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Comparative Government > Basics > Flashcards

Basics Flashcards

1
Q

authoritarian regime

A

Ruled by political elites, not much input from citizens. May be monarchy, dictator, small group, or single party.

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2
Q

bicameral, unicameral legislatures

A

Bicameral = two houses, unicameral = one house.

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3
Q

bureaucratic authoritarian regimes

A

Complete control of activities, manage almost everything in country

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4
Q

bureaucracy

A

Agencies that generally implement gov’t policy.
● Discretionary power, or power to make small decisions in implementing legis/execu decisions.

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5
Q

cabinet coalition

A

Country that has multi-party system with no majority party, several parties join forces and represented in different cabinet posts.

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6
Q

causation

A

The idea that one variable causes or influences another

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7
Q

checks and balances

A

Powers are shared and no branch dominates.

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8
Q

civil society

A

● Voluntary organizations that help citizens organize and define themselves and interests. coinciding/crosscutting cleavages
● Coinciding – likely to be explosive, every dispute aligns same groups against each other.
● Crosscutting – divide society into many political groups, may conflict on one issue but cooperate on another

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9
Q

command economies

A

Government owns almost all industrial enterprises and retail sales outlets.

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10
Q

common law/code law

A

● Common law – based on tradition, past practices, legal precedents set by courts through past rulings
● Code law – based on comprehensive system of written rules (codes) of law divided into commercial, civil, and
criminal codes.

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11
Q

communism

A

● Party controls everything from government to economy to social life.
● Values equality over freedom.

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12
Q

competitive elections

A

Regular, free, fair elections that offer real possibility that incumbent may be defeated

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13
Q

confederal system

A

Spreads power among many subunits and weak central gov’t. conflictual political culture
● Sharply divided on legitimacy of regime and solutions to major problems; threatens to topple regime.

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14
Q

consensual political culture

A

● Accepts both legitimacy of regime and solutions to major problems; tends to agree with gov’t conservatism
● Less supportive of change in general, thinks change may bring unforeseen outcomes
● See state and regime as important sources of order

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15
Q

constitutional courts

A

Serve to defend democratic principles of a country against infringement.

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16
Q

co-optation

A

The means a regime uses to get support from citizens.

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17
Q

corporatism

A

An arrangement in which gov’t officials interact with ppl/groups outside of gov’t before they set policy.

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18
Q

correlation

A

● An indication that causality may be present
● Exists when change in one variable coincides with change in another.

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19
Q

cosmopolitanism

A

● A universal political order that draws its identity and values from everywhere.
coup d’etat
● Forced takeover of government. New leaders by force.

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20
Q

democratic consolidation

A

● Authoritarian regime transitions into a democracy because of a trigger event.
● Process creates a stable political system that is supported by all parts of society
● All institutions and people participate, democracy penetrates everything

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21
Q

democratic corporatism

A

● Interest representation is institutionalized through recognition of state
● Organizations develop institutionalized and legally binding links with state agencies, on behalf of state.

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22
Q

direct democracy

A

Individuals have immediate say over many decisions that gov’t makes.

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23
Q

economic liberalization

A

Limiting power of the state over private property and market forces.

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24
Q

electoral systems

A

Rules that decide how votes are cast, counted, and translated into seats in a legislature.

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25
Q

elites

A

Those that hold political power

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26
Q

empirical data

A

Factual statements and statistics

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27
Q

Fascism

A

● Does not value freedom or equality, idea that state has the right to mold society and economy
● Has the right to eliminate obstacles, people that might weaken them

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28
Q

federal system

A

Divides power between central gov’t and subunits.

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29
Q

first-past-the-post (plurality, winner-take-all)

A

Winner needs to get more votes than anyone else and wins by plurality.

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30
Q

fragmentation

A

Divisions based on ethnic or cultural identities.

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31
Q

Freedom House ratings

A

Organization that ranks countries with 1 being most free, and 7 being least free.

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32
Q

Gini Index

A

Formula that measures economic inequality in a society.

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33
Q

globalization

A

Integration of social, environmental, economic, and cultural activities of nations resulting from more
international contacts

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34
Q

GDP, GNP, GNP per capita

A

● Gross Domestic Product – all the goods and services produced by a country’s economy in a given year
● Gross Nation Product – same as GDP, but includes income citizens earned outside of country.
● GNP per capita – divides GNP by population of country

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35
Q

government

A

Reference to the leadership and institutions that make policy decisions for the country.

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36
Q

head of government

A

Role that deals with tasks of running gov’t.

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37
Q

head of state

A

Role that symbolizes the power and nature of gov’t

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38
Q

hypothesis

A

A speculative statement about the relationship between two or more factors (variables)

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39
Q

illiberal democracies

A

Competitive elections, but missing parts of the liberal democracies (civil liberties, etc.)

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40
Q

informal politics

A

Takes into consideration the ways that politicians operate outside of formal powers and the impact of citizens on policy making

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41
Q

initiative

A

Vote on a policy that is initiated by the people. Proposes a nationwide vote and must collect certain # of sigs.

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42
Q

institutions, institutionalized

A

Stable, long lasting organizations that help turn political ideas into policy. (parties, bureaucracies)

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43
Q

Integration

A

More inclusive of everything

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44
Q

interest group pluralism

A

Pattern of autonomous groups competing with each other and gov’t for influence over state policies

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45
Q

judicial review

A

Mechanism that allows courts to review laws and executive actions for their constitutionality.

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46
Q

legitimacy (traditional, charismatic, rational-legal)

A

● Right to rule
● Traditional – tradition determines who should rule; heritage, myths, legends, descendants
● Charismatic – dynamic personality of leader, usually is short-lived as it stops when leader dies.
● Rational-legal – institutionalized, based on a system of well-established laws and procedures.

47
Q

liberal democracies

A

● Civil liberties – freedom of belief, speech, and assembly
● Rule of Law – equal treatment of citizens and due process
● Neutrality of the judiciary – checks on abuse of power
● Open Civil Society – citizens lead private lives and mass media operate independently from gov’t
● Civilian control of military – lowers chance of military seizing control of gov’t.

48
Q

liberalism as a political ideology

A

Places emphasis on individual political and economic freedom.

49
Q

liberalism as an approach to economic and political change

A

Supports reform and gradual change rather than revolution; belief that polit/econ system can be fixed.

50
Q

linkage institutions

A

Groups that connect gov’t to citizens (political parties, interest groups, print and electronic media)

51
Q

market economies

A

● Pure, does not allow for significant control from the central government.
● Private ownership of property, little interference from gov’t regulation

52
Q

marketization

A

State’s recreation of a market in which property, labor, goods and services can all function in a competitive
environment to determine their value.

53
Q

military rule

A

Nondemocratic rule, military intervenes in politics to solve problems.

54
Q

mixed economies

A

Market economy that allows significant control from gov’t

55
Q

mixed electoral system

A

A mix of first-past-the-post and proportional representation.

56
Q

multi-member districts, single-member districts

A

Multi- for proportional rep, single – first past the post.

57
Q

multi-party system

A

Usually arises in parliamentary systems that use proportional rep method.

58
Q

nation

A

A group of people bound together by a common political identity.

59
Q

Nationalism

A

The sense of belonging and identity that distinguishes one nation from the next.

60
Q

normative questions

A

Value judgments, ie what something should be like

61
Q

parliamentary system

A

● Citizens vote for legislative reps, who then select leaders of executive branch.
● Parliamentary sovereignty
● Theoretically, legislature makes laws, etc, but actually, cabinet makes policy
● Two branches of gov’t fused, legislature usually agrees with executive

62
Q

party system

A

● Help bring together people and ideas to establish the means by which maj can rule.
● Provide labels for candidates that help citizens decide how to vote
● Hold politicians accountable to the electorate and other political elites

63
Q

patronage

A

Political supporters received jobs for their assistance in getting president elected

64
Q

patron-client system

A

Provides reciprocal favors and services to their supporters

65
Q

plebiscite

A

A ballot to consult public opinion in a nonbinding way

66
Q

pluralism

A

● Power is split among many groups that compete for the chance to influence gov’t decision making.
● Democratic – interest group formation is spontaneous, dialogue between interest groups and states is
voluntary.

67
Q

political culture

A

Collection of political beliefs, values, practices, and institutions that the gov’t is based on

68
Q

political efficacy

A

Citizen’s capacity to understand and influence political events. High level = belief that gov’t takes input seriously and care about what they have to say, low level = do not believe it is important to vote, ignore gov’t efforts.

69
Q

political elites

A

Leaders who have disproportionate share of policy making power.
political frameworks/institutions

70
Q

political elites

A

Leaders who have disproportionate share of policy making power.

71
Q

political frameworks/institutions

A

Structures of a political system that carry out the work of governing

72
Q

political ideologies

A

Sets of political values held by individuals regarding the basic goals of gov’t and politics.

73
Q

political liberalization

A

State that progresses from procedural democracy to substantive democracy through democratic consolidation

74
Q

political socialization

A

How citizens learn about politics, their view of politics

75
Q

politicization of religion

A

Religion starts to play a role in politics

76
Q

PPP (purchasing power parity)

A

Takes into consideration what people can buy using their income in local economy (uses GNP)

77
Q

presidential system

A

● Citizens vote for legislatives reps and executive branch leaders; two branches have separation of power.
● Both state and government role given to one person, president, directly elected by the people.

78
Q

privatization

A

The transfer of state-owned property to private ownership

79
Q

procedural democracy

A

Refer to illiberal democracies

80
Q

proportional representation

A

Multimember districts in which more than one legislative seat is contested in each district. Votes are casted for
a party and % of votes receives determines number of seats they get

81
Q

radicalism

A

Belief that rapid dramatic changes need to be made in existing society, including political system

82
Q

reactionary belief

A

Protect against change, want to turn back the clock to older times, use violence

83
Q

recruitment of elites

A

Ways to identify and select people for future leadership positions.

84
Q

referendum

A

A national ballot called by gov’t on a policy issue; allows public to make direct decisions about policy itself.

85
Q

reform

A

Change that does not advocate overthrow of basic institutions; changes methods to reach goals

86
Q

regime

A

The rules that a state sets and follows in exerting its power

87
Q

revolution

A

Change at a basic level, major revision or overthrow to existing institutions. Affects larger area

88
Q

revolution of rising expectations

A

Crisis preceded by a period of relative improvement in the standard of living fuels discontent

89
Q

rule of law

A

Provides for equal treatment of citizens and due process

90
Q

Samuel Huntington’s “clash of civilizations”

A

Primary source of conflict on religious and cultural lines

91
Q

semi-presidential system

A

● Prime minister coexists with a president who is directly elected by people with lots of power

92
Q

separation of powers

A

Powers split among branches, they check each other.

93
Q

social boundaries

A

Separation of people based on social cleavages

94
Q

social capital

A

The amount of reciprocity and trust that exist among citizens between them and state.

95
Q

social cleavages

A

Divisions that impact policy making (religion, ethnic groups, races, social and economic classes)

96
Q

social movements

A

Organized collective activities that aim to bring about or resist fundamental change to society

97
Q

socialism

A

Values equality and freedom, accept promote private ownership w/strong state regulations.

98
Q

societal corporatism (neo-corporatism)

A

Interest groups take the lead and dominate the state

99
Q

sovereignty

A

The ability to carry out actions or policies within borders independently from interference from outside or inside

100
Q

state

A

The organization that maintains a monopoly of violence over a territory.

101
Q

state corporatism

A

State determines which groups are brought in.

102
Q

subject activities

A

Obeying laws, following military orders, paying taxes

103
Q

substantive democracy

A

Citizens have access to multiple sources of info

104
Q

succession

A

Process that determines procedure for replacing leaders when they resign, die or no longer effective.

105
Q

technocrats

A

● Military regime formed ruling coalition that includes military officers and civilian bureaucrats. “third wave” of democratization
● First wave gradually over time, second wave after WWII, third wave characterized by defeat of dictators. ● Factors
○ Loss of legitimacy by both right and left wing authoritarian regimes
○ Expansion of an urban middle class in developing countries
○ New emphasis on human rights by US and EU
○ Snowball effect

106
Q

third world

A

Economically underdeveloped and deprived nations

107
Q

three-world approach

A

● United States and allies
● Soviet Union and allies
● Third world nations

108
Q

totalitarianism

A

Repressive, detested regime; has strong ideological goal, does not necessarily use violence

109
Q

transmission belt”

A

Convey to members views of party elite.

110
Q

transparency

A

Government that operates openly and keeps citizens informed.

111
Q

two-party system

A

More common in plurality election systems, first past the post.

112
Q

tyranny of the majority

A

Tendency in democracies to allow majorities to neglect rights and liberties of minorities

113
Q

unitary systems

A

Concentrates all policymaking powers in one central geographic place.

114
Q

advanced democracies

A

Well established democratic governments and a high level of economic development

Comparative Government (5 decks)

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