College of Education

School of Continuing and Distance Education2014/2015 – 2016/2017

POLI 212

Introduction to International

Politics

Session 5-Theories of World Politics-Liberalism and Marxism

Lecturer: Dr. Bossman E. AsareContact Information: bossasare@gmail.com/beasare@ug.edu.gh

Session Overview

– Overview • Session 1 introduced students to some of the theories of

world politics.

• In this session, we will look at two other theories- liberalism and Marxism. We will spend a lot of time on liberalism and the various versions of liberalism.

• The versions of liberalism we will examine are neoliberalism, commercial liberalism and democratic peace theory.

Slide 2

Session Outline

The key topics to be covered in the session are as follows:

• Topic One: Liberalism

• Topic Two: Marxism

Slide 3

Reading List

• Read Chapter 2 of Bossman E. Asare, 2016. InternationalPolitics: The Beginner’s Guide- Updated and Expanded,Digibooks, Ghana,

• Chapter 2 of Charles W. Kegley Jr. and Shannon L. Blanton,2010. World Politics: Trend and Transformation, Wadsworth:Cengage Learning.

Slide 4

LIBERALISM Topic One

Slide 5

Liberalism

Liberalism paints a more optimistic picture about internationalpolitics. Liberalism has different meanings. In the United States andsome western European governments, liberalism is viewed from theideological perspective.

To describe somebody as a liberal in some of these countriessuggests that the person probably believes individuals should enjoyfreedoms such as abortion rights, right to be gays or lesbians, andgovernments should also intervene in the economy to help the poor.This is the direct opposite of conservatism, which advocates for thepromotion of traditional values and the private sector controlling theeconomy. Liberalism also means an economy controlled by the privatesector (capitalism).

However, in international politics; liberalism means that theapplication of morality or universal ethics and law can promoteinternational understanding and cooperation among countries in theglobal system.

Slide 6

Liberalism-philosophical and historical roots

• Liberalism has rich philosophical roots in the likes of Hugo Grotius (1583-1645), John Locke (1632-1704), Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), AdamSmith (1723-1790), David Ricardo (1772-1823), Immanuel Kant (1742-1804), and others.

• John Locke wrote the Second Treatise of Government in which he arguedthat human beings prefer governments that will promote their welfareand happiness in the society. Essentially, this government will recognizeand respect the inherent rights human beings possess, such as right to lifeand liberty, the pursuit of private property, equality under the law, andpolitical equality (Pease 2003). This limited government will then promotepolicies that will favor citizens and not only those in government.

• Locke further notes that in the state of nature human beings areessentially cooperative but that they engage in certain unacceptablebehaviors due to deficiency in the society (Pease 2003). Locke’s idea oflimited government and the cooperative nature of human beings havebeen interpreted by liberal scholars to mean that countries can cooperatewith one another in the international system.

Slide 7

Liberalism-philosophical and historical roots (Contd.)

• Adam Smith wrote An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of theWealth of Nations. In this influential work, Smith talks about humanbeings inclination to do business with other human beings.

• He argues that human beings are economic creatures and theywant to acquire property. Moreover, individuals have self-interestthat inspires them to do something that will ultimately lead topeace in their societies.

• In purely economic terms, Smith further notes that, the invisiblehand should be allowed to regulate the market, and that the role ofgovernment, just like Locke asserted, should be limited in thesociety.

• Liberals have noted that individuals who have a natural inclinationto trade among themselves will want to promote peacefulcoexistence among them.

Slide 8

Liberalism-philosophical and historical roots (Contd.)

• David Ricardo’s comparative advantage thesis also adds anotherdimension to liberalism. Comparative advantage means states shouldfocus on producing the goods they can produce at the lowest possible costand import from other states what they cannot produce at a low costcompared to other countries.

• This promotes international trade because states will export to otherstates and import what they do not produce locally from other states. Wesee the theory of comparative advantage at work in the world since wesee countries exporting what they produce to other countries andimporting certain goods from other countries.

• This has led to interdependence (countries depending on one another).For example, many sub-Saharan African countries export raw materials torich countries in exchange for what we are unable to produce in ourcountries.

Slide 9

Assumptions of Liberalism

• There are a number of assumptions that distinguish liberalism from other theories of international politics.

• The first central assumption is that both states and non-state actors are importantin the global system. International politics is fundamentally about the interactionsbetween states, nonetheless, liberals believe non-state actors such as individuals,business organizations, nonprofit organizations, and intergovernmentalorganizations are just as important as the states. For liberals, just as states do setthe global agenda, non-state actors can also set the global agenda.Intergovernmental organizations, for instance, have undertaken a number ofactivities that have shaped the world in profound ways.

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has promoted programs to reduce HIV/AIDSinfections in many parts of the world, as well as the reductions in polio cases andcigarette smoking.

• The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have been at the forefront of championingprograms to improve living standards worldwide. World Vision International (WVI),Oxfam, Action Aid, and Care International have undertaken several developmentalprograms in the developing world.

Slide 10

Assumptions of Liberalism (contd.)

• Liberals also assume that states are not necessarily rational actors. Thismeans at times states get it right or they are rational actors because theyachieve what they set out to achieve. And, at times, too, they end up notbeing rational actors in the sense that they do not accomplish what theyset out to achieve. This is a limitation of realism because realists say statesare rational actors. But liberals note that the fact that you have done thecost-benefit analysis does not imply that you are going to get the expectedresults. In the chapter on foreign policy, I will discuss some of thelimitations of rationality for us to appreciate fully the liberals’ position.

• Furthermore, liberals assume that states are not necessarily unitaryactors. They make the case that at times there are conflicting voices fromthe states. Not all the representatives of states are going to agree on allthe policy positions of the states. You can have a policy that is supportedby the president of a state but other senior cabinet persons maybeopposed to it. Liberals are saying states do not always speak with onevoice.

Slide 11

Assumptions of Liberalism (contd.)

• Besides, liberals assume that the international system is characterized byboth conflict and cooperation. Liberals do not rule out the power politicsand conflictual nature of the international system, yet they believe that inaddition to these, countries find ways to cooperate and team up withother countries on a number of issues that are important to them. Theformation of intergovernmental organizations by countries and tradebetween and among countries are ideal examples of cooperation.

• In addition, they assume that morality plays a major role in internationalrelations. Unlike realists who say states do not consider the moralimplications of their actions; liberals are of the view that states take intoconsideration the moral implications of their actions and inactions.Liberals are more likely to reconsider any decision to go to war that willend up killing innocent women and children for the sake of dominatingother countries. Essentially, for liberals in the international political arena,morality must guide the foreign policies of countries to guarantee apeaceful world.

Slide 12

Neoliberalism and Commercial liberalism

• Neoliberalism and commercial liberalism are versions of liberalism. Neoliberalism,also called liberal institutionalism, mainly argues that intergovernmentalorganizations promote cooperation, peace, and prosperity through the promotionof shared programs. Neoliberalism is all about intergovernmental organizations.

• More importantly, liberals of this tradition put forward that organizations like theUN, the IMF, the World Bank, and others are extremely important to thepromotion of cooperation among countries.

• The unit of analysis for neoliberals, therefore, is intergovernmental organizations.We see intergovernmental organizations playing important roles in peacekeeping,international security, poverty alleviation, and public health issues. Take forexample, the role of the WHO in helping developing countries particularly combata number of diseases.

• Moreover, commercial liberalism (market liberalism) emphasizes the importanceof the free movement of goods from one country to another without any majorimpediments. This promotes interdependence among countries because countriesdepend on one another for certain goods and services. This is especially promotedby the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Slide 13

Democratic peace theory

• Another version of liberalism is the democratic peace theory. Democraticpeace theory notes that democracies do not attack other democraciesthough they attack non-democracies. An example is that the United Statesis a democracy so she will not attack Britain, because Britain is also ademocracy. Democratic peace theory is sometimes called the liberalpeace.

• There are two versions of the democratic peace theory. These are themonadic and the dyadic peace theories.

• Monadic peace theory argues that a country that is democratic will neverattack any other country, whether the country is democratic or notdemocratic. This implies that a monadic democratic country has pacificrelations towards all countries.

• The dyadic version means two countries that are both democratic will notattack, or go to war against, each other. The dyadic is more consistent withthe democratic peace theory explained above in that two countries thatare democratic do not attack each other but they do attack countries thatare not democratic.

Slide 14

Democratic peace theory (contd.)

• The theory originated with Immanuel Kant’s Perpetual Peace in 1795. Kant notedthat what promotes peaceful coexistence between democracies is that they haverepublican constitutions and cosmopolitan law. Republican constitutions in Kantianterms are not different from today’s democratic process.

• The characteristics of republican constitutions are freedoms of the individuals inthe society (freedom of conscience, a free press and free speech, equality underthe law, the right to hold, and therefore to exchange property without fear ofarbitrary seizure, equality of opportunity in education, and right to health care andemployment), separation of powers, and representative government (Russett1993; Doyle 1996). Cosmopolitan law deals with the international agreementsbetween countries to promote trade and international cooperation (Russett 1993).

• Former US president Bill Clinton promoted democratization around the world afternoting in his state of the Union Address in 1994 that democracies do not fight eachother. More essentially, Clinton was making the case that it would be in the USinterest to have democracies around the world, because it would promoteinternational understanding and promote human rights even in countries thathave traditions of human rights abuse (Mansfield and Snyder 1995).

Slide 15

Why Democracies do not attack other Democracies?

• A number of reasons justify why democracies do not attackother democracies. One reason accounting for peace betweendemocracies is due to liberal ideas. Liberal ideas are thefreedoms and equality that liberal states believe all people areendowed with.

• Liberal states do not think only citizens of their countriesshould have the freedom to follow their preferences; ratherall people around the world should also be allowed to followtheir preferences. Thus, if all people are entitled to thesefreedoms it will promote harmony between people andcountries.

• More specifically, if two countries share these ideas offreedom they will consider themselves as one people andthere will be no need for them to fight each other.

Slide 16

Why Democracies do not attack other Democracies?(contd.)

• Another important reason explaining the absence of warbetween democracies is the presence of checks and balancesin democracies. Democracies have checks and balances thatprevent one single person or group of persons fromunilaterally taking a decision to go to war.

• In many democracies, major decisions, such as decision to goto war, can only be made by the legislature.

• This means presidents and prime ministers are constrained intheir decision making by other institutions such as the courtsand the legislature.

• In essence, political institutions in democratic countries makeit very difficult for them to wage war against other states, andnearly impossible against other democratic states.

Slide 17

Why Democracies do not attack other Democracies? (contd.)

• Moreover, democracies in the world promote free trade amongthemselves so that each country can benefit from the innovationsof other countries. Here, the issue is that countries would not wantto attack their trading partners, because they believe that by virtueof their commitment to commercial liberalism, they are supposedto allow free movement of goods and services between them. Thiscan only be done when there are peaceful relations between thecountries involved.

• Membership of intergovernmental organizations also promotespeaceful relations among democracies. Intergovernmentalorganizations usually have certain core principles they wantmember states to comply with, and democracies know that it is intheir interest to respect the principles of these organizations toensure peace in the world. Some of these principles are thatcountries should not attack other member countries.

Slide 18

Why Democracies do not attack other Democracies? (contd.)

• Besides, in a democracy the public pays for the cost of war in termsof the money spent and human life. Because power belongs to thepeople in a democracy, any decision to go to war would have to besupported by the people through their elected representatives inthe legislature and public opinion polls. Citizens know that citizensof other democratic countries want to be free just like them so theyput pressure on their leaders to avoid fighting countries who sharesimilar goals in the area of human rights for all irrespective of race,ethnicity, national orientation, gender, and sexual orientation.

• Finally, democratic countries share certain norms which preventthem from fighting each other. Specifically they believe that theyshould be able to sit down on the discussion table to engage innegotiations whenever there is any misunderstanding, rather thanusing weapons to settle their differences.

Slide 19

Sample questions

• What role did John Locke play in the emergence of liberalism?

• What are the assumptions of liberalism?

• Distinguish between neoliberalism and commercial liberalism.

• Give four reasons explaining the peace between democratic countries.

Slide 20

MARXISM Topic Two

Slide 21

Marxism

• As a theory in international relations Marxism emphasizes therelevance of class conflicts in understanding the interactions betweencountries in the international system.

• Marxism originated with Karl Marx (1818-1883) who saw thepervasiveness of class conflicts in his era. According to Karl Marx, in asociety you have the bourgeoisie and the proletariat classes.

• The bourgeoisies are the owners of the factors of production (land,mines, etc) or the capitalists’ class.

• The proletariats are the working class or the people who work in thefactories of the bourgeoisies. Marx has noted that the bourgeoisiesexploit the proletariat because the proletariat would work for manyhours in exchange for a portion of what they produce.

• This exploitation, according to Karl Marx, would lead to class conflictsthat eventually define societies.

Slide 22

Marxism (Contd.)

• Scholars of this tradition (Marxism) have extendedKarl Marx’s observations to the international systemby noting that there exists division and exploitationbetween capitalists’ global north countries and poorglobal south countries.

• These scholars or Marxists have noted that thecapitalists global north, also called the corecountries, are few and they exploit the poor globalsouth countries, also called periphery countries,which make up a large group of people and countriesin the world.

Slide 23

Sample questions

• What is Marxism in international relations?

• How practical is Marxism in the international system?

Slide 24

Conclusion of Session Five

• The session has introduced you to the other theories that shape the actions of countries in the global system.

• Now you should be in a position to look at how these theories influence the actions of Ghana and other countries in their relations with others.

Slide 25

References

• Bossman E. Asare, 2016. International Politics: The Beginner’s Guide-Updated and Expanded, Digibooks, Ghana.

• Charles W. Kegley Jr. and Shannon L. Blanton, 2010. World Politics: Trend and Transformation, Wadsworth: Cengage Learning.

• Mansfield, Edward and Jack Snyder (1995) Democratization and the Danger of War, International Security, 20 (1):5-38.

• Pease, Kelly-Kate (2003) International Organizations: Perspectives on Governance in the 21st Century (2nd edition), Prentice Hall: New Jersey.

• Russet, Bruce (1993) Grasping the Democratic Peace. Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ.

Slide 26