Fundamentals of Political Science

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts, theories, and key thinkers across political science fundamentals, regimes, ideologies, democratic legitimacy, and institutional governance.

Politics (Harold Lasswell)

The process and struggle concerning 'who gets what, when and how,' highlighting how resources, opportunities, and benefits are distributed across society.

Normative Political Theory

A theoretical tradition linked to the philosophical approach that investigates moral principles, justice, and how political institutions and societies ought to be organised.

Behaviouralism

An empirical approach in political science that examines observable political actions, individual attitudes, and voting choices through scientific and quantitative methods.

Systems Approach (David Easton)

A theoretical framework viewing politics as a continuous feedback loop that converts societal inputs (demands and support) into political outputs (laws, policies, and actions).

State

A political organisation exercising sovereign authority over a defined territory and population through a system of permanent public institutions.

Montevideo Convention (1933)

An international convention that defined the four core criteria of statehood: a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other states.

Internal Sovereignty

The supreme, exclusive political and legal authority of the state over all individuals, groups, and institutions located within its territorial borders.

External Sovereignty

The legal independence of a state from external control and its capacity to act autonomously within the international system.

Monopoly of the Legitimate Use of Physical Force

Max Weber's concept defining the modern state by its exclusive, legally sanctioned claim to authorise and enforce physical violence within a territory.

Nation-State

A sovereign state in which political territorial boundaries broadly correspond with a population sharing a common national identity.

Power Elite

C. Wright Mills' concept describing a small, closely connected alliance of political, military, and corporate leaders who exercise disproportionate influence over national decisions.

Relative Autonomy of the State

A Neo-Marxist concept suggesting that the state is not directly controlled by individual capitalists, but retains sufficient independence to enact policies that preserve the long-term stability of capitalism.

Public Goods

Goods provided by the state that are characterized by non-excludability (individuals cannot be prevented from using them) and non-rivalry (one individual's consumption does not reduce availability for others).

Leviathan State

A critical term associated with New Right and public-choice perspectives describing an overextended, bureaucratic, and self-serving state that encroaches on societal liberties.

Regime

The broader constitutional, ideological, and institutional framework that determines how political power is exercised and outlasts individual governments.

Polyarchy

Robert Dahl's term for modern representative democracies characterised by political pluralism, electoral competition, universal suffrage, and freedom of expression.

Delegative Democracy

A democratic subtype where an elected president acts as if they possess an unmediated national mandate, dominating other branches and ignoring constitutional checks.

Consensus System

A political arrangement that diffuses power through broad coalition governments, multi-party competition, compromise, and inclusive decision-making.

Veto Players

George Tsebelis's concept referring to institutional or partisan actors whose explicit agreement is required to change established political policies.

Cohabitation

A political situation in semi-presidential systems where the president and the prime minister belong to opposing, rival political parties.

Negative Freedom

A classical liberal conception of liberty defined as the absence of external constraints, obstacles, or state interference on the individual.

Positive Freedom

A modern liberal conception of liberty defined as possessing the material capacity, opportunities, and resources necessary to fulfill personal potential.

Organicism

A conservative principle viewing society not as a collection of separate individuals, but as a living, interconnected organism whose parts depend on established institutions.

Revisionist Socialism

An ideological tradition associated with Eduard Bernstein advocating gradual, democratic, and parliamentary reforms rather than violent revolution.

Mutualism

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's anarchist economic theory proposing voluntary associations, free credit, and fair exchange of labour without state coercion or capitalist exploitation.

Anarcho-Communism

Peter Kropotkin's branch of collectivist anarchism advocating the abolition of the state and private property in favour of voluntary, cooperative communist communes.

Deep Ecology

A radical green perspective that rejects human-centred views of the environment and attributes intrinsic value to nature regardless of its utility to humanity.

Charismatic Authority

Max Weber's category of legitimate authority based on public devotion to the perceived exceptional personal qualities, leadership, or vision of an individual.

Legal-Rational Authority

Max Weber's concept of authority derived from adherence to established laws, formal institutional offices, and constitutional rules.

General Will

Jean-Jacques Rousseau's concept describing the collective moral interest and common good of society, which citizens determine and obey through direct democratic participation.

Deliberative Democracy

A democratic model championed by John Stuart Mill emphasising reasoned public debate, open discussion, and informed deliberation rather than mere vote-tallying.

Iron Law of Oligarchy

Robert Michels' principle stating that all large, complex organisations inevitably end up dominated by a small, self-serving leadership minority.

Performance Legitimacy

The acceptance of a political regime's rightful authority based on its practical capacity to deliver economic growth, stability, and public services.

Political Socialisation

The lifelong process through which individuals acquire their political attitudes, values, identities, and behaviours from agents like family, school, and media.

Primordialism

An identity theory positing that cultural, ethnic, and religious identities are innate, deeply rooted in history, and fundamentally fixed.

Constructivism (Identity Politics)

The theory that political and social identities are socially created and continually reshaped through historical narratives, institutions, and political processes.

Civic Culture

Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba's concept of an ideal democratic political culture that blends participant, subject, and parochial elements to foster stability.

Agenda-Setting Theory

A media theory proposing that news coverage shapes what issues the public considers important by deciding how much attention to allocate to specific events.

Framing Theory

A communication theory explaining how the media influences public understanding by selecting, highlighting, and contextualizing specific aspects of a political issue.

Priming

The media process whereby continuous coverage of particular topics makes those topics the primary standard citizens use to judge political actors.

Spiral of Silence

A theory suggesting that individuals withhold unpopular political opinions out of fear of isolation, causing perceived majority views to seem artificially dominant.

Single-Member Plurality (SMP)

A majoritarian 'first-past-the-post' electoral system where the candidate who wins the highest number of votes in a single constituency wins the seat.

Mixed-Member Proportional (MMP)

An electoral system that combines single-member constituency elections with nationwide party lists to ensure the overall distribution of seats reflects party vote shares.

Single Transferable Vote (STV)

A preferential proportional electoral system in multi-member districts where voters rank candidates and surplus or eliminated votes are transferred based on quotas.

Droop Quota

The mathematical quota formula utilized in STV elections to allocate seats: $\frac{\text{Total Valid Votes}}{\text{Total Seats} + 1} + 1$.

Trustee Model of Representation

Edmund Burke's theory that elected representatives should use their personal expertise, conscience, and judgement to make decisions on behalf of constituents rather than mechanically following public opinion.

Delegate Model of Representation

A theory of representation where politicians act strictly as direct messengers and agents instructed to execute the precise wishes of their voters.

Psephology

The branch of political science that deals with the scientific, quantitative study of elections, voting patterns, and voter behaviour.

Partisan Dealignment

The long-term weakening of voters' psychological loyalty, identification, and habitual ties toward traditional political parties.

Rational Choice Model of Voting

Anthony Downs' model proposing that voters act like self-interested economic consumers who calculate which party delivers the greatest personal utility and benefits.

Arrow's Impossibility Theorem

A mathematical proof showing that no ranked-order voting system can successfully translate individual preferences into a coherent, fair collective outcome without violating basic democratic criteria.

Catch-All Party

A broad, 'big-tent' political party designed to appeal across different social classes and ideological camps to maximize votes rather than serving a specific socio-economic base.

Tripartism

A corporatist governance arrangement involving institutionalized negotiation and policymaking between the state, trade unions, and business organisations.

Institutional Sclerosis

Mancur Olson's concept describing how entrenched interest groups and distributional coalitions accumulate over time, obstructing economic reform and government efficiency.

Constitutionalism

The political principle that government authority must be derived from and strictly limited by a system of fundamental constitutional rules and laws.

Rule of Law

The principle that all individuals, institutions, and government authorities are accountable to publicly promulgated and independently adjudicated laws.

Judicial Review

The constitutional power of independent courts to determine whether legislative statutes or executive actions comply with the constitution and higher law.

Social Capital

Robert Putnam's concept referring to the social networks, trust, and cooperative norms that enable communities to work together and strengthen democratic health.

Democratic Backsliding

The state-led, incremental erosion of democratic institutions, civil rights, judicial independence, and competitive electoral procedures in an existing democracy.

Wicked Problems

Highly complex public policy problems with multiple interconnected causes and no single, straightforward, or definitive solution.