AP Cogo Unit One Test

Civil Liberties

freedoms to think and act without government interference or fear of unfair legal treatment

Command Economies

a form of socialism in which government decisions rather than market mechanisms (such as supply and demand) are the major influences in determining the nation's economic direction

Fragmentation

divisions based on ethnic or cultural identity

GDP (gross domestic product)

the total value of goods and services produced by a country's residents in a given year

Globalization

the increasing interconnectedness and interdependence of people, cultures, economies, and nation-states facilitated by technology, trade, and cultural diffusion

Market Economies

an economy that allocates resources through the decentralized decisions of many firms and households as the interact in markets for goods and services

Purchase Power Parity (PPP)

a statistical tool that estimates the buying power of income across different countries by using prices in the United States as a benchmark

Radicalism

a belief that rapid, dramatic changes need to be made in the existing society, often including the political system

Regime

the rules that a state sets and follows in exerting its power; these occur when a country's institutions and practices carry across time

Reform

a type of change that does not advocate the overthrow of basic institutions

Revolution

a type of change that implies a change at a more basic level and does not involve either a major revision or an overthrow of existing institutions

Transparency

the full, accurate, and timely disclosure of information

Supranational Organizations

organizations in which nations are not totally sovereign actors

Unitary Systems

- Concentrates all policy-making powers in one geographic place

- Central government is responsible for most policies

Federal Systems

- Power divided between the central government & sub-units

- Regional bodies have significant powers (taxation, lawmaking, keeping order)

Confederal Systems

- Power spread among many sub-units (states for example)

- Weak central government

Devolution

transfer of power from a central govt to lower/regional govt

Separation of Powers

the system of governance in which gov't power is divided into several bodies with the ability to check the power of the other

Fusion of Powers

A system of governance in which all or most of the authority of the gov't is concentrated in one body

Bureaucracy

According to Max Weber, a hierarchical authority structure that uses task specialization, operates on the merit principle, and behaves with impersonality. They govern modern states.

Civil Society

refers to voluntary organizations outside the state that help people define and advance their own interests - usually very strong in liberal democratizes where individual freedoms are valued and protected. Authoritarian states feel that their power is threatened by citizens participating in this.

first past the post

individual candidates compete in single-member districts--voters choose between candidates and the candidate with the largest share of the vote wins the seat.

Plurality

another name for a simple majority

Judicial Review

The mechanism by which courts can review the actions of government and overturn those that violate the constitution

Multimember District (MMD)

An electoral district with more than one seat

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)

national and international groups, independent of any state, that pursue policy objectives and foster public participation.

political efficacy

The belief that one's political participation really matters - that one's vote can actually make a difference

proportional representation

representation of all parties in proportion to their popular vote

social cleavages

Religion, ethnic groups, race, social and economic classes, which interact with the political system and have an impact on policy making.

Interest Group

organization of people with shared policy goals entering the policy process at several points to try to achieve those goals.

Social Capital

the norms, skills, and networks that a society learns from political participation

Advanced Democracies

- "Industrialized Democracies," "Durable Democratic Regimes," "Early Developers" (formally "First World")

- When authors or text writers use these terms they are usually talking about rich, Western countries with relatively long histories of political development

- These countries have some form of representative democracy

Comparative Politics

Field within political science that focuses on domestic politics (internal) and analyzes patterns of similarity and difference

Coup d'état

A forceful replacement of a regime or a government by a small elite group or groups

Government

leadership & institutions that make policy

Illiberal Democracy (also procedural 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

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

Legitimacy (Political)

- 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

Nation

A group of people who identify themselves as belonging together because of cultural, geographic, or linguistic ties

Sovereignty

Independent legal authority over a population in a particular place

State

A political system that has sovereignty (political power) exercised over a population in a defined geographic territory through a set of public institutions

Liberal Democracy

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

Less Developed Countries (LDCs)

"third world", exist on most continents, wide array of ethnicities, racial characteristics, political cultures, political economies, poverty low GNPs, trade dependency, weakness in infrastructure