Quiz 2 Flashcards
Electoral authoritarian
Elections are held nominally
Hybrid regime
Neither fully authoritarian nor fully democratic
Competitive authoritarian
Tolerates some political competition
Delegative democracy
Democracy but electorate delegates much authority to the government
Illiberal democracy
Democracy but lacks some political/civil rights
Why hybrid regimes?
Authoritarian transition lead to incomplete democratization, democratic breakdown, can be enduring
Problem of illiberal democracies
Wrapped in legitimacy, gives democracy a bad name
Modern communism
Seeks to create human equality by eliminating private property and market–> no exploitation/repression
Marx’s evolution of society
Primitive (ideal because everyone shares but so little to share) –> slavery –> feudalism –> capitalism (raises surplus level) –> communism
Socialism
Embrace liberal democratic political systems, economic equality through state action
Earliest rise of communism
1871 commune of Paris
Remaining communist regimes
Cuba, China, Laos, North Korea, Vietnam
Pink state
Socialist democratic regime in N/W europe
Marx theory of communism
Working class revolt; advance productivity, class struggle, relations of production
Lenin theory of communism
Vanguard party in Russia so ignite in feudal stage
Mao theory of communism
Strategize (alliance with workers and peasants, nationalism)
International theory of communism
Comminterm, WWII
Why the decline in communism?
Revolution via voting, social welfare, american dream, communist regimes became totalitarian, failure of planned economy, Gorbachev, Cold War propaganda
Constitution
Fundamental and supreme laws that establish the basis of a political system and the basis for other laws; symbolize social contracts, basic founding laws of societies
Constitutionalism
Limitation of government through a constitution
Constitutional design
Features of constitutions that form the basis of the political system (ex: separation of powers, federalism)
Types of constitutions
Flexible v rigid; authoritarian vs democratic
Judicial review
Power/process of constitutional courts to determine legality of laws
Is judicial review anti-democratic?
Not elected judges but they can protect minorities
Parliamentary sovereignty
Constitutionality of laws passed by legislature and executive are not subject to judicial review
Federalism
Separation of power and authority among different levels of government
Benefits of federalism
Strategy for security, promote democratic inclusion, benefits of economic unity
How many countries are federal?
20/200
Unitarian
Unitary central gov; can have multiple levels of delegation but all power grows out of central body
Where is Unitarism prevalent?
Small size countries, homogenous, colonial heritage
Riker theory of why federalism
Bargain among regional actors (US)
Stepan theory of why federalism
Instrument to unite separate groups (Canada)
Social stability and federalism
May support because different groups get power, safety valve, more autonomy
May compromise because empower secessionists, independent identities
Federalism and democratic rights
Allows variety of laws with local preferences but does not allow equal protection across the country
Economic performance and federalism
“Heathy” competition because companies can “vote with their feet” leads to more efficiently but race to the bottom and if states have power they may spend irresponsibly
Legislature
Assembly or body of representatives with authority to make laws
Functions of legislatures
Representation via debate, hearings; vote on legislation, control spending, remove executive, “socialize” politicians, constituent service/get reflected
Types of legislatures
Unicameral- China, NK
Bicameral- Japan, UK, US
District system
Voters select representatives from specific geographic constituents
Single member district
Single representative wins election
First past the post
Candidate with the most votes wins
Runoff
Top candidates after 1st round go to additional rounds until majority
Multi member district
Districts have more than one representative
Proportional representation
Voters choose a preferred party and parties win seats according to percentage of the vote the party wins
Closed list PR
Party leaders determine politicians elected
Open list PR
Citizens vote for individual candidates and votes for all candidates aggregated by party
Alternative vote
Voter ranks candidate and voters of lower ranking candidates are reallocated
Single transferrable vote
Reallocate surplus votes according to 2nd choices
Indirect voting
Representatives chosen by other elected officials
Representation
Public officials acting on behalf of the citizenry
Mandate approach to representation
Follow public opinion
Independence approach to representation
Exercise discretion
SMD and representation
Voter on losing side may not feel represented, gerrymandering, malapportionment
Apportionment
Process by which legislative seats are distributed
Malapportionment
Apportionment in which voters are unequally represented
PR and representation
Emphasize platforms and interests but no geographic representation
What shapes representation?
Legislative decision making rules (committees), political party discipline, executive-legislative relations
Executive
Executes/administers policies and laws
Types of executive power
Formal, informal, partisan
Formal power of executives
Function of constitutional/legal position (decrees, exec order, veto, dissolve leg)
Informal power of executive
Based on custom, convention, influence
Partisan power of executive
By virtue of leverage or power over members of party
Parlaimentary
Head of gov is elected by and accountable to legislature
Presidentialism
President is chief executive; independent of legislatures and head of government/head of state
Semi-presidential
President is directly elected and PM is president appointed
Minimum winning coalition
No extra/surplus parties- if you remove one it dissolves
Minimum connected winning coalition
Minimum winning and connected on spectrum
Minimum size
Lowest number of seats possible
Minimum number of parties
Lowest number of parties
Median party
Includes median party
Minimum range
Minimize range on spectrum
Clientilism
System of political favors for support (acts of patronage)
Why is parliamentarism better for democracy?
Clear legitimacy, flexible terms of office, power sharing, PM style, insider executives
Critique of why parliamentarism is better for democracy
Empirical: parliamentary countries are often wealthier; theoretical: parliamentary depends on institutions, can still be winner take all
Styles of presidential rule
Delegative democracy with power to president; populism with direct appeal to people and political ties with masses
Patterns of parliamentary rule
Can be unstable, consociational model: systems that coordinate power sharing among different groups
Political party
Political organization that seeks to influence policy by getting candidates and members elected or appointed to public office
Party systems
Patterns of party politics characterized by the number of relevant parties in a country
Interest groups
Organizations that make demands in he political system on behalf of their constituents and members
Interest articulation
Process by which political actors express their demands, needs, or wants in a political system
Interest aggregation
Process by which individuals’ preferences are brought together to make collective decisions
Types of political parties
Elite, mass, catch all
Elite party
Membership and scope restricted to a small number of elites
Mass political party
Large number of citizens as members and that undertake massive political mobilization
Catch all party
Flexible on ideological positions and aim to attract support from a broad range of interest groups and voters
Types of party systems
Dominant, two party, multi party
Dominant party system
One large party dominates
Single party system
Other parties banned
Two party system
Two significant parties with a duopoly
Multiparty system
More than two major parties (fragmented if many small parties, concentrated if few large parties)
Effective number of parties
Measure to capture number of meaningful parties
Party system institutionalization
Degree to which a party system is stable-persistence of parties, stability of ideologies, degree to which parties are distinct from individuals
Pluralism
Interest groups compete openly
Corporatism
Certain major groups represent interests
What shapes the party system?
Electoral rules; geography, history, economy; ideology and ideas
Duverger’s law
District system –> 2 party because strategic voting; PR –> multiparty
Outcomes of party systems
2 party –> centrism because appeals to median voter (unless polarized voters)
Interest groups and representation
Pluralism is good because equal opportunity but bad because collective action & important groups may be excluded
Corporatism is good because ensures representation and facilitates consensus building but bad because authoritarianism, cronyism, impedes reform
How to calculate effective number of parties
Take proportion of seats held by each party, square each one, add them up, take the inverse
If a+b+c+d=1
1/a^2 + b^2 + c^2 + d^2
