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Political Science 6 > Final > Flashcards

Final Flashcards

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1
Q

Institutionalization

A

the degree to which government processes and procedures are established, predictable, and routinized

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2
Q

Political Accountability

A

the ability of the citizenry, directly or indirectly, to control political leaders and institutions

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3
Q

Consensus democracy

A

a democratic system with multiparty executives in a coalition government, executive-legislative balance, bicameral legislatures, and rigid constitutions that are not easily amended

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4
Q

Coalition Government

A

government in a parliamentary system in which at least two parties negotiate an agreement to rule together

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5
Q

Veto Player

A

an individual or collective actor whose agreement is essential for any policy change

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6
Q

Head of State

A

The official, symbolic representative of a country, authorized to speak on its behalf and represent it, particularly in world affairs; usually a president or a monarch

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7
Q

Head of Government

A

the key executive power in a state; usually a president or a monarch

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8
Q

Parliamentarism

A

a term denoting a parliamentary system of democracy in which the executive and legislative branches are fused via parliament’s election of the chief executive

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9
Q

Prime Minister

A

the head of government in parliamentary and semi-presidential systems

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10
Q

Member of Parliament

A

an elected member of the legislature in a parliamentary system

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11
Q

Vote of No Confidence

A

in parliamentary systems, a vote by parliament to remove a government (the prime minister and cabinet) from power

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12
Q

Bicameral Legislature

A

a legislature that has two houses

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13
Q

Presidentialism

A

a term denoting a presidential system of democracy in which the executive and legislature are elected independently and have separate and independent powers

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14
Q

Separation of Powers

A

Constitutionally explicit division of power among the major branches of government

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15
Q

Judicial Review

A

the authority of the judiciary to decide whether a specific law contradicts a country’s constitution

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16
Q

Common Law

A

legal system originating in Britain in which judges base decisions not only on their understanding of the written law but also on their understanding of past court cases; in contrast to code law

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17
Q

“stare decisis”

A

literally “let the decision stand”; in common law, the practice of accepting the precedent of previous similar cases

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18
Q

Code Law

A

legal system originating in ancient Roman law and modified by Napoleon Bonaparte in France in which judges may only follow the law as written and must ignore past decisions; in contrast to common law

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19
Q

judicial independence

A

the belief and ability of judges to decide cases as they think appropriate, regardless of what other people, and especially politically powerful officials or institutions, desire

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20
Q

Principle-Agent Problem

A

a problem in which a principle hires an agent to perform a task but the agent’s self-interest does not necessarily align with the principal’s, so the agent may not carry out the task as assigned

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21
Q

Political Appointees

A

officials who serve at the pleasure of the president or prime minister and are assigned the task of overseeing their respective segments of the bureaucracy

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22
Q

legislative oversight

A

members of the legislature, usually in committees, oversee the bureaucracy

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23
Q

New Public Management (NPM)

A

theory of reform of bureaucracies that argues for the privatizing of many government services, creating competition among agencies to stimulate a market, focusing on customer satisfaction, and flattening administrative hierarchies

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24
Q

Rent Seeking

A

gaining an advantage in a market without engaging in equally productive activity; usually involves using government regulations for one’s own benefits

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25
Q

Iron Triangles

A

three-sided cooperative interaction among bureaucrats, legislators, and business leaders in a particular sector that serves the interests of all involved but keeps others out of the policy-making process

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26
Q

Unitary Systems

A

political systems in which the central government has sole constitutional sovereignty and power; in contrast to a federal system

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27
Q

Federal Systems

A

political systems in which a state’s power is legally and constitutionally divided among more than one level of government; in contrast to a unitary system

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28
Q

Symmetrical Federal System

A

a federal system in which all subnational governments (states or provinces) have the same relationship with and rights in relation to the national government

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29
Q

Asymmetrical Federal System

A

a federal system in which different subnational governments (states or provinces) have distinct relationships with and rights in relation to the national government

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30
Q

Devolution

A

partial decentralization of power from central government to subunits such as states or provinces, with subunits’ power being dependent on central government and reversible

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31
Q

Collective Action Problem

A

individuals being unwilling to engage in a particular activity because of their rational belief that their individual actions will have little or no effect, yet collectively suffering adverse consequences when all fail to act

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32
Q

Electoral Systems

A

Formal, legal mechanisms that translate votes into control over political offices and shares of political power

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33
Q

Single-Member District (SMD)

A

Electoral system in which each geographic district elects a single representative to a legislature

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34
Q

Plurality

A

the receipt of the most votes, but not necessarily a majority

35
Q

“first-past-the-post”

A

an SMD system in which the candidate with a plurality of votes win

36
Q

Virtual Representation

A

when voters’ views are represented indirectly in the legislature by their chosen party’s candidates who have been elected in districts other than their own

37
Q

Proportional Representation

A

Electoral system in which seats in a legislature are apportioned on a purely proportional basis, giving each party the share of seats that matches its share of the total vote

38
Q

Closed-List Proportional Representation

A

electoral system in which each party presents a ranked list of candidates, voters vote for the party rather than for individual candidates on its list in rank order

39
Q

Open-List Proportional Representation

A

Electoral system in which multiple candidates run in each district, voters vote for the individual candidate of their choice, and the candidates with the most votes in the party get the seats the party wins

40
Q

Mixed, or Semiproportional

A

an electoral system that combines single-member district representation with overall proportionality in allocation of legislative seats to parties; Germany is a key example

41
Q

Party System

A

the number of parties and their relative institutional strength

42
Q

Populism

A

a broad and charismatic appeal to poor people on the part of a leader to solve their problems directly via governmental largess; most common in Latin American in the early to mid-twentieth century

43
Q

Dominant-Party System

A

party system in which multiple parties exist but the same one wins every election and governs continuously

44
Q

Two-Party System

A

party system in which only two parties are able to garner enough votes to win an election, though more may compete; UK and US

45
Q

Two-and-a-Half System

A

party system in which two large parties win the most votes but typically neither gains a majority; a third (the “half” party) must join one of the major parties to form a legislative majority

46
Q

Multiparty System

A

party systems in which more than two parties could potentially win a national election and govern

47
Q

Duverger’s Law

A

institutionalist argument by French political scientist Maurice Duverger that SMD electoral systems will produce two major parties, eliminating smaller parties

48
Q

Interest-Group Pluralism

A

interest-group system in which many groups exist to represent particular interests and the government remains officially neutral among them; US

49
Q

Neocorporatism

A

also called corporatism; corporatism that evolves historically and voluntarily rather than being mandated by the state; Germany is a key example

50
Q

Peak Associations

A

organizations that bring together all interest groups in a particular sector to influence and negotiate agreements with the state; in the United States an example is the AFL-CIO

51
Q

State Corporatism

A

corporatism mandated by the state; common in fascist regimes

52
Q

Social Movements

A

part of civil society; they have a loosely defined organizational structure and represent people who perceive themselves to be outside formal institutions, seek major socioeconomic or political changes, or employ non-institutional forms of collective action

53
Q

Social Capital

A

social networks and norms of reciprocity that are important for a strong civil society

54
Q

Hindu Nationalism

A

in India, a movement to define the country as primarily Hindu; the founding ideology of the BJP

55
Q

Supreme Leader

A

individual who wields executive power with few formal limits in an authoritarian regime; in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the formal title of the top ruling cleric

56
Q

Dictator’s Dilemma

A

an authoritarian ruler’s repression creates fear, which then breeds uncertainty about how much support the ruler has; in response, the ruler spends more resources than is rational to co-opt the opposition

57
Q

Personality Cult

A

phenomenon that occurs in the most extreme cases of personalist rule in which followers constantly glorify the ruler and attempt to turn his every utterance into not only government fiat but also divine wisdom

58
Q

Regime Change

A

the process through which one regime is transformed into another

59
Q

Coup d’État

A

when the military forcibly removes an existing regime and establishes a new one

60
Q

Revolution

A

a relatively rapid transformation of the political system and social structure that results from the overthrow of the prior regime by mass participation in extralegal political action, which is often, but not always, violent

61
Q

Revolutions from Above

A

revolutions in which the outcomes are negotiated among political elites, each with the backing of a segment of the populace

62
Q

Revolution from Below

A

revolutions in which a mass uprising of the populace to overthrow the government plays a central role

63
Q

Vertical Accountability

A

the ability of individuals and groups in a society to hold state institutions accountable

64
Q

Horizontal Accountability

A

the ability of state institutions to hold one another accountable

65
Q

Separation of Powers

A

constitutionally explicit division of power among the major branches of government

66
Q

Judiciary

A

branch of government that interprets the law and applies it to individual cases

67
Q

Transition to Democracy

A

a regime change typically involving a negotiated process that removes an authoritarian regime and concludes with a founding election of a new democratic regime

68
Q

Hardliners

A

Leaders of an authoritarian regime who believe in repressing any opposition and preserving the status quo when faced with a demand for political liberalization or democratization

69
Q

Softliners

A

Leaders of an authoritarian regime who are willing to consider compromising with opponents as a means to survive demands for democratization

70
Q

Radicals

A

Leaders of democracy movements who wish to achieve immediate and complete democracy and are unwilling to compromise with the existing regime

71
Q

Moderates

A

leaders of democracy movements who are willing to compromise with the authoritarian regime to gain partial democracy

72
Q

Political Liberalization

A

the opening of the political system to greater participation; typically before a transition to democracy

73
Q

Pact

A

in a transition to democracy, a conscious agreement among actors in the authoritarian regime and those in civil society to establish a new form of government

74
Q

Founding Election

A

the first democratic election in many years (or ever), marking the completion of a transition to democracy

75
Q

Democratic Consolidation

A

the widespread acceptance of democracy as the permanent form of political activity; all significant political elites and their followers accept democratic rulers and are confident everyone else does well

76
Q

Social Policy

A

policy focused on reducing poverty and income inequality and stabilizing individual or family income

77
Q

Universal Entitlements

A

benefits that governments provide to all citizens more or less equally, usually funded through general taxation; in the US, public education is an example

78
Q

Social Insurance

A

provides benefits to categories of people who have contributed to a (usually mandatory) public insurance fund; typically used to provide retirement pensions

79
Q

Means-Tested Public Assistance

A

social programs that provide benefits to individuals who fall below a specific income level; TANF is an example in the United States

80
Q

Tax Expenditures

A

targeted tax breaks for specific groups of citizens to achieve social policy goals

81
Q

Welfare Staters

A

distinct systems of social policies that arose after WWII in wealthy market economies, including social democratic welfare states, Christian democratic welfare states, and liberal welfare states.

82
Q

Social Democratic Welfare States

A

states whose social policies strongly emphasize universal entitlements to achieve greater social equality and promote equal citizenship; Sweden is key example

83
Q

Christian Democratic Welfare States

A

states whose social policies are based on the nuclear family with a male breadwinner, designed primarily to achieve income stabilization to mitigate the effects of market induced income insecurity; Germany is a key example

84
Q

Liberal Welfare States

A

states whose social policies focus on ensuring that all who can do so gain their income in the market

Political Science 6 (1 decks)

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