Political Economy and Public Policy: Key Concepts and Movements

Political economy

The study of economic theories, practices, and outcomes within and between states

Comparative political economy

Comparing the economic systems of different states

International political economy

Studying economic interactions at the global level

Public goods

Goods available to everyone that cannot be denied

Private goods

Goods owned exclusively by a person or group

Property

A legally owned resource that may be tangible or intangible

Property rights

Legal authority over how property is used

Market

Exchange of goods and services driven by supply and demand

Market failure

When the market fails to operate efficiently or meet social values

Monopoly

A single company dominating an entire market

Natural monopoly

A market where one producer is the most efficient

Economies of scale

Cost per unit decreases as a company grows

Wealth distribution

How resources and assets are divided among a population

Fiscal policy

Government decisions about taxation and spending

Taxation

The process of the government collecting revenue

Progressive tax

Higher income results in higher tax rates

Flat tax

One tax rate for all income levels

Regressive tax

Tax that affects low-income groups more (e.g., sales tax)

Sin tax

Tax on harmful goods

Pink tax

Higher prices on goods marketed toward women

Monetary policy

Actions by a central bank to influence money supply

Low interest rates

Increase borrowing and spending leading to economic growth and inflation

High interest rates

Decrease borrowing and spending leading to recession

Collective action problem

Difficulty coordinating groups due to free riding or lack of incentives

Social movement

Organized action around major social or political goals

Political opportunity

Movements succeed when political conditions are favorable

Framing

Defining an issue in a way that resonates emotionally and culturally

Non-violent movement

Increases legitimacy and limits government retaliation

Violent movement

Uses force to achieve goals

Movement organization

Requires leaders, structure, and mobilization

Diffusion

Spread of movement ideas across borders

Political violence

Deliberate harm motivated by political goals

Secession

Formal withdrawal from a state

Responsibility to Protect (R2P)

States and international actors must intervene if a government fails to protect citizens

State political violence

Violence used by a government (monopoly on force)

State-sponsored political violence

Government support for repression or terror

Terrorism

Violence targeting noncombatants for political purposes

Non-state actors

Political actors not associated with government institutions

Political violence in democracies

Lower because opposition and elections create accountability

Political violence in authoritarian regimes

Higher due to lack of opposition and accountability

Assassination

Targeted political killing

Coup

Illegal or violent seizure of government power

Insurrection

Sudden short-lived uprising against authority

Insurgency

Long-term organized rebellion undermining government authority

Guerrilla warfare

Hit-and-run attacks by small groups against larger forces

Terrorism (tactic)

Violence aimed at psychological impact for political gain

Revolution

Mass public uprising to seize the state and change the regime

Low-intensity conflict

Ongoing but reduced political violence

One side victory

Conflict ends when one actor wins

Negotiated settlement

Peace agreement between conflicting actors

Third-party intervention

External organizations enforcing or supporting peace

FARC violence

Kidnappings, killings, landmines, hijackings

FARC funding

Cocaine trafficking, extortion, illegal mining

Public opinion

Views held by the public on politics and institutions

Attitudes

Unstable and easily influenced views

Bandwagon effect

People adopt the majority opinion of their group

Rally-around-the-flag effect

National unity during crises

Beliefs

Stable views formed from personal experience

Political socialization

Process of learning political beliefs from family, school, religion, peers, and media

Reasons for polling

Understand public needs, predict elections, inform media

Random sample

Smaller group representing a larger population

Inference

Drawing conclusions about a population from a sample

Randomization

Everyone has an equal chance of being selected

Margin of error

Range showing possible error in polling

Focus group

Small group providing open-ended responses for insights

Random digit dialing

Phone-based sampling with low response rates

Online polls

Digital surveys that may contain dishonest responses

Exit poll

Survey taken immediately after voting

Push poll

Biased poll designed to influence opinion

Social media poll

Non-scientific poll showing popular sentiment

Priming effect

Telling people what to think about

Framing effect

Telling people how to think about an issue

Social desirability bias

People hide unpopular views due to judgment

Ordinal scale question

Survey question with levels (e.g., 'very likely' to 'not likely')

Feeling thermometer

Rating political figures from 0 to 100

Comparative public opinion

Research comparing opinions across countries

Advantages of comparative opinion

Language, culture, local experts, cost-effectiveness

Disadvantages of comparative opinion

Different meanings across cultures and unreliable data in authoritarian regimes

Democratic socialism

System combining democracy with social ownership and welfare protections

Reason for rejecting free market economy

Unequal resources could cause monopolies

Reason for rejecting command economy

Requires strong stable government

Reason for rejecting traditional economy

Too limiting for diverse groups