POLSCI 2H03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Kenneth Waltz, Complex Interdependence, Thomas Hobbes

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLSCI 2H03
• Professor: T A

Document Summary

Ability of states to set their own policy. Quality of having a supreme, independent authority over a geographic area. We think of sovereignty as an enduring, timeless phenomenon. Medieval authority had no single authority that held ultimate dominance. Through our modernist lens, we question how this exists (we"re thinking through state sovereignty) Signed to signal end of 30 years war. Can also be the denial of rights. Denial of human rights to people who aren"t the citizens of a country. We"re calculated, self-interest individuals seeking glory and we are fearful of one another. States seek to maintain and expand their power. Significantly modifies hobbesian notion of anarchy between states. Suggests that states are still self-interested, but they can co-exist and share a common set of principles and norms that most of them can abide by. Sets of formal and informal rules that can facilitate cooperation between states. Argues that the story of cooperation and shared roles isn"t a universal thing.