Pol Sci 6 Final 2026 UCSB

All States in the global north provide welfare policies. Still, these vary. How does political science categorize this difference? What explains this variation?

Esping-Anderson’s “Three worlds of welfare capitalism.”

-Liberal; helps the poor people and expects others to fend for themselves.

Ex. USA, no universal healthcare, short unemployment benefits, and no guaranteed maternal leave

WHY: Poor labor unions at the start.

-Conservative; only available if you have a job

Ex. Germany, Healthcare provided by job, 2 years of unemployment benefits if contributed to the economy, no contribution will result in fewer benefits.

WHY: Didn’t want to make it equal and wanted to reward the loyal workers.

-Social Decentralized; most generous, where everyone gets universal healthcare

Ex. Sweden; universal healthcare, free education up to college, and 480 days of paid maternal leave

WHY: Strong Labor unions and a social democratic party in charge, which built programs

It is often said that there is no democracy without political parties? Why are political

parties central to democracy? What is the relationship between electoral institutions and

political parties?

-Democracy can not function without political parties

-There is a different number of political parties depending on the electoral institution

Political parties are essential to democracy

-Organize voters

-Train candidates so they are qualified for the government

-Accountability

Duverger’s Law: The rules of election determine how many political parties there are

-Majaritaoin = USA winner takes all

-Proportional Representation = sweden multi-party system

How do authoritarian regimes survive and why do they fall?

Authoritarian regimes are where one person rules or a small group holds power, and no people are allowed to challenge it

Survive:

-Repression: North Korea says no speaking out, or they get labor camps

-Bribery: China Communist Party allows business elites to get rich if they don’t threaten the rule of law

-Legitimacy: Controlling media, cameras, and information, and telling people what to believe.

Fall:

-Elite Defection: Loss in top elite support, such as the Philippines in 1986, where the military stopped

-Economic Failure: Economic stagnation in the Soviet Union; can’t bribe or support elites

-Mass Mobilization: Arab Spring protests got rid of 4 dictators in 2011

Why does the state matter? In your response, pay close attention to the role of the state

in generating security and prosperity.

The state is the most important political institution in the world as it controls the population, preventing chaos, and eliminating threats internally and externally.

The most basic function of the state is to provide security

-Military External threats

-Police Internal threats

Ex. Somalia got overtaken by warlords due to a lack of both.

The state is important for generating prosperity

-The state builds infrastructure, such as roads, which leads to economic growth

-Enforces property rights so people are more likely to invest and build businesses when they are allowed to own

-Regulate the market and stop monopolies, and encourage competition

EX. The Soviet Union fell small group of businessmen took over gas, oil, media, and raised prices.

The economic performance of countries in East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa has diverged

sharply over the past six decades. What explanations have been put forward to explain

the divergence?

East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa have gone in different directions economically

Colonial legacy

-European powers set up institutions to extract resources

-drew borders with different ethnic groups

-East Asia was able to industrialize more due to the lack of colonization

Resource Curse

-The resource curse is the idea that countries with large amounts of oil or diamonds are hurt by it. This is due to

-corruption by elites only wanting to take power and get rich instead of building markets of schools and roads, etc.

Ex. Nigeria oil

-East Asia had no natural resources and was forced to focus on exports and a market economy.

How does power of the executive vary across democratic and authoritarian systems.

What explains this variation? Should this power be moderated? Why or why not?

Executive power refers to the authority of a country’s leader to enforce decisions on behalf of the state

Democratic institutions limit executive power

The authoritarian never had these institutions

Variation between executive power comes down to INSTITUTIONS

-Checks and balances with the United States, courts, Senate appointments, impeachment, etc

-Autocratic regimes never existed with institutions, and Putin weakened the courts and controlled the media, and can be president till 2036 as he changed the constitution.

Executive power should absolutely be MODERATED

-In history and WWII, we see Adolf Hitler and the Nazi rise to power as they dismantled every institution set in place

-Even with small weaknesses, we see corruption and weakness in governance

-The United States came over a monarchical rule and didn’t want a single ruler to ever again and used checks and balances to stop this from ever happening again.

The rapid growth of global trade and investments has been a transformational force.

Annalise this assertion in the light of the impact of globalization’s impact on economic

development and welfare systems

Globalization refers to the rapid increase in international trade, investment, and economic integration that has transformed the global economy.

Globalization has had a dramatic impact on economic development

-Positive side: China focused on exports and created millions of jobs, and since 1980, 800 million people have been lifted out of poverty due to the globalization of markets

-Negative side: USA businesses realized it is cheaper economically to open factories in developing countries as they can pay them a cheaper wage than Americans, which displaces Americans and hurts Americans' purchasing power, as they have no money. (Lost jobs)

Globalization has also put significant pressure on welfare systems around the world

-Negative: A country might cut taxes to attract businesses, which leaves no money being collected for welfare systems that people depend on. “Race to the bottom”

-Positive: Sweden has kept a generous welfare system as they invest in retraining for jobs and in education.

Globalization doesn’t automatically destroy welfare, it’s all about how the government can fight to keep the systems or not.

Drawing on different themes in this course reflect on how can societies that are home to

rival ethnic or religious groups, who also share a history of conflict, protect themselves

from violence?

Power Sharing: Rival groups will have representation in government

Ex. Northern Ireland with Protestants and catholics 1988 “Good Friday Agreement.”

Granting Autonomy: Rivail groups will have full control over their own territory

Ex. Nigeria has 250 ethnic groups and has been divided into 36 states, where each state is controlled by its own ethnic group, resulting in violence. Not fully, just no civil war has been created due to it.

As a political system, democracy is a game of numbers. Does this mean democracies only

work for the majority? What are the different ways in which democracies can respond to the

demand for minority representation?

Democracy is often called a game of numbers, and raises a serious question about the majority always winning, as minorities are at risk of their policies being ignored and rights stripped away.

Majority Rule can easily be a threat to minorities.

-Excluded from politics, and this electoral system favors larger groups

Ex. USA Jim Crow laws (Majority suppressing minority)

Democracies have developed several tools to ensure minorities get representation

-Proportional Representation

Ex. Germany and the Green Party.

-Reserving Seats

Ex. India giving seats to lower caste people