Concepts Flashcards

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1
Q

Authoritarianism

A

A political system where all political power is concentrated in a single national leader or group of political elites and there are few or no concessions to democracy.

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2
Q

Authority

A

The right to use power

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3
Q

Catch All Party

A

A political party designed to attract people from various ideologies and beliefs

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4
Q

Charismatic Legitimacy

A

A determination of political legitimacy based on the popularity and appeal of a particular political leader.

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5
Q

Civil Liberties

A

Guaranteed legal protections that all citizens have against their government.

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6
Q

Civil Rights

A

Guaranteed legal protections that a government promises to those belonging to certain ethnic, religious, gender or minority groups.

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7
Q

Civil Society

A

A collection of groups or organizations working in the interest of the citizens but operating outside of the governmental and for-profit sectors such as labor unions, non-profit organizations, churches, and other service agencies.

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8
Q

Cleavage(Political/Social)

A

A strong and often long term division between different groups within society due to ethnicity, political privilege or other demographic factors.

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9
Q

Coalition Government

A

A type of ruling administration in a parliamentary structure with a multiparty system where small parties must work together to select a prime minister and other executive leadership

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10
Q

Code Law

A

A system where legal rules are written down.

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11
Q

Coercion

A

The use of various means of intimidation by a ruling administration(regime) to force compliance with national policy.

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12
Q

Corpatism

A

A system where interest groups, including business and others, work closely with the government in formal and structured relationships.

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13
Q

Communism

A

A political ideology emphasizing utilitarianism(the greatest good for the greatest number of people/social welfare) through authoritarianism, one party rule and revolution.

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14
Q

Correlation

A

A logical or natural association between two or more things.

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15
Q

Democratic Capitalism

A

A political ideology emphasizing individualism through democratic means and free market economics.

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16
Q

Democratization

A

The implementation of policies that aid in the spread of democratic principles and liberties within a state.

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17
Q

Devolution

A

The gradual granting or greater political autonomy to sub-nations, regions, states or localities within a larger nation-state.

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18
Q

Empirical Statement

A

A declaration that makes a judgement based on facts and data.

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19
Q

Fascism

A

A political ideology emphasizing individualism through authoritarianism and one party rule.

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20
Q

Federal System

A

A system of government where power is divided between different levels within the nation(classically “federal”, “state” and “local” powers).

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21
Q

First Past the Post(Single Member District) System

A

An electoral system whereby candidates for office compete against each other in a “winner take all” contest to win a legislative office representing a certain district/constituency.

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22
Q

GDP(Gross Domestic Product)

A

The total value of all goods and services produced within a country that is often used as a measure of the size and health of its economy.

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23
Q

GDP(Gross Domestic Product) Per Capita

A

The total value of all goods and services produced within a country divided by the population(GDP amount per person).

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24
Q

GINI Index

A

A mathematical formula that measures the amount of economic inequality(with 0 representing maximum equality, and 1 representing maximum inequality).

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25
Q

Globalization

A

A theoretical worldwide trend towards the sacrificing of national sovereignty to global political and economic initiatives and authorities.

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26
Q

Grassroots Movement

A

A political effort organized and supported by regular citizens at the local level across a nation state with the goal of affecting national policy.

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27
Q

HDI(Human Development Index)

A

The measure of the well-being of a country’s people by factoring in literacy, life expectancy and educational enrollment, as well as GDP.

28
Q

Hybrid Regime

A

A political system whereby democratic structures and processes are controlled or overshadowed by autocratic elements(as evident in its political structure)

29
Q

Illiberal Democracy

A

A state which has elements of democracy such as written constitutions and representative bodies in its official structure, but where such elements are overshadowed or overridden by other aspects of the system which make it more authoritarian in reality. In such states the rule of law is often ignored.

30
Q

Interest Group

A

An organization of people who share a common cause and work together to protect and promote that cause by influencing the government.

31
Q

Judicial Review

A

A tradition whereby judges interpret law and constitutions in order to determine the legality of actions by political executives or the legality of laws passed by legislatures.

32
Q

Legitimacy

A

The degree to which the existing national government is respected by it’s people in terms of both tradition, history and popular support.

33
Q

Liberal Democracy

A

A state which has elements of democracy such as written constitutions and representative bodies in its official structure, and, in execution, respects those institutions through a consistent rule of law.

34
Q

Market Economy

A

An economic system whereby the government does not interfere with market forces and supply and demand guide wages and prices.

35
Q

Mixed Member System

A

An electoral system where some legislative seats are determined in single member district elections while other seats are determined proportionally.

36
Q

Multiparty System

A

A type of political party system where, rather than there being only two, competitive political parties, there is a spectrum of many small parties instead.

37
Q

Nationalization

A

The transition of private corporations and businesses into state run industries.

38
Q

Nongovernmental Organizations

A

A nonprofit association or group operating outside of government that advocates and pursues policy objectives.

39
Q

Normative Statement

A

A declaration that makes a value judgement based on ideals and opinion

40
Q

One Party System

A

A type of political party system prevalent in communist and fascist states where there is only one legal political party.

41
Q

Parliamentary System

A

A political structure which is centered around the use of a parliament as a legislative body, with the chief executive(usually a “prime minister”) and other executive leaders being a member of that body.

42
Q

Pluralism

A

A political environment where the ideas and concerns of most people in society can be communicated and respected.

43
Q

Political Socialization

A

The efforts of a nation state to develop, reinforce and transform political attitudes amongst the citizenry.

44
Q

Post-materialism

A

The transformation of individual values from individual material and economic gain to autonomy and self-expression.

45
Q

Power

A

The ability to make someone else do something.

46
Q

Proportional Election System(Party List System)

A

An electoral system whereby the number of legislative seats won by a political party directly correlates to the percentage of the vote won by that party in a national election.

47
Q

Presidential System

A

A political structure where branches of government are clearly independent and the chief executive(usually a “president”) is not part of the legislative branch.

48
Q

Privatization

A

The transition of state run industries into private corporations and businesses.

49
Q

Proportional Representation

A

A system of political representation where the number of seats that a political party receives in the legislature is proportionally equal to the overall success of that party in elections at the national level.

50
Q

Referendum

A

A popular vote whereby citizens directly decide the direction of policy.

51
Q

Regime

A

The set of people and rules in control of a nation at any given time.

52
Q

Rentier State

A

A nation that derives a significant portion of its income from payments from foreign countries. Such payments are usually in exchange for access to particular natural resources.

53
Q

Resource Curse

A

The paradox that countries with plentiful natural resource such as fossil fuels tend to have less economic growth and lower levels of democracy than those with fewer such resources.

54
Q

Rule By Law

A

A legal system whereby a regime uses laws to maximize authority to achieve its ends.

55
Q

Rule of law

A

A legal system whereby all citizens are treated by the same standard with liberties and civil rights being clearly articulated.

56
Q

Semi-Presidential System

A

A political structure where a popularly elected president shares power with other executive authorities who are not popularly elected.

57
Q

Socialism

A

A political ideology emphasizing utilitarianism(the greatest good for the greatest number of people/social welfare) through democratic means and nationalization of industry.

58
Q

Sovereignty

A

The right of a state to have independence and autonomy in the governance of it’s own affairs.

59
Q

Supranational Organization

A

Groups of nations that work together regionally or on an international level to achieve greater political and economic gain or influence.

60
Q

Term Limits

A

Limitations on the number of overall or concurrent number of terms that a legislative or executive official may hold office.

61
Q

Theocracy

A

A ruling administration of a nation where the highest political offices are, by requirement, held by those who are considered clergy in a particular religion.

62
Q

Traditional Legitimacy

A

A determination of political legitimacy based on tradition such as divine right or other time-honored practices.

63
Q

Transparency

A

The degree to which there is openness and freedom of information between a government and the citizens of a nation.

64
Q

Two Party System

A

A type of political party system that is dominated by only two, competitive political parties.

65
Q

Unitary System

A

A system of government where all political power is unified in one structure, and there is no divestment to “non-national” political bodies.