APCG Unit 1

Causation

When evaluating the relationship between two variables, it becomes evident that a change in one variable directly leads to a change in the other.

Correlation

When evaluating the relationship between two variables, it becomes evident that a change to one variable corresponds with a change in another, but there is no evidence of them being directly related.

Empirical statements

Factual claims that are based on demonstrable evidence

Interest Groups

Organizations of individuals with a common public policy goal working to influence public policy in favor of that goal.

Linkage institutions

Organizations and systems that help connect individuals to the policy making process, including political parties, interest groups, and the media.

Normative statements

Claims that are based on value judgements or opinions rather than evidence.

Political culture

Norms, values, and expectations held by the public and elites about how the competition for and the wielding of political power should function

Political parties

Organizations of individuals seeking to win control of government and wield political power by running candidates for office and winning elections or otherwise depending on the rules of the political system

State institutions

Formal institutions and systems established to make and implement public policy, most commonly including legislative, executive, judicial,, bureaucratic, and military institutions.

Systems Theory

A holistic view of a political system that seeks to explain how public policy decisions are demanded, made, implemented, and altered.

Autonomy

The extent to which a state can act and implement policy decisions regardless of the public's support

Capacity

The extent to which a state can effectively execute a policy decision it has made.

Charismatic legitimacy

A situation wherein people believe the state has the right to rule because of the trust in or popularity of a particular political leader

Confederation

A political union in which the regional governments hold sovereign power and are loosely united by a central government

Devolution

The transfer of political power down from a central or national level of government to a local or regional level

Failed States

States that are so weak that they are incapable of providing necessary public goods and services to their citizens

Federal system

An arrangement that divides or shares power on a permanent or constitutional basis between central or national government and regional governments

Government

The people currently holding office and wielding political power; they can be changed through normal regular political processes, such as elections

Legitimacy

The people's belief in the state's right to rule and exercise political power

Monopoly on Violence

A state's sovereign power to use force legitimately and to determine what the legitimate and illegitimate uses of force are; Max Weber used this phrase to define the state.

Nation

A group of people united by a common political identitity, usually the desire for self rule or political autonomy, and commonly also united by ethnicity, language, religion, culture, and other factors.

Rational-Legal Legitimacy

A situation where the people believe the state has the right to rule because of a rational system of laws and processes that those in power complied with to acquire power.

Regime

The fundamental rules and norms of the political system

Sovereignty

Possessing supreme, autonomous power

State

A political institution that possesses sovereignty, or a "monopoly on violence' over a territory

State institutions

Formal organizations and systems established to make and implement public policy, most commonly including legislative, judicial, military, and executive branches.

Supranational organizations

Institutions where member states collaborate on common goals or policy programs and usually accept some restrictions on their sovereignty to further these ends.