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Marxist approach to International Relations

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The Marxist approach to the study of international relational is unconventional, as it insists on the need for change, unlike the realist and liberals. It is not status-quoits and stands for radical change of the existing international/world order. Liberals and Realist theories hold that power is organized vertically, reflecting the division of the world into independent states, Marxism advances a theory of horizontal organization based on international class. Marxist agrees that the social world must be viewed and analyzed in totality. They insist that understanding one without knowledge of the other is not possible because the social world can only be studied as a whole. Another key element of the Marxist approach is the materialist conception of history. Economic development serves as the motor of history. The central dynamic that Marx identifies is tension between means of production and relations of production that together form the economic base of a given society. The legal,...
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Constructivist approach

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  After the Cold War, international relations discourse provided more diverse approaches to understand and analyze world politics. Constructivism theory is one of the models of the progressing emergence of international relations theory. According to constructivist approach, the behavior of humans is determined by their identity, which itself is shaped by society’s values,  history , practices, and institutions. Constructivists hold that all institutions, including the state, are socially constructed, in the sense that they reflect an “intersubjective consensus” of shared beliefs about political practice, acceptable social behavior, and  values . In much the same way, the individual members of the state or other unit continuously construct the reality about which policy decisions, including decisions about  war  and peace and conflict and cooperation, are made. While realism and liberalism concentrate on material factors like power or corporation, constructivist...
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Define political party. What purpose do political party serve in a democratic polity.(IGNOU/UPSC/STATE EXAMS)

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  Political parties are organized groups pf people with similar ideas or ideology about the function and scope of government, with shared policy goals that work together to elect individuals to office, to create and implement policies, to further an agenda, and to gain control of the government and the policy making process.  There are different types of party system. In Parliamentary democracy, parties formulate public opinion, select candidates and seek election to secure maximum number of seats in the Parliament, so that they are in a position to form their governments. The party that fails to secure majority of seats sit in the opposition and offer constructive criticism. Two-party system is best suited for the efficient working of Parliamentary democracy e.g. Britain In a multi-party system, no single party may secure a clear majority, but a number of parties enter into coalition to form the government. The voters have wider choice in the elections but it leads to frequen...
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"Poverty anywhere in the world is a danger to prosperity everywhere.' Comment (IGNOU/UPSC/STATE EXAMS)

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 Poverty is a state or condition in which a person or community lacks the financial resources and essential for a minimum standard of living. Each nation may have its own criteria for determining how many of its people are living in poverty. For certain class of economists 'poverty line' is a defining yardstick which differentiate population living below poverty line (BPL) and above poverty line (APL). However, there is no uniform method to measure poverty. Different parameters are practiced by researchers and institutions for measurement of poverty. Within the economic circle, the new concept of poverty has come up which considers poverty in terms of 'human capabilities' (those who experience the most severe hardship i.e. the most deprived. In a post-globalized world order, humanity rests on imbricated systems of trade, economy, the environment and a massive, ever-expanding flow of ideas. In such a scenario, poverty threatens the very foundations of this fragile world....
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What is community? Explain why and how community identities are constructed.(IGNOU/UPSC/STATE EXAMS)

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 A community is a social unit, where people come together to share common interests and resources.  Communities construct their identity around the objective factors such as territorial locations, a shared historical memory, shared traditions, common rituals and practices and a common language and a real or perceived common ancestry. People all over the world are becoming increasingly conscious of their communal identities, the reasons are:- COLONIALISM: The process of colonization, which began with industrial revolution, is a key factor that has led to the identity consciousness among the diverse communities and also to the inter-community conflicts. The policy of divide and rule, identifying the various ranked and unranked communities, different caste, communal and ethnic brigades were encouraged to maintain their external symbols. This whole process gave rise to identity consciousness. THE ROLE OF RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS: Religious movement involve themselves in the proc...
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Constitutionalism (IGNOU/ UPSC/ STATE EXAMS)

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 Constitutionalism means limited government or limitation on government. It is an antithesis of arbitrary powers.  Constitutionalism recognizes the need for government with powers but at the same time insists that limitation be placed on those powers.  CONSTITUTION AS A FRAMEWORK: The constitution of a country is the framework within which the state and the entire political system operate by determining the limits of power of the sovereign and the rights of the people. Setting up a constitution achieves two fundamental objectives; i) It separates the state and the civil society ii) It frees state authority from the whims of a ruler. STATE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: When the state controls the affairs of the civil society, the system is totalitarianism. In societies driven by communal and ethnic extremism, sometimes the state becomes subservient to sectional interest. Therefore neutrality  of the sate power is essential condition of its stability. For  instance the very ...
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Civil society and its importance (IGNOU/UPSC/STATE EXAMS)

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  Civil society is a form of societal self- organization that allows for cooperation with the state and at the same time enables the flourishing of individuation. According to World Bank, "Civil society refers to the wide array of organization, labor unions, professional organization and foundations.                  CIVIL SOCIETY-DEMOCRACY: Democracy and civil society are related to each other. A healthy liberal democracy needs the support of a public 'that is organized for democracy, socialized to its norms and values, and committed not just to its myriad narrow interests but to larger, common civic end.' Alexis de Tocqueville in his writing on American politics laid the foundation of democracy-civil society nexus thesis. He thought America's democracy was sustained by the richness and diversity of its voluntary associations. CIVIL SOCIETY-STATE: Civil society is significant for the production of a critical rational discourse which p...
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