John T. Rourke Mark A. Boyer World Politics: International Politics on the World Stage, Brief, Fourth Edition John T. Rourke Mark A. Boyer Copyright © 2002 by McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, a division of the McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved.

Thinking and Caring About World Politics Chapter 1 Thinking and Caring About World Politics

The Importance of Studying World Politics

World politics and your pocketbook: The effects of international trade on American jobs Jobs and trade--job gains and losses Foreign investment and international financial markets

The effects of international capital flow Investment capital International financial markets

Domestic versus defense spending Guns versus butter--some ambiguity in relationship Defense sector in the domestic economy

World Politics and Your Living Space Population increase and resource depletion Pollution and environmental destruction Global warming Health

World Politics and Your Life War Human extinction in nuclear war Rise in civilian casualties

Can We Make a Difference? Direct action within domestic society Voting Getting involved Issue-oriented groups Protesting Donating money

The World Tomorrow: Two Roads Diverge

Realism and Idealism: Some Travel Notes on Two Roads Laying out the basics Realism: The traditional path Idealism: The alternative path

Different approaches to political science Descriptive approach Predictive approach Prescriptive approach

The Nature of Politics

Realism Influence of Thomas Hobbes Influence of Hans Morgenthau Neorealism

Idealism Influence of Jean-Jacques Rousseau Neoidealism

The Roles of Power and Justice: Realism as an emphasis on power Power-based perspective--survival of the most powerful Inevitability of struggle between nations to secure national interests

Idealism as an emphasis on justice Based on cooperative and ethical standards

Prospects for Competition and Cooperation

Realist beliefs Place own country's interests first Practice balance-of-power politics Achieve peace through strength Do not waste power on peripheral issues

Idealist beliefs Power is not the essence of international relations Policy should be based on cooperative and ethical standards Power politics is futile and destructive Peace is achieved through cooperative relations Willingness to surrender some sovereignty to international structures promoting cooperation

Assessing Reality Comparing the ability of realism or idealism to explain world history Competition has dominated Realpolitik is the order of the day Clinton, China, and permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) Both realism and idealism influence current policy

How to Study World Politics

Political Scientists and World Politics

Why political scientists study world politics Prediction Description Prescription

How political scientists conduct research Deductive logic Traditional observation Quantitative analysis

Levels of Analysis System-level analysis State-level analysis Top-down approach--international system dominates State-level analysis Individual country characteristics determine country's behavior Individual-level analysis As humans, with idiosyncrasies As members of groups As a species