Political Survival
This is the primary goal of most political leaders according to political survival theory
What is staying in power?
This term refers to everyone legally allowed to participate in selecting a leader.
What is the nominal selectorate?
These are political penalties leaders face if they make threats and then back down.
What are audience costs?
This theory suggests leaders may start external conflicts to distract from this.
What are domestic problems?
In the Diplomacy game, alliances are often temporary because players prioritize this.
What is survival or winning?
Political decisions are often shaped less by ideology and more by this need of leaders.
What is maintaining power?
This group actually influences who becomes the leader.
What is the real selectorate?
These regimes often face higher audience costs because leaders are accountable to voters.
What are democracies?
This effect describes increased national unity during an international conflict.
What is the rally effect?
Breaking an alliance in Diplomacy is similar to leaders abandoning commitments when this changes.
What are incentives?
This group must support a leader for them to remain in office.
What is the winning coalition?
This is the group whose continued support keeps a leader in power.
In authoritarian regimes, the key audience often includes this group rather than voters.
Who are political elites or military leaders?
Economic crises, protests, and scandals are examples of these pressures leaders may try to distract from.
What are domestic political pressures?
When players attack to improve their position, it mirrors this concept in international politics.
What is strategic behavior?
When leaders make policy decisions to satisfy key supporters rather than the general population, they are giving these types of goods.
What are private goods?
Systems with smaller winning coalitions tend to distribute this type of reward to supports.
What are private goods?
When leaders publicly threaten military action, this type of cost can increase if they fail to act.
What are audience costs?
Diversionary conflict attempts to shift public attention away from this.
What are internal political problems?
When a player attacks another to distract from their own weakness, it resembles this theory.
What is diversionary conflict?
This concept explains why leaders sometimes make risky international decisions to maintain domestic support.
What is Political survival logic?
Systems with large winning coalitions tend to rely more on these broad benefits.
What are public goods?
High audience costs can sometimes make this more likely during international crises.
What is escalation or conflict?
This theory connects international conflict to the leader’s need for this.
What is political survival?
The game demonstrates how actors pursue power and survival in a system with no central authority, similar to this concept.
What is international anarchy?