Midterm 2 Flashcards
what is an institution?
regular pattern in behaviour that give stability and predictability to social life
what is Duverger’s law?
states first past the post electoral systems produce two party-systems
what did Sven Steimo believe?
institutions define the rules of the political game and who wins them
what are the relationships between institutions and environmental factors?
political, economic, and social factors
who created the structuration theory?
Anthony Gidden
what is the structuration theory?
the idea that social action cannot be explained by the structure or agency theories alone
what is a system?
political system
what is a structure?
political institution
what is structuration?
the factors that hold back and provide resources for changes in how institutions and the system function as a whole
what is agency?
the capacity of individuals to act independently and make their own free choices
what is a state?
a structure of rule and authority within a particular geographical area
what is the method of difference?
similar cases, different outcomes
what is method of agreement?
different cases, similar outcome
what is colonialism?
the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial control over another country
what was Felix Carden Aguilar’s job?
to undo centuries of colonization
what is state capacity?
the ability of state institutions to effectively implement official goals
what is extractive capacity?
capacity to mobilize financial resources from the society to pursue national interests
what is steering capacity?
the capacity to guide national socio-economic development
what is legitimation capacity?
the capacity to dominate using symbols and creating consensus
what is coercive capacity?
the capacity to dominate by the use of threat or force
what did Charles Tilly believe?
war made the state, and the state made the war
what are the foundations of the modern state?
state officials are expected to advance the public good and develop rules and patterns of administration
what are the key characteristics of bureaucracies
impersonal, rule based, goal oriented, promote officials based on merit
what did weber see bureaucracy as?
an ideal type of social organization
what was a key mile stone in the development of the European state?
the separation of state officials from the ruler
what is a patrimonial state?
a state where power flows directly from the leader and political elites take advantage of their connections to benefit themselves
what are the three principles of the treaty of westphalia
sovereignty of states, legal equality between states, and non intervention in the affairs of another state
what is an internal function of the state?
functions that are performed with respect to their own populations
what is the role of partisan?
pursuing own institutional interests of the officials
what is the role of guardian?
state working in interests of society as a whole and to maintain healthy balance between interests
what is the role of tool?
state is pliable, lacks autonomy and is the hands of one or more groups
what is an external function of the state?
functions they perform in respect to other states
what are the two external functions?
manage relations with other states and protect their people and territory against outside attacks
what are modern states expected to provide?
human security, regulate disputes, free to participate in politics
what are resilient states?
states that exhibit the capacity and legitimacy of governing a population and its territory
what are fragile states?
states that have a weak capacity to carry out basic governance functions
what are stateness problems?
anything that could challenge the legitimacy of the state such as internal sovereignty claims
what must a state have to be considered resilient?
legitimacy and robust institutions
what did Samuel Finer believe?
what characterized governments in Europe and North America was constitutional liberalism
what is legal positivism?
that the law is what the state says it is
what is secularism?
the principle that religion does not enjoy a privileged position in the state
what is monism?
the view that there are no fundamental divisions in the phenomena
what are the key functions performed by the law?
determine criminal behaviour, prescribe punishment and provide impartial laws
what is the rule of law?
the principle that everyone in a society is equal before the law
what is a constitution?
the body of principles governing relations between a state and its population
what did Anthony King believe?
that constitution is a set of important rules and common understandings in any given understanding
what is constitutionalism?
the principle that assigns a special significance to constitutions and rule of law in national life
what is federalism?
a form of government in which power is constitutionally divided between different authorities
what is asymmetric federalism?
a federal or confederal country where the constituent units have different levels of autonomy, responsibility and political power
