Comparative Politics - Midterm One

POLS UA 500 NYU

State

An entity that utilizes coercion or the threat of violence to control a given territory

Nation-State

A state where a single nation predominates, and the legal, social, demographic, and geographical boundaries of the state are connected in important ways to the nation

Strategic Behavior

When the actions of one actor depend on the actions of another actor

Contractarian View of the State

The creation of states comes from a social contract between individuals, where the state provides security in return for obedience from the people

Predatory View of the State

States exercise an effective control over the use of violence, which they can use to extract from their subjects

Equilibrium

Reached when the actions chosen by all actors when pursuing their goals and considering the actions of other actors

State Capacity

The ability for the state to penetrate civil society in order to implement political decisions throughout the territory; Ability of the state to force political decisions

Fiscal Capacity

The ability of the state to collect taxes

Legibility

A society is legible when the population is arranged in a way to simply classic state functions like taxation, conscription, and the prevention of rebellions

Regime

Set of rules, norms, or institutions that determine how a government is constituted, organized, and how major decisions are made

Democracy

The majority of people get to rule, not just an elite group

Democracy (Minimalistic Procedural Definition)

Classifies political regimes based on their formal institutions and rules; Institutional arrangement where power is given through the competitive struggle of people's votes (elections, suffrage, and competition for office)

Democracy (Maximalist Substantial Definitions)

Classifies political regimes according to their formal institutions and rules, how those institutions function in practice, and the outcomes they produce

Validity (of a measure)

The extent to which our measures correspond to the concepts that they are intended to reflect

Reliability (of a measure)

The extent to which our measurement gives consistent results

Institutions

Human devised constraints that control human behavior

Civilian Dictatorship

Executive comes into power without family kin or military power; Not fully military or monarchic dictatorship

Military Dictatorship

Executive relies on armed forces to gain and maintain power

Monarchic Dictatorship

Autocracy where executive gains power through family kin and networks

Hybrid Regime

Combines democratic rules with authoritarian governance

Competitive Authoritarianism

Regime with formal democratic institutions, but the dictator violates the rules so often that the regime fails to be a democracy

Causation

X causes Y if, when there is a change in X, there is a change in Y

Modernization Theory

As societies develop economically, they tend to become more democratic

Property Rights

Exclusive authority to determine how a resource is used

Rentier State

Derives all or most of its revenue from the rent of natural resources in its territory

Culture

The values, attitudes, and expectations of others’ behavior

Bottom-Up Transition

People rise up in masses to overthrow an authoritarian regime in a popular revolution

Collective Action

Pursuit of a goal by groups o

Free-Rider Problem

Individual members of a group often have little incentive to contribute to the provsiion of a

Preference Falsification

Because it is dangerous to reveal opposition to a dictatorship, individuals who oppose the regime may falsify private preferences when public

Top-Down Transition

Ruling dictator elite introduces liberalizing reform that eventually leads to democrazation

Liberalizing Reform

A controlled opening of the political space, and might include the formation of political parties, holding elections, writing a constitution, establishing an independent judicary, opening a legislature, and so 

Democratic Backsliding

Deterioration of the quality of democracy withi

Populism

A political stance that claims to be the voice of the people

Instrumental Motives

The cost of taking an action and the benefits associated with affecting a political outcome

Expressive Motives

Concerns that derive directly from the meaning or symbolic significance of actions or choices themselves, rather than the produced political outcomes

Protests

Instances of disruptive collective action aimed at institutions, elites, or other groups on behalf of a collective goal of actors or others