POLI Final Exam Textbook Terms

Interest Group

An organization that pursues the common interests of groups of people, particularly by trying to influence the development, adoption, and implementation of public policies.

Self interest group

An interest group whose primary objective is to promote the interests of the group and its members and to seek benefits that are primarily or exclusively for its members.

Public interest group

A group that seeks to achieve goals that the group views as being for the good of the community as a whole rather than providing specific benefits for its members.

Issue-oriented interest group

An interest group that spontaneously develops to express the views of people on a particular issue, concern, or grievance.

Institutionalized interest group

A group that has developed a formal organization, including such features as a well-established membership base, paid professional staff, permanent offices, and the capability to keep its members and the public aware of its views and activities.

Selective incentive

A particular benefit that is made available to members of an interest group but is not available to the public as a whole.

Inside strategies

Strategies in which interest group leaders develop close contacts with key decision makers in government and the public service in order to influence public policies.

Outside strategies

Strategies in which interest group leaders appeal to the public for support and mobilize members in order to put pressure on decision makers concerning public policies.

Neo-corporatism

A political system in which the state actively collaborates with selected major interests (particularly the national organizations of business and labour) to seek a consensus concerning the country's major economic and social policies.

Lobbying

An effort to persuade those involved in making and implementing public policies to adopt and implement policies or decisions favoured by an individual, business, or group, particularly through direct personal contact.

Social movement

A network of groups and individuals that seeks major social and political changes, particularly by acting outside of established political institutions.

Framing

Selecting and highlighting some facets of events or issues, and making connections among them so as to promote a particular interpretation, evaluation, and/or solution.

News management

The controlling and shaping of the presentation of news in order to affect the public's evaluation of news stories.

Infotainment

The merging of information and entertainment in news and public affairs programming of the mass media, particularly television.

Alt-right

An American anti-democratic, racist, group that embraces violence and presents itself as the alternative to democratic conservatism.

Antifa

An anti-democratic group from the political far left that embraces violence and opposes the radical right.

Political conflict

A state of opposition, usually involving groups and the state, over something government is doing or proposes to do.

Political protest

Oppositional political action that takes place outside formal channels, generally seeking to have government make significant changes in its policies.

Civil disobedience

Deliberate lawbreaking that accepts punishment by state authorities as part of the action.

Black Lives Matter (BLM)

A contemporary movement protesting violence and systemic racism towards black people. Its targets include police brutality, especially police killings of black people, racial profiling, and racial inequality in the United States generally.

There is also a Black Lives Matter group in Toronto.

Take a knee

A movement led by African-American National Football League players to protest police abuse of Black Americans.

Guerrilla warfare

A form of highly political warfare built around lightly armed irregulars who oppose a govemment and use hit-and-run tactics and political work to take power.

Insurgency

A rebellion or revolt, especially one employing the tools of guerrilla warfare.

Revolution

The use of violence to overthrow a government, especially when the overthrow is followed by rapid, thorough social, economic, and political restructuring.

Terrorism

The deliberate use of violence designed to induce fear in a population in order to achieve a political objective.

Contentious politics

The usually disruptive, direct, and highly conflictive ways that people advance their claims on elites, authorities. and opponents, ranging from peaceful political protest to

Marginalization

Exclusion from the mainstream.

Segregation

The legal separation of blacks and whites, particularly in the Southern U.S.

Political Opportunity Structures (POS)

The openings that political institutions and processes offer to or withhold from movements.

Secessionist

A person who favours separation of a territory from an existing state

Political violence

the use of physical force with a political objective

Regime violence

political violence used by a government against its citizens, generally as a way to repress dissent and keep order.

Counter-insurgency

A blend of military and political action taken by a government to defeat an insurgency. The tactics are usually described as a mixture of repression and reform.

Suicide terrorism

a form of terrorist violence in which the attacker’s object is to kill him/herself as well as the target.

Lone wolf terrorism

acts of terror undertaken for political reasons by an individual who embraces the cause of some terrorist group but is not formally linked to the group.

Social revolution

a revolution that changes not just who governs, but also how a state is organized and how its society and economy are structured.

Democracy

rule by the people.

Direct democracy

a system in which citizens themselves make the governing decisions.

Representative democracy

a form of democracy in which citizens elect representatives to the legislature to make decisions on their behalf.

Legislature

an institution whose responsibilities include the approval of legislation and the raising and spending of funds by the govt.

Liberal democracy

A political system that combines the liberal ideas of limited government, individual freedom, and the rule of law with a democratic system of governing based on the election of representatives.

Civil society

the voluntary groups and organizations that are not controlled by the state

Transparency

government’s obligation to provide timely access to information and to operate visibly so that it can be held accountable for its actions.

Democratic deficit

The substantial level of public dissatisfaction with the performance of democratic governments and politicians exhibited in low levels of trust in government and politicians, increased protest activity, and a feeling that ordinary people have little influence on government.

Plebiscitary democracy

A form of democracy in which citizens have greater control than in representative democracy through the use of such devices as referendums, citizens' initiatives, and recall elections.

Referendum

A vote by citizens on a particular issue or law.

Citizens’ initiatives

A procedure that gives citizens the right, by obtaining a sizable number of signatures on a petition, to have a proposition that they have drafted put to a vote by the electorate for approval.

Recall

A procedure that allows citizens to remove representatives from office. By gaining a sufficient number of signatures on a petition, citizens can require that their representative seek re-election before the representative's term is over.

Deliberative democracy

A political system in which decisions are made based on discussion by citizens rather than by elected representatives alone.

Citizens’ jury

A group of randomly selected persons that deliberate about and make recommendations concerning particular issues.

Federal system

A system of governing in which sovereign authority is divided or shared between the central government and regional governments, with each deriving its authority from the constitution.

Regime

The broadest class of political system, it encompasses the bases of the system's legitimacy; how and to whom government is accountable; who has access to and influence with goverment; how government, civil society, and private citizens interact; and what its governmental institutions are.

Examples include democracy, dictatorship, and monarchy.

Constitutional monarchies, as in Britain, Sweden, and Canada, are democracies, while absolute monarchies, as in Saudi Arabia, are not.

Norm

An unwritten rule that sets out unofficial standards of behaviour and is accepted by and binding on all participants in a given institution or process.

Authoritarian regimes

Non-democratic governing systems that feature absolute rule over the population. People are prevented from choosing their government and influencing its decisions.

Hybrid regimes

Governing systems that are a mixture of democratic and non-democratic rule. Hybrid governments typically gain and keep power through electoral fraud, corruption, and legal manoeuvres.

Totalitarian dictatorship

A regime that seeks to control all aspects of life within a country.

Institutional dictatorship

An undemocratic government controlled by an established political institution. The most common examples are military dictatorships, party dictatorships, and theocratic dictatorships.

Absolute monarchy

A political system in which a king or queen has total power, unconstrained by law.

Personal dictatorship

An undemocratic government dominated by a single individual.

Saddam Hussein's Iraq or Muammar Gaddafi's Libya were classic examples of this kind of system.

Party Dictatorship

An undemocratic political system that is controlled by one party. The most familiar examples are found in communist political systems.

Hegemonic party regime

A political system in which opposition parties exist and compete for power but cannot win because goverment control over the electoral system assures that the ruling party does not lose.

Military dictatorship

An undemocratic government run by the military.

Theocratic dictatorship

an undemocratic state run by religious elites.

Autocracy

Rule by one person with unlimited power.

Licensed opposition

Opposition parties that are allowed to exist, contest elections, and win legislative seats, but that can never take power.

Plebiscite

A vote in which the entire electorate is asked to approve or reject a specific question; for example, whether the current president should be elected president for life.

Dominant-party system

A political system where one party holds power for an extended period of time by winning free and fair elections.

Hegemonic party system

A political system where one party holds power for an extended period of time by winning fraudulent elections.

Constitutional government

A government that consistently acts in accordance with established fundamental rules and principles.

Constitution

The fundamental rules and principles by which a state is governed.

Codified constitution

A constitution whose major provisions are set out in a formal constitutional document or a set of constitutional documents.

Constitutional conventions

Fundamental principles that are consistently followed even though they are not contained in a legal document and are not generally enforceable in the courts.

Constitution Act, 1867

An Act of the United Kingdom Parliament that established Canada by uniting the colonies of Canada (Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. It also set out many of the features of Canada's system of governing.

Constitution Act, 1982

The Act that made the constitution fully Canadian, added the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to the constitution, and established procedures for amending the constitution.

Constitutional monarchy

A system of governing in which the monarch acts as official head of state but is strictly limited in power by the constitution.

Charter of Rights and Freedoms

As part of the Constitution Act, 1982, the Charter protects a variety of rights and freedoms. It is superior to ordinary legislation, explicitly allows the courts to invalidate legislation, and applies to the actions of all governments and organizations under the control of government.

Reasonable limits clause

A provision in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that allows for "reasonable limits" to be placed on rights and freedoms, provided that the limits can be "demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society."

Notwithstanding clause

A provision in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that allows a legislative body to explicitly declare that a particular law (related to certain parts of the Charter) shall operate notwithstanding the provisions of the Charter. Such a declaration is only effective for five years, although it can be re-enacted as often as is desired.

Constitutional amendment

a formal change to the constitution.

Meech Lake Accord

A 1987 package of proposed constitutional changes that was not passed. It contained controversial provisions, including the recognition of Quebec as a "distinct society."

Charlottetown Accord

A 1992 package of proposed constitutional changes, including recognition of the inherent right of Indigenous peoples to self-government and major changes to the Senate. It was defeated in a referendum.

Judicial review

The authority of the courts to strike down legislation or governmental actions that the courts deem to be in violation of the constitution.

Parliamentary sovereignty

A basic principle of the British system of governing, recognizing Parliament as the supreme law-making body such that the courts cannot invalidate an Act of Parliament.

Judicial activism

The term used when the courts are active in invalidating legislation and government actions that are inconsistent with the constitution.

Common law

A system of law-based court judgments that have accumulated over many centuries.

Statutory law

Law passed by a legislative body.

Private law

Law that deals with the relationships among individuals, groups, and businesses that are primarily of private interest rather than of general public interest.

Codified law

A system of law based on the adoption of a comprehensive set of principles that judges use to determine the outcome of a particular case.

Sharia law

A system of law based on the Qur'an, the teachings and practices of Mohammed, and Islamic jurisprudence.

Supranational government

Govt above the govt if its member-states.

Unitary system

A system of governing in which sovereign authonty rests with the central government; regional and local governments are subordinate.

Federal system

A system of governing in which sovereign authority is divided or shared between the central government and regional governments, with each deriving its authority from the constitution.

Devolution

A system of governing in which the central government grants some legislative (law-making) powers as well as administrative responsibilities to one or more regional bodies.

Classical or dual federalism

A version of federalism in which the federal and provincial or state governments each concern themselves with their own areas of constitutional authority without infringing upon the areas of authority of the other level of government.

Equalization payments

Payments made by the federal government to try to ensure that poorer provincial governments are able to provide an equivalent level of services to their populations without resorting to excessive levels of taxation.

Co-operative federalism

A federal system in which the two levels of government are jointly involved in developing, financing, and administering many government services.

Asymmetrical federalism

A version of federalism in which some provincial or state governments have a greater degree of self-government than others.

Confederal system

A system of governing in which sovereign states have agreed to delegate some of their authority to a joint government with limited authority while retaining their sovereignty.

European Union (EU)

An economic and political union of many European countries that have pooled some of their sovereignty.

European Economic Community (common market)

A stage in the process of economic integration in which the member-states removed all duties on trade with one another (as in a free trade area, adopted a common external tariff on trade with other countries (as in a customs union), and allowed for the free movement of people from one member-state to another.