POSC 2601 MIDTERM 1 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
What are the 3 core principles of international relations? - Answer -dominance,
reciprocity, identity
Dominance - Answer -- establishing a power hierarchy where those at the top control
those below
- ex: UN Security Council
Reciprocity - Answer -- rewarding behavior that contributes to the group and punishing
behavior that pursues self-interest at the expense of the group
- ex: World Trade Organization
Identity - Answer -- members care about the interests of others enough to sacrifice their
own interests to benefit others
- ex: alliances
Collective action problem - Answer -- the problem of how to provide something that
benefits all members of a group regardless of what each member contributes to it
- collective goods are easier to provide in small groups because it's easier to find/punish
free-riders
state actors - Answer -- any state government
- ex: a country
non-state actors - Answer -- strongly influence national governments/actors other than
state governments that operate either below the level of the state or across borders
- ex: NGOs, MNCs, IGOs
What are the 4 levels of analysis? - Answer -- individual (concerns the perceptions,
choices, and actions of individuals - ex: foreign policy decision making)
- state/domestic (concerns the aggregations within states that influence state actions in
the international arena - ex: social movements)
- interstate/systemic (focus on the interactions of states themselves without regard to
their internal makeup - ex: norms)
- global (trends that transcend the interaction of states themselves - ex: fear of
terrorism)
sovereignty - Answer -a state's right to do whatever it wants within its own territory
What is globalization? - Answer -the increasing integration of the world in terms of
communications, culture, and economics
What is globalization not? - Answer -universalization, westernization, liberalization, or
internationalization
, North-South gap - Answer -the disparity of resources between the
industrialized/relatively rich countries of the West and the poorer countries of Africa, the
Middle East, and much of Latin America and Asia
Realism (definition) - Answer -explains international relations in terms of power
Key actors of realism - Answer -states
Key assumptions of realism - Answer -- human nature is selfish
- states are the most important actors
- states behave in rational pursuit of self interest
- nature of the international system is anarchy
Key focus/goal/interest of realism and how to attain - Answer -National security and
survival through military and economic power
Core principle associated with realism - Answer -Dominance
Level of analysis associated with realism - Answer -interstate/systemic
Idealism - Answer -a liberal tradition that emphasizes international law, morality, and
international organizations rather than power alone as key influences on international
events
Power (definition) - Answer -the ability to get another actor to do what it would not
otherwise have done
Types of power - Answer -- hard power: a nation or political body's ability to use
economic incentives or military strength to influence other actors' behaviors
- soft power: when a state's own values become widely shared among other states and
easily influences others
- short term: military forces, military-industrial capacity to produce weapons quickly
(tangible) and the support/legitimacy an actor commands in the short term from
constituents/allies, and the loyalty of a nation's army/politicians to their leader (less
tangible)
- long term: GDP, population, territory, geography, natural resources (tangible) and
political culture, patriotism, education of the population, strength of the
scientific/technological base
Who has power? (hegemon, superpower, great powers, middle powers, small powers) -
Answer -- hegemon: a state that single-handedly dominates the rules/arrangements by
which international political/economic relations are conducted (ex: US)
- superpower: 2-3 most powerful states (ex: US and USSR)
- great powers: half dozen most powerful states that can be defeated militarily only by
another great power + share a global outlook based on national interests based far from
their home territories (ex: Japan, Germany)
What are the 3 core principles of international relations? - Answer -dominance,
reciprocity, identity
Dominance - Answer -- establishing a power hierarchy where those at the top control
those below
- ex: UN Security Council
Reciprocity - Answer -- rewarding behavior that contributes to the group and punishing
behavior that pursues self-interest at the expense of the group
- ex: World Trade Organization
Identity - Answer -- members care about the interests of others enough to sacrifice their
own interests to benefit others
- ex: alliances
Collective action problem - Answer -- the problem of how to provide something that
benefits all members of a group regardless of what each member contributes to it
- collective goods are easier to provide in small groups because it's easier to find/punish
free-riders
state actors - Answer -- any state government
- ex: a country
non-state actors - Answer -- strongly influence national governments/actors other than
state governments that operate either below the level of the state or across borders
- ex: NGOs, MNCs, IGOs
What are the 4 levels of analysis? - Answer -- individual (concerns the perceptions,
choices, and actions of individuals - ex: foreign policy decision making)
- state/domestic (concerns the aggregations within states that influence state actions in
the international arena - ex: social movements)
- interstate/systemic (focus on the interactions of states themselves without regard to
their internal makeup - ex: norms)
- global (trends that transcend the interaction of states themselves - ex: fear of
terrorism)
sovereignty - Answer -a state's right to do whatever it wants within its own territory
What is globalization? - Answer -the increasing integration of the world in terms of
communications, culture, and economics
What is globalization not? - Answer -universalization, westernization, liberalization, or
internationalization
, North-South gap - Answer -the disparity of resources between the
industrialized/relatively rich countries of the West and the poorer countries of Africa, the
Middle East, and much of Latin America and Asia
Realism (definition) - Answer -explains international relations in terms of power
Key actors of realism - Answer -states
Key assumptions of realism - Answer -- human nature is selfish
- states are the most important actors
- states behave in rational pursuit of self interest
- nature of the international system is anarchy
Key focus/goal/interest of realism and how to attain - Answer -National security and
survival through military and economic power
Core principle associated with realism - Answer -Dominance
Level of analysis associated with realism - Answer -interstate/systemic
Idealism - Answer -a liberal tradition that emphasizes international law, morality, and
international organizations rather than power alone as key influences on international
events
Power (definition) - Answer -the ability to get another actor to do what it would not
otherwise have done
Types of power - Answer -- hard power: a nation or political body's ability to use
economic incentives or military strength to influence other actors' behaviors
- soft power: when a state's own values become widely shared among other states and
easily influences others
- short term: military forces, military-industrial capacity to produce weapons quickly
(tangible) and the support/legitimacy an actor commands in the short term from
constituents/allies, and the loyalty of a nation's army/politicians to their leader (less
tangible)
- long term: GDP, population, territory, geography, natural resources (tangible) and
political culture, patriotism, education of the population, strength of the
scientific/technological base
Who has power? (hegemon, superpower, great powers, middle powers, small powers) -
Answer -- hegemon: a state that single-handedly dominates the rules/arrangements by
which international political/economic relations are conducted (ex: US)
- superpower: 2-3 most powerful states (ex: US and USSR)
- great powers: half dozen most powerful states that can be defeated militarily only by
another great power + share a global outlook based on national interests based far from
their home territories (ex: Japan, Germany)
