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Ch.3 AP GOV. A constitutional agreement in which power is distributed between a central government and states, which are sometimes called provinces in other nations. The national and states exercise direct authority over individuals.
- Overview
- Coercion in political theory
- Coercion in the study of international relations
coercion, threat or use of punitive measures against states, groups, or individuals in order to force them to undertake or desist from specified actions.
In addition to the threat of or limited use of force (or both), coercion may entail economic sanctions, psychological pressures, and social ostracism. The concept of coercion should be distinguished from persuasion, which entails getting another party to follow a particular course of action or behaviour by appealing to the party’s reason and interests, as opposed to threatening or implying punitive measures.
The use or threat of coercion has been central to international relations and domestic politics. This was again highlighted in the premodern political theories of Niccolò Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes, in his Leviathan, famously portrayed the state as the “mortal god” whose coercive capacities instilled awe and obedience, leading in turn to...
In addition, the concept of coercion has been central to the postwar studies on deterrence, crisis management, and statecraft in the political science subfield of international relations. However, international relations theorists have not used the concept of coercion in a consistent and well-defined manner, leading to unfortunate confusion and contradiction in the literature. Pioneering work on the use of coercion in strategies of conflict was done by the American economist and Nobel Prize laureate Thomas Schelling. Schelling coined the term compellance to define the coercive threat or use of power in order to get an adversary to change its behaviour. Here the attempt to coerce or compel an adversary involves a bargaining and signaling process whereby, it is hoped, the adversary can be convinced that the cost of compliance is less onerous than that of defiance. Coercion is different from the use of brute force to completely defeat an adversary, because it aims to modify the behaviour of an opponent, ideally through threats and, at most, the limited and demonstrative use of force. Schelling further drew a clear distinction between the coercive use of compellance and that of deterrence. The strategy of deterrence seeks to maintain a particular status quo and mode of behaviour on the part of a potential adversary, rather than seeking its modification.
Alexander George built upon Schelling’s work in developing his concept of coercive diplomacy. However, his work evinces some of the prevailing contradictory and confusing uses of the terms coercion, persuasion, compellance, and deterrence. George insisted that coercive diplomacy is a defensive and deterrent strategy distinct from Schelling’s notion of compellance. This is because, in his use of the term, it does not entail offensive “blackmail strategies” designed to get an adversary to give up something of value. Rather, the use of coercive diplomacy is a defensive strategy to deter encroachments on the status quo. However, this definition begs the question of perception and how what one party may view as a defensive preservation of the status quo may be viewed by another as aggressive and aggrandizing behaviour.
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Jul 23, 2022 · Coercive federalism is a period of American federalism that began in the late 1960's. It is characterized by substantial growth in the power of the federal government relative to the states and by the ability of the federal government to override state powers and impose policies on the states.
Coercive federalism refers to a form of federalism where the national government exerts pressure on state governments to adopt certain policies or practices, often through the use of mandates and conditions attached to federal funding.
Article VI, three items are listed: the constitution, laws of the national government and treaties (advocates of federal rights) Tenth Amendment states that the national government has only those powers specifically assigned by the constitution (advocates of states rights)
Mar 1, 2022 · This basic overview should serve you well as you prepare for the AP® US Government & Politics exam. Remember, though—this is just an outline. You’ll want lots of specific examples of cooperative federalism in the event you’re asked to answer a federalism-based free-response question .
Government authority includes the power to have the final say over when the use of force is acceptable, and governments seek to exercise their authority with legitimacy. This is a complex definition, so this section unpacks its elements one by one.
