Shared Flashcard Set

Details

Comparative Politics Midterm
N/A
70
Political Studies
Undergraduate 1
02/22/2011

Additional Political Studies Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
state
Definition
objective set of institutions in a country that holds a monopoly of legitimate violence in a given territory
Term
rule of law
Definition
restriction on state power
Term
democracy
Definition
sovereignty lies with the people
Term
liberal democracy
Definition
rule of law, government chosen by people
Term
democratization
Definition
expanison of democracy
Term
The Third Wave
Definition
expansion of democracy
Term
legitimacy
Definition
subjective perception of rightness or wrongness of political organization
Term
totalitarian state
Definition
state is very intrusive
Term
social welfare state
Definition
in between totalitarian and night watchman
Term
night watchman state
Definition
civil society very present, government provides basic infrastructure
Term
sovereignty
Definition
who rules [people, monarch]
Term
regime
Definition
who rules, how the state controls itself
Term
administration
Definition
representative of given political party that controls state
Term
nation
Definition
primary identity, more strongly than any other identity
Term
nation state
Definition
national identification and legal authority coincide
Term
ethnicity/ethnic group
Definition
common physical traits, languages, cultures or history
Term
identity
Definition
who or what a person is
Term
ascriptive identity
Definition
inherited identity
Term
religion
Definition
can be basis of national identity, serve as rallying point; sometimes woven into fabric of government
Term
secularization
Definition

1. separate church and state

2. to dispense from allegianc to religion

Term
ideology
Definition
realm of ideas concerning legitimacy, can change very quickly, realm of political philosophy
Term
institutions
Definition
representative bodies, anything that limits human action, changeable but not quickly
Term
social structure/civil society
Definition
how society organizes itself on its own, difficult to change
Term
culture
Definition
beliefs passed on through generations, inherited ehtical habit, extremely difficult to change, societal
Term
small N study
Definition
case study, more feasible, less input factors, more detailed information
Term
large N study
Definition
statistical study, policy relevance- abstract and little debate, limited by questions asked
Term
modernization
Definition
different changes a society goes through such as urbanization, industrial development, education, etc.
Term
modernization theory
Definition
modernization leads to political and economic development, same as poverty thesis
Term
poverty thesis
Definition
the poor revolt because they have nothing to lose, same idea as modernization theory
Term
state scope
Definition
variety of services offered, night watchman state v totalitarian statee
Term
state strength
Definition
ability of state to enforce rules (ex. forced integration of southern schools)
Term
agent/principal theory
Definition
agents don't always act in best inerests of principals, necessary for modernization, separation of labor
Term
constitutional design
Definition
fundamental institutional decisions
Term
electoral systems
Definition
formula for translating raw votes into representation in legislature
Term
presidential system
Definition
popular election of president, separate survival of legislative and executive branches, president chooses government and has direct powers [veto, decree, reserved powers]
Term
parliamentary system
Definition
executive appointed by parliament
Term
decisiveness
Definition
effectiveness, tyranny
Term
resoluteness
Definition
more veto actors, legitimacy, anarchy
Term
divided government
Definition
different parties control different houses of Congress
Term
unified government
Definition
no power sharing
Term
veto actors
Definition
anybody with the power to stop an action of the government
Term
separation of powers
Definition
system of checks and balances in government
Term
public regarding policies
Definition
in interest of public, good
Term
private regarding policies
Definition
given population, government institutions act in narrower interests, bad
Term
poltical party
Definition
group of people with the same ideas and ideals that has the ability to influence government
Term
competitive party system
Definition
more than one political party has a reasonable expectation of winning an election or of being in a winning coalition
Term
authoritarian party system
Definition
single party system, no other party has expectation of winning an election
Term
interest aggregation
Definition
activity in which the political demands of groups and individuals are combined into policy programs
Term
elections
Definition
formal decision making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office
Term
majoritarian
Definition
usually single member subnational districts, yields two party systems, more decisive and less representative, interest aggregation at party level
Term
proportional representation (PR)
Definition
usually multimember larger districts, based on lists of candidates
Term
person voting
Definition
voting for an individual
Term
list voting
Definition
voting for a list of candidates based on party
Term
closed list PR
Definition
vote for parties
Term
open list PR
Definition
vote for candidates
Term
district magnitude
Definition
the number of representatives elected from a given district to the same legislative body
Term
voting threshold
Definition
lowest amount a party can get and have representation in legislature
Term
double ballot (two round voting)
Definition
voter votes for one candidate, then there is a runoff election between fewer candidates
Term
primaries
Definition
election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election
Term
gerrymandering
Definition
from Elbridge Gerry in Mass 1812, drawing irregularly shapes voting districts, can represent minorities or polarize region
Term
safe district
Definition
a seat in a legislative body which is regarded as fully secured, through gerrymandering, political party domination or incumbent representative personally
Term
Duverger's Law
Definition
a principle which asserts that a plurality rule election system tends to favor a two party system
Term
disproportionality
Definition
over representation of a particular race or cultural group in a perticular program or system
Term
minority representation
Definition
fair representation by any minority group
Term
representativeness (PR)
Definition
standing or acting for another especially through delegated authority
Term
coalition government
Definition
a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several parties cooperate
Term
decentralization
Definition
devolution of power from ational governments in to local governments
Term
unitary government
Definition
a sovereign state governed as one single unit in which the central government is supreme and any administrative divisions exercise only powers that the central government chooses to delegate
Term
geographical federalism
Definition
territorial, small states
Term
corporate federalism
Definition
federalism based on group representation rather than territory
Supporting users have an ad free experience!