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J - POL S 230 (1/2) > February 5, 2015 Chapter 8 & 9: Governments and Bureaucracy > Flashcards

February 5, 2015 Chapter 8 & 9: Governments and Bureaucracy Flashcards

1
Q

What is the term “government” most often used to describe?

A

The country’s central political executive.

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2
Q

Today’s governments emerged through the splitting off of ___ and ___ functions, which happened in 12th Century England.

A

Judicial, legislative.

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3
Q

In order for a government to be democratic, it must have 2 features: what are they?

A
  1. Connection to electoral process.

2. Constitutional constraints.

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4
Q

What is a constitution?

A

A body of meta-norms that specify how all other norms are to be produced, applied, enforced, and interpreted.

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5
Q

What are the 3 types of constitution?

A
  1. Absolutist.
  2. Legislative supremacy.
  3. “Higher law.”
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6
Q

What is an absolutist constitution?

A

Ruler is above the law.

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7
Q

What is a legislative supremacy constitution?

A

Stresses the sovereignty of the legislative, constitution can be changed by the parliament.

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8
Q

What is a “higher law” constitution?

A

Constitution defines legislature.

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9
Q

What is the convergence of the 3 constitution types called?

A

New constitutionalism.

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10
Q

Constitutions are typically silent about the internal working of government, leaving a remarkable degree of ___ to political actors.

A

Flexibility.

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11
Q

What are the 5 ways in which governments can be organized?

A
  1. Presidentialism.
  2. Parliamentalism.
  3. Directoral government.
  4. Directly elected prime minister.
  5. Semi-presidentialism.
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12
Q

Give an example of a state that exhibits presidentialism.

A

U.S.

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13
Q

What is presidentialism?

A

Head of the government is the president, who is popularly elected. Based on the idea of the separation of power.

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14
Q

What is parliamentalism?

A

Head of the government is different from the head of the state (P.M. vs. the monarch). Government is accountable to parliament.

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15
Q

Give examples of parliamentalism states.

A

Canada, Australia, New Zealand.

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16
Q

What is a directorial government?

A

7 individuals are elected by the parliament.

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17
Q

What country uses a directorial government?

A

Switzerland.

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18
Q

What country used to use a directly elected prime minister?

A

Israel.

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19
Q

What is semi-presidentialism?

A

Difference with presidentialism is that the cabinet is accountable to the parliament.

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20
Q

Give an example of a country that uses semi-presidentialism.

A

France.

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21
Q

How does a presidential government operate?

A

By concentrating all executive power in a single, directly elected person.

22
Q

What are the 3 different decision models in the operation of a parliamentary government?

A
  1. Cabinet government.
  2. P.M. government.
  3. Ministerial government.
23
Q

What is a cabinet government?

A

Cabinet discusses and decides collectively, P.M. is “primus inter pares.” Problem is that there are too many and too technical issues.

24
Q

What is a P.M. government?

A

Since the 1960’s, started replacing cabinet governments. More monocratic decision-making by the P.M., and closer to presidentialism.

25
Q

What is the difference between a P.M. government and a presidential government/

A

A presidential government has filed terms, while a P.M. government does not.

26
Q

What is a ministerial government?

A

Distributes power among individual members, ministers are policy dictators. Mutual non-intervention.

27
Q

Modern governments are ___ governments.

A

Party.

28
Q

How do political parties influence government?

A

Party programs, selection of party ministers, duration of party’s control over the cabinet.

29
Q

Party programs are more influential if…

A

They are clearly defined.

30
Q

Selection of cabinet members is more influential when…

A

The party has greater control over this.

31
Q

How does the duration of the party’s control over the cabinet affect that party’s influence?

A

Generally, the longer the control, the more the influence.

32
Q

How are governments influenced by bureaucracy?

A

Problem identification (agenda setting) and problem of political choices.

33
Q

What is the political capacity of a presidential or semi-presidential government?

A

Government capacities are constrained in cases of divided governments, where the president is from one party and at least one chamber is controlled by another.

34
Q

What is a risk in the political capacity of presidential or semi-presidential governments?

A

Risk of gridlock due to institutional rigidity.

35
Q

What are 4 presidential strategies to deal with gridlock?

A
  1. Dictating.
  2. Undertaking unilateral actions.
  3. Bargaining.
  4. Paying-off.
36
Q

What is the political capacity of single-party majority parliamentary regimes?

A

Homogenous, quick decisions, avoidance of compromise.

37
Q

What is the political capacity of coalition minority governments?

A

In theory, appears to be an unstable situation, as they must make compromises. However, in practice, it is relatively stable, as they occupy an ideological centre, and is policy-oriented rather than office-seeking politicians.

38
Q

What are the key characteristics of bureaucratic organizations according to Max Weber?

A
  1. Personnel.
  2. Organization.
  3. Procedure.
39
Q

What is the personnel in bureaucratic organizations?

A

Payroll.

40
Q

What is the organization in bureaucratic organizations?

A

Division of labour.

41
Q

What is the procedure in bureaucratic organizations?

A

Impersonal interpretation of law.

42
Q

Since bureaucratic organizations are based on ___ recruitment, they are considered to be politically neutral.

A

Merit.

43
Q

What are the 2 public choice theories of bureaucracies?

A
  1. Parkinson’s Law.

2. Niksanen.

44
Q

What is Parkinson’s Law?

A

Bureaucrats tend to grow constantly.

45
Q

What did Niksanen say about in his public choice theory of bureaucracy?

A

Bureaucrats have a private interest to increase their budget.

46
Q

Why is it difficult to stop bureaucracies?

A
  1. The measuring of “output.”

2. Lack/absence of competitive pressure.

47
Q

What are the 3 micro-economic theories that deal with bureaucratic capacity?

A
  1. Leisure-shirking.
  2. Dissent-shirking.
  3. Political sabotage.
48
Q

What are spoil systems?

A

The victorious party points large layers of the administration.

49
Q

What is new public management?

A

Transferring the ideology of the private sector to the public sector.

50
Q

The general government capacities of political parties are influenced by:

A

Length, political leaders, and political programs.

51
Q

In a presidential system, unitary vs. divided government, which is better?

A

In theory, unitary is better, as decisions get processed faster and more efficiently. However, in practice, divided is better, as strategies are used to negate the bad aspects.

J - POL S 230 (1/2) (6 decks)

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