Chapter 3: Democratic Political Regimes Flashcards
Democracy
a political system in which the rulers are accountable to that rule
Accountabilty
a political mechanism that offers citizens regular and realistic opportunities to remove the rulers from office through peaceful and constitutional means
electorate
a group of citizens eligible to participate in the election of government leaders
universal suffrage
whering all adult citizens have the right to participate in the electoral process that selects and removes government leaders
Unitarism
The constitution grants the central government exclusive and final authority over policy making across the entire national territory
Federalism
The constitution grants two or more governments overlapping political authority over the same group of people and same piece of territory
Presidential System
A constitutional format in which the executive and legislative branches enjoy both separation of origin and survival
Separation of origin
voters directly elect the members of the legislature and also cast a separation ballot directly electing the chief executive, the president
Separation of survival
members of both the executive and legislative branches serve for fixed terms of office
Parliamentary System
a constitutional format in which the executive and legislative branches have neither separation of origin nor separation of survival
Prime Minister
The chief executive in a parliamentary system
No- confidence vote
A parliamentary vote which, if successful, terminates the prime minister’s appointment
semi-presidential hybrid
A constitutional format in which the president and parliament enjoy separation of origin but only the president enjoys separation of survival
Dual executive
In hybrid democratci regimes, an executive branch of government characterized by a devision of authority and responsibility between a president and a prime minister
Divided Gov’t
occurs in presidential systems when the president comes from one party but a different party controls the legislative branch
judicial review
ability of a high court to invalidate laws the legislative has enacted by declaring them unconstitutional
parliamentary supremacy
a principle according to which judges decisions remain subordinate to decisions of the legislative majority
Plurality Rule
The candidate who receives the largest share of votes in the district wins, even if that share is less than a majority of 50 percent of +1 of the votes
Majority Rule
Requires that candidates obtain a majority of 50 percent +1 of the votes in the district to win
Proportional representation
an electoral system that distributes seats portinally to the vote each party receives.
Mixed Electoral Rule
Combine a plurality ofmajority electoral rule to elect some members of the national legislature with a PR electoral rule to elect the remainder.
