Studied by 2 people
Advanced Democracies
Usually talking about rich, Western countries with relatively long histories of political development
Authoritarian Regime
A system of rule in which power depends not on popular legitimacy but on the coercive force of the political authorities
Authority
Legal right to exercise power on behalf of the society and/or government
Bonyads
Quasi-private foundations and religious endowments that are charged with aiding the poor by managing many state-owned enterprises (Iran)
Bureaucracy
Hierarchically structured organization charged with carrying out policies determined by those with political authority
Camarilla
A complex organization of patronage typically lead by the president where you have to show loyalty to a higher ranking to curry favor (Mexico)
Catch All Party
A political party whose aim is to gather support from a broad range of citizens through a de-emphasis of ideology and an emphasis on pragmatism, charismatic leadership, and marketing
Charismatic Authority
A style of leadership based on the leader's exceptional personal qualities
Checks and Balances
A governmental system of divided authority in which coequal branches can restrain each other’s actions
Civil Liberties
Political rights and freedoms
Civil Service
A system of carefully describing tasks involved in performing government jobs, evaluating applicants for those jobs (civil service exams), and hiring people from among those applicants based on skills and experience rather than political factors
Civil Society
Refers to the space occupied by voluntary associations outside of the state
Cleavages
Factors that separate groups within a society (ethnicity, religion, social class, region, etc)
Clientelism
An exchange system in which clients offer support and loyalty to patrons who offer material and intangible benefits
An informal aspect of policymaking in which a powerful patron offers resources such as land, contracts, protection, or jobs in return for the support and services of lower-status and less powerful clients
Code Law
Law based on written rules/codes of law (China, Mexico, Russia)
Command Economy
An economic/political system in which government decisions rather than markets determine resource use and output (central planning)
Common Law
Law based on tradition, past practices, and legal precedents set by the courts through interpretations of statutes, legal legislation, and past rulings (Britain)
In short, “one application determines the next application of the law”
Communism
A system of social organization based on the common ownership and coordination of production
Primary Sector
The part of the economy that draws raw materials from the natural environment
Agriculture, raising animals, fishing, forestry, and mining
Is largest in low-income, pre-industrial nations
Secondary Sector
The part of the economy that transforms raw materials into manufactured goods
This sector grows quickly as societies industrialize
Tertiary Sector
The part of the economy that involves services rather than goods
This sector grows with industrialization and comes to dominate post-industrial societies or countries where most people are no longer employed in industry
Competitive Elections
Elections that are regular, free, and fair
One broad, essential requirement for democracy
Confederal System
A system of government that spreads power among many sub-units (such as states), and has a weak central government
Constitution
A supreme law that defines the structure of a nation-state’s regime and the legal processes governments must follow
Controlled Interest Group Systems
There is a single group for each social sector.
Corporatism
A state in which interest groups become an institutional part of the political structure
A system of governance in which the government is dominated by representatives of groups within society; may or may not be democratic to some degree
Corporatist Interest Groups
A single peak association normally represents each societal interest.
Membership in the peak association is often compulsory and nearly universal.
Correlation
An apparent association between variables
Causation
A correlation in which a change in one variable results in a change in others
Coup d’état
A forceful replacement of a regime or a government by a small elite group or groups
Democracy
A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives
Democratic Deficit
A democratic deficit occurs when ostensibly democratic organizations or institutions in fact fall short of fulfilling what are believed to be the principles of democracy
Democratization
The spread of representative governments to more countries and the process of making governments more representative
Developed Countries
Nation-states which have industrial and post-industrial economies
Developing Countries
Nation-states which are industrializing
Development
A specified state of growth or advancement
Devolution
A process in a unitary system of delegating some decision making to local public bodies
Modernization Theory/Westernization Model
The copy Britain model…
Any country that wants its economy to grow should study the paths taken by the industrial nations, and logically they too can reap the benefits of modernization, or “Westernization”
Dependency Theory
Holds that the economic development of many countries is blocked by the fact that industrialized nations exploit them
Outgrowth of Marxism
Governments have responded by experimenting with forms of socialism with the intent of nationalizing industry and narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor
Economic Liberalization
Process of limiting the power of the state over private property and market forces
Electoral System
A legal system for making democratic choices
Elite Recruitment
The process by which people are encouraged or chosen to become members of the elite within a political system or state
Empirical Data
Research/data based on factual statements and statistics
Executive
The executive office carries out the laws and policies of the state
Extraction
Government efforts to gather valuable resources for public use (think taxes)
Faction
A group organized on the grounds of self-perceived common interest within a political party, interest group, or government
Failed State
A state within which the government has lost the ability to provide the most basic of public services or implement its policies
Federal System
A system of governance in which political authority is shared between the national government and regional or state governments
First past the post
An electoral system in which winners are determined by which candidate receives the largest number of votes (regardless of whether or not a majority is received)
Fragmentation
The process or state of breaking or being broken into small or separate parts
Free Market Economy
A system in which government regulation of the economy is absent or limited
Functions
The things governments actually do
Fusion of Powers
A system of governance in which authority of government is concentrated in one body Common pattern in parliamentary systems
Gini Index
This index measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income in a country
Measures relative degree of economic inequality within a country
The higher the number the more unequal a country’s income distribution
Glasnost
Gorbachev’s policy of “openness” or “publicity”, which involved an easing of controls on the media, arts, and public discussion, leading to an outburst of public debate and criticism covering most aspects of Soviet history, culture, and policy
Globalization
The increasing interconnectedness and interdependence of people, cultures, economies, and nation-states facilitated by technology, trade, and cultural diffusion
Government
The part of the state with legitimate public authority
The group of people and organizations that hold political authority in a state at any one time
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
The total value of goods and services produced by an economy in a given year, excluding income citizens and groups earned outside the country
Gross National Product (GNP
A measure of national economic development
The total economic output of a country per person (includes income earned inside and outside of country)
GNP per capita – divides GNP by population
Head of Government
The office and the person occupying the office charged with leading the operation of a government
Deals with the everyday tasks of running the state and usually directs the activities of other members of the executive branch
Head of State
A role that symbolizes and represents the people, both nationally and internationally, and may or may not have any real policy-making power
The chief public representative of a state
Human Development Index (HDI)
Measures the well-being of a country’s people by factoring in adult literacy, life expectancy, and educational enrollment, as well as GDP
Illiberal Democracy
A procedural democratic regime where the citizenry does not benefit from the full array of rights and freedoms that one would expect in a democracy
Example: competitive elections but lack of civil liberty and rights
Import Substitution industrialization
Employs high tariffs to protect locally produced goods from foreign competition, govt ownership of key industries, govt subsidies to domestic industries
Institutions
The specialized agencies within a government used to carry out the disparate activities of the government
In order to carry out public policies, government structures such as parliaments, bureaucracies, and administrative agencies perform functions, which in turn enable the government to formulate, implement, and enforce policies
Interest Aggregation
Ways in which demands of citizens and groups are combined into proposed policy packages (leadership, political parties, etc.)
Interest Articulation
The methods by which citizens and groups can express their desires and make demands upon government (political participation,
lobbying, protests, etc.)
Iron Triangle
Mutually beneficial relationships between private interests, bureaucrats, and legislators
Sometimes called an “integrated elite”
Judicial Review
The power of the judiciary to rule on whether laws and government policies are consistent with the constitution or existing laws
Legitimacy
The citizens’ belief that a government is a proper one and that it has the right to rule
In the contemporary world, a state is said to possess legitimacy when it enjoys consent of the governed, which usually involves democratic procedures and the attempt to evenly distribute resources
Linkage Institutions
Groups within a society that connect government to its citizens, such as political parties, interest groups, and print and electronic media
Their size and development depends partly on the size of the population, and partly on scope of government activity
The larger the population, and the more complex the government policymaking activities, the more likely the country is to have well developed linkage institutions
Marxism
A theory of historical development that emphasizes the struggle between exploiting and exploited classes, particularly the struggle between the bourgeoisie (capitalists) and the proletariat (industrial working class)
The theoretical foundation of communism based on the ideas of German philosopher Karl Marx
Mass Line
Mechanism or party platform line to deliver propaganda to masses in China
Military Rule
Military control of the government by armed forces
Minimum Winning Threshold
The minimum percentage of votes a party must receive in order to be seated in a legislature
Mixed Presidential Parliamentary System
A democracy that has some characteristics of a presidential system and some characteristics of a parliamentary system
Also referred to as “semi-presidential”
Modernization
The major cultural trend that has transformed the world is modernization
Worldwide more people are moving to cities and are exposed to modern political cultures, which have an impact on citizens’ attitudes
Multiparty System
A party system with several important political parties, none of which generally gains a majority of the seats in the national legislature
Nation
A group of people who identify themselves as belonging together because of cultural, geographic, or linguistic ties
Nation-State
An independent state that exists for a single nation; it is the ultimate goal of most nationalists
Neoliberalism
A term used to describe government policies aiming to promote free competition among business firms within the market
Includes privatization, reducing trade barriers, balancing government budgets, and reducing social spending
Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs)
A term used to describe a group of countries that achieved rapid economic development beginning in the 1960s, largely stimulated by robust international trade (exports) and guided by government policies
Core NICs: Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore
Also: Argentina, Brazil, Malaysia, Mexico, and Thailand
Iran could also be considered here, but not as democratic
Nomenklatura
A system of personnel selection under which the Communist Party maintained control over the appointment of important officials in all spheres of social, economic, and political life
The term is also used to describe individuals chosen through this system and thus refers more broadly to the privileged circles in the Soviet Union and China
Non-Government Organization (NGO)
Private group that pursues self-defined goals outside of government
Oligarchy
A system of governance dominated by a small powerful and wealthy group in a state
One Party Dominated System
A party system in which one large party directs the political system, but small parties exist and may compete in elections (Russia)
One Party System
A party system in which one political party controls the government and voters have no opinion to choose an opposition party
(China)
Parastatal
A government-owned corporation to compensate for the lack of economic development or to ensure complete and equitable service to the whole country (can be anything from a national airline or railroad to a postal system or manufacturing and marketing operations)
Parliamentary System
A system of governance in which the head of government is chosen by and serves at the pleasure of the legislature.
The legislature rules over all!
Prime Minister is NOT directly elected by people, but by the legislature.
Because the prime minister and the cabinet are also leaders of the majority party in the legislature, no separation of powers exists between executive and legislative branches—instead they are fused together.
Fusion of Power!
Executive power is separated between Head of Government (PM) and the Head of State (royalty, president)
Parliamentary system stands in contrast to a presidential system, in which the chief executive is elected in a national ballot and is independent of the legislative branch
Characteristics:
High Party Discipline
Majority party almost always gets its policies implemented
Cabinet is VERY powerful—initiates legislation and makes policy
Party System
A label based on the number of prominent political parties in a country
Patron-Client Networks
A usually informal alliance between a person holding power and less powerful or lower status people
The powerful patron provides power, status, jobs, land, goods, and/or protection in exchange for loyalty and political support
Perestroika
The economic policy of restructuring embarked on by Gorbachev in 1985
Initially, the policy emphasized decentralization of economic decision making , increased enterprise autonomy, expanded public discussion of policy issues, and a reduction in the international isolation of the Soviet economy
Pluralism
A political theory or system of power sharing among a number of political parties
Pluralist Interest Group Systems
Multiple groups may represent a single society interest
Group membership is voluntary and limited
Groups often have a loose or decentralized organizational structure
There is a clear separation between interest groups and the government
Plurality
The number of votes cast for a candidate who receives more than any other candidate but does not receive an absolute majority
Politburo
The principal policymaking committee of the Communist Party
Political Culture
The collection of history, values, beliefs, assumptions, attitudes, traditions, and symbols that define and influence political behavior within a nation-state
Political Efficacy
Political efficacy is a citizen’s belief that he or she can understand and influence government or political affairs
It indicates a citizens' faith and trust in government and their own belief that they can understand and influence political affairs
Political Liberalization
Process by which a state goes from procedural democracy to substantive democracy (gets more democractic!)
Political Participation
The actions by citizens which involve them in the process of selecting leaders and making policies
Note
Flashcard