27th Annual Student Research Conference
Social Market Theory Applications in the Post USSR Era
Chase M. Barclay
Dr. Michael Rudy, Faculty Mentor
The Social Market Norms theory describes the link between economic conditions, institutions and conflict. Social Market theorists argue that countries that have governments that strongly enforce contracts are less likely to engage in violent conflict with one another. This pattern of violent conflict prevention, attributed to the trust and interdependence fostered between contract rich countries, is absent within other combinations of contract rich and contract poor. With the near constant turmoil in the short time since the USSRs disintegration, especially with regards to the intense privatization efforts that have occurred throughout the whole region, there is value in applying this theory to the region. In this paper, level of contract intensity is examined in the former Soviet countries to determine how the change in economic norms impacted relations between these countries. Quantitative analysis is used to examine Former Soviet countries from 1991 - 2012 to determine if economic norms played an important role in constraining conflict during a tumultuous time.
Keywords: USSR, Social Market, Economic Norms
Topic(s):Political Science
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 209-4
Location: VH 1010
Time: 10:15