Introduction to Political States, Regimes, and Institutions

Flashcards covering key political science vocabulary from the lecture transcript, including states, regimes, institutions, state capacity, federal systems, and electoral systems.

Nation

A population-based political entity with a shared history, culture, or language, focusing more on people and geographies than on governance.

Political State

A sovereign government structure that oversees a territory and organizes institutions such as courts, the military, and bureaucracy.

Political Regime

The overarching political rules and norms of a political state system, defining systems like democracy, authoritarianism, or totalitarianism.

Political Institutions

Government structures with allocated authority, including legislative branches, executive offices, courts, and the bureaucracy.

Legislative Branch

A political institution holding the authority to draft, vote on, and pass laws.

Executive Office

A political institution, such as a presidency, often associated with foreign policy and the organization of government branches.

Courts

A political institution with the allocated authority to adjudicate on legal disputes.

Bureaucracy

A political institution responsible for the administrative authority to implement legislative and executive policies.

Absolute Monarchy

A traditional system of governance where a king or queen retains hereditary authority over the government without institutional checks on power.

Constitutional Monarchy

A system where a royal king or queen fulfills a largely symbolic or ceremonial role and shares power with an elected parliament.

Presidential Republic

A republic where the president operates independently of the legislature rather than being chosen by legislative vote.

Parliamentary Republic

A republic where the executive prime minister is accountable to the legislature, either by being elected by legislative members or negotiating policy with them.

Semi-Presidential Republic

A republic where executive power is shared between a president, who often handles diplomacy and foreign affairs, and a prime minister, who works with parliament.

Effective State

A political state where laws are obeyed, corruption is minimal to nonexistent, elections are fair and free, taxes are collected, and territory is maintained.

Weak State

A state that possesses formal government institutions but suffers from widespread economic corruption, corrupt justice and electoral systems, and public service or security incapacities.

Failed State

A fragile state lacking a national government or institutional structure, often ruled by unrecognized leadership like warlords or militias, with low health and education standards.

Patronage System

Also known as the spoils system, an administrative practice where bureaucratic roles are awarded based on political support for the ruling party rather than policy expertise or merit.

Rule of Law

A stage of political development defined by institutionalized moral standards and codified rules that clearly indicate right and wrong to citizens and state actors.

Accountability

A stage of political order marked by government responsiveness to the public, typically maintained through fair electoral systems.

First Order Civil Divisions

Subnational entities within a political state, such as states, counties, prefectures, and municipalities.

Unitary System

A national governing framework where central authority maintains direct rule over subnational civil divisions, granting them little to no independent policy autonomy.

Federal System

A governing framework where central national power is shared with subnational civil divisions, allowing them partial autonomy over local policies.

Devolution

The process of decentralization in a unitary system where specific central power and authority are transferred down to regional or local civil divisions.

Laboratories of Democracy

A benefit of federalism where subnational civil divisions can experiment with unique policies locally, allowing successful policies to spread without risking national-level failure.

Single Member District

An electoral system where candidates from one or more parties compete for a single representative seat representing a specific geographic district.

First Past the Post

A plurality voting rule in single-member district systems where the candidate receiving the largest relative share of votes wins the seat, regardless of whether they achieve an absolute majority.

Proportional Representation

An electoral system where multi-seat districts allocate representative seats to political parties in proportion to the percentage of total votes each party list receives.