Comp Pol Midterm #2

Caretaker Government

A caretaker government occurs when an election is called or when an incumbent government either resigns or is defeated in a vote of no confidence. It rules the country for an interim period until a new gov is formed.

Cohabitation

Cohabitation, having a president from one political bloc and a prime minister from another, occurs when the party of the president does not control a majority in the legislature and is not represented in the cabinet.

Congruent Federalism

Congruent federalism exists when units of a federal state share similar demographic makeup with one another and the country as a whole.

Constituency service

Constituency service refers to non-legislative activities undertaken by legislators (or their staff) on behalf of residents of their districts.

Cross-cutting cleavages

Cleavages are cross-cutting when the cleavage attributes are independent or uncorrelated.

Delegation

Delegation occurs when one person or group (principal) relies on another person or group (agent) to act on the principal’s behalf.

District magnitude

The number of representatives elected in a district or constituency.

Duverger’s Law

Duverger’s law holds that the simple-majority single-ballot system favors the two-party system

Electoral formula

Formula that translates votes into seats or offices

Federalism

Federalism is a political organization in which the activities of government are divided between regional governments and a central government in such a way that each kind of government has some activities on which it makes final decisions.

Least minimal winning coalition

A minimal winning coalition is one in which there are no extra parties in addition to those that are required to control a legislative majority. A least MWC is the MWC with the lowest number of surplus seats

Legislative responsibility

Legislative responsibility refers to a situation in which a legislative majority has the constitutional power – through a vote of no confidence – to remove a government from office without cause

Party discipline

Party discipline is high when all party members in the legislature act and vote cohesively, are on the same page about party policy, and leaders speak for the party

Personal vote

A personal vote occurs when an individual votes based upon the characteristics of a particular candidate rather than the characteristics of the party to which candidate belongs.

Political cleavage

A political cleavage is an alignment between a social cleavage and a political party that endures over time.

Proportionality

An electoral system is more proportional if the distribution of seats mirrors

the distribution of votes more closely

Semi-presidential democracy

A democracy is a semi-presidential if the government depends on a legislative majority to exist and in which the head of state is popularly elected for a fixed term

Strategic voting

A voter engages in strategic voting if they vote in favor of a less preferred option because they believe that doing so will ultimately produce a more preferred outcome

Substantive representation

Substantive representation characterizes the degree to which representatives “act for” their constituents by taking actions in line with their constituents’ substantive or ideological interests

Vote of no confidence

Vote of no confidence generally involves a vote in the legislature on whether a government should remain in office