Democracy, Dictatorship, and Electoral Systems Lecture Review

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the conceptualization of democracy, executive-legislative relations, cleavages, political participation, and electoral systems based on lecture notes.

Modern Democracy

A political system in which representatives of the people are regularly chosen in competitive elections under universal suffrage, where rulers are forced to seek the consent of the people to govern.

Adam Przeworski's Coin Toss Analogy

The idea that the mere possibility of an alternation in power may induce competing political forces to comply with a selection process, like a coin toss, rather than seeking power through violence.

Three Waves of Democracy (Samuel Huntington)

The historical periods of democratization: 1st wave (19th century to post-WW1), 2nd wave (WWII to early 1960s), and 3rd wave (starting early 1970s).

Operationalization

The process of translating a theoretical concept into a specific measure or indicator for quantification.

Dahl's Two Dimensions of Democracy

A minimalist view of democracy classified by Contestation (competition) and Inclusion (the right to participate).

Democracy-Dictatorship (DD) Measure

A dichotomous measure classifying a country as a democracy only if the chief executive and legislature are elected, there is more than one party, and an alternation in power has occurred.

Freedom House Measure

A measurement of democracy based on two categories: Political Rights (10 questions) and Civil Rights (15 questions), with scores averaged for an overall freedom score.

Legislative Responsibility

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

Constructive Vote of No Confidence

A vote indicating that the government must resign, which must also specify who will replace the incumbent government.

Presidential Democracy

A democratic system characterized by the lack of legislative responsibility, where the government does not depend on a legislative majority to exist.

Ministerial Responsibility

The constitutional doctrine holding that cabinet ministers bear ultimate responsibility for all actions within their ministry.

Collective Cabinet Responsibility

The doctrine that cabinet ministers must publicly support collective decisions made by the cabinet or resign from their positions.

Formateur

A person designated to initiate the government formation process in a parliamentary democracy, often the Prime Minister designate.

Informateur

A person appointed by the head of state to examine politically feasible coalitions and recommend a formateur.

Caretaker Government

An incumbent government that remains in office without making major policy changes until a new government formation process is completed after an election or resignation.

Gamson’s Law

The principle stating that cabinet portfolios are distributed among government parties in proportion to the number of legislative seats each party contributes to the coalition.

Minimal Winning Coalition (MWC)

A government coalition in which there are no parties that are not strictly required to control a legislative majority.

Surplus Majority Government

A government comprising more parties than are strictly necessary to control a majority of legislative seats.

The Deadlock Trap

A situation in presidential systems with multiparty congresses where the president and congress have fixed terms and cannot dismiss each other, resulting in legislative paralysis.

Cohabitation

A period in semi-presidential systems where the president is from one political bloc and the prime minister is from another, often due to the president's party lacking a legislative majority.

Agency Loss

The difference between the actual behavior of an agent (elected official) and the behavior that would have best served the principal's (voter's) interest.

Moral Hazard

A principal-agent problem occurring when the agent's actions are unobserved, leading to potential neglect of the principal's interests.

Social Cleavage

A specific type of political conflict rooted in socio-structural divisions, such as Owner vs. Worker or Church vs. State, triggered by historical processes like industrialization.

Freezing Hypothesis (Lipset)

The argument that party systems in Western Europe reflected the social cleavages that were relevant at the time of universal male enfranchisement.

Dealignment

The weakening of the association between social groups (like class) and political parties, leading to higher voter volatility.

Civic Culture

A mix of parochial, subject, and participant political orientations required for a healthy democracy.

Exit, Voice, and Loyalty

A framework for political participation where citizens can leave (exit), protest (voice), or support the system (loyalty).

Collective Action Problem

The free-rider problem that undermines group action, where individuals benefit from public goods without contributing to their provision.

Affective Polarization

A state where voting behavior is emotionally charged and based on identity and hostility toward the opposing party rather than policy.

District Magnitude ($M$)

The number of seats contested and allocated within a specific electoral district.

Electoral Quota ($Q$)

The number of votes necessary to win a seat in a district, often calculated as $Q = \frac{V_d}{M_d + n}$ where $V_d$ is votes, $M_d$ is magnitude, and $n$ is a modifier.

Congruence

The extent to which the actions or ideological placement of representatives align with the interests or preferences of the represented.

Thermostat Model

A model of responsiveness where the public compares government policy to their preferred level and sends a demand signal to which the government adjusts.

Consociationalism

An institutional approach to stabilizing divided societies through grand coalitions, proportional representation, and minority veto power.

Zipping Rule

A gender quota mechanism for closed lists requiring alternating male and female candidates (e.g., Male-Female-Male).

Duverger’s Law

The claim that simple-majority single-ballot systems (single-member districts with plurality rule) favor a two-party system.

Mechanical Effect of Electoral Rules

The way electoral rules translate votes into seats, which tends to under-represent small parties in plurality systems.

Psychological Effect of Electoral Rules

The phenomenon where voters and elites anticipate the mechanical effect, leading to strategic voting and coordination around viable candidates to avoid wasting votes.

Cox’s $M+1$ Rule

The principle that under strategic coordination, the number of viable competitors in a district converges to the district magnitude plus one ($M + 1$).

ENEP vs. ENPP

The difference between the Effective Number of Electoral Parties (votes) and the Effective Number of Parliamentary Parties (seats), which measures systemic disproportionality.