COMP POLI EXAM 1

Comparative Politics

One of the major subfields of political science, in which the primary focus is on comparing power and decision making across countries.

First Dimension of Power

The ability of one person or group to get another person or group to do something it otherwise would not do. Focus on behavior and active decisions.

Second Dimension of Power

An idea thought by Bachrach and Baratz, that power was not only the ability to get a person or group to DO something, but also to KEEP them from doing something.

Third Dimension of Power

Contributed by Lukes-the ability to shape or determine individual or group political demands by causing people to think about political issues in ways that are contrary to their own interests.

Quantitative Statistical Techniques

used to systematically compare a large number of cases. Best at showing the tendency or two or more phenomena to vary together, such as civil war and the presence of valuable resources.

Empirical Theory

An argument explaining what actually occurs; empirical theorists first notice and describe a pattern and then attempt to explain what causes it

Normative Theory

An argument explaining what ought to occur rather than what does occur; contrast with empirical theory

Special Interest

We perceive groups whose causes or ideological leanings we agree with as benevolent and general; those we disagree with are "special interests".

Rational Choice Theory

A popular theory in political science to explain the actions of voters as well as politicians. It assumes that individuals act in their own best interest, carefully weighing the costs and benefits of possible alternatives.

Political Culture

commonly shared attitudes, beliefs, and core values about how government should operate

Proletariat

Marx's term for the exploited class, the mass of workers who do not own the means of production

Institutionalism

an approach to explaining politics that argues that political institutions are crucial to understanding political behavior

Political Institutions

structures, rules, norms, and operating systems of a political system that carry out the work of governing

Rational Choice Institutionalism

Institutions are the products of the interaction and bargaining of rational actors. Political actors will abide by a political institution only as long as it serves their interests.

Historical Institutionalism

They argue that institutions not only limit self-interested political behavior but also influence who is involved in politics and shape individual political preferences, thus working in all three dimensions of power. By limiting who is allowed to participate, institutions can determine what a government is capable of accomplishing.

Pluralist Theory

the theory that political power is distributed among a wide array of diverse and competing interest groups. No group has total power and no one group can continuously dominate.

Elite Theories

Theories that all argue societies are ruled by a small group that has effective control over virtually all power; contrast to pluralist theory

Jeffrey Winters

Argued that material power in the form of extreme wealth is the basis of power.

External Sovereignty

The absolute and unlimited authority of the state as an actor on the world stage, implying the absence of any higher authority in external affairs.

Internal Sovereignty

recognition as sole authority within a territory capable of making and enforcing laws and policies domestically

Legitimacy

Political authority conferred by law or by a state or national constitution

Bureaucracy

A system of managing government through departments run by appointed officials. Part of the executive branch.

rational-legal legitimacy

Legitimacy based on a system of laws and procedures that are highly institutionalized.

Perry Anderson (1974)

argued that the absolutist state included at least rudimentary forms of a standing army and diplomatic service, both of which are crucial for external sovereignty; centralized bureaucracy; systematic taxation; and policies to encourage economic development.

Competition among absolutist states reduced their number:

The states that survived were those that had developed more effective systems of taxation, more efficient bureaucracies, and stronger militaries. This long process ultimately helped create modern nations, most of which had emerged by the mid-nineteenth century

Obstacles faced by postcolonial countries

1. Borders established with little regard for precolonial political boundaries.2. Political institutions had no relationship to precolonial norms or institutions.3. Political loyalty was often divided among numerous groups.4. Huge disparities in wealth, education, and access to power

Francis Fukuyama

He is best known for his book The End of History and the Last Man (1992), which argued that the worldwide spread of liberal democracies may signal the end point of humanity's sociocultural evolution and become the final form of human government. Argued that the U.S. state has weakened due to "gift exchange" between legislators and lobbyists.

Resource Curse

the difficulties faced by resource-rich developing countries, including dependence on exporting one or a few commodities whose prices fluctuate, as well as potentials for corruption and inequality

Quasi States

States that have legal sovereignty and international recognition but lack almost all the domestic attributes of a functioning state

Failed state

A state so weak that its political structures collapse, leading to anarchy and violence

State building

The construction of a functioning state through the establishment of legitimate institutions for the formulation and implementation of policy across key areas of government. Long and complicated process may take 5-10 years.

Citizen

a legally recognized subject or national of a state or commonwealth, either native or naturalized.

Civil Rights

the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality within the state.

Political Rights

the rights guaranteeing a citizen's ability to participate in politics, including the right to vote and the right to hold an elected office

Social Rights

Rights of social and welfare provision held by all citizens in a national community, including, for example, the right to claim unemployment benefits and sickness payments provided by the state.

Civil Society

This is the sphere of organized, nongovernmental, nonviolent activity by groups larger than individual families or firms. Civil society in Europe developed in conjunction with the modern state

Popular Sovereignty

A government in which the people rule by their own consent.

Regime

a government in power; a form or system of rule or management; a period of rule. A regime is a set of formal and informal political institutions that defines a type ofgovernment. Regimes are more enduring than governments but less enduring than states.

Liberal Democracy

A political system that promotes participation, competition, and liberty and emphasizes individual freedom and civil rights.

Social Contract Theory

A voluntary agreement between the government and the governed

social democracy

Advocates of social democracy argue that citizens should control not only the political sphere, as liberals believe, but also key elements of the economic sphere. They favor public ownership or at least extensive regulation of key sectors of the economy to enhance equal citizenship and the well-being of all.

participatory democracy

a theory of democracy that holds that citizens should actively and directly control all aspects of the decisions that affect their lives

Parliamentary Sovereignty

Parliament is supreme in all matters; key example is the United Kingdom

Historical Materialism (Marx)

-Economic structure determines how society is organized.

Dictatorship of the Proletariat

Marx's theory of a proletariat-controlled world following the taking from the wealthy; eventually it will wither away into a classless society. First stage of communism.

Mode of Production (Marx)

the way a society is organized to produce goods and services

totalitarian state

country where a single party controls the government and every aspect of the lives of the people

Vanguard Party

Vladimir Lenin's concept of a small party that claims legitimacy to rule based on its understanding of Marxist theory and its ability to represent the interests of the proletariat before they are a majority of the populace

Politburo

Ruling committee of the Communist Party

Corporatism

A method of co-optation whereby authoritarian systems create or sanction a limited number of organizations to represent the interests of the public and restrict those not set up or approved by the state.

Neofascist

Description given to parties or political movements that espouse a virulent nationalism, often defined on a cultural or religious basis and opposed to immigrants as threats to national identity

Modernizing Authoritarianism

A claim to legitimacy based the need to "develop" the country via the rule of a modernizing elite

technocratic legitimacy

A claim to rule based on knowledge or expertise - part of modernization theory

one-party regime

A system of government in which a single party gains power, usually after independence in postcolonial states, and systematically eliminates all opposition

Personalist regime

System of government in which a central leader comes to dominate a state, typically not only eliminating all opposition but also weakening the state's institutions to centralize power in his own hands

neopatrimonial authority

Power based on a combination of the trappings of modern, bureaucratic states with underlying informal institutions of clientelism that work behind the scenes; most common in Africa. Based on personal ties and loyalty rather than institutions.

electoral authoritarian regime

Type of hybrid regime in which formal opposition and some open political debate exist and elections are held; these processes are so flawed, however, that the regime cannot be considered truly democratic

Sharia

Body of Islamic law that includes interpretation of the Quran and applies Islamic principles to everyday life

Shura

concept of consultation between the ruler and the ruled

Jihad

A holy struggle or striving by a Muslim for a moral or spiritual or political goal

Umma

The community of all Muslims

Ijtihad

In Islam, reasoned interpretation of sacred law by a qualified scholar

political saliency

the political impact and importance of identity groups is created, not innate.

Primordialism

Clifford Geertz's term to explain the strength of ethnic ties because they are fixed in deeply felt or primordial ties to one's homeland culture

Social Construction

An idea or practice that a group of people agree exists. It is maintained over time by people taking its existence for granted. Socially constructed ideas of "who we are".

Autonomy

self-government

Assimilation

the social process of absorbing one cultural group into harmony with another

Multicultural Integration

The process of integration are seen as two way and different for different groups and individuals. Multicultural integration creates a new national identity, where all citizens have not just rights but a sense of belonging to the whole, as well as to their own group identity/identities.

Consociationalism

An institutional approach to managing potential conflict in polities with multiple ethnic or religious groups, one which involves ensuring that each group has political representation.

centripetal approach

a means used by democracies to resolve ethnic conflict by giving political leaders and parties incentives to moderate their demands - Donald Horowitz

Nation

A group that claims itself as such and has or seeks control of a state.

jus sanguinis

The law of blood, which determines citizenship based on one's parents' citizenship.

jus soli

the law of soil, which determines citizenship based on where a person is born

Laicite

a model of secularism advocating that religion should play no part in the public realm

Vertical Accountability

the ability of individuals and groups in a society to hold state institutions accountable

Horizontal Accountability

the ability of state institutions to hold one another accountable

Semipresidentialism

A term denoting a semi presidential system of democracy in which executive power is divided between a directly elected president and a prime minister elected by a parliament

Judicial Review

The power of the courts to declare laws unconstitutional

Institutionalization

The degree to which government processes and procedures are established, predictable, and routinized. Particularly important for the judiciary.

Common Law

a system of law based on precedent and customs

principal-agent problem

a problem caused by an agent pursuing his own interests rather than the interests of the principal who hired him

Bureaucratic Corruption

A type of corruption that involves individuals employed in state bureaucracy using their office as a source for private gain.

Unitary systems

political systems in which power is concentrated in a central government