[POLS 2100] - Midterm Exam Guide - Comprehensive Notes for the exam (18 pages long!)

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLS 2100
• Professor: Ian Spears

Document Summary

State formation in europe: non-violent paths, violent paths. States in the sense of institutions are a by-product of war. External threats can be a very powerful way of making people feel like they have a common interest and forget about their differences. O"neil a(cid:374)d till(cid:455) des(cid:272)(cid:396)i(cid:271)e state fo(cid:396)(cid:373)atio(cid:374) i(cid:374) da(cid:396)(cid:449)i(cid:374)ia(cid:374) te(cid:396)(cid:373)s, o(cid:374)l(cid:455) the st(cid:396)o(cid:374)gest su(cid:396)(cid:448)i(cid:448)e. The weak and corrupt states are weeded out. A kind of darwinian power struggle among european states, meant that, overtime, only the st(cid:396)o(cid:374)gest a(cid:374)d (cid:373)ost effe(cid:272)ti(cid:448)e states su(cid:396)(cid:448)i(cid:448)ed. The eu(cid:396)opea(cid:374) states that e(cid:454)ist toda(cid:455) a(cid:396)e (cid:862)the su(cid:396)(cid:448)i(cid:448)o(cid:396)s(cid:863) In year 1200 there were around 80-500 states, which was reduced to 19 (cid:862)the sto(cid:396)(cid:455) of (cid:374)atio(cid:374)alis(cid:373) is the sto(cid:396)(cid:455) of ge(cid:374)o(cid:272)ide(cid:863) O"neil 4(cid:1005)-4(cid:1006): (cid:862)(cid:396)apid o(cid:396)ga(cid:374)izatio(cid:374)al e(cid:448)olutio(cid:374)(cid:863: (cid:862)these g(cid:396)oups that (cid:272)ould (cid:395)ui(cid:272)kl(cid:455) adapt su(cid:396)(cid:448)i(cid:448)ed, (cid:449)hile the less su(cid:272)(cid:272)essful g(cid:396)oups (cid:449)e(cid:396)e (cid:272)o(cid:374)(cid:395)ue(cid:396)ed a(cid:374)d disappea(cid:396)ed(cid:863) Constant warfare in europe actually encouraged development.