Political Science 325 Flashcards: East European Politics

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering democratic backsliding, European integration, international security, political transitions, institutions, economic reform, elites, and nationalism in Eastern Europe based on lecture modules 10-19.2.

Democratic Backsliding

A deterioration of qualities associated with democratic governance, involving a decline in competitive electoral procedures, civil and political liberties, and accountability.

Authoritarian Welfare Chauvinism

A demand-side mechanism where segments of the public back a system that 'takes care of its own' as long as they 'know their place,' often supporting a 'strong leader' who erodes democratic norms.

Imitational Modernization

Political, economic, and social change in Eastern Europe based on an elite-driven push to adopt Western models, sometimes resulting in 'wounded national pride' and ethno-populism.

Illiberal Democracy

A new ideological project created by authoritarians in the post-Cold War era as an alternative to liberal democracy and social-market economics.

The 'Unipolar Moment'

A description of the 1990s international system where no country was in a position to challenge the United States and its allies after the Soviet collapse.

Copenhagen Criteria

A set of rules specified in 1993 for EU accession, requiring candidate countries to achieve stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and a functioning market economy.

Acquis Communautaire

A 35-chapter body of EU laws, regulations, and standards that candidate countries must adopt as an 'instruction manual' for running a modern democracy.

Democratic Conditionality

The requirement that a country successfully transition to democracy as a condition for gaining membership in the European Union.

Treaty of the European Union (TEU) Article 2

A treaty article stating that the Union is founded on values including respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and respect for human rights.

Treaty of the European Union (TEU) Article 7

A complex mechanism that allows the EU to determine clear risks of serious breaches of foundational values by a Member State and potentially suspend certain rights, such as voting in the Council.

Collective Security (NATO Article 5)

The principle that an armed attack against one or more NATO members in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all, requiring assistance including the use of armed force.

Warsaw Pact

A military alliance founded in 1955 and dissolved in 1991, often described as 'the only alliance for invading its own members,' such as during the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia.

Wandel durch Handel

A German phrase meaning 'change through trade,' based on the argument that stronger trade links would bring countries closer together and eventually lead to political change.

Credible Commitment Problem

In political science, the dilemma where an authoritarian ruler cannot commit to the rule of law domestically, leading elites to stash wealth in foreign rule-of-law states beyond the dictator's reach.

Virtual Democracy

A model used during the first decade of Putin’s rule where the appearance of pluralism was maintained through 'political technology' like fake opposition parties and fake elections.

Revisionist Power

In international relations, a power that seeks to enhance its own status by weakening its adversaries, as seen in Russia's turn against the West since around 2012.

Budapest Memorandum (1994)

An agreement in which the U.S. and Russia provided 'security assurances' to Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine surrendering the nuclear weapons it inherited from the Soviet Union.

Euromaidan (2013-2014)

The pro-EU protests in Ukraine triggered by President Yanukovych's decision not to sign an association agreement with the European Union.

Bargaining Model of War

A framework by Fearon (1995) suggesting war is an outcome of a failed bargaining process due to misperceptions, commitment problems, or issue indivisibility.

Preference Falsification

A concept by Timur Kuran describing the act of misrepresenting one's genuine political desires under a repressive regime.

Latent Bandwagon

In the study of revolutions, a situation where many people are ready to join a protest but have not yet reached their 'revolutionary threshold' due to the absence of a visible signal.

Transitions Paradigm

A theoretical model of political change involving three stages: the opening (liberalization), the breakthrough (regime collapse), and consolidation (habituation to democratic rules).

Color Revolutions

Transitions in the early 2000s involving large-scale popular protests (typically over disputed elections) that removed incumbent semi-authoritarian governments, such as the Rose, Orange, or Tulip revolutions.

Institutional Inertia

The tendency of legal frameworks and organizational structures to persist or change only gradually after a political transition, often resulting in personnel continuity.

Adversarial Model

An ideal type of governance (e.g., UK) characterized by executive dominance, single-party majority cabinets, and 'winner-take-all' electoral systems like SMD.

Consensual Model

An ideal type of governance (e.g., Switzerland) characterized by power-sharing, multiparty coalitions, and proportional representation (PR).

District Magnitude

The number of seats available in a particular electoral district.

Shock Therapy

An economic reform approach involving the rapid execution of changes (freeing prices and bringing inflation under control) to achieve a faster recovery despite initial pain.

Monetary Overhang

A situation under socialism where consumers stashed money away because there were few goods available to purchase.

Nomenklatura

The communist-era system where all major managerial appointments, promotions, and dismissals were the prerogative of various party bodies.

Clientura

A conceptual model of a political party where the organization is created as a 'business venture' with the aim of making a profit out of politics.

Mafia State

A type of political system modeled on an organized crime syndicate, where there is significant overlap between government, business, and crime.

Effective Number of Parties (ENP)

A measure used to calculate the relative strengths and fragmentation of a party system based on vote or seat shares.

Social Cleavages

Social divisions (like central vs. peripheral regions or religious vs. secular) that create groups with common interests who tend to vote in similar ways.

Nation

A collective united by shared cultural features (myths, values) and a belief in the right to self-government or territorial self-determination.

Civic Nationalism

A Western model of nationalism where membership is based on shared political principles and the state precedes the nation.

Ethnic Nationalism

An Eastern model of nationalism where membership is based on shared language, culture, and descent, and the nation precedes the state.

Brotherhood and Unity

Tito's anti-nationalist policy intended to hold the diverse ethnic groups of Yugoslavia together as a single nation.

Transitional Justice

A distinctive conception of justice associated with radical political change, involving society’s attempt to come to terms with past large-scale abuses following oppressive rule.

Lustration

The administrative process of vetting and potentially barring individuals from positions of public trust based on their previous involvement with the former regime's secret police or apparatus.

The 'Nuremberg' (Superior Orders) Defense

The legal argument that a defendant was not responsible for criminal acts because they were following the instructions of their superiors; a defense rejected in cases of genocide.

The 'Frankenstate'

Kim Lane Scheppele's concept of an illiberal regime created by cherry-picking seemingly democratic institutional pieces to produce a system that operates through legal manipulation.