Chapter 5

Question 1

Interest Aggregation

Answer 1

the process by which political demands are combined into policy programs. For example, when politicians make economic policy, they often have to balance farmers’ desires for higher crop prices, consumers’ preferences for lower prices and taxes, and environmentalists’ concerns about water pollution and pesticides.

Question 2

patron client networks

Answer 2

structures in which a central officeholder or authority figure, the patron, provides benefits (patronage) to clients in ex-change for their loyalty and support

Question 3

political parties

Answer 3

Political parties are groups or organizations that seek to place candidates in office under their label. In any given so-ciety, there may be one party, two parties, or as many as ten or twenty

Question 4

party system

Answer 4

We refer to the number of parties, and the relationships among them, as properties of the party system.

Question 5

competitive party system

Answer 5

in which parties primarily try to build electoral support

Question 6

authoritarian party system

Answer 6

in which ruling parties do not have to worry about electoral competitor

Question 7

electoral system

Answer 7

The rules by which elections are conducted are among the most important structures that affect political parties.These rules determine who can vote, how to vote, and how votes are counted.

Question 8

iron law oligarchy

Answer 8

which states that all organizations tend toward oligarchy (rule by the few) rather than democ-racy

Question 9

single member district plurality

Answer 9

often called “first past the post,” a horse-racing term, because the winner need only finish ahead of any of the others but need not win a majority of the votes (makes more sense with multiple parties). This system seems obvious and natural to Americans, but it is rarely used in continental Europe or in Latin America.

Question 10

majority runoff or double ballot

Answer 10

Under this system, voting happens in two stages, normally separated by a couple of weeks. In the first round, it takes a majority of all votes (50 percent + one vote) to win. To win, then, a candidate has to earn not just more votes than any other candidate but more votes than all other candidates combined. If there is no majority winner in the first round, only a smaller num-ber of candidates (in French and Russian presidential elections, the top two) make it into the second round, in which whoever gets the largest number of votes (a plural-ity) is elected.

Question 11

proportional representation

Answer 11

the country is divided into a few large districts, which may elect as many as twenty or more members each. The parties offer lists of candidates for the slots in each district. The number of representatives that a party wins depends on the overall proportion of the votes it receives, though no system is perfectly proportional

Question 12

closed-list proportional representation

Answer 12

the elected representatives are then simply drawn from the top of this list, in de-clining order, and ordinary voters have no say about their candidate

Question 13

open-list PR systems

Answer 13

voters can give preference votes to individual candi-dates, and these votes determine which candidates will represent the party in that district.

Question 14

Duverger’s Law

Answer 14

It states that there is a systematic relationship between electoral systems and party systems, so that single-member district plurality election systems tend to create two-party systems in the legislature, while proportional representation electoral systems generate multiparty systems.

Question 15

mechanical effect

Answer 15

a direct consequence of the way that different electoral systems convert votes into seats. In single-member district systems, parties get no representation unless they finish first in at least one district. Therefore, smaller parties that run second, third, or fourth across many districts receive little or no representation

Question 16

psychological effect

Answer 16

lies in the fact that both vot-ers and candidates anticipate the mechanical effect. Therefore, voters do not throw their support behind “hopeless” parties and candidates. Instead, they may support their second-best (or even third-best) option in order to keep a party that they strongly dislike from winning.

Question 17

stategic voting

Answer 17

Giving your support to a party or candidate that is not your first choice in order to avoid an even worse outcome

Question 18

median voter result

Answer 18

applies to elections with two parties. Under these circumstances, parties have to try to win a majority, and therefore target the “center” of the electorate. under these conditions, the parties will moderate their policies so as to try to win the support of the median voter .

Question 19

effective number of parties

Answer 19

This measure takes into account both the overall number of parties and their relative sizes. For example, if there are two parties and they are exactly the same size, the effective number of parties is 2.0. If, however, one party has 80 percent of the vote and the other has 20 percent, the effective number of parties is just below 1.5.

Question 20

majoritarian two-party systems

Answer 20

either are dominated by just two parties, as in the United States, or have two dominant parties and election laws that usually create legislative majorities for one of them, as in Britain.

Question 21

majority coalition systems

Answer 21

parties establish pre- electoral coalitions so that voters know which parties will attempt to work together to form a government. Germany and France have, in most elections, been in this category.

Question 22

multi party system

Answer 22

have election laws and party systems that virtually ensure that no single party wins a legislative majority, and have no tradition of pre-election coalitions. Interest aggrega-tion then depends on a coalition of parties bargaining and coming to agreement after the election.

Question 23

coalition party system

Answer 23

the parties commanding most of the legislative seats are not too far apart on policies and have a reasonable amount of trust in each other and in the political system. Bargaining may be intense, but it seldom threatens to break down into violence or civil war

Question 24

conflictual party system

Answer 24

, the legislature is dominated by parties that are far apart on issues or are antagonistic toward each other and the political system, such as the Russian party system in the 1990s. The risk of a serious confrontation may therefore be gre ater.

Question 25

consociational /accommodative party system

Answer 25

political leaders seek to bridge intense social divisions through power sharing, broad coalition governments, and decentralization of sensitive decisions to the separate social groups. 15In this way, a consociational system can enable a deeply divided nation to find a way to peaceful democratic development.

Question 26

exclusive governing party

Answer 26

which insists on almost total control over political resources. It rec-ognizes no legitimate interest aggregation by groups outside the party. Nor does it permit any free activity, much less opposition, from interest groups, citizens, or other government agencies.

Question 27

inclusive governing party

Answer 27

which recognizes and ac-cepts at least some other groups and organizations, but may repress those that it sees as serious challenges to its own control.

Question 28

authoritarian corporatist system

Answer 28

Like the democratic corporatist systems (see Chapter 4), some of these systems encourage the formation of large, organized interest groups that can bargain with each other and the state. Unlike the democratic corporatist systems, however, these authoritarian systems place no power directly in the hands of the people. Authoritarian corporatist systems suppress independent protest and political activity outside of official channels.

Question 29

electoral authoritarianism

Answer 29

This is where there is a facade of democracy providing “some space for political opposition, independent media, and social organizations that do not seriously criticize or challenge the regime.” The Mexican Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) was long a successful example of an inclusive governing party featuring electoral authoritarianism (see Box 5.3).

Question 30

military governments

Answer 30

The military had instruments of force and organizational capacity, and in the absence of a strong constitutional tradition, it was an effective contender for power. Even under civilian rule, the military had substantial political influence and often constituted a significant power contender.

Question 31

What are the differences between totalitarian parties and other single-party systems?

Answer 31

Totalitarian parties have only one party controlling the government. Interest groups do not exist nor do any other opposing parties. All the control starts at the head of government before it works its way down. All of these factors are included in an exclusive authoritarian government. Other single party groups are more inclusive meaning they allow some interest aggregation from other interest groups by bargaining with them. They may even allow opposing parties to participate in elections as long as their chances of winning are slim.

Question 32

Why have many countries turned to military governments and why are they short lived?

Answer 32

They turned to military governments because civilian governments did not have much respect or authority. The military is an organized force that can act as a contender for power because of their organization and ability to maintain an orderly government.They have little potential as a government system because they do not perform interest aggregation, make compromises, or attempt to include social support. Military governments have little legitimacy on the state or international level and they are often unstable as they have to share powers with other institutions.

Question 33

What structures other than political parties aggregate interests?

Answer 33

Patron-Client networks Hard to create support or receive the political resources for them as other patrons will want to benefit as well. It works the best in poorer countries as the patron has more reliability in giving the clients or citizens what they need. Institutional interest groups aggregate interests by using their political ties to influence government policy. For example, an associational group can have enough political resources to prepare their members who could be a part of another significant party, to support their interest. Competitive party systems also aggregate laws with the help of elections as they allow the people to vote on who looks over government affairs.

Question 34

Political parties are important interest aggregators in

Answer 34

both democratic and nondemocratic systems.

Question 35

The patron-client relationship is found in

Answer 35

virtually all societies.

Question 36

Authoritarian political systems

Answer 36

have a variety of political party arrangements.

Question 37

In 1989, which part of the world saw a rise in democracies with the collapse of the Soviet Union?

Answer 37

Eastern Europe

Question 38

Political parties are the most important interest aggregators in democratic systems. (T or F)

Answer 38

true

Question 39

The interests of political party activists tend to be more radical than those of the average voters. (Tor F)

Answer 39

true

Question 40

Electoral systems often determine the number of viable parties within a party system. (t or f)

Answer 40

true

Question 41

Pure multiparty systems have election laws and party systems that ensure at least one party wins a legislative majority (t or f)

Answer 41

false

Question 42

For the party system in the United States, Downs’s theory argues that parties will maintain a wide ideological distance (t or f)

Answer 42

false

Question 43

How interests are aggregated is an important determinant of what a government does for and to its citizens. (t or f)

Answer 43

true

Question 44

Externally created political parties differ from internally created political parties because

Answer 44

externally created parties were founded by citizens outside of government, while internally created parties were founded by officeholders.