Concours IRIC Cameroon key terms
Concours IRIC Cameroon · Get comfortable with the vocabulary.
- Anarchy
In structural international-relations theory, the absence of one overarching central authority above states, not a claim that all interaction lacks rules.
- Balance of power
A theoretical description of how capabilities and responses to concentrations of power can shape international behavior under specified assumptions.
- Constructivism
An approach emphasizing how identities, norms and shared meanings can help constitute interests and behavior, rather than treating every preference as fixed.
- National interest
A concept used to describe state priorities within particular theoretical and policy arguments, whose meaning should not be assumed identical in every context.
- Treaty
An international agreement governed by international law under the relevant instrument and conditions, distinguished from every political announcement or private contract.
- Customary international law
A legal category involving relevant general practice accepted as law, requiring more than a repeated habit with no legal belief.
- Opinio juris
Acceptance of a practice as legally required or permitted in the relevant custom analysis, distinguished from convenience or courtesy alone.
- Subsidiary means
Material such as judicial decisions and qualified scholarship used to assist determination of legal rules, distinguished from the primary categories listed in the ICJ Statute.
- Jurisdiction
The legal authority of an institution to consider a matter under its actual basis and limits, not established merely by the seriousness of a dispute.
- Sovereignty
The authority and independence associated with a state within the relevant legal framework, which does not imply freedom from every international obligation.
- Agrement
The receiving state agreement to a proposed head of diplomatic mission, distinguished from an internal promotion or a consular exequatur.
- Exequatur
The receiving state authorization associated with the exercise of consular functions under the applicable framework, distinguished from diplomatic agrement.
- Diplomatic immunity
A protection applying to specified persons or acts under the governing conditions, which is not permission to assume every embassy-associated person has identical immunity.
- Comparative advantage
A lower opportunity cost of producing a good relative to another producer in the specified model, distinguished from greater absolute productivity.
- Opportunity cost
The value or quantity of the next relevant alternative forgone when resources are used for one choice rather than another.
- Terms of trade
The relationship between export and import prices under the stated index or model, distinguished from the volume of trade alone.
- Exchange-rate convention
The stated way one currency is quoted in terms of another, which must be identified before interpreting appreciation or depreciation.
- Balance of payments
A framework recording relevant transactions between residents and nonresidents over a period, with the actual accounting conventions preserved.
- Institutional mandate
The powers and responsibilities assigned to an organization by the relevant legal instruments, distinguished from an assumption that influence creates unlimited authority.
- Policy evaluation
Assessment of actual policy effects using a suitable question, evidence and method, distinguished from assuming that an intended objective proves a successful outcome.