Vocab Exam 1

Question 1

Falsifiability
Definition, significance, example

Answer 1

A statement that can be proven wrong. Significant as it allows things to be testable.
Example: wealthy countries are more conducive to democracy

Question 2

Method of difference

Answer 2

Finding countries/things with different outcomes and tentatively rejecting independent variables that are the same for both.
Significant as it is an objective method to see which variable is most determinant of the outcome
Example: Person A is voting for Harris, person B voted for Trump. These are different outcomes. If both voters think the same of the current economy, then that may not be a driving factor in their voting. If person A thinks childcare is too expensive and person B doesn’t, then that may be a driving factor in their voting.

Question 3

Method of similarity

Answer 3

Finding countries/things with the same outcomes and tentatively rejecting independent variables that are different
Significant as it is an objective method to see which variable is most determinant of the outcome
Example: Country A and country B are highly developed (wealth wise). If one country is a democracy and the other isn’t, then institutions may not be driving factors in development. If both countries have temperate climates and access to the ocean, then geography may be a driving factor in development

Question 4

Critical test

Answer 4

Tests that distinguish the relative effectiveness of alternate models
Significance: helps us choose which theories are most accurate as there are lots of different theories explaining the same thing in comparative politics
Two theories for why sub-saharan Africa is less developed:
1. Extractive colonization
2. Hot climate
Critical tests: Are other countries with hot climates, that haven’t been colonized, more developed? If yes, climate theory is no. Are other countries that have been colonized, with more temperate climates, more developed? If yes, climate theory is yes

Question 4

Scientific method

Answer 4

The general set of steps scientists use to go about solving a puzzle: questions, theory/model, hypothesis/implications, test/observation, evaluation
Significant as it is a way for people to test a theory in the most objective way possible.
Example: Why are some countries more developed? Theory: world systems theory - exploitation. Implication: development of formerly colonized countries is stagnant/slow. Test: compare secondary and tertiary sector growth of formerly colonized countries (periphery) to that growth of core countries. Evaluation: if periphery countries’ economic sector distributions haven’t grown significantly compared to core countries, then the dependency theory is supported.

Question 5

Politics

Answer 5

The study of power and relations
Significant: gives insight to human behavior in the individual, community, and government level
Example: The study of how and why states develop (predatory vs contractarian)

Question 6

Social contract

Answer 6

As a part of a state, you are in a contract in which you give up your natural rights for some civil rights
Significant: Helps us understand the formation and survival of states
Example: as a citizen of the USA, you give up your right to murder people and obtain the right to own property and be safer

Question 7

State

Answer 7

An entity that has control over most of the violence within a given territory
Significant: states are large, often powerful entities that have interactions with each other. They are central to the study of politics
Example: Japan

Question 8

Nation

Answer 8

A group of people with a common history, race, ethnicity, language, and/or religion
Significant: nations may want their own states, or have their own states. They often have their own interests and are important actors in politics
Example: Palestinians

Question 9

Failed state

Answer 9

State that no longer has control of violence in its territory
Significance: refugees, global economy
Example: Somalia

Question 10

State capacity

Answer 10

Ability of government to fulfill roles of state: collect taxes, control violence, etc
Significance: impacts state power, shows how capable a state is
Example: USA has high state capacity

Question 11

Predatory view of state

Answer 11

View that states are actors in the state of nature; they extort citizens for power and money in exchange for protection from themselves
Significance: helps explain how or why states act the way they do; what institutions they install
Example: The United States is only a democracy because by limiting its extraction from its citizens, it makes them more willing to follow the laws and support the state

Question 12

Contractarian view of the state

Answer 12

View that states are benevolent and protect people from the state of nature. Focuses on the social contract and how it is positive
Significance: (this theory is less correct) but it helps explain the actions and existences of states
Example: people who are a part of the United States are protected from the state of nature

Question 13

Government

Answer 13

The set of people who run the state
Significant: affects how the state acts
Example: Joe Biden is the president of the U.S., Jared Polis is the governor of Colorado

Question 14

Regime

Answer 14

The rules by which the state is run
Significant: affects how the state acts
Example: U.S. is a democracy, North Korea is a dictatorship

Question 15

Democratic consolidation

Answer 15

Democracy becomes the norm, more likely to endure
Significant: affects the likelihood of democratic back-rolling; affects how politicians act and how a state is run
Example: democratic consolidation has occurred in the U.S.

Question 16

Democratization

Answer 16

The transfer of a regime to democracy
Significant: changes how the state acts
Example: Poland democratized in 1990

Question 17

Contestation

Answer 17

One of the measures of democracy: the degree at which people can run for office, form competing political parties, and influence politics
Significance: helps determine how democratic a state is
Example: There is high contestation in Australia as anyone can run for PM and there are competing political parties

Question 18

Inclusion

Answer 18

One of the measures of democracy: the degree at which people can participate in democracy (vote)
Significance: helps determine how democratic a state is
Example: There is mostly high inclusion in the U.S. as everyone has the right to vote, but there are some efforts to suppress votes which may lower inclusion

Question 19

Modernization Theory

Answer 19

Theory that all states go through the same linear path to development
Significance: attempts to explain how states develop
Example: Rostow’s stages of development. Applies well to Britain as it had a relatively linear path to development

Question 20

Cultural modernization theory

Answer 20

Theory that all states go through a linear path to development that causes changes in culture to a “civic culture” that is more conducive to democracy
Significance: Attempts to explain development and democracy
Example: Chile had a strong civic culture in the early 1900s

Question 21

Resource curse

Answer 21

Theory that having an economy dependent on natural resources is not conducive to democratization
Significance: helps explain exceptions to the democratic modernization theory
Example: Saudi Arabia, despite wealth, is not a democracy. Though wealthy, the people have little bargaining power as the government can draw revenue from oil reserves

Question 22

Demand-side curse

Answer 22

Having access to revenue from natural resources decreases the demand for democracy and the government’s willingness to respond to that demand
Significant: explains recourse curse

Question 23

Supply-side curse

Answer 23

Focuses on how a government with revenue from natural resources can easily resist pressures to democratize as they have plentiful wealth
Significant: explains resource curse

Question 24

Inverted U-curve

Answer 24

Moderate inequality is ideal for democracy. Too much equality = no one needs/wants democracy
Too much inequality = power concentrated in the few, who want to keep that power so they won’t install democracy. No one can force them to get democracy either.

Question 25

Primordialism

Answer 25

Theory that cultures are fixed and inherited
Significance: would support the idea that culture can be an insurmountable barrier to democratization
Example: Primordialists would argue that if a culture, such as Confucianism, was not conducive to democracy, then the countries that practice it will never democratize as their culture will not change.

Question 26

Constructivism

Answer 26

Theory that cultures are changed and created over time
Significance: would support the idea that culture is not a huge factor in democratization
Example: constructivists would argue that cultures like Confucianism, which are not thought to be conducive to democracy, may be malleable enough to be altered to support democracy

Question 27

Civic culture

Answer 27

Culture thought to be best for democracy. Entails: belief that one can influence politics, positive feelings towards political system, high interpersonal trust, preference for gradual societal change
Significance: provides more specificity to the cultural modernization theory

Question 28

Social capital

Answer 28

Measure of interpersonal trust, relations, and ability to obtain favors/resources through communication
Significance: a major part of civic culture and democracy

Question 29

Culture hypothesis

Answer 29

Theory that a society’s culture is the greatest determinant of development
Significance: helps explain development
Example: some scholars believe that Protestantism is conducive to development as it encourages work ethic

Question 30

Geography hypothesis

Answer 30

Theory that climate and terrain are the greatest determinants of development
Significance: helps explain early development.
Example: Europe developed earlier due to its temperate climate

Question 31

Inclusive political institutions

Answer 31

Institutions that allow democratic participation from all (or mostly all) of their citizens
Significance: one of the two main measurements of democracy
Example: France has high inclusivity as it allows all of its citizens to vote

Question 32

Colonial legacy

Answer 32

Theory that past colonization and its present effects are the main drivers of development / barriers to development today
Significance: helps explain some extreme disparities in development
Example: Sub - Saharan Africa is not nearly as developed due to extractive colonial practices and later exploitation that have crippled many of the countries’ economies

Question 33

Dependency theory

Answer 33

Theory that exploitation by the global north of the global south is the main factor in differences in development
Significance: helps explain development differences
Example: According to this theory, Canada will always be a mainly tertiary sector economy, China a secondary sector economy, and Chad a primary sector economy

Question 34

Bottom-up democratic transition

Answer 34

Democratization that occurs due to revolution from the common people
Significance: one of the ways a country can become a democracy
East-Germany democratized after mass protests near and on the Berlin wall in 1990

Question 35

Top-down democratic transition

Answer 35

Democratization that occurs (unintentionally) due to policy changes made by the ruling class
Significance: one of the ways a country can become a democracy
Poland democratized after the communist party allowed some elections and an opposition party to appease their citizens. The Polish supported the opposition party far more than expected and the ruling party collapsed

Question 36

Revolutionary cascade

Answer 36

When one person’s participation in a revolution/protest triggers the participation of another, and then that triggers more people to participate, and so on
Significance: explains how revolutions can occur, albeit rarely
Example: more people started protesting on the Berlin wall after they saw that others were doing so

Question 37

Mutual toleration

Answer 37

Viewing political opposition as a rival rather than mortal enemy
Significance: helps with democratic consolidation
Example: In Russia, there is currently very little mutual toleration as political opposition figures such as Navalny are viewed by Putin as enemies of the state

Question 38

Institutional forbearance

Answer 38

People in power refrain from not only breaking the law, but also from breaking the spirit of the law
Significance: helps with democratic consolidation
Example: Two term limit was, for a long time, an unwritten rule

Question 39

Democratic backsliding

Answer 39

The gradual degradation of democracy through legal means
Significance: a recent phenomenon that has been occurring more frequently than preferred
Example: Hungary