Detailed Outline on Theory
Thomas Chap 1:
Thomas Chap 7: Thomas argued that dissent mattered to bringing down communism but it was only possible with the other components of Gorbachev's
Section 3 of the course: Responsibilities of the Citizen
Thoreau: Just question the role of government. He is a bit ambiguous and is not an anarchist. Disparaging of his fellow citizens. He believes the minimal government is the best. Very emotional appeal. He believes the state/government is needed because the state of nature is not functional. Thoreau felt like prison showed him more contempt for the state (that it couldn’t stop his mind/heart);but also citizens don’t realize that the prison system destroyed freedom.
Role of citizen for thoreau: don’t just vote- it’s too mild. You must speak out and protest. Don’t pay taxes as a protest(thoreau was imprisoned for it. He’s contemptuous of how the totally dedicated is not treated well by his fellow man: but he calls people to do it anyway (go all in).
Purpose of the government: The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it.
Government illustrates: Governments show thus how successfully men can be imposed upon, even impose on themselves, for their own advantage.
When government is most expedient, the governed are most let alone by it.
All men recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable.(p.3)
Duty of submission to civil government resolves all civil obligation into expediency; and he proceeds to say that “so long as the interest of the whole society requires it, that it, so long as the established government cannot be resisted or changed without public inconvenience, it is the will of God… that the established government be obeyed-- and no longer. (p.3)
All voting is a sort of gaming, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it. I cast my vote, perchance, as i think right; but i am not vitally concerned that that right should prevail. I am willing to leave it to the majority. Its obligation, therefore, never exceeds that of expediency. (p.4)
It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even to most enormous, wrong; he may still properly have other concerns to engage him; but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and, if he gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically his support. (p.5)
Men, generally, under such a government as this, think that they ought to wait until they have persuaded the majority to alter unjust laws. They think, If they should resist, the remedy would be worse than the evil. But it is the fault of the government itself that the remedy is worse than the evil. (p.5)
I do not hesitate to say, that those who call themselves abolitionists should at once effectually withdraw their support, both in person and property, from the government of massachusetts, and not wait till they constitute a majority of one, before they suffer the right to prevail through them. (p.6)
The authority of government, even such as i am willing to submit to-- for i will cheerfully obey those who know and can do better than i, and in many things even those who neither know nor can do so well-- is still an impure one: to be strictly just, it must have the sanction and consent of the government. It can have no pure right over my person and property but what i concede to it. (p. 13)
Legislators harm business but out of good will sometimes. If judged solely on actions they would be punished.
Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it.
A majority are permitted to rule not because they are most likely to be in the right, not because this seems fairest to the minority, but because they are physically the strongest.
BUT a government in which the majority rule in all cases cannot be based on justice.
I think that we should be men first, and subject afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which i have a right to assume is to do at any time what i think right.
What responsibilities should citizens have? -
Compulsion- to educate(building the nation) and to tax(building the state). These are the most widely accepted roles the citizen must be vigilant in making sure they are paying taxes and being educated enough to participate in the democratic system.
Thoreau doesn’t pay taxes because he doesn’t support the state. Is that alright?
Implied consent- is it easy to leave a state? If not then is the consent really implied?
Must stand up for beliefs/moral responsibility, even in the face of the majority. (berlin doesn’t think anyone should be compelled to speak out).
Participation - voting? Protest through not voting, third party voting, write in votes, strategic voting,
Leisure as a need to protect society and community
Conscientious objector? Quakers and military service without picking up arms.
Jury duty- compliance with law for the good of the nation
Civic duty to obey law.
Good samaritan laws- to protect those from negative counter actions/suits when someone acts to save another.
Head of state- non partisan, person to represent all. Usually ceremonial
Head of government- takes a side; usually has real power
France: has both sides with power
To get a real indicator of taxes: Take all the local, state and fed take as a percentage of GDP.
Goodin: Logical foundations of this: General and specific duties based on morality.
General duties: duties to people because of their humanity.
Specific/special: towards people based on a class or direct relation.
There is a specific duty to those with handicaps- cover later p.665
To Whom to we owe special duties?
Are there any specific duties?what is the responsibility of society?
Recognition of humanity- adds legitimacy to their plight. What is the size of the circle to whom duties are due? Tiered system- paying taxes = specific duty to other citizens.
We treat non-citizens better in some cases: no conscription, no commandeering of goods, no taxes, etc.
He advocates for the assigned-responsibility model, not the mutual benefit society model.
He deems that the mutual benefit model is insufficient: it is not consistently symmetrical in its magnification (magnifier/multiplier is used to show logic of which is the better model). The model tries to explain the life, responsibilities arise when they are both attempting to do mutual benefit.
Goodin doesn’t think that citizenship should be exclusionary, we should care and work for the good of others too.
Resident aliens and disabled people are outliers and don’t fit in the model. (Pg. 677)
WE make exceptions to the mutual benefit model( but it is the normally accepted model). Resident aliens only get partial benefits, pay taxes but can’t vote and must obey laws; disabled people have a skewed cost-benefit relationships.
-Assigned Responsibility model- preferred. All duties are general but when assigned to entities it becomes a special duty. This is not a perfect world and not all people with assigned duties are going to fulfill them.
Ex. Drowning person and a crowd: well suited to task= responsibility (usually).
Pg. 679.
Special duties are not actual special. Who is assigning duties.
States- can’t assume other states will help them. But there are specially assigned duties of states to citizens, but these are contingent- general duties(international human rights) are the main point. It is not the moral duty of us over here because we don’t really have power.
For practical reasons, states must have special duties to help citizens.
Pg.684 Assume everyone has advocate or protector but when people don’t they must be protected. Ex.refugees (save for Nov. 3 when the refugee crisis is discussed in class). Ex. Palestinians - live between countries. Jordan has given citizenship, it’s one of the only countries that has.
Singer: Animal rights proponent- this is one of the most famous works.
If it is in our power to do something, we should. Especially if it doesn’t cause much disadvantage.
Should help both close and far. Distance should not matter.
It is very difficult to give money when giving money
Says it will be a p/231 at bottom - fundamental change of world. Radically different standard.
How many other people can help is not a reason not to help. P.232 One feels less guilty about doing nothing if others are doing nothing too.
Give til it hurts. Give up to the point of the equal suffering with those who you are trying to help. Singer posits that the world would be fundamentally changed.
Fundamental difference of World bank ⅕ people are living under $1.9:
His goal is to set the standard up higher to push people to move
Underlying assumptions- we make excuses for inactivity, and he is a idealist/ normative view of kantian universalist assumption that we all have a duty to each other for all people.
Kateb:
Conservatism- transcendence of self with something bigger, through patriotism, state is parent and people must support the state because it provides for stability and recognized beliefs. Values stability, traditional rulers/ policies must be supported. Loyalty is very important. Highest value is self-restraint in conservatism so it is an odd companion to patriotism. Very skeptical of grandiose ideas.
Postmodernism- kateb is harsh towards them as elite snobs, don’t believe in truth but don’t care that they propagate lies.
Modernist believes in truth especially through the scientific progress.
Postmodernism -always question objective truth and traditions- which struggles with the truths of natural sciences. Respect subjectivity, almost to the degree of appearing to support other identities.
More generous interpretation than Kateb= they support the beliefs of others even if they think it is ridiculous.
Definition of patriotism :loyalty to the state. Willingness to die and kill for one’s country which is imaginary, possibly falsified history (think anderson’s imagined community). One’s country is very loosely defined.
Nationalism- loyalty to the nation
Liberalism- very ideological
Dictatorship not so ideas driven, usually just about power and gain
Totalitarianism- ideas driven, social engineering social planning, Ex. Communist states, Nazi Germany. IRAN post 1979. This could fit into the definition of patriotism.
Abstraction is not worth fighting for but principles are worth fighting for.
Patriotism- varies to be good or bad, on a spectrum, motivating force.
Hook & Rumsey- outlines well the broad overview of the foreign aid regime
Regime persistence regime compliance and regime relevance
ODA- official development assistance
Not military aid
Intro section -pg 60
Patterns on donor compliance
(pg.62) U.S. is very low in giving, below average when compared. Americans are not as generous abroad- mostly domestic aid. One of the stingiest as a percentage of the economy.Can’t understand generosity without knowing what was available to give - ODA out of GNI. This should be an accepted form but when looking at the effects of aid - we have more impact because we give more money.
We do give the most in $ amount but it’s not the largest percentage of aid given.
US is very low consistently- around only .2% (or 1/500th) of new GNI(one of the best measures of the total size of the economy).
Untied aid has grown- (tied aid means it’s restricted- only aid by the donor country itself, vessels by the country; can’t buy from the closer markets, it’s much less efficient) countries are reducing the tying of aid. 85% of all aid is now untied (pg. 66)
Conditionality - can say aid is only offered when certain changes are made.
Grants versus loans- pg. 65 grants increasing.
Oda to LDC pg 64 - middle income countries are more likely to get aid bc they are more likely to benefit their donor nation. LDCs need to get above a minimum threshold in order to move out of poverty.
Thomas Weiss- vast sums of aid were no longer available with the end of the Cold War.
Increase in globalization compounded the fragility of these quasi-states. The deterritorialization of political, economic, and social space has eased the flow of arms across borders and facilitated cross-border illegal activity.
Neoliberal reforms have made borders more porous and have also diminished state capacity in many developing countries.
NATO requirements- 2% all countries should spend- most don’t do it. Is spending on development more generous than military aid?
Samantha Power- “A Problem from Hell” -explores myths about America being unusually generous or going to save more people. We aren’t worse than other people but we aren’t better.
Giving to UN development agencies- we lose control over the money and still help people - but we can’t control when and where it goes.
Mutual interest isn’t bad but don’t think it is a time for self-aggrandizement.
In general polls- people usually guess the federal government gives 20 times more than the actual aid given.
How is war changing?
Number of civilian casualties pg.69-70 has dramatically increased-
Huge factor is the non-state actors who are participating in war or violence, targeting factories for war effort, bombing infrastructure.
Non-state actors- don’t wear uniforms. Follow geneva conventions, use human shields.
Landmines, car bombs, also increase civilian casualties.
Four essential changes: borders are meaningless( undermine international law, sovereignty)
Provide incentives for war. Bribes, money for profit. War used to be understood as bad for the economy; but people in the economy can benefit- so they keep promoting the war.
Well fed dead
Pg. 76-77
Bellamy- states must protect people from genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
P.119 3 crimes, 2 levels and temporal phases
R2P can be more broad or more narrow- focuses on prevention and rebuilding after conflict
Humanitarian intervention- gotten a bad reputation as the rights of the large powerful countries to do what they want vs. R2P’s focus on responsibility and the rights and protection of citizens.
Syrian readings:
BBC was just an intro.
Laws and terms: 1951 (palestinian refugees are not part of UNHCR but are part of another group from 1948).
International law concerning
pg. 3 refugee definition “a person outside of his or her country (IDP in still in country- internally displaced person) unwilling or unable to go to home country because of a well founded fear of persecution(race, religion, nationality, and political opinion).”
Refugee vs. migrant. Refugee is forced to flee- but a migrant chooses to move.
Convention is form of treaty. Migrants are not protected.
Refugees need temporary protection-if the situation changes then host countries are not required to protect them.
Host country pg. 4 - non-refoulemont- cannot return refugees to where they will be harmed.Rights to work, housing, religious protection, education(free primary education), not to be punished for illegal entry(If crossing the border illegally you must declare that you want to apply for refugee status.), right to the courts, rights to public relief and assistance, freedom of movement, right to be issued travel and identity documents. This can be very expensive and difficult for countries to provide.
Numbers- Syria original population was 22 million. Half are displaced internally or externally.
Assad family part of aloite ethnic and religious minority( type of islam closely linked to Shia Islam) 12% of the religious population. 6.5 million internally displaced and 4.5 displaced externally.
250000 have died thus far in the Syrian Conflict
60million people are displaced in the world, including internally displaced. Nearly 20 million are refugees nearly 86% are in developing countries.
Pg 5&6 amount of aid - mid year report UNHCR, showing funding. Many countries take months to give money that countries pledged.
Wash- water, sanitation, and hygiene - pg.6-why is it so poorly funded.
Majority of refugees are not in refugee camps they are in other people’s homes, in relatives homes, homeless in urban areas. Lebanon doesn’t have a single Syrian refugee camp. In Jordan the camps are run by UNHCR. Turkey has the largest number of refugees in the world. Highest refugee burden per capita is Lebanon and Jordan. Turkey is one of the wealthiest one in the region so good education but language is a key issue because turkish is the main language in turkey but they don’t speak the language.
Pg. 41 only 9.5% of refugees in Turkey were in camps
College graduates- forget to take their diplomas and transcripts, bring educational documents. Syria had one of the most well educated populations.
Amnesty International on Refugees in Turkey-
The deal was the EU gave Turkey money but Turkey would try keep people in Turkey.
CRS Report on US refugee admissions and resettlements
Allocate different amounts of resources to different parts of the world
President sets the refugee ceiling (congress is only consulting)
Numerical limits are not necessarily in the spirit of the convention - because the convention wants people not to be turned back.
Young male, single Syrians are not getting in- the refugee processing/vetting is very intense.
UNHCR chose only 1% that distributes and chooses who comes to various countries. No one can choose to come to the U.S..
What makes a strong candidate for resettlement?
Security concerns, how much known about them.
Lind- Does international reconciliation require apology? Do apologies matter in international reconciliation? (should countries apologize? - that’s a normative question)
She’s asking whether apology does help (empirical). She’s not answering whether or not it should but she is answering what apology does.
Empirical studies do take sides analytically but they don’t take sides on moral issues
pg.8 . “coming to terms with the past is an unpredictable process”- it can antagonize relationships with other countries. Citizens might have backlash because of perception.
The apology with France and Germany have been touted as important but reconciliation was well underway before it.
Whereas South Korea and Japan are separated by water and have had very little in the way of apology.
Apology has much to do with proximity, culture, history,
She spent time making sure her study was solid and thoughtful.
Remembrance affects threat perception-
Pg. 4 plan of the book- their capabilities and intentions help people assess adversarial threats. The book is mostly about intentions- has the country gone through a process of remembrance to remove or put aside their intentions.
She has both quantitative evidence and qualitative evidence.
Apology vs. contrition: apology is the respect for the other, the contrition is the internal self reflection and remorse.
Huntington:
What political institutions are and why they matter
Institution vs. society:
Institutions are stable patterns of behavior;
Political institutions structure and order society.
The more complex the society, the more institutions:
Pg. 8 - they might not provide liberty but they do provide authority. And they rule.
Huntington believed in authority/order above liberty. He was conservative but he wanted a stronger government. Compared Lenin to James Madison because the focus on order.
Be careful of having too much social and economic development, its not true in huntington’s mind that it is good to have more participation in politics.
Definition on page 12 of political institutions- organizations and procedures that develop value and stability. Adaptability, complexity, autonomy and coherence are the four ways that political institutions develop.
Fukuyama-
The end of history- most famous essay
Doesn’t believe in Hobbes but believes that humans have a propensity to violence - pg 439.He’s not saying that humans are peaceful but that there is a political purpose to violence and states participate in violence. He believes that the ‘state of nature’ is wrong
He thinks the default mode of human beings is sociability - we need each other.
Human beings are more emotional than rational and conservatism is closely related to it- pg. 440.
442-445: ideas are important.people care about ideas.
Pg 450- huntington. How institutions are built and can be measured.
Pg448 - competition. Violence is a key issue, essential to breaking rigidity.
Decay: two main means- ridigity and patrimonialization pg. 453
pg456--.
Democracy is an incredible because it breaks the hegemony of patron client behavior. Requires principles and moral behavior.
The modern world= post french revolution
Chapter 30
Pg 462- geometric rate- fertility rates and economics. Pre modern was just the hope to survival
Pg 461- rate of productivity change
Pg.469- we need government: must pay people enough to be above bribes/ corruption.
Pg 470-stable property rights and contracts rights are necessary for growth
In america we don’t want to regulate the equality of outcomes but the equality of opportunities.\
How are our political institutions doing?-
UN-
Thooror Why to reform the security council? It would diminish the power of the P-5: it worries the main powers that there is a possible immediate threat or future threat.
