CPI

Question 1

What is the definition of politics?

Answer 1

• making authoritative (binding + compulsory) and public (whole society) decisions
• acquiring and exercising power

Question 2

Which three types of comparative politics are there?

Answer 2

• Study of single countries
Study of foreign countries, case studies: Spanish politics, German politics, …

• Methodological
Establishing rules and standards of comparison
Description + prediction, conceptual – logistical – statistical techniques of analysis

• Analytical
Combination empirical and methodological: identification + explanation differences, explanatory

Question 3

What is compared?

Answer 3

Political systems at national level compared, but also: sub-national + supra-national.

Comparison of single elements or components rather than the whole system

Question 4

Describe Comparative Politics before WII

Answer 4

focus on state, institutions, bureaucracy of Western Europe and North America

Question 5

Describe Comparative Politics between 1920 - 1960

Answer 5

–> Golden age comparative politics: behavioural revolution, away from institutions
New regimes (communist, fascist) + de-colonization, couldn’t be understood in narrow categories of
western institutions
- new categories + concepts: attention to ideologies, belief systems, …
-Conditions for democratic stability? Political culture? Social capital? Traditions of authority?

Question 6

Describe Comparative Politics since 1960’s

Answer 6

-Anglo-Saxon bureaucratic supremacy questioned, other forms also viable. No competition between elite but consociational pattern, amicable agreement, accommodation

• Broader geographical scope and historical experiences
  • Increased variety of political systems
  • Agencies > institutions
  • New methodology

-Analysis of behaviour and roles based on empirical observation
Extensive global large-scale comparisons
Statistical techniques of analysis + systematic data collection, archives, …

• New framework: systemic functionalism

Travelling problem: concepts and categories applied to cases different from those around which they
have originally been created other meanings + misinterpretation
No more focus on state but general and universal categories: no more ‘state’ but ‘political system’

Question 7

Describe Comparative Politics going back to institutions

Answer 7

Transcultural and transportable concepts: extreme high level of abstraction
Understanding of concrete cases impossible counter-reaction in 1967
• Shift of substantial focus: bringing the state back in (book p.8 table I.1)
• Narrowing of geographical scope: grounded/middle-range theories
• Change of methodology: case-oriented analysis: from N to n
• Theoretical turn: rational choice theory: from sociological to economical influence
Actors are rational, order alternative options, maximize utility

Did not lead to redefinition op COP because doesn’t offer a metatheory specific to politics
Institutions constraint actor’s behaviour

Question 8

Describe development of methods in Comparative Politics.

Answer 8

1. A variety of methods
   Intensive or extensive – synchronic or diachronic – cross-sectional or functional – longitudinal
   Similarities or differences
2. From cases to variables…
   Behavioural revolution: more cases, more data, new indicators quantitative
   From intensive to extensive research, from n to N variable-oriented
3. … and back to cases
   Back to n, case-oriented research
4. From aggregate to individual data…
   Aggregate: available at some territorial level, e.g. voting results
   You don’t know who votes for whom, but you know aggregate result
   Behavioural revolution: statistics may be manipulated large data sets independent from politics
   Surveys to collect individual data, computerization of data
   1950: ecological fallacy: macro data say nothing about micro level
5. … and back to aggregate data
   More solid than individual-level data for long-term comparisons

Question 9

Positivism:

Answer 9

fact value distinction, observable + verifiable facts, measure, theory, hypotheses

Question 10

Constructivism:

Answer 10

facts socially embedded and constructed, no objectivity, context

Question 11

Structural functionalism:

Answer 11

compare performance functions political system, best models

Question 12

Systems theory:

Answer 12

structure = open system with extensive input + output (Easton)

Question 13

Marxism:

Answer 13

class conflict due to differences political system, dictatorship proletariat

Question 14

Corporatism:

Answer 14

central role state, social interests influence policy

Question 15

Institutionalism:

Answer 15

structures shape politics and behaviour, normative structures

Question 16

Governance:

Answer 16

role social actors in making and implementing decisions

Question 17

The 5 I’s; Institutions:

Answer 17

Understand government performance, seek to improve, focus on structures and institutions
Differences in constitutions, law, formal structures, … to predict performance of government
Individualistic: differences due to individual choices and not due to institutional differences
Decisions are product of member’s preferences

Now revival of institutionalism:
• Normative institutionalism: institutions exist of norms + rules, shape individual behaviour
• Rational choice institutionalism: institutions = aggregate of (dis)incentives, influence choice
• Historical institutionalism: role of ideas and persistence, even when dysfunctionality
Initial decision often persists for centuries, even when it turns out bad

Institutionalism explains persistence but not change, stability approach = big constraint

Question 18

The 5 I’s; Interests

Answer 18

Interests that actors pursue through political action, ‘who gets what?’

Rational choice theory, corporatism (access interest groups to decision-making, be loyal in return)
–> Less conflict than in plural systems

Now: not corporatism but rather networking (connected actors try to influence policy)
Individuals and groups define interests in terms of identity and ethnicity consociationalism

Elites represent different communities
Interests are basis for conflict, institutions must manage conflict

Question 19

The 5 I’s; ideas

Answer 19

Political culture influences politics, measured by surveys

Culture = tension hierarchy vs equality , liberty vs coercion, loyalty vs commitment, trust vs distrust

Grid (hierarchy) vs group (constraints due to membership group)

Political ideas can be ideologies: communism, fascism
But: no clash of ideologies but of civilizations, religions, cultures, …

Question 20

The 5 I’s: Individuals

Answer 20

Importance of background, recruitment, social roots

Question 21

The 5 I’s; International environment

Answer 21

Economic dependence can create political dependence, influence by UN, World Bank, NATO, …
EU: multi-level governance, globalization, integration

Question 22

What is a research design

Answer 22

The bridge between research question and research answer. It helps you find an answer, while meeting scientific standards.

Question 23

Descriptive inference:

Answer 23

relationship independent & dependent variables based on observation, allows generalization over and beyond the cases of the review
externally valid

Question 24

Internal validity:

Answer 24

descriptive inferences from set of cases correct for most/all cases under inspection

Question 25

External validity

Answer 25

result also relevant for other cases not in the research

Question 26

Trade-off:

Answer 26

more cases included in analysis, more robust result (external), fewer cases = more
coherent conclusion for set of cases included (internal)

Question 27

What are cases?

Answer 27

Units of observation, compared at certain level of measurement : individual (unit) or group (level)

Observations: values of a variable under investigation
Two-dimensional matrix: variables in columns, cases in rows

Question 28

What are intensive strategies

Answer 28

Intensive strategies: many variables, few cases (analysis few consociational democracies that exist)

Question 29

What are extensive strategies

Answer 29

few variables, many cases (analysis of welfare states)

Longitudinal analysis: if time is a relevant factor

Question 30

When is longitudinal analysis a good design?

Answer 30

When time is an important factor

Question 31

What is a single case study?

Answer 31

No external validity, but used for post hoc validation: check if findings hold up in more detailed
analysis or to study a deviant case, pilot for generating hypotheses, confirming theories.

Question 32

What is close universe?

Answer 32

Few cases compared at different points of time, based on external change (war, new law)

Question 33

What is cross-section?

Answer 33

Several classes compared simultaneously, constant circumstances but variables vary

Question 34

What is pooled analysis?

Answer 34

Pooling cases across time and systems cases too much alike, no meaningful differences

Question 35

What is experimental variance?

Answer 35

Variance of dependent variable across cases and/or over time

No variance = impossible to tell if variable makes a difference or not

Question 36

What is error variance?

Answer 36

Random effects unmeasured variables select variables carefully + increase number of cases

Question 37

What is extraneous variance?

Answer 37

Control extraneous variance: no control for other influences = possibility that relation is caused by
another (unknown) cause

due to omitted variables

Spurious relationship: third variable affects both independent and dependent variable

Question 38

What is conceptual stretching?

Answer 38

Concept developed for one set of cases, extended to another set of case with other features

Sartori’s ladder of generality: more extensive = less intensive less validity

Question 39

What is Galton’s problem?

Answer 39

Observed difference and similarities caused by exogenous factor common to all selected cases
Explanation corrupted by a common cause not included in the research answer

Question 40

What are ecological fallacies?

Answer 40

data measured on aggregated level used to explain individual or group level behaviour

Question 41

Explain democratizion in waves:

Answer 41

First: 1826-1926, countered by fascism and authoritarianism in 1920s-1930s

Second wave after WW II, reversed in 1960s-1970s.

Third wave from 1974 (Portugal), explosive
waves after the fall of the wall

Question 42

What is Neo-institutionalism

Answer 42

Since 1980s: institutions as independent variables, direct impact on outcomes and behaviour,
regardless of social and economic context lot of variation, potential capacities, different impact on
performance, effectiveness and legitimacy why do some systems perform better than others?

Question 43

Procedural definition of democracy:

Answer 43

organisation, representation, accountability, legitimacy

Free competition for a free vote

Question 44

Substantive definition of democracy:

Answer 44

goals + effectiveness

Question 45

What is polyarchy

Answer 45

Dahl: no democracies but polyarchies: elected officials, free and fair elections, inclusive suffrage,
right to run for office, freedom of expression, associational autonomy, alternative sources of info

Schmitter: democracy = system of governance, rulers are held accountable for their actions in public
domain by citizens acting indirectly through competition and cooperation of elected representatives

Question 46

Thin version democracy (Schumpeter)

Answer 46

democracy almost solely about elections

Actual participation in political life by at least some of the civilians

Question 47

Thick version of democracy

Answer 47

constitutional guarantees + control on executive power

Enforceable set of rights and opportunities, right of association + belief + freedom expression

Question 48

What is an illiberal democracy?

Answer 48

popular democracy + government by people combined with restrictions and limitations on individual freedom and rights. Formal establishment of democratic electoral process, but shortcoming in constitutional liberties and limits on arbitrary exercise of executive power

Strongly majoritarian, voters expected to be passive cheering audience, remarkably enduring.

New democracies only democratized in terms of elections, not constitutional and in liberties

Better if first constitutional rights are established and only then participation rights

40% of countries have both nowadays (score 1-2 on Freedom House scales)

Nowadays: liberal and democratic, or illiberal and non-democratic (very few combinations left)

Question 49

First milestone: incorporation

Answer 49

Mass citizenry admitted into political society, right to participate by voting
Restrictions before universal suffrage:

• Census voting: only wealthy people
• Capacity voting: only educated people
• Race: only white males
• (sometimes) plural voting: rich, educated people had more votes

Question 50

Second milestone: representation

Answer 50

Right to organize parties + participate on equal level

Voting systems proportional since success new parties, to avoid socialist dominance

Question 51

Third milestone: Organized opposition

Answer 51

Right to appeal for votes against the government, to ‘throw the rascals out’

Achieved when executive is fully responsible to the legislature and can be dismissed by majority

Full scale alternation very rare because of coalitions in multiparty system
&laquo_space;» two-party system: total alternation very frequent, opposition clearly defined and mobilized

Question 52

Paths of democratization: liberalisation

Answer 52

right to be represented and to mobilize opposition

Question 53

Paths of democratization: Inclusiveness

Answer 53

participation and voting

Question 54

What is hegemonist inclusiveness?

Answer 54

fascist and communist regimes

Question 55

Zakaria on participation:

Answer 55

constitutionalism should precede participation

Otherwise, it may lead to the establishment of an illiberal democracy
Path and pace define durability and sustainability of democratization

Question 56

Majoritarian vs consensus democracies

Answer 56

Social and cultural divisions could be tempered by certain types of political institutions and behaviour
Working multiparty systems in e.g. Belgium control highly conflictual cleavages by consensus-seeking
Only applicable to societies with fragmented political cultures

1980s: distinction majoritarian vs consensual democracies, geographically wider applicable
• Majoritarian: limitless power to winner, exclusive power, authority hardly constrained
• Consensus: power shared, minorities included, limited by courts + chambers, decentralized
Problem: many mixed forms, very difficult to make a good typology

Question 57

Decentralist vs centripetal democracies

Answer 57

Decentralist: diffusion of power, broad political participation, limits on governmental action,
separation of powers, strong limits on executive authority, fragmentation of power USA

Centripetal: inclusive authoritative institutions, responsible party government, strong unified
government, majoritarian + PR, centralized interest groups, well-organized parties Sweden
Both result from mixed Lijphart’s mixed cases

Question 58

The problems of holistic models…

Answer 58

Attempt to model democracies as whole systems
Lijphart prefers consensus, Gerring prefers centripetal, both give same weight to different features
Problem: not one democracy is totally one type, all are mixed forms
Postcommunist democracies: wanted to build state and ensure survival at same time
Double-headed strategy leads to different institutional arrangements

Also cross-national learning and porous borders more and more diffusion
Democracies not closed or self-containing systems , never completely coherent systems

Question 59

What are dictatorial monarchs?

Answer 59

Ruling monarch = personal dictator &laquo_space;» reigning monarch = constitutional + ceremonial
Only left in Middle East, not due to tradition because created after WW I

Why endurable?

• Rentier state, exploit rents from oil industry, no taxes no need for representation
• Dynastic monarchies: no primogeniture, can put someone powerful in place

Very large families, engage in military, government, civil service
take all key posts

Desert democracy: lack democracy compensated, possibility to say grievances personally to monarch

Question 60

What are monarchical dictators

Answer 60

Personal dictators ruling for life (Mao) and succeeded by son or brother

No agents of military or party, degree of independence and autonomy –> loose principal-agent

Sultanism: not ideological, buying off key persons + intimidating –> privatization of public power

Presidential monarchy: personal dictators, institutionalize their rule in monarchical post of president Pinochet, Assad, Castro, Kim Il Sung, Ceausescu

Populist presidential monarchy: autogolpe / self-coup of “elected” president
Corrupt elections, but claims to be installed by people and to be legitimate (Chavez)

Question 61

What is military rule?

Answer 61

Rule by distinctive organization: own uniforms, barracks, career construction, legal system
Very unstable, lifetime of years (exception: Burma)

• Open military rule

Military coup results in junta acting as country’s supreme government

Question 62

What is a disguised military rule?

Answer 62

Civilianized: “ending” of military rule by installing president (which belongs/belonged to army)

Indirect: control behind scenes, continuously or intermittently (only budgets and security)

Question 63

What is an one-party rule

Answer 63

More long-lasting, through dictatorial party after revolution or corrupt elections

But: one-party state =/= one-party rule –> may be instrument of authoritarian military or monarch
• Communist: often disguised personal dictatorships, only core survived (China, Vietnam, Laos)
• Third world: African one-party systems after decolonization

Won elections, then abused power, overthrown by military coups or evolved in dictatorships

Question 64

Reason to rule: Religious

Answer 64

Claims to rule by ‘the grace of god’ or ‘the divine right of kings’, now only in Middle East + Vatican

1979: Islamic republic in Iran, ayatollah Khomeini in power, veto laws that distort with Islamic law
Supreme religious judge + leader of revolution that outranked president of state –> spiritual leader

Question 65

Reason to rule: Ideology

Answer 65

No tradition like religion, so use of media, education system, mass-mobilization, youth, unions, …
- Leader claims prophetic legitimacy
- Party claims ideological right to rule
Military ideological rule only in Egypt (Nasser) and Libya (Gadhafi) but not successful in general

Question 66

Reason to rule: Democracy

Answer 66

Democratic claim takes institutional form: use institutions or prepare to (re)introduce them after
military coup after corrupt, undemocratic, incompetent government
Claim that their power is temporary and preparing way for democratic rule
Sometimes institutions held to keep form of legitimacy (Reichstag held under Hitler)
Mostly only semi-competitive elections

Question 67

What is totalitarianism ?

Answer 67

Mussolini: everything in the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state

Change human nature through totalitarian organization of all aspects of life

Internal control of hearts and minds, external control by secret police

Mass organizations for youth, workers, leisure activities, personality cult (North-Korea)

Question 68

What is authoritarianism?

Answer 68

Four differences with totalitarianism

• Presence of limited political pluralism
• Absence of ideology used to guide the regime
• Absence of intensive or extensive political mobilization
• Predictably (instead of arbitrary) leadership by small group or individual

Question 69

Dictatorships: exercising control

Answer 69

Secret police force against potential or actual disloyalty, junta + martial law (in military regimes)
Political parties used to gain support and making facade

Question 70

Dictatorships: policies

Answer 70

Often very alike with democracies
Distinctive cases: Nazis’ anti-Semitic policy – collectivization in Soviet Union – great leaps in China
Different social policy: Middle East women’s discrimination

Question 71

Dictatorships: Extinction interpretation

Answer 71

Authoritarian regimes = political dinosaurs in democratic world
Have evolved in new species and subspecies but won’t survive

Question 72

Dictatorships: Evolution interpretation

Answer 72

Continuous survival highlights complexity, may survive and flourish again in 21st century

Question 73

What is presidentialism?

Answer 73

• Direct or quasi-direct popular election of the president for a fixed period
• The head of state is identical with the head of government
• President is not politically accountable to the legislature
• Appointment of government members by president (mostly with the consent of the
  legislature)

Question 74

What is parliamentarism?

Answer 74

• Head of government is different from head of state
• Most parliamentary systems allow for parliamentary dissolution by the head of state
  (typically on the prime minister’s or government’s proposal)
• Election of the prime minister by Parliament in some countries (Spain, Germany);
  appointment by the head of state (Italy, Ireland); or speaker of Parliament (Sweden), with
  subsequent vote of confidence in other countries; appointment by the head of state
  without obligatory vote of confidence (UK, the Netherlands)
• Prime minister and cabinet are politically accountable to the Parliament (vote of noconfidence possible); ; some country require a constructive no-confidence vote (replace sitting government)

Question 75

What is directorial government?

Answer 75

• Switserland: Federal Councils consist of 7 individuals who are elected individually by
  Parliament for entire term of Parliament
• Federal president = head of government and state
  ! cabinet members rote presidency between them on annual basis
• Government is not politically accountable to Parliament

Question 76

Government: Directly elected prime minister

Answer 76

• Israel (1996-2003): prime minister elected with absolute majority
• Cabinet nominated by the prime minister but required a parliamentary vote of confidence
• Prime minister politically accountable to Parliament, but vote of no-confidence possible to
  dissolve Parliament and led to elections of both the prime minister and Parliament

Question 77

What is semi-presidentialism?

Answer 77

• President directly (or semi-directly) elected
• President appoints cabinet
• Cabinet is politically accountable to Parliament
• President can dismiss the cabinet and/or dissolve Parliament

Question 78

What is a presidential government?

Answer 78

• All executive power in a single, directly (or quasi) elected politician for a fixed term
• President directs composition of government (= sovereignty)

Question 79

What is a cabinet government?

Answer 79

• Represents traditional operating mode of parliamentary government
• Britain 1850: cabinet = creation of the monarch (keep control over decisions and agenda)
• Gradual increase of government tasks: less decisions by cabinet – decisions became formal
  (only ratifying what was decided between ministers)
• Nowadays: post-classical cabinet government: deliberates and decides important issues +
  functions as a court of appeal

Question 80

What is a prime ministerial government

Answer 80

• Monocratic decision-making by the prime minister
• Used is Britain after cabinet government
• Dominant role of prime minister: three different modes:
  1 Generalized ability to decide policy across all issue areas in which the prime minister
  takes an interest

2 By deciding key issues which subsequently determine most remaining areas of government
policy

3 defining a government ethos or operating ideoloigy which generates predictable and
determinate solutions to most policy problems, and constrains other ministers’ freedom or
make them agents of prime minister’s will

• Difference with presidential government: president had constitutional right to Monocratic
  decision-making, terms are fixed, are unassailable

Question 81

What is a ministerial government?

Answer 81

• Instead of concentrating power in prime minister (after cabinet government): dispersed
  among individual cabinet members
• Decisions mostly only ratified by cabinet
• Ministers are ‘policy dictators’ within their own domai

Question 82

Models of government and cabinet coalitions in parliamentary systems:

Answer 82

- Coalition governments in parliamentary systems have typically developed more complex
decision modes (due to influence of the parties)

Question 83

Control party: party programmes

Answer 83

clearly state the intentions of the party + specify appropriate means to
the desired ends

Question 84

Control party: Selection of cabinet members

Answer 84

party control of the cabinet in the form of cabinet members who act upon party values

Question 85

Control part: Permanent control of the party over the cabinet

Answer 85

parties want to exercise permanent
control over their ministers in order to influence government

3 ideal types of party-government relation:
- dominance: one of the two dominates
- autonomy: government and government parties coexist without exercising influence on
each other
- fusion: party and government become politically indistinguishable

Question 86

What is presidentialization?

Answer 86

increasing leadership power resources and autonomy within the party and the political executive
respectively and increasingly leadership-centered electoral processes

Question 87

What is a divided government?

Answer 87

the presidency is held by one party and at least one chamber of Congress is
controlled by another party

Question 88

What is an unified government?

Answer 88

when everything is under the control of the same party

Question 89

What is a majority government?

Answer 89

at least 50 per cent of the seats plus one able to enact political programma

Question 90

What is a minority government?

Answer 90

less than 50 per cent
Minority can govern: they can divide the opposition by policy proposals at the center of policy space,
but is more difficult than majority governing

Question 91

What are single-party governments?

Answer 91

advantage that no party line of division runs through the government,
government goals will be relatively uncontroversial internally + are likely to have strong leaders who
can overcome internal difficulties

Question 92

What are coalition governments?

Answer 92

need to satisfy at least some of the ambitions of each of the government parties

Question 93

What are three Characteristics of the bureaucracy (Weber):

Answer 93

• Personnel: receive a fixed salary and earn pension rights in return for their services and are
  promoted on basis of seniority
• Organization: specialization, training, functional division of labor, well-defined areas of
  jurisdiction, and a clear hierarchy
• Procedure: impersonal application o

Question 94

Name some problems of bureaucy?

Answer 94

• Becomes inefficient when decisions need to take into consideration the individual
  characteristics of the cases to be decided.
• Groupthink: the unconscious minimizing of intra-organizational conflict in making decisions
  at the prize of their quality, which can lead to disaster
• Bureaucrats have the goal of increasing their budgets (Niskanan)
• The effort bureaucrats bring to their job, options:
  *work in interest of their principal (no agency problem)
  *leisure-shirking: work less than expected (stereotype of civil servants)
  *dissent-shirking: don’t do their best to implement the policies desired by their principals
  due to different preferences
  *political sabotage: the production of negative outputs (civil servants work against the
  interest of their principal

Politician have responded in two ways to their uneasiness with the bureaucracy: establishing spoils
systems and introducing New Public Management.

Question 95

What are spoils systems?

Answer 95

the victorious party is free to appoint large layers of the administration after each election, with the jobs going to the party faithful

It is democratic in two ways:
- Administration shares the political philosophy and helps the politician to live up to the
promises made in the campaign

• Entrusts ordinary Americans rather than a closed elite of professional bureaucrats with the
  business of government

–>US has maintained a large degree of spoil systems

ADVANTAGE: provide politician with administrators who are committed to the government goals
DISADVANTAGE: appointees haven’t got enough knowledge about the organization + environment,
and do not know each other government of strangers

Question 96

What is new public management?

Answer 96

• Personnel: top positions open to outside candidates, fixed-term basis, salaries equal to
  private sector and payment is tied to performance
• Organization: splitting large bureaucratic units into smaller ones and allowing competitions
  between different public sector units or even with private sector units
• Procedure: accountability is based on the civil servants performance in attaining the agency’s
  goals public sector managers are expected to engage in managerialism and
  entrepreneurship
  Greatly enhance the potential for political control over the bureaucracy
  CRITIC: deprofessionalization and politicization of the bureaucracy

Question 97

What are electoral regulations?

Answer 97

Some countries lowering age (Austria + Brazil, 16 years). Generally voluntary (not: Belgium+Australia)
Why compulsory? Voluntary voting = related to socioeconomic status, compulsory yawns the gap
Ballot access: most countries require financial deposit —> disadvantage for small parties / candidates
Terms of parliament and presidents are mostly fixed

Question 98

What is single-member plurality?

Answer 98

Single-member constituencies: strongest party wins the seat –> majoritarian, first past the post

Question 99

What is an alternative vote?

Answer 99

Rank candidates: 1 beside first choice, 2 beside second, …
–> Majority? Candidate elected
&laquo_space;» No majority? Lowest eliminated, ballots redistributed according to second preference

Question 100

What is a two-round system?

Answer 100

No majority in first round? Second round with top 2/3

Question 101

What is proportional representation?

Answer 101

Multi-member constituencies: seats shared among parties in proportion to votes

Simplest way: country is one large constituency 16% votes = 16% seats –> very proportional
But: no local MPs country divided into constituencies for local representations

List systems: party presents list of candidates
Mixed systems: voter casts two votes: for local MP and for party list
- Compensatory mixed system

List seats rewarded to rectify under- or over-representation in constituencies, ensuring that party’s
overall number of seats is proportional to its vote share

Small parties win hardly seats, but receive appropriate number of list seats

Big parties win more than fair share but receive no list seats because constituency seats already
brings them to the total number of seats they are entitled highly proportional

• Parallel mixed system
  List part and constituency part separate, list seats awarded purely on basis of list votes, no account of
  what happened in constituencies benefit for large parties which retain over-representation
  Single transferable vote: logic of alternative vote in multimember constituencies
  Second vote mostly cast to another member of same party (Malta + Ireland)

Question 102

What is district magnitude?

Answer 102

Number of MPs elected from each constituency
The higher the district magnitude, the more proportional

The more seats, the more fair the distribution can be

Question 103

What is intra-party choice?

Answer 103

Extent to which voters decide which of their party’s candidate take the seats the party wins
Single-member: no intra-party choice because only one candidate
PR: closed lists &laquo_space;» preferential lists: even bad position can get you elected

Question 104

What are threholds?

Answer 104

3-5 % = normal, Netherlands = 0.67 %, Russia = 7 %

Question 105

Consequences of electoral systems:

Answer 105

Duverger’s law: single-member plurality system = two-party system &laquo_space;» PR = multiparty system

Coalitions in PR, not in non-PR

PR = better representation, more women elected, no over-representation of party
Non-PR: probably two-party stable, easy to judge + overthrow

Question 106

Three types of referendums:

Answer 106

• Mandatory or optional
• May take place at request of number of voters (initiative) or of a political institution
• Decision-promoting or decision-controlling: abrogative (strike down existing law) or rejective
  (prevent proposal to pass in law)

Question 107

Referendums: Process-related arguments

Answer 107

• Certain policies only fully legitimated by their endorsement in a referendum give mandate
• Participation is good in itself and educates voters about issues

Question 108

Referendums: Outcome-related arguments

Answer 108

• More opportunities to participate = more opportunities for exclusion = worse outcomes
• Mass = ignorant, bad decisions, highly influential, can disturb social balance

Rules to prevent lots of ‘stupid’ referenda:

• Legislature mostly decides if referendum takes place and on what issue –> veto items on agenda
• If voters can trigger themselves, judicial body can take veto role
• Double majority needed in federal countries (majority of voters + majority in both federal units)

Question 109

Voting behaviour at referendums:

Answer 109

People often don’t vote issue but to punish party, policy, fear for Polish plumber, … second-order

Question 110

Nation-state throughout history:

Answer 110

The nation-state is the ‘modern’ form of
political organization. Before the nation-state, there were other forms of territorial organization. e.g The Holy Roman Empire.

The nation-state has changed significantly. If the nationstate has meant a certain form of territorial governance, then there are important
consequences for territorial governance.

Question 111

Important revolutions in 18th century (that led to modern state)

Answer 111

1. The industrial Revolution and the England constitutional revolution lead to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland ( Multinational Union State).
2. The American Revolution lead to the United States of America ( first as a confederation, then a federation)
3. The French Revolution lead to the Unitary State ( characterized by unity and indivisibility)

-> Each of these state forms will be imitated by almost all other modern nationstates.
-> The French Revolution left another legacy to political thoughts and practice:
nationalism. Nationalism is an ideology based on the assumption that nations ought
to have states and states ought to be co-terminous with nations.

Question 112

Establishment of welfare states:

Answer 112

began before WWII, but which reached its
peak in the post-war period, may be seen as the final stage of nation-state building.
In order better to collect resources from the wealthier sections of society and
stronger economic regions and redistribute them to the weaker sections and to
underdeveloped regions, the state found it necessary to centralize. The implication
for territorial political organization was that central- logic relations took on the form
of a ‘principal-agent’ relationship: sub-national authorities, whether regions or local
governments, increasingly became the ‘agents’ of their ‘principal’ ( the central state),
in the delivery of these services. Fiscal policy was controlled by the central
government -> less local fiscal autonomy.

Question 113

The crisis and reconfiguration of the welfare state (1970-90’s):

Answer 113

The welfare state and the old industrial capitalism which underlay it, went through a
serieus of crises and important transformations. The state was reconceptualized less
as a top-down, directive agency capable of bringing about the common good and
realizing extensive welfare policy goals and more as a stimulator from below of the
forces of society and the economy that can achieve these themselves.

Question 114

Asymmetrical diversity vs symmetrical diversity

Answer 114

We can distinguish political, administrative, and fiscal symmetry and/or asymmetry.
There is today a general tendency to increase asymmetrical diversity of all three
kinds, although the combinations vary in different countries.

Question 115

Two: arguments against the decentralization of control over local funding.

Answer 115

a) ‘only central governments could achieve local economic efficiency through policies
of fiscal equalization and redistribution’
b) (known as fiscal federalism) local fiscal autonomy is necessary as a way of
increasing the accountability and responsiveness of sub-national governments. Fiscal
federalism was based on the idea that citizens could choose from among a variety of
services by moving residence from one authority to another -> this can lead to the
optimal allocation of resources in a market situation and to local authorities adapting
services to local circumstances. ( more in the US than in EU)

Question 116

Difference between the choice- and agency-model:

Answer 116

In the choice model, local authorities are seen as being best placed to make decisions that reflect the needs and preferences of their local communities. In the agency-model, local authorities are seen first and foremost as agents carrying out policies on behalf of the principal central government).

One of the underlying causes of the crisis of the welfare state model was the ‘fiscal crisis of the state’ or the inability of the state itself to fund the ever-increasing demands of its own policy programs. Thus, under the first casualties of the crises were the local authorities themselves.

Most countries combine the agency and choice-model, though most tend to emphasize one or the other as the dominant tendency. This combination of models leads to a great deal of variety in fiscal arrangements of
European states, but one overall trend has been the increase in grants from the central governments and a decrease in ‘own recources’ (local taxes and fees). Local autonomy may retain a certain amount of fiscal autonomy if they have discretion
over how the grants are used.

Question 117

What is an federal state?

Answer 117

an association of states, which has been formed for certain common purposes, but in which the member states retain a large measure of their original
dependence. Prototype : US.

Certain powers are exercised by the federal or ‘general’ government and other by the ‘regional’ or constituent states. Each government is supreme in its own sphere. In this model of ‘co-ordinate federalism’ the powers of the federal government are
circumscribed by the constitution and the remaining ‘residuary’ powers may be exercised by the regional governments. Neither government may intervene in the
sphere of the other.

Question 118

Decentralization:

Answer 118

Decentralization can be political or administrative. Political decentralization means the transfer of decision-making powers from the central state to any of the subnational levels of government.

We need to distinguish regionalism and regionalization, from political decentralization. Although the establishment of political regions is always a form of decentralization, the latter does not always mean setting up regions.

Political decentralization is not the same as administrative decentralization.

Administrative decentralization means the transfer of some administrative functions
to sub-national levels of the administration. It is the central organs of the administration which remain in control of policy-making and administrative behavior.

Question 119

What is ‘meso-level’ of territorial governance?

Answer 119

The level that exists between the national
and the local level. In federal states, the component units of the federal level are the
meso-level, and their position defines the nature of the federation.

The larger unitary states, such as France, have found it necessary to set up meso-level governments ( eg: regions in france and Italy)
e.g. Italy adopted the regionalized model which distinguished between ‘special’ and ‘ordinary’ regions. ‘special regions’ were distinguished by their geographical/ cultural features(Island of Sicily) or linguistic/cultural specificity.

European integration did add a new element to these processes of strengthening regions, especially with the upgrading of EU regional policy in the form of the
Structural of Cohesion funds. This lead to a vast mobilization of regional and local authorities in the hope of obtaining some of this manna from heaven. This strengthened the position of the regions within the large unitary states, who could
argue that regionalism and regionalization were the appropriate forms of contemporary European governance.

Question 120

Local government:

Answer 120

All states, with the exception of the Vatican, possess a level of local government but there is a great deal of variation in its position within the overall system of
government. One important difference is between the unitary and federal state.

In federal states, as a general rule, local government does not have a direct relationship with the federal government but with the sub-federal mesogovernment. In unitary states, there is usually a direct relationship between the central and local levels.

However, in some cases, the body occupying the ‘meso’space (the region or the autonomous community) is the hierarchical superior of the local
authorities. This has led to a regionalist centralism ( Belgium) which may infringe the local autonomy.

Question 121

The origins of parties:

Answer 121

Since 16th-19th: notion that coordinated action is more effective than solo action
Intra-parliamentary parties, developed leadership cadres and became active in electoral campaigns
Took control from monarch and put it in parliamentarian hands

Rise of parties =/= democratization: still elite club, no universal suffrage, …

Need to mobilize large numbers of excluded to support leaders –> extra-parliamentary parties
Broadened suffrage, turned liberal regimes in liberal democracies

Intra-parliamentarian: represented upper class and upper middle class
Extra-parliamentarian: represent middle class and lower classes

Question 122

Function of parties: coordination

Answer 122

-Within government
Maintain discipline and communication within parliamentary caucus
Coordinate action of parliamentary caucus in support/opposition to cabinet

-Within society
Organize political activity of like-minded citizens
Between government and society
Pattern linkage between representatives in public office and organized supporters

Question 123

Function of parties: contesting in elections

Answer 123

• Provide candidates, link them to symbols, histories, expectations of team-like behaviour
• Develop policy programmes
• Recruit and coordinate campaign workers

Question 124

Function of parties: recruitment

Answer 124

-Selection of candidates for elections
-Recruitment of candidates for appointed office
Integration of new citizens into existing political system

Question 125

Function of parties: representation

Answer 125

• Speak for members and supporters within government agencies
• Organizational embodiment of demographically or ideologically defined categories of citizens

Question 126

What are cadre or elite parties?

Answer 126

Highly restricted suffrage, MP had own personal clientele, didn’t need mass support or party office
Worked together for common goals, grew + sometimes elaborated local organizations + coordination
Heart of organization = MP with personal campaign and support organization, for ‘national interest’

Question 127

What are mass parties (1850-…)?

Answer 127

Extra-parliamentary, core of leaders organize party central office to win elections + gain public office
Represent interest of particular group or class that were excluded from power

Strategy of encapsulation: organizations as women’s groups, after-work clubs, trade unions, services

Extensive organization required: formally defined membership + payment of fee required
National congress = highest decision-making body, chairman or president elected

Iron law oligarchy: leads to domination by party elite

Question 128

What are Catch-all parties?

Answer 128

Same idea mass parties, but organized as supporters of party in public office rather than as its master
Social breakdown, spread of mass media, social groups not large enough, …
-Reduction in role of members relative to professionals
-Shedding of ideological baggage
-No more interconnection between party and interest organizations
-Strategy across group boundaries for votes and resources

Parties professionalized (consultants, pollsters), membership superfluous

Question 129

What are Cartel parties (1975-…)?

Answer 129

Catch-all under pressure: increasing public debts –> choice between taxes or cuts in welfare spending

Globalization, growth of interest groups, … brought pressure on parties and state

Less party loyalties and memberships: change to cartel parties
- Mainstream parties form cartel to protect themselves from electoral risks + supplement
resources with state subventions
- Parties become agencies of state instead of agencies of society
- Preserve internal democracy, increase power of members and disempower part activists
- Professional expertise > political experience & activism

Question 130

What are anti-cartel parties?

Answer 130

left-libertarian / new right / movement parties
Expect deeper commitment from members, organized around an idea.

Frustrated that substantive outcomes don’t change because all parties are mainstream + in grey zone
Parties more interested in protecting own privileges than in advancing interests of ordinary citizens

Question 131

What are business-firm parties?

Answer 131

Cfr. Berlusconi: party sponsored by corporate empire and staffed by its employees
Lightweight organisation, mobilises short-term support at election-time

Question 132

Parties in the US:

Answer 132

Look like old cadre parties: cases of arrested development

• Weak central organization
• Focus on individuals rather than institutions
• No formal membership organization

But: regulated by law + mass membership to select the candidate (primaries) organized by state
Registrants free to do so, party can’t control them

Question 133

Membership political parties:

Answer 133

Original parties: only MPs as members, now all modern parties have membership
Individuals who have applied or inescapably via trade unions (mostly with social parties)
General decline in party membership, members cost more than they are worth
Couch party: so few members that they could all sit on one couch

Question 134

Regulation political parties:

Answer 134

Party laws, sometimes embedded in national constitution, regulate following things:
- Centrality of parties to democracy (justification for giving them special rights)
- Power of parties + definition of party
- Administrative convenience or necessity
Once registered, some privileges: eligible for tax credits, name on ballot, half of expenses paid back

Question 135

Finance political parties:

Answer 135

• Bans on particular forms of spending: buying advertising time in broadcast media
• Limitations on total spending: depend on size of electorate
• Disclosure of spending: provide transparency

Regulation of fundraising:
Prevent wealthy individuals / groups from exercising undue influence over parties –> easily avoidable
Difficult to define what contribution is, where it comes from, …
Public subventions
Benin tax systems, direct provision of goods and services, direct financial subventions

Question 136

Party system = result of competitive interactions, three main elements:

Answer 136

• Which parties exist? Why do all systems have socialist parties but not agrarians? –> origin
• How many parties exist and how big are they? –> morphology / format
• How do parties behave to maximize votes? –> dynamics

Pluralism needed with free elections (not like China or Syria)

Question 137

GENEALOGY OF PARTY SYSTEMS: The national and industrial revolutions 1850-1920:

Answer 137

Socio-economic and political changes

• Industrial revolution: changes by industrialization and urbanization
• National revolution: formation nation-states (homogenous + centralized) + liberal democracy

Social groups, values, interests and elites opposed: modern parties = political translation of divisions

Question 138

GENEALOGY OF PARTY SYSTEMS: Cleavages and their political translation

Answer 138

• National revolution
-Centre vs periphery
Political power, administration, taxation systems centralized, national languages + national religion
Resistance in regionalist parties (Basque, Catalan, Scottish, …)

-State vs church
Promotion of secular institutions, individualism and democracy, against huge role of church
Liberals against conservatives

• Industrial revolution
-Rural vs urban
Landed rural interests against rising class of industrial and trading entrepreneurs
Focus on trade policies: protectionism (agrarians) vs liberalism (industrials)
-Workers vs employers
Industrial entrepreneurs who started revolution vs working class resulting from it, capital vs labour
Caused geographical mobility, changed production mode, social rights and welfare state

• International revolution
-Communism vs socialism
Revolution necessary or not? Acceptance of Soviet communist party as leaders?
Reaction against radicalization working class = fascism –> nation > class

• Post-industrial revolution
-Materialism vs post-materialism
Between generations over socio-political values: tolerance, equality, environment, freedom, peace, ..
&laquo_space;» materialists: security, law & order, protection private property, tradition, authority

Globalization cleavage
Economic defensive attitudes, anti-immigration, xenophobic, …extreme right wings

Question 139

Why are there no socialist parties in US?

Answer 139

• Open frontier: geographical + social mobility, workers moved in search of good conditions
• Dominance republicans + democrats made rise of third party difficult
• Working class white men allowed to vote and were integrated in political system
• No feudalism, no aristocracy working class similar to European bourgeoisie

Question 140

GENEALOGY OF PARTY SYSTEMS: Variations in cleavage constellations

Answer 140

Space
Not all cleavages everywhere, country-specific, determined by
- Differences in social structures, ethnicities, religious groups, class relations
- Extent to which socio-economic and cultural divisions have been politicized

Homogenous: one predominant cleavage –> left-right
Heterogeneous: various cleavages overlap or cut across one another (Belgium)

Time
Freezing hypothesis: reflect original conflicts
Voters get strong identities, hardly room for new parties, hardly volatility between left & right

Question 141

What are dominant party systems?

Answer 141

One very large party dominates all others with large majority over several decades

Free elections, but everyone votes massively for one party, no power alternation, no coalitions

Question 142

What are two party systems?

Answer 142

Two fairly equally balances large parties, alternation in power after almost each election

Comparable sizes, equal chances in winning. Other small parties not needed to form government

FPTP system, plurality = ideological moderation = similar programmes

Question 143

What are multi-party systems?

Answer 143

Most frequent type, from 3 to 10 parties, small and large parties, coalitions

No ideological moderation, government change mostly through swaps of coalitions

Better representation of socio-political pluralism, stable, functioning, peaceful

Moderate multi-party systems
Less than 5 parties, moderate visions, all coalitions possible

Polarized multi-party systems
Ideological distance, not all coalitions possible, some excluded and always in opposition
One centre party which is always in power, not punished electorally because no alternatives

Question 144

What are bipolar systems?

Answer 144

Many parties, no majority, coalition already before elections an run as electoral alliances
Stable coalitions over time, mostly two great coalitions which alternate (cfr. Two-party systems)

Question 145

Number of parties:

Answer 145

Numerical rules: based on size: many small parties (fragmented) or few large ones (concentrated)
Qualitative rules: based on role: coalition potential vs blackmail potential

Question 146

The influence of electoral laws on the format of party systems:

Answer 146

Causes for varying numbers of parties and their size

Question 147

What is the market analogy?

Answer 147

Parties maximize votes, actors are rational, seek control, self-interested, appeal to large group
Face alternatives, inform themselves, search individual advantages

Question 148

What is the spatial analogy

Answer 148

Proximity / distance between individual preferences and party policies (bakery)

Question 149

What is the downs-model?

Answer 149

Bell-shape: voters in centre, moderate ideologies

Centrifugal competition: voters to the extremes, ideological polarization

Question 150

The wider application of rational choice models:

Answer 150

Party organization: rational choice explains transformation from mss parties to catch-all parties
Dealignment: looser relationships parties – society, vague programmes to attract more voters
Enfranchisement and democratization: reformist wanted socialist in power through votes
PR and multiparty systems: high abstention levels in FPTP
More opinion-voters than identity-voters

Question 151

Why more and more convergence?

Answer 151

• Development of large homogenous middle class
• Reduction of social inequalities + secularization of society
• Nationalization and globalization more integration, less ethnic difficulties

Question 152

Modes of participation

Answer 152

1. Social movements
   = streams of activities that target demands at policy-makers through community, street and media events
   Small formal organizational cores
   No formal membership
2. Interest groups
   = activities where participants mainly rely on communicating preferences, demands
   and threats to policy-makers tends to create durable interest groups
   Formally organized
   Explicit membership roles + internal statutes
   Power derives from the centralization of its internal organization
   –> Credible commitments
3. Political parties
   = activities in which participants cooperate in order to nominate legislative
   candidates, help them attract voters and organize voter turnout
   Few candidates, reputations and promises voters perspective
   One core competence: participatory mobilization

Question 153

Paradox of collective action:

Answer 153

• People participate in politics to bring about authoritative decisions allocating goods to large groups = collective goods

o Collective action paradox
People behave as free riders
Selective incentives overcome the problem
• Private benefits only for participants outweigh the costs –> participation!

Solutions:

1. Political entrepreneurs consider participation not as costly
2. Participation as benefit itself
3. Underrate the costs
4. Social networks = monitoring device

Question 154

Differences in participation within democracies:

Answer 154

• Political opportunity structure
  To be able to incorporate new issues?

• Multi-party systems: easy
But proportional representation: independent mobilization
• Two-party system: lack of internal cohesion

Question 155

Labour union membership (= interest group) depends on:

Answer 155

o Agriculture urban manufacturing service industries
o Political regime
o Communism –> economic development policy interest group participation
o Ghent system: unemployment insurance by labour unions

Question 156

Political organizations and mobilization:

Answer 156

• Actors will invest in collective action only if future benefits justify current expenses
  1. Organizational infrastructure that facilitates coordination
  2. Process of redefining or expanding the objectives driving the mobilization
  effort

Learning process
Temporally discrete objectives/ single issue causes social movements
Open-ended and permanent struggles around certain objectives/ specialize range
of issues/ limited issue domain –> political interest groups

• Political interest groups
  Are not making authoritative political decisions in democracies
  But challenge unresponsive politicians forming own political party?
  • Preconditions for entry:
  1. Institutional thresholds
  2. The party appeals to a salient issue demand that is not
  represented by existing parties
  3. Strategic deliberation and generalization of political
  objectives
  Political causes pursue complex agendas of interdependent issues

Question 157

Political participation: Individual

Answer 157

1. Resources: socio-economic skills and endowments
   Availability of time
   Schooling/education
   • Process more information
   • Self-confidence + sense of individual capacity is higher
   • More efficient strategies
   • More developed deliberative processes
   Impact on income and occupational time sovereignty
   Promote involvement in civic activities

2. Recruitment
 Associational involvement
• Organization of the work process: class and group milieus
 Role of the family
 Age and gender: older + male

3. Orientations
   Political interest and ideology
4. Contextual cues
   Micro: networks of family and friends
   Meso: large, encompassing associations and densely organized parties
   Macro: democratic institutions, strategic alignments, PR, interaction effects
   between citizens’ individual resources and complex causal chains that
   reinforce differentials of participation

Question 158

Policies:

Answer 158

government statements of what it intends to do, including law, regulation, ruling, decision or order

Question 159

Public policy:

Answer 159

Public policy = a more specific termwich refers to a series of actions carried out to solve societal problems → Public policies are the main output of the political system!!

Question 160

Rational model of decision-making:

Answer 160

• Formulates guidance on how to secure ‘optimal’ policy decisions.

• “Bayesian learning” → governments update their beliefs on the consequences of policies with
all available information about policy outcomes in the past and elsewhere, and choose the policy that is expected to yield the best results.

• Involves a number of demanding assumptions: e.g. expactation to have perfect information

• “Public choice theory” examines the logic and foundations of actions of individuals and groups
that are involved in de policy-making process. (main objects of analysis: voting behaviour and
party competition, coalition and government formation, …)

• Related to “game theory”

Question 161

Setting the agenda:

Answer 161

important source of power as it is policy consequential; but also the ability to exclude societal problems from the policy agenda (non-decisions) is an important source of policyshaping power.

Question 162

Agenda-settng: 3 basic policy initiation models

Answer 162

1) Outside-initiative model ⇒ citizen groups gain broad public support and get an issue onto the
formal agenda

2) Mobilization model ⇒ initiatives of governments need to be placed on the public agenda for
succesful implementation

3) inside-initiation model ⇒ influential groups with acces to decision makerspresent policy
proposals, wich are broadly supported by certain interest groups but only marginally by the
public

→ KINGDON: three process streams flowing through the system: problems, policies and politics
~simular to the garbage can model the relevance of chance, the view that agenda-setting
represents rational bahviour

Question 163

The policy agenda is set by four types of actors:

Answer 163

1) Public officials (president, parliament, …)
2) Bureaucracy
3) Mass media
4) Interest groups
5) (political parties and scientific communities)
Agenda-setting is an important source of power ⇒ first mover advantage

Question 164

Three main types of voting systems:

Answer 164

1) Plurality-majority system
2) Proportional representation
3) Mixed systems

The relation between the legislative and executiveis also of cruscial importance (e.g. parliamentary vs.
presidential regimes)

LIJPHART (!!) → democratic systems tend to fall in two categories: majoritarian system (concentrates
power ans fuses executive and legislative power in the classic parliamentary power) and consensus
democracies (sharing power by separating and balancing executive and legislative power)