POL 2103 Study Guide - Final Guide: Microfinance, Subornation Of Perjury, Capital Accumulation
13 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Realism: power struggles among states; solution: balance of power. Institutionalism: self-interested cooperation among states; solution: regimes based on shared interests. Constructivism (idealism, identity perspective): differences in identities; solution: shared norms. Reflectivist theory - feminism, poststructuralism, liberalism, post- colonialism. Unitary domestic politics and interests less important. Rational states pursue predictable strategies based on calculations of self interest: survival, power, sovereignty internal and external. Global politics is a self-help" system, states must look after themselves. Survival depends on a state"s capabilities and alliances. Bandwagoning occurs when a state aligns with a stronger, adversarial power and concedes that the stronger adversary-turned-partner disproportionately gains in the spoils they conquer together. Bandwagoning, therefore, is a strategy employed by weak states. The logic stipulates that an outgunned, weaker state should align itself with a stronger adversary because the latter can take what it wants by force anyway.
