Interests
what actors want to achieve through political action; their preferences among the possible outcomes that might result from their political choices
Actors
basic unit for the analysis of international politics; individuals, or groups of people with common interests.
State
a central authority that has the ability to make and enforce things in a specified territory
Sovereignty
the expectation that states have legal and political supremacy within their territorial boundaries.
Anarchy
the absence of central authority with the ability to make and enforce laws that bind all actors
National Interests
interests attributed to the state itself, usually security and power
Interactions
the ways in which the choices of two or more combine to produce political outcomes
Cooperation
an interaction in which two or more actors adopt policies that make at least one actor better off relative to the status quo without making others worse off
Bargaining
an interaction in which two or more actors must decide how to distribute something of value
Coordination
a type of cooperative interaction in which actors benefit from all making the same choices and subsequently have no incentive not to comply
Collaboration
a type of cooperative interaction in which actors gain from working together but nonetheless have incentives not to comply with any agreement
Public goods
products that are non excludable and non rival in consumption like clean air
Collective action problem
obstacles to cooperation that occur when actors have incentives to collaborate but each acts with the expectation that others will pay the costs of cooperation.
Free Ride
to fail to contribute to a public good while benefiting from the contributions of others
Iteration
repeated interactions with the same partners
Linkage
the linking of cooperation on one issue to interactions on a second issue
Power
the ability of actor A to get actor B to do something that B would otherwise not do; ability to make concessions happen and to not be the one to do it
Coercion
a strategy of imposing or threatening to impost cost on other actors in order to induce a change in their behavior
Outside Option
the alternative to bargaining with a specific actor
Agenda Setting
actions taken before or during bargaining that make the reversion outcome more favorable for one party
Institution
sets of rules that structure interactions in specific ways
