social capital- social organizations that work for coordination and cooperation for mutual benefits
• Putnam- "Bowling Alone"- b/c women working, mobility, TV, urban sprawl, decrease religion
• Lipset- criticism- more voluntary orgs., increase religion, increase charity, increase patriotism
• Institutional issues- SMD leads to decrease in social capital / PR increases
• Public opinion- intensity- how much people care / salience- how prevalent an issue is / volatality- how easily public opinion changes / political generations- ours vs. WWII / life cycle- changing views based on age or point in life
• Issue publics (Converse)- people know most about 1-2 issues
• Popkin- get info about other issues- delegation, heuristics (short cuts- react to policy), representativeness, incumbency, by-product theory of info, drunkard's search
• Politicians manipulate voters- crafted talk, priming (what they chose to talk about), framing (how they talk about an issue), media
• Voting constraints- doesn't want to vote, voter reg., civic engagement (social capital- b/c of socio-demographic, edu., age, income, employment, minority status), polling locations, absentee ease, ease of info, privacy, intimidation, eligibility, elite status needed?, primaries, voting legitimacy?, competitiveness of vote

American Exceptionalism

• Standard explanation- no monarchy or feudal society aspects, all "born free", Lockian liberalism (judicial review, constitutional emphasis), lack of socialist tradition
• Cultural explanation- influx of new vs. traditional, immigration, social change
• Double-edged sword (Lipset)- good: freedom, meritocracy, work and education ethic, bad: fewer obligations, Horatio Algerism, us vs. them, violence, imperialism
• Economic explanation- weak lower/labor class = wealthy dominate, unrestricted expansion = didn't have to deal with class conflict, liberal market economy
• Institutional explanation (Steinmo)- causes: federalism, separation of powers, fragmentation of powers, electoral systems, presidentialism, effects: character of legislature, bureaucracy, parties, voters, interest groups, public policy, political culture
• False idea?- unique things: egalitarianism, less govt. interference, less socialism and unions, higher pride and patriotism, more religion, constant immigration, but all countries have exceptional characteristics

Interest Groups and Pluralism / Social Movements

• Federalist #10- faction- groups who form to protect and promote their interests at the expense of the greater good, human nature makes factions inevitable, can't prevent so must control by: large republic, federalism, separation of powers
• Interest groups- access: lobby Congress, lobby Executive, courts, public, media, protest and demonstration, violence
• Pluralist theories- group formation is part of human nature, govt. should work to expand transparency (but elite interests don't want that), military-industrial complex, iron law of oligarchy, iron triangles (committee, bureaucracy, interest groups)- pros: stability, increase expertise, efficiency, cons: undemocratic, intertia, elite advantage: resources, access to leaders, shared group conciousness
• Social movement- want to change the nature of pluralism / work against interest groups and businesses
• Social movement theories- mass society- strange people do strange things, relative deprivation- increase expectations and inequalities = frustration, resource theories- how groups organize (material, solidarity benefits- meet people, purposive- feel good), process theories- systematic vulnerabilities, timing (come about b/c: pre-existing social networks, creation of an insurgent consciousness, shifting political opportunities, shifting social control response of other groups

Extra-Constitutionalism- activism to the extreme

• Occurs when democracy isn't possible (majority controlled by minority elite)
• Occurs when democracy doesn't work for your interests (minority in democratic world)
• Religion- Old Boston, Catholic Church ran adoptions
• Media- media as business driven by corporate interests, media as an opinion shaper, impact of blogs and internet
• Violence- types: premordial (quasi-nationalistic), separatist, revolutionary, coup, issue-based / military mutiny / guerilla / terrorism
• Terrorism- characteristics: deep-seeded grievances, mostly in countries struggling to modernize, rarely works and seldom as sole means / goals: demonstrate capacity, symbolic action or personal fulfillment, attempt to motivate action / response: swift, severe, lawful punishment, improve security and research into small group violence dynamics, address issues of contention
• Revolutions- reasons: political (system not working/dictator), erosion of legitimacy, regime lost effectiveness (inflation, corruption, unemployment) / characteristics: quick, dramatic system change, organization needed, types: agrarian, mass-based, elite-based, "Great", separatist, religious, peaceful / stage: old regime breaks down, mass mobilization, moderates take over first, then extremists, thermidor- purge extremists / problems after: one tyranny replaced with another?, end badly? / examples: separatist- Mexican Revolution, agrarian- China, Cuba, "Great"- U.S., France, Russia, Religious- Iran, Peaceful- Velvet Revolution / heading off revolutions: end injustices that cause them, hard to do

Parties

• Functions: bridge between people and govt. (linkage), aggregation of interests- bring together common interests, integration into political system, political socialization, mobilize voters, organize govt.
• Duverger's Law- SMD = 2 party system- need strong, centralized control
• Parties and govt. (schattschneider)- designed to take over govt. (organize, Duverger's law), govt. by consent of governed, what is the best system of govt.?
• Party strength- weak because candidate-centered elections
• Parties fail (Lawson and Merkel)- parties are arenas of elite decision process, substitute arrives - interest consolidation no longer occurs, other vehicles of mediation between state and society: environmental, supplementary (alternative party), communitarian (focus on regional communities), anti-authoritarian
• U.S.- increase independents in 1970s and 1980s / 1990s and 2000s- polarization of citizens, strong party cohesion- no
• Other views: parties weakening- since 1890s, weak overall, increase in candidate voting / parties stronger- surge of party power, increase ideological polarization, increase in unity in party voting in Congress

Campaign Finance

• U.S.- FECA (1971)- disclosure, media limits, contribution limits, allow unions and companies to get involved / Buckley v. Valeo (1976)- some restrictions are unconstitutional: can't put limits on how much candidates can spend, can't put limits on self-financing, can't put limits on independent expenditures (soft $) / 527s- issue advocacy ads, not related to specific candidates or campaigns, have odd names / PACs- strict $ rules, can be associated with specific candidate
• UK- weak / candidates have limits, parties have limits on spending but not on contributions / no disclosure- large influence of major newspapers, external donations allowed / free media time
• France- only public finance, limited private donations / extensive transparency / but govt. gives lots of $ to contractors and some $ is funneled back to parties
• Spain- public financing, loose reporting of contributions (lax enforcement), bank loan problem
• Considerations: is $ speech?, public financing or free airtime?, enforcement, other corruption mechanisms, how to pass CFR legislation, issue advocacy or soft $, internet, can society ever stop the $ flow?, do contributions affect legislation?, transparency, loans

Media

• How it affects political participation (Patterson)- creating cynical public that distrusts govt., destroying cohesion and social capital, increase in tabloid journalism, journalists hold politicians to standards that they never come close to keeping themselves
• Media-attack journalism (Sabato)- inquisition-style, focus on scandals, journalists: have to be more aggressive b/c of image makers and spin doctors, consequences: decreased access to public officials, decrease trust in media
• Mass media and politics (Graber)- functions: surveillence, interpretation, socialization, manipulation, greater media influence, freedom of press: is there a separate freedom, require less supervision b/c of journalistic ethics?, but they are a corporation, Supreme Court- media is no different than citizen critic / generate political action: prompt public reaction, prompt office holders to act, work with officials to generate actions, surrogates for public officials, mouthpieces for govt. or interest group, frame issues
• Concerns- selective coverage, non-comprehensive coverage, doesn't provide comprehensive picture, media oligopoly, too close or too critical of govt.

I hope you enjoyed some more PO101 notes.  Next, DANTE!

PO101 Major Topics- Midterm to Final

Final: Saturday, December 15th!

Voting Systems

• Proportional Representation- elected in large multimember district, # of seats proportional to # of votes
  
• Advantages: more accurate representation, better for minorities (gender, race, political), fewer wasted votes, increased likelihoood of majority rule, less opportunity for gerrymandering
• Disadvantages: closed list is inflexible, no local / geographic representative, coalitions can be unstable
• Party list- large district, voter votes for party / closed list- party chooses order / open list- voter chooses order
• Mixed member- 1/2 party lists, 1/2 SMD/ benefits of PR and SMD
• STV- choice voting (pick 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.)
• Pluralism (FPTP)- 2 party-voting
• Advantages: keep status quo, protect against extremist idea, stable, median voter
• Disadvantages: low voter turnout, "dominant" party, 2 parties can be too similar, extremism
• Bloc voting- Palestine / in candidate districts with 5 seats open- Hamas put up 5 people, Fatah put up 10 people = vote splitting and Hamas wins

Executives

• Coming to power- ascription (characteristics, criteria, bloodline), appointment (formal/informal), election, force (assasination, coup d'etat, revolution)
• Leaving power- violence, dying, term limits, vote of no confidence (parliamentary), impeachment, designated successor
• Executive power- create legislation, make appointments, oversee bureaucracy, guide public opinion ("bully pulpit")
• Neustadt- demands from bureaucracy, Congress, partisan, citizens, abroad / formal power- awarded by office, actual power- what he can do / tools- persuasive, professional reputation, public prestige, choice
• Barber- character, world view, and style help predict behavior and direction of policies / criticisms- simplistic, external variables? / how much energy do they put into it? how much do they like it? (active positive- JFK, active negative- Nixon, passive positive- Reagan, passive negative- Eisenhower)
• Federalist #70- need energetic president / unity, sufficient powers, some secrecy / no double presidency b/c need accountability

Bureaucracy

• Career civil service
• Weber- organized hierarchically (specialization), appointed based on qualifications (merit), official doesn't own office
• What they do: administration, services, regulation (create policy), licensing, advisory, adjudication
• Disciplinary implementation- decide when to implement more specific laws, how to implement / interpret, how to administrate
• US: 15 Cabinet (DOD, Sec. of State), federal agencies- specific purpose (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms ATF), independent regulatory agencies (FTC, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission FERC)
• Communist countries: extensive power, control economy
• Western Industrialized countries: highly trained and educated, France and Japan- specific process, Germany and UK- civil service exams
• Less-developed countries: corruption, bad public services
• Good: rationality, uniformity, predictability, supervision, expertise, overall efficiency
• Bad: too bid hurts productivity and efficiency, corruption (revolving door and regulatory capture), independence vs. coordination, bad perception
• What to do?: ombudsperson (outsider), legislative oversight, privatization / decentralization, politicizing
• Regulation: law passed, regulatory agency sets up draft regulations, multiple stakeholders submit comments, regulations are re-written and passed
• FEMA- before 9/11- independence but no coordination, after 9/11- w/ Dept. of Homeland Security, coordination but no independence

Public Policy

• Deals in Congress (Milligan)- dracula Congress, power for lobbyists, rules committee- blocks votes on items supported by majority if they are opposed to president/party leadership, add amendments during conference committee, decrease in open rules, no time to review legislation, decrease in debate, revolving door, increase in pork
• Farm Bill (Pollan)- subsidies on corn, soy, and wheat, affects: obesity, world agri. prices, int'l policy, land use, beneficiaries: agri-business, no salience (no one cares), complex
• U.S. public policy- increase party power, increase centralization of power, decrease efficiency b/c increase in pork, increase corruption, non-alignment public policy

Laws

• Criminal vs. civil
• Constitutional law
• Administrative law- regulations
• Int'l law- enforcement problems
• Canon law- religious
• Positive law- man-made law (natural law is innate, social contract is common)
• Rule of law- due process, judicial review (Marbury v. Madison), precedent (stare decisis), judicial restraint, judicial activism (Warren Court in 1960s)
• Common law- judicial decisions based on tradition, precedent / written or unwritten / England / most consistant over time
• Civil (Code) law- legislature creates law, vague civil codes set out principles / Europe / up to date
• Influences of Judges: political socialization, geography, occupational background, party, concept of judicial role, collegues' opinion, public opinion

Unitary System vs. Federalism

• Unitary System (France)- centripital, centralized
• Good: efficiency (consistency), decreased regional tensions, can implement large-scale benefits (3 Gorges Dam in China)
• Bad: some districts lose wealth, no adaptation to regional or cultural differences, not connected to govt., loss of efficiency in big bureaucracy
• Federalism (Germany)- centerfugal
• Good: local power, limits centralized power, increase participation, efficient, policy experimentation
• Bad: expensive (2 sets of govt.), inefficient, unfair regionally, corruption, increase influences of interest groups, interstate conflict, federal-state conflict
• U.S. Balkanization of govt.- 80,000 local govts., jurisdictional conflicts, problems: Arrowhead-Transmission line, burden-shifting
• Federalism in U.S.- early (state power), modern (national dominance) contemporary (new federalism- power to states, devolution, block grants)
• Cakes: layer cake (separate powers), marble cake (mixed), fruit/birthday cake (shared programs under fiscal federalism)

Happiness

• Harvard study- focus on relative position in society
• How to measure?
• Mexico- GDP pc: 7,500 (low middle), but happiness: 90%
• Measurements: GDP pc, Gini Index (inequality), happiness indexes, non-regional differences (job satisfaction)
• Conspicuous consumption- rich accumulate wealth to display it- happiness fueled by neighbor's envy

International Organization

• Struggle for order and stability in unpredictable setting
• Multinationals- business, Exxon
• INGOs- Red Cross
• Supranational Organizations- EU, UN
• IGOs- NATO
• Multifunctional- funding, equality, new regional powers, meeting so many needs, increase importance for small states
• International law- rights and obligations of states (problem: no enforcement)
• Treaties: economic and trade (NAFTA), security (defense- NATO, peace- ABM), humanitarian (environment- Kyoto, democracy- UN Declaration of Human Rights), issues: lack of legislation and enforcement
• China and Environment: air pollution, desertificiation, water scarcity and pollution, acid rain / huge economic growth / world problem- air pollution and dust, trade, tragedy of commons / politics- political change or status quo
• Collapse (Diamond)- make bad decisions because: don't anticipate, don't percieve problem, fail to solve problem, try to solve but fail / problems because: tragedy of commons, bad reasoning, inability to agree who should pay, lack of education, complexity

Human Rights

• What are they?  Who defines?  How to enforce?  Contradictions/Impossibilities?
• Magnarella- cultural imperialism, religion, developed vs. undeveloped, group vs. individual interests, realism (nations will to what is in their best self-interest), cultural relativism vs. rights- how can same standard apply in different areas
• Cambodia- Khmer Rouge- utopian communist revolution, tried to achieve self-sufficient agrarian economy, killed 1.5 to 2.3 million

International System

• Problem: don't agree on what system is emerging
• Historical- 19th c. balance of power, interwar instability, bipolar Cold War
• Unipolar- 1 power (U.S.)
• Counterweight- group reaction to primary power (U.S. vs. China, EU, Middle East)
• Multipolar- regional, economic blocs (EU, ASEAN, NAFTA)
• Stratified- softer unipolar w/ second tier (US, EU vs. ASEAN) / 1st tier dominates, but there is cooperation
• Zones of Chaos- development (1st, 2nd, 3rd world) / some resources in 3rd world, but unstable / 1st- US, UK, France, 2nd- Brazil, India, 3rd- poor Asian, Middle East
• Globalized- economic interests / fair trade, WTO rules / economic heavy-weights can do thing to manipulate world trading system
• Resource wars- resource (energy and water) power / oddball countries- Brazil, Canada, Norway, Venezuela, Nigeria
• Clash of civilizations- cultural schisms / Christian vs. Islam / West vs. East
• Proliferation- nuclear / US, UK, Russia, France, China ... also, Israel, S. Africa, India, Pakistan, N. Korea, Iran
• Globalization- complete network, common thread of all models / culture, economics, information, trade, social interaction
• Interventionism- use military force in other lands / islolationism- minimized importance of outside world
• Klingberg's Alternationa Theory: 21 introvert, 27 extrovert

International Relations

• More complex, lack sovereignty, dependent on power, struggle of influence in unpredictable setting characterized by chaos
• Treaty of Westphalia- ends 30 Years War, nation-state as highest level of government, sovereignty of states, wars around issues of state, modern contradictions- no human/democratic rights, supranational organizations?, religious states, globalization
• National interest: vital vs. secondary, temporary vs. permanent, specific vs. general, complementary vs. confliction
• Realist school- Machiavelli, Morganthau, Hobbes / nations pursue interests, not ideas / elements of power: military, geographic, human / reaffirms sovereign nation state
• Idealist school (Cosmopolitanism)- Wilson, Carter, Kant, J.S. Mill / expect nations to be true to their values, ideals, and morals / image of world community
• International society- middle ground / international and supranational organizations mediate relations / compromise but focus on int'l practices and norms
• Issues: war, sovereignty, human rights, security (national and human), religion, democracy
• Microtheories for war- individuals / macrotheories for war- nation, history- balance of power, hierarchy of power, democratic peace / misperception, lost in translation
• Keeping the peace- world government, collective security (agreement to counter aggressor), functionalism (cooperation in specialized areas leads to overall cooperation among nations), 3rd party assistance, diplomacy (use envoys), peacekeeping (outside military force stabilize)

Transitions

• 9 Marxist-Leninist dictatorships- put tons of $ into military, didn't invest in infrastructure, 5-year plan, system broke and failing
• Now; 28 noncommunist states / 8 fully democratic- Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia / 5 emerging- Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia / 5 transitional- Ukraine, Georgia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzogovina, Moldova
• Successes: break with past (mass mobalization, electoral revolutions), elites, former communist parties (evolve into Western-style democracies), media (free and diverse), civil society (need to increase # of non-profit NGOs), political parties (slow to develop), early economic reforms (property rights, entrepreneurship, individual wealth, Russia moving backwards), no essential preconditions, international community (EU, NATO membership, West not interfering with domestic affairs, stickiness
• Problems: dominant presidents (no counterbalance or constitutional limits- Russia, Belarus), resource curse (rich gas and oil reserves consolidated by state
• Transitions: single democratic standard?, do they occur similarly?, similar patterns across time and cultural region?, what political institutions are best (pluralism, PR / presidentialism, parliamentary)?, liberal democracy even when violate rights?, economic liberalization and democratic liberalization, are there pre-requisites (economic, culture, interest groups, meet certain threshold before transitions)?
• S. Africa- good, external pressure for democratic reforms
• Romania- good, closer to European tradition, better economics = easier
• Peru- still waiting, extensive Western invovlement during Fujimori's term
• Kazakstan- reversion, Nazarbayev president for life, resource curse, no political reforms/civil liberties

Russia

• Peristroika- restructuring, economic reforms
• Glasnot- opennes, transparency with govt.
• Yetlsin- elected in 1991, used force against dissidents in 1993, economic shock therapy = hyperinflation, loss of state supports, good: pro-democracy and ended communism, bad: quasi-authoritarian, badly executed economic reforms, loss of super-power status
• Putin- Federal presidential republic (PM under control of President), edict power, head of leg. and executive (no checks and balances), emergence of regional power
• Nikonov- no democracy to controlled democracy, need to pull back and take it slowly
• Rumer- only democracy in name, Yeltsin attacked opposition, skewed elections, removed checks and balances
• Problems: corruption, red tape, lack of accountability, health problems, inflation, unemployment, Chechnya, fragmented parties, politicized constitution
• Economic concerns- slow pace of privitization, no solid economic framework = decrease in foreign investment, privitization and oligarchs
• Issue: transition fast or slow?, economic or political reforms?, only Western-style democracy?

China

• Great Leap Forward (1957)- increase spread of socialism, planned economy, failed
• Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)- killed dissidents, intellectuals
• Communist party still in control / authoritarian- increase economic growth and globalization, increase inequality and social and environmental problems
• Economic growth- fastest in world, trade surplus, because of privitization and increase in domestic privately owned companies
• Problems: inequality (but decrease in poverty), shortage of workers (increase wages and middle class), environment, rising expectations (people get richer and want more- post-materialistic)
• 3 Gorges Dam- people used to govt. telling them what to do / bad: flooded cultural relics, 1.2 million displaced, silt, environmental impact / good: can control floods, electricity (!!!), supposed to increase river transportation
• Impact of authoritarianism: fragmented authoritarianism (negotiated state), created space for autonomy (loopholes for bargaining), party and state differentiated (local govt. power), corruption (shows lack of state power)

I hope you enjoyed all of these great note!