POLSCI 2I03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: World Politics, Modernization Theory, Soviet Empire
19 Oct 2016
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Week 1 Content
?This course is called world politics because our interest is in the political� �
patterns of the world and not just those between nation-states, for example
we re interested in relations between institutions/organizations �
?Simply don't want readers to define politics narrowly
Theories of World Politics
?A theory is a simplifying device that allows you to decide which facts matter
and which do not
?Theories allow us to view things differently, although things are the same
?Normative position: The task of academic study being one of making the world a
better place and more understandable
?Idealism: How the world ought to be and trying to assist events in turning out
that way
?Realism: Stressed seeing the world as it really is rather than how we would � �
like it to be - although not always a pleasant place
?Realism has done us well, and has been the dominant way of explaining world
politics in the last 100 years
?Main assumptions underlying realism:
?Liberalism
?Marxism
?Social Constructivism
?Post structuralism
?Post colonialism
Realism and World Politics
?For realists, the main actors on the world are states; who are legally
sovereign actors
?Sovereignty: There is no actor above the state that can compel it to act in
specific ways
?Realists believe human nature is fixed and selfish
?World politics represents a struggle for power between states, each trying to
maximize their national interest
?Balance of power: states act so as to prevent any one state from dominating
?World politics is all about bargaining and alliances, with diplomacy as a key
factor in balancing national interests
?Most important tool for implementing states foreign policies is military force
?World politics is a self-help system where states must rely on their own
military resources to achieve their ends
?Ends can be achieved through cooperation, though hard to achieve as the
potential for conflict will always be present
?An important variant of realism known as neo-realism has developed
?Neo-realism stresses the importance of the structure of the international
political system in affecting the behavior of the states
Liberalism and World Politics
?One of the main themes that run through liberal thought are that human beings
are perfectible, that democracy is necessary for that perfectibility to develop,
and that ideas matter
?Behind all these lies are a belief in progress
?Liberals reject the realist idea that war is the natural condition of world
politics
?Liberals question the idea that the state is the main actor on the world
political stage
?They believe multinational organizations, terrorist groups etc. Are central
actors that contribute to issue areas in politics
?They also think of a state as a set of bureaucracies each with their own
interests
?Liberals stress the possibilities for cooperation
?Military force is still important but the liberal agenda is not as restricted
as the realist one
?Liberals take their views past simply military force, by stressing the
importance of economic, environmental, and technological issues
?Order in world politics emerges not from a balance of power but from the
interactions between many layers of governing arrangements, comprising laws,
agreed norms, international regimes, and institutional rules
?Liberals do not think sovereignty is as important in practice as realists think
it is in theory
?Interdependence between states is a critically important feature of world
politics
Marxist Theories and World Politics
?Less influential theory than realist or liberalism and is fairly different than
either
?For Marxist theory, most important feature of world politics is that it takes
place in a world capitalist economy
?Most important actors are classes as opposed to states
?States, multinational corporations, and even international organizations
represent the dominant class interest in the world economic system
?Marxist theorists conceive world politics as the setting in which class
conflicts are played out
?Marxist theorists think of it in economic rather than in military terms
?What matters is the dominance of the power not of states but of global
capitalism, and it is these patterns that ultimately determine the main
political patterns in world politics
?Sovereignty is not nearly as important for Marxist theorists as for realists
?Marxist theorists see all states as having to play by the rules of the
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
?this course is called world politics because our interest is in the political patterns of the world and not just those between nation-states, for example we re interested in relations between institutions/organizations. ?simply don"t want readers to define politics narrowly. ?a theory is a simplifying device that allows you to decide which facts matter and which do not. ?theories allow us to view things differently, although things are the same. ?normative position: the task of academic study being one of making the world a better place and more understandable. ?idealism: how the world ought to be and trying to assist events in turning out that way. ?realism: stressed seeing the world as it really is rather than how we would like it to be - although not always a pleasant place. ?realism has done us well, and has been the dominant way of explaining world politics in the last 100 years.
