Exam 1

• Social science theory


  - seeks to explain social phenomena, NOT PROVE

  - logical explanations of social phenomenon
• Goals of IR theory


  - Logic and debate

  - Solve or predict problems to improve the world

  - Generalizability, generalize explanations
• theories


  grounded in logic and evidence
• Parsimony theory


  smallest number of x for the biggest amount of y
• What should theory do?


  Provide a:

  - Causal explanation

  - Use empirical evidence

  - Work from a solid and coherent core logic: theories must make sense and have a strong core of case evidence to support it
• Independent thought


  can at times interfere with the outcomes of a theory
• Falsifiability


  - to falsify a theory—all theories can be falsified, because they are SOCIAL in nature...no laws in social world.

  - If you cannot explain 100% of something then you should be open to be falsified
• Your goal should always be...


  to have a better explanation
• Theoretical degeneration


  to add to the independent or add more independent variables—hurts the strength of the explanation, hurts parsimony. Trying to explain every case by adding to the independent variable is DEGENERATION.
• Defining factor of states


  Sovereignty
• Sovereign states & countries

  PRIMARY ACTORS in world politics
• The State


  key unit of analysis
• Anarchy


  not chaos but the absence of any known authority over the concept of a sovereign state
• Treaty of Westphalia


  1648 official start of sovereign state system (end of 30 Years War)
• Nation states are categorized by


  resources, location, money, politics, culture
• Systems


  - Includes both countries & states

  - Coalesce in structures
• Individual level of analysis

  (the great man theory) - cause is found in individuals or small groups based on their characteristics, biologically, physically THEY CAUSE
• Domestic Level of analysis


  state centric (whatever goes in the state or is attributed to the state is casual), domestic, politics, regime change, crisis or change within the state, nationalism
• Structural or systemic level of analysis


  - Structures or system wide causes—power, interdependence, etc. more general

  - "Systems theory" means SYSTEMIC OR STRUCTURAL variables are CAUSALLY/ANALYTICALLY PRIOR to unit level variables.
• Kenneth Waltz


  - first IR scholar

  - "Man, The State, and War"

  - Tying the various causes of war to philosophers

  - levels of analysis - "images"

  - Individual, state, systemic/structural
• NGOs


  Non-governmental organizations
• IGOs


  Intergovernmental organizations
• IOs


  International organizations
• Core assumptions of states

  - are rational

  - seek to have more power

  - Balance of power is key determinant of international politics
• Actors in international relations


  - States

  - NON-STATE ACTORS:

  Multinational corporations, IGOs, NGOs, IOs
• Realism


  - the attribute of accepting the facts of life and favoring practicality and literal truth

  - a reaction to a thought process about the way the world is

  - provides the explanation of the selfishness of separate states and the power hungry mentality
• Progressivism


  - the political orientation of those who favor progress toward better conditions in government and society

  - brought the illusion of peace till WW2
• "Politics among nations"


  1946 - realism predicts what will happen among and between the world states
• Security Dilemma-


  - Based on idea of uncertainty

  - If A gains some power then another state will balance back against them

  - Any increase in security of a state may create fear for the other

  - Continues and creates chaos, arms race, etc.
• Joseph Lepgold key points

  1) IR is composed of many groups beyond this rift

  2) institutions support integration

  3) Shared goals of these groups and institutions—make better policies based on good assumptions about actors, motivations, etc. HELP THE STATESMEN to HELP THE STATE, which informs theory...

  4) Some theories are more helpful
• Classical realism


  - power is a means and an end

  - is rooted in the importance of the balance of power
• IR Theory

  - Logic and empirical evidence

  - Predictive—good theories should be
• Paradigm


  set of practices that define a scientific discipline at any particular period
• Ways realism is a paradigm

  1) as a collection of strong theories that share basic assumptions and a independent variable

  2) as the most accepted and critiqued theoretical tradition in IR—the top dog of IR
• Historical roots of realism


  - Thucydides, Peloponnesian War (Goldstein)

  - Sun Tzu

  - Machiavelli

  - Hobbes

  - Bismarck

  - E H Carr—20 Years Crisis

  - Hans Morgenthau—Politics Among Nations—First IR theory textbook, still use today
• Core assumptions of early realists

  1) states, rational actors

  2) states seek to have more power

  3) balance of power is key determinant of international politics
• Measures of power for realists

  material, military, economy
• All power is..

  relative
• in classical realism, power is

  an ends and a means
• Core assumptions of neorealism

  1) states are still rational unitary actors, under condition of anarchy

  2) states don't seek POWER, they seek SECURITY

  power is not the preference or the deep interest, it is the MEANS to the end (not an end in itself)

  3) the system is ordered by the distribution of material capabilities (balance of power)

  Balance of Power - distribution of material capabilities