POL208Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Democratic Peace Theory, Global Politics, International Relations
Document Summary
Week 1: what are we trying to do in ir. Ir is no longer only the study of states: includes non-government organizations (ngos), international corporations; also identity categories such as religion and ethnicity often play a major role. Ir encompasses a broad constellation of actions: war, trade, elections, international aid, the olympics, etc. Ir uses a diverse range of methods, including laboratory experiments, interviews, and mathematical modeling. The plus includes domestic politics (and how they drive state behaviour/provide incentives). Plus also includes multinational actors such as multinational corporations (mnc). Another (important!) level of analysis is supranational: that which is above the state level. Puzzle driven, not driven for the sake of it interest. 3 problems in first semester: power, conflict, inequality. Ir provides multiple frameworks to assess political phenomenon (many different ways of thinking and perspectives of the same evidence). Different frameworks carry with them different sets of assumptions.