Chapter 1 Flashcards
Cold war
the hostile relations that prevailed between the United States and the Soviet Union from the late 1940’s until the demise of the USSR in 1991
Critical Juncture
An important historical moment when political actors make critical choices, which shape institutions and future outcomes
Collective Identities
The groups with which people identify, including gender, class, race, region, and religion, and which are the “building blocks” for social and political aciton
Comparative Politics
The field within political science that focuses on domestic politics and analyzes patterns of similarity and difference
Globalization
The intensification of worldwide interconnectedness associated with the increased speed and magnitude of cross-border flows of trade, ivestment and finance, and processes of migration, cultural diffusion, and communication
Comparativist
a political scientist who studies the similarities and differences in the domestic politics of various countries
World Bank
The world bank procides low-interest loans, no-interest credit, policy advice, and technical assistance to developing countries with the goal of reducing poverty. It is made up of more that 180 nations. All members have voting rights within the Bank, but these are weighted according to the size of each country’s financial contribution to the organization
HUman Development Index
A composite number used by the United Nations to measure and compar levels of achievment in health, knowledge, and standard of living. HDI is based on the following indications: life expectancy, adult literacy rate and school enrollment statistics, and gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity.
Global gender gap
a measure of the extent to which women in 58 countries have achieved equality with men.
Environmental Performance Index
A measure of how close countries come to meetig specific benchmarks for natoonal pollution and control and natural resource management
Corruption Perceptions Index
A measure developed by Transparency International that ranks countris in terms of the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians
Freedom in the World Rating
AN annual evaluation by Freedom House of the state of freedom in countries around the world measured according to political rights and civil liberties
Keynesianism
Named after the British economist John Mayard Keynes, an approach to economc policy in which state economic policies are used to regulate the economy in an attempt to achieve stable economic growth. During recession, stated budget deficits are used to expand demand in an effort to boost both consumption and investment, and to create employment. During periods of hight growth when inflation threatens, cuts in government spending and a tightening of credit are used to reduce demand.
Neoliberalism
A term used to describe govenrment policies aiming to promote free competition among business firms within the market, including reduced governmental regulation and social spending.
Country
A territorial unit controlled by a single state
State
TH emost powerful political institutions in a country, including the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, the police, and armed forces.
Executive
The agencies of government that implement or execute policy
Cabinet
The body of officials who direct executive departments presided over the the chief executive
Burreaucracy
An organization structued hierarchically, in which lower-level officials are charged with administering regulations codified in rules that specify impersonal, objective guidelines for making decisions.
Legislature
One of the primary political institutions in a country, in which elected members are charged with responsibility for making laws and usually providing for the financial resources for the state to carry out its functions.
Judiciary
One of the primary political institutions in a country; responsible for the administration of justice and in some countries for determining the constitutionality of state decisions.
Legitimacy
A belief by powerful groups and the broad citizenry that a state exercises rightful authority. In the contemporary World, a state is said to posses legitimacy when it enjoys consent of the governed, which usually involves democratic procedures and the attempt to achieve a satisfactory level of development and equitable distribution of resources.
state of formation
The historical development of a state, often marked by major stages, key events, or turning points (critical junctures) that influence the contemporary character of the state.
Nation-State
Distinct, politically defined territory in which the state and national identity coincide.
Casual Theories
An influential approach in the comparative politics that involves trying to explain why “if X happens, then Y is the result”
Independent variable
The variabel symbolized by Y that the analyst wants to explain
Dependent Variable
The variable symbolized by the x that is believed to influence the outcome or result.
Rational choice theory
An approach to analyzing political decision-making and behavior that assumes that individual acts rationally pursuer their aims in an effort to achieve the most pot ice net result The theory presupposes equilibrium and unitary actors. Rational choice is often associated with the pursuit of selfish goals, but the theory permits a wide range of motivations, including altruism.
Middle-level theory
seeks to explain phenomena in a limited range of cases, in particular, a specific set of countries with particular characteristics, such as parliamentary regimes, or a particular type of political institution (such as poltical parties) or activity (such as protest).
Dictatorships
A form of government in which power and political control are concentrated in one or a few rules who have concentrated and nearly absolute power
Democratic transition
The process of a state moving from an authoritarian to a democratic political system
Institutional design
The institutional arrangements that define the relationships between executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government and between the central governmen tand sub-central units such at the states within the US
failed states
states in which the government no longer functions effectively
Anarchy
The absence of any form of political authority or effective rule
World Trade Organization
A global international organization that oversees the “rules of trade” among its member states. The main function of the WTO are to serve as a forum for its mebers to negotiate new agreements and resolve trade disputes. Its fundamental purposed is to lower or remove barriers to free trade.
International Monetary Fund
The “sister organization” of the World Bank and also has more than 180 member states. It describes its mandate as “working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty.” It had been particularly active in helping countries that are experiencing serious financial problems. In exchange for IMF financial or technical assistance, a country must agree to a certain set of conditions that promote economic liberalization.
North American Free Trade Agreement
A treaty between the United States, Mexico and Canada implements on January 1, 1994 that largely eliminated trade barriers among the three nations and establishes procedures to resolve trade disputes.
Political Economy
The study of interaction betwene the state and the economy, that is, how the state and poltical processes affect the economy and how theorganizations of the conomy and strategic choices made by the government and state actors affect political processes
sustainable development
An approach to promoting economic growth that seeks to minimize environmental degradation and depletion of natural resources.
communist party-state
A type of nation-state in which the communist party attempts to exercise a complete monopoly on political power and controls all important state institutions.
democracy
From the Greek demos (the people) and kratos (rule). A political system that features the following: selection to important public offices through free and fair elections; the right of all adults to vote; political parties that are free to compete in elections; government that operates by fair and relatively open procedures; political rights and civil liberties; an independent judiciary (court system); civilian control of the military.
gross domestic product (GDP)
The total of all goods and services produced within a country that is used as a broad measure of the size of its economy.
gross national product (GNP)
GDP plus income earned by the country’s residents; another broad measure of the size of an economy.
Human Development Index (HDI)
A composite number used by the United Nations to measure and compare levels of achievement in health, knowledge, and standard of living. HDI is based on the following indicators: life expectancy, adult literacy rate and school enrollment statistics, and gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity.
social movements
Large-scale grass-roots action that demands reforms of existing social practices and government policies.
social class
A group whose members share common world views and aspirations determined largely by occupation, income, and wealth.
distributional politics
The use of power, particularly by the state, to allocate some kind of valued resource among competing groups.
Typology
A method of classifying by using criteria that divide a group of cases into smaller cases with common characteristics.
Third World
refers to countries with a low or relatively low level of economic development, particularly as measured by gross national income or gross domestic product per capita.
consolidated democracies
Democratic political systems that have been solidly and stably established for an ample period of time and in which there is relatively consistent adherence to the core democratic principles.
transitional democracies
Countries that have moved from an authoritarian government to a democratic one.
authoritarian regime
A system of rule in which power depends not on popular legitimacy but on the coercive force of the political authorities. Hence, there are few personal and group freedoms. It is also characterized by near absolute power in the executive branch and few, if any, legislative and judicial controls.
hegemony
The capacity to dominate the world of states and control the terms of trade and the alliance patterns in the global order
critical juncture
An important historical moment when political
actors make critical choices, which shape institutions and future
outcomes.
