Introduction To Comparative Gov.

Question 0

Define normative statements

Answer 0

Issues that require value judgements

Question 1

Define empirical data

Answer 1

Based on factual statements and statistics

Question 2

Define independent variable

Answer 2

One that influences the dependent variable

Question 3

Define dependent variable

Answer 3

Its action depends on the influence of the independent variable

Question 4

Define causation

Answer 4

The idea that one variable causes or influences another

Question 5

Define correlation

Answer 5

Exists when a change in one variable coincides with a change in the other

Question 6

What is Max Weber’s definition of a state?

Answer 6

The organization that maintains a monopoly of violence over a territory. In other words, the state defines who can and can’t use weapons and force, and it sets the rules as to how violence is used.

Question 7

What’s the difference between centripetal and centrifugal forces within a state?

Answer 7

Centripetal forces bind together the people of a state, giving it strength.
Ex: nationalism

Centrifugal forces oppose centripetal forces. They destabilize the government and encourage the country to fall apart.
Ex: religion

Question 8

Define integration

Answer 8

A process that encourages states to pool their sovereignty in order to gain political, economic, and social clout. Integration binds states together with common policies and shared rules.

Question 9

Why are the differences between command, market, and mixed economies?

Answer 9

• In a command economy, the government owns almost all industrial enterprises and sales outlets, and competition and profit are prohibited.
• In a mixed economy, elements of command and market economies are present/mixed.
• In a market economy, the right to own property is accepted/guaranteed. Most industry is owned by private individuals. Competition and profit are not controlled by the government.

Question 10

What is the difference between unitary, federal, and confederal system?

Answer 10

• A unitary system is one that concentrates all policy making powers in one central geographic place, and the central government is responsible for most policy areas.
• A confederal system spreads the power among many sub-units (such as states), and has a weak central government.
• A federal system divides the power between the central government and sub units, and regional bodies have significant powers, such as taxation, lawmaking, and keeping order.

Question 11

What is a nation?

Answer 11

A group of people that are bound together by a common political identity

Question 12

What is a stateless nation?

Answer 12

A people without a state

Question 13

Give an example of a stateless nation

Answer 13

The Kurds in the Middle East

Question 14

What are some fundamental features of an authoritarian regime?

Answer 14

• decisions are made by political elites (those who hold power) without much input from citizens
• the economy is generally tightly controlled by the political elite
• no constitutional responsibility of leaders to the public
• restriction of civil rights and civil liberties

Question 15

What is corporatism?

Answer 15

An arrangement in which government officials interact with people/groups outside the government before they set policy

Question 16

What is the difference between GDP and PPP?

Answer 16

• GDP is all the goods and services produced by a country’s economy in a given year, excluding income citizens and groups earn outside the country
• PPP is like GNP, except that it takes into consideration what people can buy using their income in the local economy

Question 17

What does the Gini Index measure?

Answer 17

The amount of economic inequality in a society

Question 18

What does a low score on the Gini Index mean?

Answer 18

More equal income or wealth distribution (more equality)

Question 19

Define referendum

Answer 19

A national ballot, called by the government on a policy issue, which allows the public to make direct decisions about policy itself

Question 20

What type of party system is likely to result from a plurality electoral system?

Answer 20

Two (or few) party system

Question 21

What type of party system is likely to result from a proportional representation system?

Answer 21

Multi-party system

Question 22

What is a linkage institution? Give an example.

Answer 22

Groups that connect the government to its citizens

Ex: political parties, interest group, print and electronic media

Question 23

What is judicial review?

Answer 23

Mechanism that allows courts to review laws and executive actions for their constitutionality

Question 24

What are some characteristics of the upper house of most bicameral legislatures?

Answer 24

-upper house generally represents regional governments and local interests

Question 25

What’s the difference between beauracracts in authoritarian and democratic regimes?

Answer 25

• Democratic regimes base their authority on the will of the people
• in authoritarian regimes, decisions are made by political elites

Question 26

What is a cabinet coalition?

Answer 26

Several parties join forces and are represented in different cabinet posts

Question 27

What is common law?

Answer 27

Based on tradition, past practices, and legal precedents set by the courts through interpretations of statutes, legal legislation, and past rulings

Question 28

Define liberalism

Answer 28

Places emphasis on individual political and economic freedom

Question 29

Define socialism

Answer 29

Shares the value of equality with communism but is also influenced by the liberal value of freedom

Question 30

What is a liberal democracy?

Answer 30

Display other democratic characteristics beyond having competitive elections:

• civil liberties
• rule of law
• neutrality of the judiciary
• open civil society
• civilian control of the military

Question 31

Define democratic consolidation

Answer 31

The willingness on the part of the ruling elite to accept power-sharing agreements, as well as a readiness on the part of the people to participate in the process and lend it their active support.

Question 32

Define economic liberalization

Answer 32

Process of limiting the power of the state over private property and market forces

Question 33

Define globalization

Answer 33

Forces that tie people o the world together

Question 34

Difference between coinciding and cross cutting cleavages?

Answer 34

• Coinciding: when every dispute aligns the same groups against each other
• cross-cutting: divide society into many potential groups that may conflict on one issue but cooperate on another

Question 35

Define civil society

Answer 35

Voluntary organizations outside of the state that help people define and advance their own interests

Question 36

Define reform

Answer 36

Type of change that doesn’t advocate the overthrow of basic institutions

Question 37

Define revolution

Answer 37

Implies change at a more basic level, and involves either a major revision or an overthrow of existing institutions

Question 38

Define coup d’etats

Answer 38

Replace the leadership of a country with new leaders