Midterm Exam
Politics 240
International Political Economy
Fall 1997

Please answer one of the following questions in a typed essay of no longer than 5-7 pages. This exam is open-book and open-discussion. Please be sure to cite all outside sources used, including discussions with your colleagues. The essay is due in class on 27 October.

The questions require that you take a position. Be sure to develop an argument with concrete examples and clear logic. Summaries of the lectures and class discussions are not an adequate response.

1.   Freidman argues that there is a close relationship between representative democracy and market capitalism What is that relationship? Is it a necessary relationship? Does Freidman’s argument exclude the possibility of a democratic socialism?

2.  The dependency critique of capitalism suggests that a policy of self-reliance is the only way for poor countries to break out of the cycle of poverty. Does the process of globalization increase or decrease the possibilities for self-reliant policies?

3.   Hegemonic stability theory suggests that the international system requires a single state to enforce and maintain the rules of the system. This proposition is based upon historical evidence. Has the international system changed so that a single state is no longer necessary to maintain its stability? What alternatives to a single state for system stability exist?

4.  Is globalization primarily a political, economic, or a cultural phenomenon? Are these distinctions  meaningful? Be sure to provide examples to illustrate the process of globalization.