Institutional Veto Players

Flashcards about Institutional Veto Players

Federal State

A state in which sovereignty is constitutionally split between at least two territorial levels so that independent governmental units at each level have final authority in at least one policy realm.

Devolution

Occurs when a unitary state grants powers to subnational governments but retains the right to unilaterally recall or reshape those powers.

Congruent Federalism

Exists when the territorial units of a federal state share a similar demographic makeup with one another and the country as a whole.

Incongruent Federalism

Exists when the demographic makeup of territorial units differs among the units and the country as a whole.

Symmetric Federalism

Exists when the territorial units of a federal state possess equal powers relative to the central government.

Asymmetric Federalism

Exists when some territorial units enjoy more extensive powers than others relative to the central government.

Decentralization

Refers to the extent to which actual policymaking power lies with the central or regional governments.

Coming-Together Federalism

Is the result of a bargaining process in which previously sovereign polities voluntarily agree to give up part of their sovereignty in order to pool together their resources and improve their collective security or achieve other, economic goals.

Holding-Together Federalism

Is the result of a process in which the central government of a polity chooses to decentralize its power to subnational governments in order to diffuse secessionist pressures.

Unicameral Legislature

A legislature in which legislative deliberation occurs in a single assembly.

Bicameral Legislature

A legislature in which legislative deliberation occurs in two distinct assemblies.

Congruent Bicameralism

Occurs when two legislative chambers have a similar political composition.

Incongruent Bicameralism

Occurs when the two legislative chambers differ in their political composition.

Malapportionment

Occurs when the distribution of political representation between constituencies isn’t based on the size of each constituency’s population.

Symmetric Bicameralism

Occurs when the two legislative chambers have equal or near equal constitutional power.

Asymmetric Bicameralism

Occurs when the two legislative chambers have unequal constitutional power.

Constitutionalism

Refers to the commitment of governments to accept the legitimacy of, and be governed by, a set of authoritative rules and principles that are laid out in a constitution.

Codified Constitution

Is one that’s written in a single document.

Uncodified Constitution

Is one that has several resources, which may be written or unwritten.

Entrenched Constitution

Can be modified only through a special procedure of constitutional amendment.

Unentrenched Constitution

Has no special amendment procedure and can be modified at any point in time with the support of a legislative majority.

Legislative Supremacy Constitution

No constitutional review, no bill of rights, and not entrenched.

Higher Law Constitution

Constitutional review, a bill of rights, and is entrenched.

Constitutional Review

Is the authority of an institution to invalidate legislation, administrative decisions, judicial rulings, and other acts of government that violate constitutional rules, such as rights.

Abstract Constitutional Review

Involves the constitutional review of legislation in the absence of a concrete legal case.

Concrete Constitutional Review

Involves the constitutional review of legislation with respect to a specific legal case.

A Priori Constitutional Review

Occurs before a law is formally enacted.

A Posteriori Constitutional Review

Occurs only after a law is formally enacted.

Centralized Constitutional Review

Refers to a situation in which only one court can conduct constitutional review (European Model).

Decentralized Constitutional Review

Refers to a situation in which more than one court can interpret the constitution (American model).

Veto Player

Is an individual or collective actor whose agreement is necessary for a change in the political status quo.

Institutional Veto Player

Is generated by a country’s constitution.

Partisan Veto Player

Is generated by the way the political game is played.