Midterm Flashcards
Monopoly of force
is an organization that monopolizes coercive power and decision-making authority within a geographic territory.
The State
is an organization that monopolizes coercive power and decision-making authority within a geographic territory. - WEBER
Power
The ability to cause a person either to take an action that she would prefer not to take or to refrain from acting in ways that she would prefer.
Sovereignty
The power or authority to make and enforce decisions for a group of individuals.
War and conflict
The notion that the state became the dominant political unit because of its superiority in waging war and taking over territory.
Bureaucracy
An organization with rules and regulations that coordinates a large group of people whose jobs entail governing the population within a territory.
Taxation
The required contribution of resources from people living within a territory whose use is determined by the leaders governing the population.
Commerce and trade
The notion that the state became the dominant political unit because of its superiority in promoting economic exchange which led to an increase in the wealth of people living within the territory.
Imperialism
A political system in which some states exert influence over other territories through the use of diplomacy and military force.
Colonialism
A form of imperialism in which some states exert direct control over other territories through the establishment of settlements.
Public goods
Items that an individual can consume without reducing its availability to others and the consumption of which no one is excluded.
Free riding
When members of a group who benefit from a collective good fail to contribute to the provision of it.
Rivalrous
A characteristic of a good in that consumption of the item by some people prevents others from simultaneously consuming it.
Excludable
A characteristic of a good in that people can be prevented from consuming it.
Selective incentives
Rewards or punishments given out on the basis of whether individuals contributed to the provision of a good.
Coordination problem
A situation in which individuals will be better off if they choose the same course of action, but where there are multiple actions that will work well, and no obvious reason to prefer one over the other.
Shared beliefs
Beliefs about the action to take in a given situation which is shared among members of a group, allowing them to act in coordinated, predictable ways
Focal point
A natural center of focus for members of a group which helps coordinate their expectations and actions in the absence of direct communication.
Order
A situation in which individuals do not fear for their lives or the sources of their livelihood.
Disorder
A situation in which people face insecurity about their physical well-being or possessions because those who possess superior force can exercise it without restraint.
State Building
The process by which territorial units develop their ability to use force and extract taxes from the population.
Political regime
The rules that define who has power in a state, how the people with power are chosen, and who can hold these people accountable for how they use their power.
Tragedy of commons
A situation in which individuals, who have access to a common resource, act independently following their self-interest, resulting in depletion of the resource.
International organizations
Entities formed by agreements between states which enjoy legal status above the level of a state, and which are charged with pursuing goals embedded in international agreements.
Non-governmental organizations
Nonprofit entities which operate independently of states in the pursuit of humanitarian, political, economic, or social goals.
Closed-list system
System in which voters vote for a party list, not for individual, specific candidates within this list.
Open-list system
System in which voters vote for a party list and also for one or several candidates within that list.
Ranked-choice voting
System in which voters rank the candidate by order of preference (first, second, third, or more).
Plurality
Rule according to which the candidate with the most votes is elected, even if that is under 50%
Majority
Rule according to which a candidate must obtain more than 50% of the votes to get elected.
Proportionality
Rule according to which the share of seats that a party obtains in a given district corresponds to its share of votes, also known as proportional representation (PR).
Mixed system
A system that combines plurality (or majority) and proportional representation in the transformation of votes into seats
Modern State
- Defined borders and territory
- Within state territory government has monopoly on legitimate use of
force - Authority flows from center to regions
- Common legal system (with or without the rule of law)
- Common currency, flag, anthem
- Standing army, police, bureaucracy, judiciary, taxation, etc
- Social welfare system (schools, hospitals)
- Mass concept of citizenship (mass nation)
States in Premodern Period (pre 16th century)
Local personal and commercial relations define lives of people; broader ranges of authority were only
* vaguely defined
* Armies did not represent broader authority
* State borders not precisely defined
* No common legal system
* State building was a slow and violent process:
Regimes
the content of the rules that define who has power in a state, how the people with power are chosen, and who can hold these people accountable for how they use their power
STATES IN THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD: 16TH19TH C
Modern states emerged by the early modern period and further strengthened during this period
* Economic and scientific progress in Europe
* Need for people and goods to quickly move across large territories
* Warfare become more costly
* Rulers need more revenues from subjects
* 1648 Peace of Westphalia
* The Pope no longer the highest political authority
Features of modern states that can be compared
- Sovereignty
- Legitimacy
- Capacity
- Size
- Autonomy
State size:
the extent of state role in the economy and society– how much does the state seek to regulate?
State capacity:
State ability to fulfill tasks and to implement policies independently of internal rivals
Autonomy
Ability of states to formulate and pursue goals independent
of public and narrow particularistic interests
Positive and negatives of high state autonomy
+
The state is not captured by narrow groups, can act in the interests of society as a whole
* Can respond quicker to a crisis situation
-
Highly autonomous state does not listen to society (undemocratic,
unaccountable)
Sovereignty
State ability to carry actions independently from external rivals and
authorities
Involuntary loss of sovereignty:
Being relegated to another country’s sphere of influence or become victim of imperialist policies
voluntary loss of sovereignty
International law– countries have to comply with conventions they sign on to and accept
limits to their sovereignty as a result (e.g. ECHR, laws of war, etc)
* Economic interdependence– tariffs and duties cannot be determined with full sovereignty
* International organization membership– EU membership means countries delegate a part of their sovereignty to the supranational institutions
UKRAINE on comparable features of modern state
- State capacity believed to be low: high tax evasion by oligarchs, welfare state malfunctioning due to bad economic performance and corruption. Prediction:
Ukraine would be overrun by Russia easily in an invasion - State capacity turned out to be higher: army stopped Russian advance immediately, economy continues functioning, trains run on time, “invincibility centers” during energy grid bombings, pensioners still receive pensions, etc.
- State autonomy: civil society constrains state institutions (good); oligarchs have outsized influence on policies (bad)
- State sovereignty: Russia invaded to install a puppet regime (involuntary, complete loss of sovereignty); instead Ukraine wants to integrate in EuroAtlantic institutions
Head of Government
Deals with everyday tasks of running the state (has power and accountability)
Head of State
Symbolizes the people nationally and internationally (symbolic functions)
PRESIDENTIALISM: DEFINING FEATURES
Executive and legislature are elected separately
* President is both head of state and head of government and is usually directly elected (US is exception
with electoral college) to a fixed term in office (can be removed only under exceptional
circumstances; impeachment)
* Legislature is elected through a separate vote
* Govt/cabinet is appointed by president, responsible to, and can be fired by president (not legislature)
* Both president and legislature have electoral mandate and distinct powers; neither one has primacy
or can remove the other (unless extreme circumstance); System of dual legitimacy (Linz)
* Real possibility of divided government, i.e. when presidency and legislature are controlled by
opposing parties.
PARLIAMENTARISM: DEFINING FEATURES
- Executive and legislative branches are fused
- Head of Government (PM) is NOT directly elected but elected by the legislature
- Divided government is impossible by definition, but minority government is possible
- Executive does not serve fixed term in office– head of government can be removed
at any time by parliamentary majority; happens w different frequency in different
parliamentary states - Head of state can be a monarch or even a president, but the head of state and head
of government are two separate people - Head of state is usually not directly elected and is not very powerful, so just having
a president does NOT make the system presidential!
SEMI-PRESIDENTIALISM
The head of state (usually the President) and the head of government (usually PM) are two different people, both with real power
* President is directly elected for a fixed term
* Legislature is elected separately, and PM is elected by the legislature- NOT appointed by
president as in presidential systems!! PM can be removed by the legislature
* Possibility of “cohabitation,” i.e. when legislature is controlled by party or coalition different from
the president’s party, PM and president are from 2 different parties
* Actual powers of PM vs President are important. If there are both president and PM, but president
is clearly more powerful and can appoint or remove PM this is presidential, not semi-presidential
system; sometimes even super-presidential (e.g. Russia)
* Having both PM and President does not automatically make it a semi-presidential system!
MEASURES OF PRESIDENTIAL POWER
- Appointment powers: PM, ministers, judges, central bank chief, security
council, senior officers, senior commanders - Legislative powers: calls referenda, issues decrees, issues emergency ordinances, can call special sessions of parliament, can dissolve parliament or call elections, can propose legislation
- Executive powers: Commander in chief of armed forces, may convene and participate in cabinet sessions; prepares and submits budget
- Judicial standing: can send laws to Constitutional Court, can annul acts of other bodies, can issue emergency decrees
- Three types of social science theories
- 1) structural: focus on features of society as a whole; cultural, economic,
geographic theories - 2) institutional: focus on rules and procedures and their effects on political
outcomes - 3) voluntarist: focus on individual actors/leaders
what kind of social science theory is the pres. vs parl debate a part of
Institutional
PROBLEMS WITH PRESIDENTIALISM
LINZ!!!!
- Winner-takes-all: electoral politics is high-stakes zero-sum game– losers in a presidential race do not have
a stake in the system and consequently may reject the system (democracy) as a whole - Competing claims to legitimacy: exacerbated under divided government (when president lacks majority in
legislature) can lead to permanent executive/legislative conflict, ineffective govt, severe institutional crisis
and jeopardize democratic rule - Rigidity of fixed terms: fixed presidential term limits + unpopular president = lame duck effect, paralyzed
government, political instability & crisis - Aggrandizement of presidents
Linz argues parliamentarism is better for democratic regime stability?
*Power concentrated in the legislature where power can be shared by several parties, politics less of a zero-sum game
* No fixed term in office, no lame duck effect
* Government instability is possible, but it is not the same as regime instability
DEFENSE OF PRESIDENTIALISM
SHUGART
AND MAINWARING!!!
- Accountability to voters (Directly elected executive responsible to voters; Congressional independence in legislative matters may produce better legislation)
- Stronger guarantees against majority tyranny and nuanced choices for voters
(Divided govt provides checks and balances, prevents one party dominance, voters can split the ticket) - Smaller likelihood of extreme cabinet instability (less frequent collapses of government)
- Smaller likelihood of disproportionate influence of extreme ideological parties
(in parliamentary systems such parties may be crucial coalition partners)
DRAWBACKS OF PARLIAMENTARISM
- Parliamentarism also has competing claims to legitimacy– president vs. PM,
upper vs lower house; minority govts - Winner-takes-all depends not on parliamentarism vs presidentialism, but on electoral rules and party systems. Party systems with high levels of discipline
basically provide unconstrained PMs. - PMs can aggrandize just as effectively as presidents– Orban in Hungary, Modi in India.
- Parliamentarism has a better record only because of self-selection
LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS 3 elements
District size (i.e. how many
people are elected)
- Ballot structure (how do
people vote)
- Electoral formula (how are
votes translated into seats)
3 typical sizes of districts
Single-member districts (ridings in Canada, Congressional seats in the US)
-Multi-member districts (most countries using proportional representation)
-One district for the entire country (few examples)
Two consequences of electoral systems
Immediate
-Electoral outcomes
Indirect
- Democratic representation
Electoral outcomes
Number of parties
Turnout
Representation of women and racial minorities
Democratic
representation
Responsiveness
Accountability
Citizens’ satisfaction
TYPES OF PARTIES
Charismatic
Clientelist
Programmatic
EiltevsMass
Catch all
Electoral professional
Cartel
Business firm
Social movement
- Why do voters need parties?
Information short-cut
Why do candidates need parties?
- Organizational support
- Name recognition
- Material resources for campaign
Why do democracies need parties, especially programmatic ones?
- Without parties huge uncertainty at each election (what policies is the new incumbent
going to pursue?) - Without parties, harder for voters to hold politicians accountable, because they’d need to collect a lot of info about behavior of politicians in office
- Greater probability of anti-systemic figure coming to power
- Parties condense myriad of possible issue conflicts into a manageable set of policy choices.
Party systems
- Two-party systems
- Dominant party systems
- Multi-party systems
Strong political party system:
- All politicians belong to parties
- Well-developed grass-roots party organizations
- High ideological cohesiveness in each party
- Whole party system well organized around cleavages, leftright
- High levels of party ID
- Low electoral volatility
- High party discipline in parliament
POPULIST PARTIES
- Mudde’s definition of populism: “Thin-centered ideology that considers society to be ultimately separated into two homogeneous and antagonistic camps, “the pure people” versus “the corrupt elite,” and which argues that politics should be an expression of the volonté générale (general will) of the people”
- Context-dependent ideology; the icons of populism are of local, not universal appeal; some context-specific incarnations: agrarian populism, socio-economic populism, xenophobic populism
HOW CONSTITUTIONS ARE WRITTEN
Constitutional assemblies: A gathering of people – usually elected by citizens and often representative of society in some way – to write a constitution.
ANATOMY OF A CONSTITUTION
Preamble: States the values of a society and often, the reasons
for writing the constitution.
* Structure: Defines the powers of government (for instance, a
bicameral Legislature, a single Executive, and a judiciary).
* Bills of Rights: Lists the rights that citizens hold (which also
serves the purpose of clarifying things government cannot do.
THE ROLE(S) OF COURTS
- Criminal cases
- Civil disputes (often commercial)
- Small claims or traffic violations
- Disputes between families
- Patents
- Disputes between people and the state (administrative)
- Constitutional controversies
Common law
Professional judiciary
* Case law
* One court hierarchy
* Judge-made law
Civil Law
Bureaucratic judiciary
* Codification
* Parallel court hierarchies
* Legislative supremacy
FIRST CONSTITUTIONAL COURTS
1920: Austria creates the first Constitutional Court in the world; creator,
University of Vienna law professor Hans Kelsen; he became a judge on the
court, but was removed in 1930 for being too liberal on divorce (he was a
social-dem); court suspended in 1934; Kelsen moved to Cologne; finished
career at Berkeley
After WW2 what did people realized democracy needed
a backstop and it being constitutional courts
Functions of constitutional courts
- Judicial review
- Rights protection
- Balancing powers
- Advisory review
Internal limitations of courts
The rules judges follow when issuing decisions, e.g. judicial method
* Having to give reasons in deciding is a big check
EXTERNAL
LIMITATIONS of courts
-Judicial independence varies around the world
-Low judicial independence: from politicians, from rich
plaintiffs
-High judicial independence: from politicians, from
plaintiffs, from public opinion.
-Even in independent courts, judges still have to keep an
eye on politicians and public opinion, lest their decisions
cause a backlash.
Party
enduring association of people who identify themselves by a public label and who are joined
together under this label for the primary purpose of winning control of government by means of
presenting their own candidates in elections for public office on the basis of a common platform
functions of a constitution
1) representing the values of a society
2) defining and organizing the powers of government
3) defining the rights of citizens
WHAT IS THE RULE OF LAW
Equal responsibility and protection under the law
Governments should be limited by prospective, publicly-promulgated, and universal laws
Proscription of extra-legal punishment
Predictable and efficient implementation of laws on the books (though predictable applies to predictably impartial implementation, not to predictably corrupt implementation of
laws).
Rule of law for economy
- Rule of law facilitates protection of property rights from encroachment by
state or competitors - Stable property rights facilitate long-term investment
- Higher rates of investment facilitate economic growth
- Sustained economic growth leads to development
Rule of law for justice
- Rule of law enhances social predictability
- Liberals like predictability because it enhances individuals’
autonomy - Communitarians like predictability because it fosters community’s stability
- Predictability is the reason why citizens join a state; otherwise the state of nature would be preferable, because in it individuals have unbridled freedom.
Rule of law for democracy
- Democratic regime requires participation and contestation.
- Both require fundamental political and civil rights such as freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, and right to stand in election.
- Rule of law is more likely to guarantee respect for these rights by the state or powerful private actors.
- Thus, rule of law fosters or deepens democracy
Democracy Minimalist definition (Przeworski)
- uncertain and irreversible election outcome
- repeated elections
Maximalist definition (Rueschemeyer)
- socioeconomic equality
Mid-way definition (Huntington)
- Fair
- Honest
- Periodic
- Competitive
- Universal suffrage
- Freedom of assembly and freedom of speech
