Democratization, Political Institutions, and Electoral Systems

Flashcards covering key concepts related to democratization, political institutions (federalism, presidential, parliamentary, semi-presidential systems), and electoral systems based on the lecture notes.

Barriers to Collective Action

Factors that make popular movements less effective at achieving their goals, such as bringing about societal change.

Political Elites

A unified political class whose power can prevent the mass public from getting what it wants, even in a democracy.

Reverse Causality

The idea that in democracies, values like a robust civil society might be a consequence of democracy, rather than solely a cause.

International Dimension of Democratization

The idea that countries influence each other's democratization processes, often visible in 'waves of democratization' and the global spread of ideas and protest repertoires.

Democracy Promotion

A foreign policy goal, traditionally for the United States and European Union, aimed at fostering democratic systems in other countries.

Democratic Backsliding

The erosion or stagnation of democratic trends, representing a reversal of democratization.

Stages of Democratization

Broken down into initiation, consolidation, and deepening, each of which can experience reversals.

Political Institutions

Consequential and sticky rules, organizations, or practices that structure political life, often resisting change because those in power benefit from the status quo.

Organization of Power

A key question in understanding the impact of institutions, focusing on who has power and how it is concentrated or shared.

Representation

How different groups, parties, or voters are given a voice and influence within a political system, especially crucial in divided societies.

Federalism

A system where power is diffused across different levels of government (central and subnational), with constitutional protections assigning greater powers to lower levels, potentially expanding representation.

Unitary System

A system where the central government largely dictates the powers of lower levels, and this distribution can be easily changed by legislative action.

Presidential System

Characterized by fixed terms for the executive and legislative branches, separation of powers, a popularly elected president who is both head of state and head of government, often leading to a stable but potentially concentrated executive power.

Parliamentary System

Characterized by an executive (Prime Minister) who emerges from legislative elections and forms a government, often with a symbolic head of state, leading to concentrated power but potentially less stability due to the possibility of governments coming and going quickly.

Semi-Presidential System

A hybrid system combining a directly elected president with a prime minister and legislative branch, where both the president and prime minister share governing responsibilities, with the president usually being the more dominant figure.

Electoral College

An indirect system for electing a president, as seen in the United States, where winning the popular vote does not guarantee winning the presidency.

Two-Round Runoff System

An electoral system used in many countries where if no candidate wins a majority in the first round, the top two candidates proceed to a second, decisive round of voting.

Single Member District (SMD) System

An electoral system where one person is elected out of each district, often leading to disproportionate representation where a party can win a large share of seats with a relatively low share of the popular vote.

Political Parties

Core actors in electoral systems, organizing candidates and voters around particular platforms or ideologies.