PLSC 003 - Chapter 11

legislative responsibility

a situation in which a legislative majority has the constitutional power to remove a government from office without a cause

vote of no confidence

initiated by legislature and the government must resign if it fails to obtain a legislative majority

constructive vote of no confidence

must indicate who will replace the government if the incumbent loses a vote of no confidence

vote of confidence

initiated by the government — the gov must resign if it fails to obtain a legislative majority

presidential democracies

they dont have legislative responsibility

head of state

popularly elected for a fixed term, which means they are either cast a ballot directly for candidate or cast ballots to elect an electoral college, whose sole purpose is to elect the head of state

presidents

exist in presidential, semi presidential and parliamentary democracies

monarchs

only exist in parliamentary democracies — they dont serve fixed terms and they not directly elected

presidential democracies

the government doesn’t depend on a legislative majority to exist

parliamentary democracy

The government depends on a legislative majority to exist, and in which the head of state isnt populary elected for a fixed term are parliamentary

semi presidential

the government depends on a legislative majority to exist and in which the had of state is popularly elected for a fixed term are semi presidential

government in a parliamentary democracy

compromised of a prime minister and the cabinet

prime minister

the political chief executive and head of the government

cabinet

composed of ministers whose job it is to be the cabinet and head the various government departments

ministerial responsibility

the constitutional doctrine by which cabinet ministers must bear ultimate responsibility for what happens in their ministry

collective cabinet responsibility

the doctrine by which ministers must publicly support collective cabinet decisions or reign

free style bargaining

when the head of state is simply swearing in the gov proposed by party elites

formateur

a person designated to form the government in a parliamentary democracy, and is often the PM designate

informateur

examines politically feasible coalitions and nominates a formateur

investiture vote

is a formal vote in the legislature to determine whether a proposed government can take office

caretaker government

occurs when an election is called or when an incumbent government either reigns or is defeated in a vote of no confidence

office seeking politician

interested in the intrinsic benefits of office

policy seeking politician

wants to shape policy

office seeking world

a formateur can get other parties to join the government only giving them office

gamsons law

states that cabinet portfolios will be distributed among goverment parties in strict proportion to the number of seats each party contributes to the governments legislative seat total

minimal winning coalition (MWC)

there are no parties that arent required to control a legislative majority

least minimal winning coalition

the lowest number of surplus seats

policy seeking world

a formateur can get other parties to join the government only by giving them policy concessions

connected coalition

one in which the member parties are located directly next to each other in the policy space

single party majority government

compromises a single party that controls a majority of the legislative seats

minority coalition government

compromises multiple governmental parties that dont together command a majority of the legislative seats

surplus majority government

compromises more parties than are strictly necessary to control a majority of the legislative seats

corporatist interest group relations

these occur when key social and economic actors, such as labor, business, and agriculture groups are integrated into the formal policymaking process

pluralist interest group relations

these occur when interest groups compete in the political marketplace outside of the formal policymaking process

president in presidential democracy

the political chief executive and head of state

nonpartisan minister

someone who does not come from the legislature

premier presidential system

one type of semi presidential democracy where the government is responsible to the legislature but not the president

president parliamentary system

one type of semi presidential democracy where the government is responsible to the legislature and the president

cohabitation

a president from one political bloc and a prime minister from another — occurs when the party of the president doesnt control a majority in the legislature and inst represented in the cabinet

direct democracy

form of government in which people collectively make decisions for themselves

representative democracy

a form of government where citizens delegate power to elected individuals to represent them and act on thier behalf

principle agent, delegation and problem

refers to the difficulties that arise when a principal delegates authority to an agent who potentially has different goals than the principal and cant be perfectly monitored

agency loss

the difference between the actual consequence of delegation and what the consequence would have been had the agent been perfect

perfect agent

one that does what a principal would have done had the the principal been the agent

adverse selection

occurs when the agent has attributed that are hidden from the principal, types are unobserved

moral hazard

occurs when the agent has the opportunity to take actions that are hidden from the principal, actions are unobserved

ex ante mechanisms

help principlals to learn about thier agents before these agents are chosen, and used to learn about the actions of agents after they occured

two general categories of ex ante mechanisms

screening and selection

fire alarm system

a type of ex post mechanisms where the principal relies on information from others to learn about what the agent is doing

police patrol system

a type of ex post mechanisms where the principla miniters the actions of their agents themselves