Comp Gov Unit 1

Question 1

crisis

Answer 1

leads to danger and opportunity
time and time again we will see how political leaders and average citizens alike found or didn’t find opportunity amid danger

Question 2

regime

Answer 2

a system or planned way or doing things, especially one imposed from above
the institutions and practices that typically order from government or government or, in American terms, from administrations to administration

Question 3

theory

Answer 3

an idea used to account for a situation or justify a course of action

Question 4

paradigm

Answer 4

an entire discipline; a typical example or pattern of something; a model

Question 5

deductively

Answer 5

a hypothesis or guess that cannot be proven
best you can do is FALSIFY the theory by finding at least one example where it isn’t true

Question 6

state

Answer 6

a political division of body of people that occupies a territory defined by frontiers
how scarce resources are allocated
arises questions like how to face economic problems and how to fix failed states
includes all the institutions and individuals that exercise power

Question 7

power

Answer 7

the ability to get people or groups to do WHAT THEY OTHERWISE WOULDN’T DO
forced to do things you don’t want to
drives political life

Question 8

government

Answer 8

a particular set of institutions and people authorized by formal documents, such as a constitution, to pass laws, issue regulation, control the police, and so on
rarely holds all the power, especially in failed states

Question 9

oligarchs

Answer 9

shadowy groups of businessmen

Question 10

governance

Answer 10

the exercise of political authority and the use of institutional resources to manage society’s problems and affairs

Question 11

industrialized democracies

Answer 11

more resources
potential for more powerful, but also limited with constitution and major pieces of legislation

Question 12

current and former communist regimes

Answer 12

totalitarianism - states that sought total control over their societies
not economically great, so they were shadowed by democracies with invigorated economies
China - liberal economically but tight political control

Question 13

less developed countries

Answer 13

the Global South
no strength and many issues
low popular support

Question 14

newly industrialized countries

Answer 14

cooperative relations between business and labor to break underdevelopment

Question 15

strong states

Answer 15

wealthier, elite, more effective

Question 16

system

Answer 16

country as a whole

Question 17

democracy and capitalism

Answer 17

weren’t easy processes
mostly Europe and North America

Question 18

political culture

Answer 18

reflects the core values of its people
less focus on leaders

Question 19

identity

Answer 19

how people define themselves in racial, linguistic, ethnic, or religious terms

Question 20

political participation

Answer 20

rare in totalitarianistic and authoritarian governments

Question 21

public policy

Answer 21

what citizens can do
distribution of resources
can be symbolic towards nationalism

Question 22

imperialism

Answer 22

similar to colonization
taking over and changing lifestyles

Question 23

Cold War

Answer 23

the consequences, mainly communism, still remain

Question 24

globalization

Answer 24

rapid shrinking of social, economic, environmental, and political life
people work with and against each other
good, but can also be bad (ie terrorism and 9/11)

Question 25

international political economy

Answer 25

trade and other interactions that take place between countries

Question 26

Human Development Index

Answer 26

by UN
pros: measures quality of life (wellbeing) in a simple way, uses multiple variables
cons: provides an incomplete picture (ie per capita wealth, inequality, persona and political freedom, etc.)

Question 27

gross domestic product

Answer 27

pro: a way to measure economic progress and strength
con: incomplete picture (ie nonmarket transactions, inequality of wealth, etc.)

Question 28

The Monarchy and the Lords: Still Dignified?

Answer 28

House of Lords has been stripped of its power over the years and now, it can only delay enactment of a law and approve legislation
cabinet members are almost always also House of Parliament members
abolishment of Lords and defeat of electoral reform wouldn’t be good for institutional change in government

Question 29

Queen and monarchy

Answer 29

symbol of stability, tradition, permanence in the UK
politically neutral
although monarch is less powerful than ever, she still has power
overall doesn’t have a name for itself anymore and is mostly an embarrassment

Question 30

parliamentary sovereignty

Answer 30

the legislative body has absolute sovereignty and is supreme over all other government institutions, including executive and judicial bodies

Question 31

coalition

Answer 31

an alliance for combined action, especially a temporary alliance of political parties forming a government on the states
where real influence on policy issues in the UK lies

Question 32

parliamentary party

Answer 32

only road to the top
consists of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of party’s in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council

Question 33

shadow cabinet

Answer 33

members monitor and criticize the actions of their equivalent in the government
minority party is the opposition

Question 34

backbenches

Answer 34

limited influence
start of the journey
seats reserved for the members of parliament who aren’t part of the leadership
getting to the leadership of a party takes YEARS

Question 35

collective responsibility

Answer 35

cabinet members are obliged to agree with decisions publicly or they have to resign

Question 36

“westminster” system

Answer 36

people don’t directly elect their government but leave it to the elected legislation to install, supervise, and remove the government
usually the majority party’s side wins
in UK

Question 37

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