Chapter 5 Power, Conflict, and Policy

1. Chapter 5Power, Conflict, and Policy The Role of Political Science in International Studies

2. Introduction • What do political scientists study? • Wide range of subjects • How is politics defined? • Human interactions that involve both power and conflict • What is the role of international studies in politics? • International studies vs. International relations

3. Major Fields • Political science broken into two subfields that deal with international studies: • Comparative politics • International relations • Realism • Idealism • Other subfields of political science: • American politics • Political theory • Public administration

4. Comparative Politics • Study of domestic politics analyzed using the comparative method • Researchers are regional specialists • Democracy • Not necessarily the norm, rather the exception • Hard for Westerners to think of it that way • Military Coups • Military officials serve as leadership

5. Democracy • Open vs. Closed Systems • Democracy is an example of an open system • Freedom of thought, choice of leadership, etc. • Communism is an example of a closed system • Little or no input from domestic constituency • Presidential vs. Parliamentary Systems • Two forms of government in an open system • Some countries, such as France, practice a hybrid of the two • Use of an election doesn’t necessarily mean democracy

6. Military Coups • Also known as coups d’état • Common from 1950’s to 1980’s • Is sometimes seen as the “lesser of two evils” or for “the good of the nation” • This isn’t always the case though • Turkish history has experienced three different military leaderships in the last half century

7. International Politics (Relations) • Study of political behavior outside of or across domestic political borders • Subfields include: • Peace and conflict • International security • Foreign policy analysis • International political economy • Global organization • International law • U.S. Foreign Policy is one very important subfield of international politics due to the influence of the U.S.

8. Theories of International Politics • Theories perform two crucial functions: • Provides concepts to understand phenomena • Explains global political outcomes • Third function of theories: policy advocacy • Does not apply to all theories • Parsimony • Elegance or brevity of a theory • How well it reduces global complexity • The two most important theories: • Realism • Idealism

9. Idealism/Liberalism • The idea that humans are moral beings, are not violent or selfish by nature, and that public institution moderates the individual behavior • Collective security • The organization and agreement by states to rules of international engagement • The larger group keeps the states in check • Culminated in the League of Nations

10. Applications of Idealism • North American Free Trade Agreement • Serves to bind countries into peaceful trading relationships • European Union (EU) • Another example of group that benefits from other members cooperation • Complex interdependence

11. Realism • Also referred to as “realpolitik” • Human nature is self-interested and power hungryand states are an extension of this human nature • States operate in a world of anarchy, or the absence of a global government • States seek alliances with the powerful, offering what they can in terms of resources • These powerful countries are called “hegemons” • Unlike idealism, realism is not a prescriptive theory

12. Theoretical Diversity • Idealism and realism are the two most prominent theoretical traditions in international politics • Other types of theoretical perspectives that draw from realism and idealism are: • Feminism • Marxism • Globalization • Interdependence • Constructivism

13. The Political Spectrum • Several ways one can view the role of the government in human activities • Right: • limited government • promotes free markets • opposes taxes • Left: • expanded government • government important in human welfare • promotes taxation