POLI 243 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Robert Keohane, Joseph Nye, Externality

• School: McGill University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLI 243
• Professor: Mark Brawley

Document Summary

Idealism: stresses the possibility of perfecting the behavior of man (usually through the creation of institutions or laws) and thus perfecting the actions of states, thereby reaching international peace and harmony. Realism: a commonly used paradigm in international relations, realism emerged as the dominant paradigm in the 1940s and remained so until recent years. It has stressed the importance of power in international relations and the continuity in states" behavior. It also emphasizes the anarchic nature of the international system, which allows states to use power to resolve differences. Classical realism: the earliest version of realism, which, in order to counter the arguments of. Idealists, assumed human nature to be selfish and driven by a desire of power. Traditionalists (realist): argued for a continued emphasis on history and the study of particular historical episodes as unique events. Behaviorists (realist): stressed the need to aggregate information in order to apply methods of data analysis (statistics) to interpret evidence.