Midterm Flashcards
a form of regime associated with “rule by the people” with rights and liberties for citizens
Democracy
is the ideology of government that favors closed, concentrated, and hierarchical process of decision making, often characterized by blind obedience to authority and suppression of individual freedom
Authoritarianism
authoritarian regimes in which elections are held, at least nominally
Electoral authoritarianism
Formal democratic institutions are in place but often and significantly violates, thus failing to meet standards for democracy
Competitive authoritarianism
democracy but the electorate delegates much authority to the government
Delegative democracy
democracy, but political and civil rights are not all provided or protected
Illiberal Democracy
a political system that is marked by free and fair elections, and by the rule of law, a separation of powers, and the protection of basic liberties of speech, assembly, religion, and property
Liberal Democracy
Levitsky’s Opinion on democratic institutions
o Formal democratic institutions are widely views as the principal means of obtaining and exercising political authority. Incumbents violate those rules so often and to such an extent, however, that the regime fails to meet conventional minimum standards for democracy
o Democracy is the rule of the game, but frequently and severely violated that fail to meet the minimum requirement of a democracy
o Arenas for political authority contestation in a competitive authoritarian regime
The electoral arena- elections can be meaningful
Legislature- maybe weak but not absent
Judiciary- formal judicial independence and incomplete control by the government can provide political openings
The media- independent media and media supervision
o Transition from democratic to authoritarian regime
Democratic breakdown
o Process by which a new democratic order becomes institutionalized
o Democracy more likely to endure in “consolidated democracies” than “transitional democracies”
Democratic consolidation
o Political organizations that bring together diverse groups of people and ideas under the umbrella of an ideological mandate
Political Parties
o Patterns of party politics characterized by the number of relevant parties in a country
o Types: dominant, tow party, and multi-party
Party Systems
o Organizations that make demands in the political system on behalf of their constituents and members
Interest Groups
groups compete openly to influence government decisions and policy marketplace for ideas and equal opportunity for groups; collective action problem and important groups may be excluded
Pluralism
certain major groups are officially designated as representatives of certain interests ensures representation and facilitates consensus and national strategy; state can co-opt groups and contribute to authoritarianism; elitism also
Corporatism
o Political parties in which membership and scope are largely restricted
Elite Parties
o Parties with large number of citizens as members and undertake massive political mobilization
Mass Parties
o Parties that are flexible on their ideological positions and aim to attract support from a broad range of interest groups and voters
Catch-all Parties
o A party system in which one party dominates
Dominant Party System
o Party system with two significant parties that have duopoly on governing
o Median voter theorem; strategic voting for more extreme voters
Two-party system
o Party system with more than two major parties that have opportunities to govern; can be relatively fragmented
Multi-party system
Single ballot majoritarian elections with single member districts tend to favor a two-party system
Proportional representation favors multi party systems
o Duverger’s Law
Root words for democracies
Demos + Kratos
origin of democracy? How was it defined?
Greek around 5th century BCE; A form of regime associated with rule by the people with rights and liberties for citizens
o Basic rules, procedure, or standards required; also called minimal definition of democracy
Procedural Definitions
o Emphasis on achieving end goals, more equity and more participation
Substantiative Definitions
A kind of regime; transition from one type of regime to another, through which it becomes more of a democracy
Democratization
emphasis on direct citizen involvement; committee meetings to discuss
Direct Democracy
Politicians and institutions represent the citizens; there are elections
Representative Democracy
o Features of social organization such as networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination an cooperation for mutual benefit
Social Capital
Civil society in Pluralist v Corporatist systems
o Relations to the state : less state involvement v more state involvement
o Organizational and structural differences: nonhierarchical v hierarchical characteristics
o Diversity of civil organizations: multiple groups competing v fewer groups
Civil society and democratic transitions
o Conditions for civil society to thrive are conducive to democratization
Civil society and quality of democracy
o Stimulates political participation
o Provides alternative channels for interest’s representation
o Develops democratic attitudes: tolerance, moderation, compromise
o Promotes socioeconomic development and improves governance by help addressing problems like social inequity
The state led deliberation or elimination of the political institutions sustaining an existing democracy
Democratic backsliding
The process by which institutions, practices, values, and norms gradually and perhaps slowly get eaten away
Democratic erosion
o Fundamental rules and norms of politics, embodies basic principles in political in society, particularly where power should reside and how it should be used
Regime
o Regime controlled by a small group of individuals who exercise power over the state without being constitutionally responsible to the public
Non-democratic regime
o Regimes in which fundamental rules and norms of politics exemplify the authoritarianism
Authoritarian regimes
o A type of authoritarian regime in which a state is controlled more by a group of elites rather than a single leader
Bureaucratic-authoritarian regimes
a form of authoritarian regime that aims to control everything about the lives of its subject population
Totalitarian regime
an authoritarian state controlled by religious leaders, or a state with very strict religious restrictions that uses religion as its main mode of legitimation
Theocracies
Cause and effects of authoritarianism - Historical institutionalism
o Theory: coalitions among groups or classes shape fates of regimes, and institutions give these coalitions enduring effects
When actors combine forces, they may get regime that benefits them
Important actors may include social classes, economic interests, working class and peasants, military
o Barrington Moore: whether a strong middle class was present when a society passed to political modernity makes a difference
Cause and effects of authoritarianism- states weakness and failure
o Theory: states with weak institutions are more likely to be authoritarian
o Result in predatory states
o Less capable of totalitarianism
o State weakness may be intervening variable
Low development weakness authoritarianism
Unstable coalition weakness authoritarianism
Cause and effects of authoritarianism- poverty and inequality
o Theory: high levels of poverty or inequality leads to more authoritarianism
Absence of middle class
Populace in poverty concerns more with economic issues than political liberties
Inequality leads to mistrust between groups
* Wealthy interests and reactionary authoritarians may defend privilege
* Poor masses and radical authoritarianism may favor populism and redistribution
providing benefits to people in return for public support
Clientelism
assembly or body of representatives with the authority to make laws
Legislature
o Representation of citizens
o Vote on legislation
o Control spending
o Oversee the executive
o Votes of no confidence (parliamentary systems)
o Impeachment
Functions of legislature
voters select representatives from specific geographic constituencies
o Voters on the losing side may not feel represented
districting can result in more/less seats for different parties
o Gerrymandering can occur
o Apportionment of seats by districts affects representation
o Malapportionment: apportionment in which voters are unequally represented
District systems
voters choose a preferred party and parties win seats according to the percentage of vote the party wins
o Most PR is “closed list”- party leaders determine politician elected
o Open list PR: citizens vote for individual candidates and all votes for all candidates aggregated by party to determine how many seats a party will get
o Votes are not wasted
o Does not provide voters with legislator that specifically represents their geographic constituency
Voters don’t know who to contact
Not much representation of local interests
Proportional representation
public officials acting on behalf of the citizenry
o Mandate approach: elected officials follow public opinion as a reflection of interest or views of citizenry at large
o Independence approach: officials exercise discretion or their own judgement once they are elected
representation
Authoritarian resilience in China
-citizen satisfaction has increased based on economic wellbeing
o Persisting problems were corruption, pollution, social unrest, and separatism
o New challenges included the internet, rising rights consciousness among citizens
o The Chinese government has survived through coercion, surveillance, co-potation, and political indoctrination
o Legitimacy: ideological legitimacy
performance-based legitimacy
Delivered economic development, higher standards of living and higher governance
o State-sponsored nationalism: patriotic campaign and propaganda
o Spontaneous nationalism and cyber nationalism: more popular in nature but subject to state influence
o Nationalism goes hand in hand with pro-regime discourse: Regime in general portrayed as playing a positive role in saving and building China and defending national interest
o International influence over nationalist support for the regime: trade war and criticism of the regime over Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc
fundamental and supreme laws, usually written in a charter, that establishes the bases of a political system and the basis for other laws
Constitution
limitation of government through a constitution
Constitutionalism
features of a constitution that form the bases of the political system
o Separation of power, responsibilities between level of government, and branches of government
Constitutional Design
executive leaders make direct appeals to the people and seek to develop direct political ties with the masses
Populism
A lower stage of communism/ a stage towards communism; often does not imply totalitarian political system and may embrace liberal political systems; emphasize economic equality achieved through state action
Socialism
an ideology that seeks to create human equality by eliminating private property and market
o The liberation of everyone, no exploitation or repression
Communist Manifesto
Evolution of human society
Primitive slavery Feudalism Capitalism Communism
o Productivity, means of production, and social relations
o Capitalism communism
o Developed productivity; exploitive relations, capital, labor, surplus value of labor class struggle : capitalist v working class
Why are communist regimes declining?
o Communist regimes become totalitarian
o Communist parties no longer serving and guiding the working class, but become a privileged class and serve as a control machine and power tool
o Failure of planned economic
Communism as a theory
International communist movement
o Workers of the world, unite
World systems and Central Periphery Theory
o Core (exploits), semi-periphery, and periphery
Mao’s odea of 3 worlds
the most important form of political organization in modern politics
o Central political institution that exerts a “monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory- Max Weber
o Defining characters of modern state: territory, claims sovereignty, legitimacy, and bureaucratic system
o Normally, modern states are expected to perform certain functions and provide certain public goods
o Modern stated are made up of a large set of institutions both to maintain itself and to play the functions- army, police, taxation, a judiciary
The modern State
a large and geographically bounded population that often shares common history, culture, collective identity, and political aspirations
Nation
the ultimate authority within specifically demarcated territories- no other domestic or foreign actors above the states; territorial disputes
Sovereignty
A form of organization that has individuals operating and working under established, specified, and complex rules and procedures
Bureaucracy
states identified with institutions rather than the personalities of their leaders
Impersonality
Functions of modern states?
Defense
Policing
Taxation
Managing the economy
o Macro-management: supply of currency, making economic policy, directly run on some states
Provide social welfare-welfare states
o Public health care
o Education, social insurance and pension
Provide infrastructure and other public goods
o Shorthand for the political system that combines state, regime, government as well as for the people living within the system
Country
state’s capacity to govern and to preform functions
State Capacity
how independent the state can wield its power vis-à-vis the publics
o Strong states v weak states; failed states and state building
State autonomy
