The Dynamics of Power Politics

Power politics is one of the most enduring concepts in the theory and practice of international affairs. But for nearly a century, the study of power politics was virtually synonymous with realpolitik and realism. Most theories of power politics thus shared a suite of assumptions: the lack of a world government (anarchy) fundamentally distinguishes international from domestic politics; anarchy inevitably dooms international cooperation; states are the dominant actors; and military force is the primary tool of great-power competition. In The Dynamics of Power Politics, Stacie E. Goddard, Paul K. MacDonald, and Daniel H. Nexon present a comprehensive post-realist approach to studying power politics. They start with a simple observation: power politics concerns competitive collective mobilization. Participants seek to increase their ability to mobilize resources, but they also try to weaken the ability of others to do the same. Building on insights from the study of social relations and networks, the authors argue that all those who pursue influence--whether states, political movements, bureaucrats, or neighborhood associations--draw from the same basic menu of tactics. But this does not mean that power politics never changes. One source of variation: how participants combine those tactics with available capabilities, from nuclear weapons to marriage prospects, and how they arrange the resulting instruments within their evolving power-political repertoires.Goddard, MacDonald, and Nexon use their framework to examine the dynamics of colonial empires, trace the emergence of nuclear statecraft, and explore the antimonies of liberal order. They provide a roadmap for how other scholars can tell better stories about power-political episodes, understand how power politics changes across time and space, and forge a common research program. Ambitious, bold, and original, The Dynamics of Power Politics presents a unified theory of how political power is built, maintained, contested, and destroyed.