State: a Set of Permanent Administrative, Legal, Bureaucratic, and Coercive Systems With

Week 1

State: a set of permanent administrative, legal, bureaucratic, and coercive systems with a monopoly on the legitimate use of force. American state consists of such institutions as the IRS, Post Office, army, etc. State is pretty much a permanent institution, except in the case of a Revolution. The Russian Revolution, for instance, was a state change – entire Tsarist infrastructure collapsed.

Regime: Rules by which political power is allocated. Regimes change more often than a state, though less often than government. For instance: Mexico switches to democracy, or Pakistan has a military coup.

Government: The group of people who occupy the top positions of a state at a given time – the people in power. Governments change all the time: Clinton to Bush in 2000 is the most recent American example.

Independent Variable: An event, person, or thing that can be used to explain another event or occurrence.

Dependent Variable: An event or occurrence which may be explainable by one or more independent variables.

Mill’s Method of Difference: Look at two similar cases where the outcome is different; to identify the independent (explanatory) variable, you focus on what’s different between the two cases. Example: Honduras and Nicaragua are very similar countries in many respects – yet Nicaragua had a revolution, while Honduras did not. One difference is that Nicaragua had a Sultanistic regime – could this be why?

Mill’s Method of Agreement: Looks at two different cases, with a similar outcome. To identify the explanatory variable, you focus on the few things they have in common.

Institutionalist Approaches: Approaches which emphasize the rules, procedures, and organizations that structure political life – for instance, Congress, Presidency, Electoral College, etc. These institutions shape how the game is played, who wins and who loses. Institutional approaches explain different outcomes based on differing institutions. For instance: parliamentary systems are more conducive to stable democracy.

Structuralist Approaches: Cultural and Institutionalist approaches tend to be structuralist. They tend to disregard the role of political leaders – that is, a certain outcome would have happened no matter who is in charge. Revolutionary leaders are still necessary, but they are a dime a dozen.

Voluntarism: Political leadership by individuals best explains political outcomes. They might argue that even poor Islamist countries can become liberal democracies with proper leadership.

Week 2

Relative backwardness: This was a phrase coined by Gerschenkron in his theory that late industrial development differed from early industrial development. According to Gerschenkron, each country’s industrial development was strongly influenced by the development of its neighboring countries. If a country’s neighbors were modernizing and industrializing, this country suffered from “relative backwardness”, or being less modern/industrial in relation to the other nations around it. Being “relatively backward” could inspire a country to industrialize more quickly in order to compete with its neighbors. For example, Russia saw itself as “backward” compared to the rest of the world, and as a result began what would become the most rapid industrialization of any country to that point.

Market-led Industrialization: the impetus for industrialization comes from the private sector. An example of a country that went through market-led industrialization was England. This type of industrialization is often associated with a liberal regime and with early industrial developers.

Bank-led Industrialization: the impetus for industrialization came from powerful banks, which had more capital and resources than the private sector. One example of a country that went through this type of development was Germany. This kind of industrialization is usually associated with later developers and with more authoritarian regimes

State-led Industrialization: the impetus for industrialization came from the state, which took control of many industries. Russia was a country that went through state-led industrialization. This type of development is associated with countries that developed fairly late and with authoritarian regimes.

The International Demonstration Effect: an idea that deals with the obstacles faced by countries in the developing world that are attempting to industrialize today. Through the influence of modern mass media, the people of these developing countries are able to see what possessions, rights, and advantages the people who live in the industrialized world have. For example, they see workers with cars, homes, decent hours, and good working conditions. As a result, they want these things for themselves, and they put demands on the government to get them. This creates a problem for the type of industrialization that occurred in early industrializes. Since the people in the developing world know what rights workers in other parts of the world have, they are not willing to be exploited or abused in order to receive the benefits of democracy. They are not willing to wait for these benefits either.
Core: one of the categories of countries present in dependency theory. The Core countries were the highly industrialized nations like Great Britain and the United States. According to dependency theorists, the Core had been exploiting the Third World for centuries, sapping it of resources and causing it fall into poverty. In other words, the Core was rich because the periphery (developing world) was poor.

Periphery: one of the categories of countries present in dependency theory. The countries of the periphery were the low income nations such as Bolivia. According to the dependency theories, the periphery had been exploited by the Core, and that was why the periphery remained locked in poverty. The only way for the periphery to break free of this problem, according to the dependency theorist, was to break all ties with the Core and become self-sufficient.

Semi-Periphery: one of the categories of countries present in dependency theory. The countries of the semi-periphery were the ones with incomes and development in the middle of those of the Core and the periphery. This category included countries like Spain and Portugal.

Unequal Exchange: the economic situation that the dependency theorists believed existed between the Core and the periphery. Trade between these two groups of countries was unfair to the periphery due to declining terms of trade.

Comparative Advantage: the idea that a country should focus on what it can do best that other countries cannot do as well. This philosophy meant that a country should export what it could and not try to focus on exporting what it did not naturally have. For example, in Latin America comparative advantage meant focusing on exporting raw materials like sugar to countries without the ability to cultivate such materials as cheaply or as plentifully. On the other hand, Latin America should not focus on producing electrics and involving itself in heavy industry.

Declining terms of trade: the idea that comparative advantage could not possible work and be fair between the Core and the periphery. Since the computers, electronics, planes, etc. produced by the Core were worth more than the sugar and raw materials produced by the periphery, there was an unequal exchange between these groups of countries, with the periphery being the group negatively affected.
Dependent development/Fernando Henrique Cardoso: Cardoso, a scholar from the developing world, created the idea of dependent development as a response to dependency theory. According to Cardoso, the chances for industrialization to occur in the developing world were better than projected by the dependency theorists. The Third World could industrialize, and quickly too. However, this rapid industrialization would require a very strong state and a great deal of oppression and exploitation.

WEEK 3

Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs)/ East Asian “Tigers”

·  Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore (Japan, Hong Kong)

·  Underwent rapid state-led industrialization (1960-1985: grew at an average rate of greater than 8%)

·  Became a 1st world countries in 30 years

Neoclassical economics

·  Emphasis on role of free markets/free trade

·  Key to growth ® engaging in global economy

·  States should not protect/finance/promote industry (should be left to the market)

·  Poor countries should focus on producing cheap exports

·  NICs broke with neoclassical theories and ignored comparative advantage

The developmental state

·  Central to industrialization driven by state

·  Autonomous

·  Interventionist: intervenes in economy

·  Business-friendly: intervenes in economy to promote pro-business conditions

State autonomy

·  Ability to formulate & pursue goals independently of different groups in society

·  Cohesive (share a common ideology)

·  Highly professionalized (upper ranks occupied well-educated, skilled professionals ® more efficient, less corrupt)

Import-substituting industrialization (ISI) vs. Export Oriented Industrialization (EOI)

·  ISI: state-led industrialization, inward-oriented

o  Tariffs ® protect domestic industry (produce at home what was formerly imported to break dependence on West; didn’t compete in global market)

o  State owned/subsidized industries

o  Initially NICs used this method

·  EOI: exports become engine of economic growth

o  Lower trade barriers, open up investment, open to exports

o  After ISI, NICs used this method

Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) (Japan)

·  Example of autonomous state, particularly interventionist – guided Japanese industrial development

The Kuomintang (KMT) and Chiang Kai-Shek in Taiwan

·  KMT created by Chinese nationalists

·  Supported by US (anti-communist)

·  State-led industrialization

o  Owned banks, mining, textile industries

o  Shifted to heavy industries

o  In the 80’s 50% investment done by state; foreign investment heavily regulated

·  Chiang Kai-Shek ® president of KMT

Park Chung Hee in South Korea

·  1961 military coup; anti-corruption drive brought skilled labors into bureaucracy

·  State-led industrialization in early 60s

o  Controlled bank system

o  Created an economic board to oversee industrialization

o  Steered private sector into heavy industry

State Capacity:

·  Ability of the state to carry out its laws and regulations, and to maintain effective institutions

·  State capacity in Latin America is very low – it is difficult to collect taxes etc, so states were big but weak

·  State capacity in the East Asian NICs was relatively high

Import Subsidizing Industrialization (ISI):

·  Focused on domestic markets

·  Trade barriers applied universally, not strategically, so that companies never compete internationally

·  Used by Latin America as a path to economic development after WWII, and briefly by the East Asian NICs before they switched to export oriented industrialization (EOI)

The Washington Consensus:

·  Economic policy of the early 1990s designed as a path to development of economically backward countries

·  A limited state, with free trade and free markets

·  Opening up to foreign investment and returning to comparative advantage

·  Exports were the engines of growth

·  Based on classical economics

Augusto Pinochet:

·  Led a military coup in Chile in 1973 after the election of a Marxist president

·  Headed 16 years of military rule

·  Violently repressed unions, gave Chicago Boys a free hand to pursue their free market policies

·  Pinochet model has remained intact, Chile has grown steadily and is thriving compared with the rest of Latin America

The Chicago Boys:

·  Skilled technocrats during the Pinochet era in Chile

·  Insulated from public pressure

·  Implemented free market theories – opened up the economy, slashed wages and social spending, privatized healthcare, social security and education

·  Allowed many industries to go under and Chile to deindustrialize, but agricultural exports boomed

·  Poverty and inequality increased, but economy grew steadily

Week 4

Liberalism:

·  Ideology that champions the rights of individuals over states, society, religious authorities. Can help sustain democracy (rule by people)

·  Characteristics: 1) individualism – inalienable rights of individuals, no unchecked concentrated power to take away those rights 2) egalitarian – all citizens equal before the law 3) competition/choice – world as a market place, people have the right to choose governments/products which improves the quality of both

·  Weber links capitalism to emergence of liberalism / liberal values found in Protestant West. Culturists argue that democracy has its roots or even requires liberal ideology.

Lee Kwan Yew and "Asian Values"

·  Lee Kwan Yew: Singaporean premier through the 1990’s – benign dictator who uses “Asian values” to justify his rule for over 40 years.

·  “Asian values” based on Confucian thought = group>individual. Authority>liberty. Responsibility>rights. Harmony> competition.

·  Culturalists use both as examples of how as move away from liberal culture, more incompatibility with liberal democracy.

Cross-cutting cleavages

·  Seymour Lipset argues that “cross-cutting cleavages” coming with industrialization make identity more flexible and give people more in common. No single cleavage is permanent or predominant. Makes people less willing to fight/kill others, because they could by allies on the next issue.

·  Part of modernization theorists argument – industrialization creates environment for democracy.

Civil society

·  Organized citizen activity outside the state (ex. NRA, Green peace, Church-based groups)

·  Gives society organizational muscle to prevent abuse of power, and provide infrastructure for launching and sustain democracy movement.

·  Modernization theorists argue that economic development spurs civil society, that in turn makes democracy more likely.

The landed aristocracy

·  The elite class that relies on labor repressive agriculture rather than wage labor, and does not produce for the market.

·  Depends on a repressive state apparatus and deprivation of all basic rights of peasants, so fundamentally at odds with democracy.

·  Barrington Moore sees democratization as product of class conflict between landed aristocracy and bourgeoisie. Limitation in Moore’s ideas = today’s problem isn’t landed aristocracy but imbalance of power between the state and civil society.

Labor repressive agriculture

·  Peasants work because tied to land by tradition and if necessary by force, not because they entered a labor contract.

·  The landed aristocracy’s power rests in labor repressive agriculture. Bourgeois makes its profits under system of markets and wage labor, so it wants to end labor repressive agriculture.

Political pacts

·  Negotiating rules of the political “game” to give all players the incentive to keep playing even if they’re losing (a piece of power, assurance that their most vital interests will still be fulfilled), not to just kick over the game board.