PLS 230 Midterm Study Guide

Country

a vague word for places

Nation

a large, geographically bounded population that often shares history, culture, collective identity, and political aspirations

State

the central political institution that holds a “monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory” (Max Weber)

Nation-state

a state that claims to represent one dominant nation. Nation-states are sovereign states, different from the “states” inside a federal union (e.g., North Carolina), which have transferred part of their power to the federal government

The Modern State

Is the most important form of political organization in modern politics

Territory

Demarcated area (leads to territorial disputes)

Sovereignty

Ultimate authority within its territory; no domestic or foreign actor is above the state. Internal = power to rule inside; external = freedom to act independently of other states

Legitimacy

The public views the state as legitimate, vital, and proper. Weber’s sources: traditional, charismatic, legal-rational

Bureaucracy

Individuals working under established, specified, complex rules and procedures

Impersonality

The state is identified with institutions, not the personalitites of its leaders

The state is made of which institutions?

Army, police, taxation, judiciary

Functions of Modern States

• Defense, policing, taxation

• Managing the economy: macro-management (supplying currency, making economic policy); in some cases directly running the economy (Soviet Union, North Korea)

• Social welfare (public health care, education, social insurance, pensions); health care and education are seen as investment in human capital

• Infrastructure and other public goods

• Functions change over time.

Regime

fundamental rules and norms of politics; where power should reside and how it should be used (democratic vs. authoritarian).

Government

(1) the administrative apparatus of the state, or (2) the leadership/elite running the state

Analogy from O'Neil's textbook

the state is the machinery, the regime is its programming, and the government is the operator.

State capacity

 ability to govern and perform functions (monopolize force, functioning bureaucracy, predictable legal and social order, penetrate society).

State autonomy

how independently the state can wield power relative to the public

Strong state

generally provides adequate poltical goods

Weak state

only partially provides them

Failed state

so weak it loses effective sovereignty over part or all of its territory (Somalia, DR Congo, South Sudan)

Developmental state

defined by its role in economic developmemnt (contrast: predatory state)

Welfare state

aims to maintain and improve citizens’ social well-being (social insurance, public health care, proverty relief) for the most vulnerable

Poltical/Conflict (Bellicist) = Charles Tilly

War made the state: war promoted centralized authority and raised its capacity to tax and mobilize society. Notes also mention Hobbes (State creates order out of anarchy)

Economic = Perry Anderson; D. North, J. Wallis, B. Weingast

States reflect underlying economic interests. Marxists: the state is a tool of the ruling class. Elite coalitions craft institutions like states to protect their own rights

Cultural = Philip Gorski (religoin); Liah Greenfeld (nationalism)

Ideas and culture favored the state. (1) Protestantism reshaped attitudes toward institutions; (2) nationalism made the nation-state seem natural and legitimate

Diffusion = Hendrik Spruyt; Immanuel Wallerstein; John Meyer et al.

States first emerged in Western Europe and spread. Why: (1) military advantages over non-state, (2) economic interests pushed for sttes everywhere, (3) the state became a worldwide idea/cultural reality

Thomas Ertman

historical-institutional: sequences and state types

How to apply them (Spanish/British case exercise)

derive a hypothesis from each theory and test it. Example format: Conflict theory predicts that wars preceded and drove tax and army growth. Does the evidence show that?

Demos + kratos

originated in ancient Greece aroind the 5th century BCE (city-states, notably Athens)

Democracy

a regime associated with “rule by the people” with rights and liberties: political rights (eg, voting) and civil liberties (speech, information, etc)

Procedural (“minimal”) definition

basic rules, procedures, pr standards required

Substantive definition

emphasizes end goals such as more equity and participation

Democratization

regime change toward being more democratic

Direct democracy

direct citizen involvement; plebiscites, referenda, citizen assemblies

Representative democracy

politicians and institutions represent the electorate; periodic elections plus other participation (protests, petitions, media) constrain politicians

Modernization = Lipset (cause of democracy); Przeworski et al. (persistence)

Rich countries are often democratic; an emerging middle class (urbanization, education, industrialization) helps democratization; development may prevent democratic breakdown even if it doesn’t cause democratization

Culture = Tocqueville

Different regions have different cultures regarding power, authorty, rights (e.g., “Asian” vs. “Western” values). Caution: culture is complex and not static. Civic culture: free poltical talk, emotional involvement in elections, tolerance of opposition, valuing participation

International system = Huntington (international system and domestic institutions)

Major powers affect chances of democracy in smaller countries. Cold War (1945-1989): US and USSR wanted client states and prioritized security; after, democracy became an international norm

Domestic institutions = Huntington

Institutions shape whether democracies survive. Federalism may reduce conflict in ethnically divided countries; US Constitution vs. earlier Articles of Confederation; electoral rules (Chile 1970: president elected with under 40% support, later overthrown in a coup). Institutions can be designed, so they appeal to democracy promoters

Agents and actors = O’Donnell et al

Prominent leaders as triggers (Ghandi and Nehru, Mandela, Walesa; Gorbachev in the Soviet collapse); coalitions of groups (e.g., moderates) drive transtions

Comprehensive view

no single theory explains all democracy; arguments should combine features without becoming a laundry list. Example: modernization = cultural values = democracy (Inglehart and Welzel)

Methods tool

within-case analysis (change over time in one country), eg. when did the US become fully democratic (1776, 1920 women’s suffrage, 1965 Voting Rights Act)

Authoritarinaism

an ideology favoring closed, concentrated, hierachical decision-making, often with blind obesidence to authority and suppression of individual freedom. Authoritarian regimes are those fundamental rules exemplify this

Personalistic dictatorship / Sultanism = Zaire (today’s DR Congo) in the 1970s-80s (Mobutu, 1971-97)

Centers on the personality of the dictator

Bureaucratic-authoritarian = Argentina and Brazil in the 1970s (juntas): Mexico’s PRI (won elections 1929-2000)

State controlled by a group of elites (often military) rather than one leader

Totalitarian = Soviet Union (1917-1991), Nazi Germany (1933-1945), North Korea

Aims to control everything about subjects’ lives

Theocracy = Contemporary Iran (despite some democratic features); Saudi Arabia

Controlled by religious leaders, or strict religious restrictions with religion as the main legitimation

Historical Insitutionalism = Barrington Moore

Coalitions among groups/classes shape regime fates; institions give coalitions lasting effects. Actors: landowners, industrialists, working class, peasants, military

Poverty and inequality = Acemoglu and Robinson (elite calculations)

High poverty or inequality leads to more authoritarianism: poor populations prioritize economic issues over libertiesl inequality breeds mistrust; wealthy interests defend priviledge, the poor may favor populism and redistribution

State weakness and failure = O’Donnell (importance of the state)

Weak insitutions make states more likely to be authoritarian, often predatory; less able to be totalitarian. State weakeness may be an intervening variable (low development = weakeness = authoritarian)

Political culture = Almond and Verba

Some cultural traditions suit authoritarianism (“Asian values”; Latin America’s “centralist” tradition, Claudio Veliz). Counterpoint: South Korea and Taiwan democratized

Barriers to collective action = Timur Kuran

Individuals have little incentive to risk repression; free-rider problem: let others take the risk. Without coordination, the regime stays intact

Zimbabwe case

a personalist regime with repression and seemingly arbitrary rule; the distribution of power changed little after Mugabe. Method: find evidence supporting and opposing each theory (empirical critique)

Hybrid Regime

neither fully authoritarian nor fully democratic

Electoral authoritarianism

authoritarian, but elections are held, at least nominally

Competitive authoritarianism

authoritarian regime that tolerates some political competition. (Notes: oppostion can operate openly without high risk of exile or imprisonment, and democratic procedures are meaningful enough for the opposition to contest them) Levitsky and Way explain hybrid regimes this way

Delegative democracy

democracy in which the elctorate delegates much authority to the government

Illiberal democracy

democracy, but political and civil rights are not all provided or protected

Illberal democracy reading (Fareed Zakaria)

distinguishes democracy (free and fair elections) from constitutional liberalism (liberties of speech, assembly, religion, property; rule of law; separation of powers)

Why hybrid regimes arise

(1) authoritarian regimes stay resilient and adapt (China); (2) incomplete or unsuccessful democratization (Russia); (3) democratic breakdown (Weimar Republic; Russia/Venezuela)

Transition to democracy

authoritarian = democratic. Democratic consolidation: the new democratic order becomes institutionalized; consolidated democracies are more likely to endure than transitional ones. Then: improving the quality of democracy

Primitive communism / utopia socialism

egalitarian, common ownership

Modern communism (Communist Manifesto)

ideology seeking human equality by eliminating private property and the market; vision of liberation, no exploitation, no repression

Marx’s stages

Primitive = slavery = feudalism = capitalism = communism. Capitalism has developed productivity but exploitative social relations (capital, labor, surplus value); class strggule between capitalists and the working class

Most Similar Systems Design (MSSD)

Compare cases that are similar in many respects but differ in the outcome. the differing factor is the lilkely explanation

Most Different Systems Design (MDSD)

Compare cases that are very different but share the same outocome. The shared factor is the likley explanation

Socialism

a lower stage of, or stage toward, communisml does not necessarily imply a totalitarian system and coecist with liberal democracy; emphasizes economic equality through state action. “Pink states” = socialist democratic regimes in Western and Northern Europe

Communist regimes

USSR and Eastern Europe, China, North Korea, Vietnam, Cuba. Their greatest terrirorial extent was 1979-1983 (slide note)

Communism rise: Marx

advancing productivity = class struggle = working class (economical/structural)

Communism rise: Lenin

the vanguard party, the Communist Party (institutional/organizational)

Communism rise: Mao

strategy in revolution (agency); nationalism and communism may go hand in hand

Communism rise: International factors

Comintern and the Soviet Union; WWII

Reason for communism decline

Marx was wrong, capitalism adapted

Reason for communism decline

regimes became totalitarian; parties became a privledged class and control machine rather than serving the working class

Reason for communism decline

Failure of planned economies

Reason for communism decline

Leadership: Gorbachev in the fall of the Soviet Union

Reasoon for communism decline

International competition with liberal democracies

International order

Slogan “Workers of the world, unite!”

World-systems theory (Wallerstein)

core (industrialized manufacturing), semi-periphery (mixed), periphery (extraction).

Mao’s three worlds

US and USSR; Western Europe and Japan; the developing world

Constitution

fundamental and supreme laws, usually in a written charter, establishing the basis of a political system and of other laws; symbolize a social contract

Consitutionalism

limitation of government through a constitution

Constitutional design

features forming the basis of the system: separation of powers, responsibilities between levels and branches of government

Authoritarian vs. democratic

authoritarian regimes also have constitutions (e.g, China holds a constituion day; the PRC’s first constitution was 1954) Democracicies distribute power, authoritarian holds power in one central leader

Seperation of powers

Legislative, executive, judiciary

Judicial review

power of consitutional courts to determine the legality of laws. Judges interpret and therefore affect law; critics call it “legislating from the bench” (judicial activism), and it removes major issues from public debate

Judicial review: Pro

judges defend basic rights not secured by legislation (e.g Brown v. Board of education, 1954, which struck down state laws creating separate schools for Black and wwhite students)

Judicial review: Con

Judges may infer rights that should be decided through democratic elections (homosexuality marriage debate)

Ran Hirschl

“Judicial review is driven by elites to protect their rights”

Federalism

separation of power and authority among levels of government

Unitarism

a system of political organization where most or all governing power resides in a single central government

William Riker = U.S Case

Result of a bargain among regional actors and a prospective national government, driven by external threats (“coming together”)

Alfred Stepan = Canada Case

An instrument of the central government to hold different groups together (“holding together”)

Social Stability = Negative

May empower separatist or secessionalist groups

Social Stability = Positive

Gives ethnic/regional groups power and a stake; a safety valve

Democratic rights = Positive

Regions can have different laws matching local preferences (e.g., higher taxes and more services vs. lower taxes and fewer)

Democratic rights = Negative

Basic rights may differ across one country (slide example: abortion rights in the U.S), so equal protection is not guaranteed

Economy = Positive

“Healthy competition”: firms and citizens “vote with their feet,” pushing efficiency (Wallace Oates)

Economy = Negative

States may overspend and expect bailouts, harming the national economy (e.g. Brazil) (Rodden and Wibbels)

Democracy and Federalism

U.S, India