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| The systematic study of patterns of authority across different societies and cultures. |
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| Something that can be proven over and over again under any circumstances. It is an idea that is universally agreed upon by all; an accepted fact. Ex- for every action there is a corresponding reaction; Planets move according to mutual attraction; |
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| A legitimate statement that has the ability to be supported by evidence, and has been proven on occasions, but is not yet completely accepted as a law. Ex- the greater the spread of democracy, the less the tendency for nations to go to war; the more that nations trade with each other, the greater the wealth of all nations; |
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| A statement or idea that has not yet been proven but it has the potential to be tested. It is not a totally random idea or statement. Ex- the larger a country’s population, the greater the guarantee of democratic institutions and civil rights; |
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| GENERAL LAW/ AXIOM FOR COMPARATIVE POLITICS |
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| All States Function in a Manner to Maintain and Increase Their Legitimacy. |
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| The term used to denote, simply a way of organizing institutions of authority. |
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| participation, accountability of citizens (through elections), due process, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly. |
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| elite small group exercises authority, controls over freedom of expression and citizens’ ability to organize. |
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| have competitive and periodic elections; however they lack the ability to guarantee and protect certain basic freedoms. |
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| The state is a network of institutions which possesses a monopoly over the legitimate use of violence within a given territory. |
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| The state can punish, legally commit murder or take a life, send people to jail, order restitution, declare forms of behavior unacceptable, and force inhabitants to pay taxes. |
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1. maintain order
2. adjudicate disputes
3. enlarge wealth
4. protect or rescue from natural disasters
5. protect borders from external threats |
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| authority is concentrated or centralized in a single set of national institutions. (ex- in France, the minister of education is aware at any given moment of what exactly each student is studying) |
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| monopoly is broken down and shared between national and local institutions. (ex- Federal and State drug laws, Federal and State conditions for capitol punishment) |
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| major parties given proportional share of all positions in state institutions divided between different religion and political parties. |
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| A term to denote a situation in which arrangements of authority in a given country are extremely weak or non-existent. |
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| Conditions Under Failed States: |
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Definition
1. few opportunities for living a good life
2. citizens flee the country because of scarce opportunities or fear of physical threat
3. high criminal activity and lawlessness
4. public systems such as schools barely function |
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| Factors that May Explain Failed States |
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Definition
1. Population size
2. Geographical region
3. Income/wealth
4. Religious heritage
5. General historical or cultural factors |
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| The state or quality of being legitimate; Possessing consent. |
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A. Patrimonial
B. Charismatic
C. Legal-Rational/ Constitutional |
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Term
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| voluntary compliance on basis of tradition, custom, or religious justification i.e. it is the mandate of god; it is the way the ancestors have been ruled since the beginning of time, therefore it is the custom which makes for a stable order in society. |
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Term
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Definition
| compliance to the authority of an individual who embodies the aspirations of a people for national independence, for affirming a distinctive culture, and for promising to set right the wrongs of a given society. |
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| C. Legal-Rational/ Constitutional |
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Definition
| written rules about what a state can and cannot do and institutions who apply these rules more or less impartially. |
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| Making judgments about other cultures and societies on the supposition that one’s own cultural values are superior to others. |
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| Asserting that judgments about other cultures and societies are invalid because cultures as such have their own unique moral logic and justifications. |
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| A statement of fact, i.e. an occurrence that can be verified by sensory observation and can be analyzed through logical means. (Avoids Ethnocentrism) |
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| A statement of value preference related to an institutional arrangement or form of behavior. (Avoids Cultural Relativism) |
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| A process in which regimes undergo a transformation from authoritarian regimes to democratic. |
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| Propositions to Explain How/Why Democracies Surface in Human History |
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Definition
1. The evolution of democracy is not linear or uninterrupted.
2. Democracies are not by definition strong or stable. They are susceptible to strains that may lead to their breakdown.
3. Social development or the expansion of the middle class does provide the environment for democratic stability but it is not a necessary condition for democratization.
4. International pressures may facilitate the consolidation of democracies such as the conditions of membership to a union.
5. Democratization is an ongoing process even in mature and stable democracies. |
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| Four indicators of possibility of democracy |
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Definition
1. Gross Domestic Product
2. Education
3. Industrialization
4. Urbanization |
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| Two Ideas We Still Use Today in Contemporary Politics:(from Aristotle) |
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Definition
1. Typology of regime types
2. The proposition: The “middle sectors” are the foundation of Democracies. |
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| Aristotle’s Typology of Regimes |
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Definition
Monarchy leads to Dictatorship
Aristocracy leads to Oligarchy
Democracy leads to Demagogy |
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| Which regime is preferred |
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Definition
| Aristotle said that Democracy is the most desirable regime because there is buffer zone (middle sectors) between the two extremes of Democracy and Demagogy. |
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| Thesis (Samuel Huntington) |
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Definition
| The spread of democracy is not evolutionary, i.e. it does not come about as an uninterrupted and straight-forward process. The spread of democracy is a result of various historical periods: |
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