Comparative Government Exam 4 ID Terms

Social movement

An organization of people who have a social or political goal, often achieved through some collective action. These differ from political parties because they tend to only focus on one specific issue, and their goal is not to hold office. These groups can be defined as successful when there has been a significant change in the social or political area for which they have been advocating for change. An example of a successful social movement would be the debt crisis mentioned by Almeida and Chase-Dunn which was a protest by the people for better, more effective economic policies during a trying time of economic depression. This is important for comparative politics because it shows the level of authority the people have over the policies within a state, which can then demonstrate how federal the state is and how effective these social movements are on political practices.

Federalism

The separation between national and sub-national power within a state. There are different characteristics of Federalism, consisting of geopolitical division, independence, and direct governance. This means that the state must have distinctly divided subnational units which are recognized by the constitution, independent bases of authority for the subnational units as well as the national unit, and shared power between the national and subnational regions. Canada is an example of a state which meets these criteria and can rightfully be defined as a federal state. This is important for comparative government because it allows for a deeper analysis of the relationship between the national government and the smaller units of each state which may provide a better understanding for why some states are more democratic than others.

Institution

The formal and informal rules that organize social, political, and economic relations. These can be difficult to study because reading laws and constitutions is not enough to fully understand what institutions are in place in a state. There are also many informal institutions that are not documented and can be more difficult to obtain information on. The study of these institutions is important for comparative government, however, because they provide insight into how a state is organized, which can then lead to a better understanding of why the state may have a certain governmental system or even regime type.

Bicameralism

The separation of the legislative branch into two houses. These houses do not have to be equal in size or power, but there must be two houses in order for a state to have a bicameral legislature. An example of bicameralism is Australia, with its Senate and House of Representatives. This is important for comparative government because it provides more detail into how the legislature is created as well as how it functions.

Legislative supremacy constitution

A constitution that has no constitutional review, has no formal bill of rights, and isn't entrenched. An example of this is the United Kingdom, where its Parliament is the supreme law-making body, and its laws cannot be overturned or invalidated. This is important to the study of comparative politics because both this type of constitution and higher law constitutions have similarities and differences, as well as pros and cons, so finding which system possesses the most effective one can help with the overall study of the concept.

Ethnolinguistic fractionalization (ELF)

Used to measure the amount of ethnical and linguistic diversity in a country. Fearon and Laitin use this measurement to calculate what the biggest components are to the start of a civil war. Through their use of this measurement, they were able to find that many different languages and ethnicities in a state does not necessarily mean there is a greater chance of that state going into a civil war. This is important for the study of comparative politics because it provides political scientists with a way of quantitatively measuring the effects of multiple ethnicities and languages in a state and determine how these variations and diversities will affect that state in the future.

Kurdistan

A population of Kurds in Iraq which can be used as a prime example of subnational self-rule within a state. Bogaards examines the relationship between Iraq and the Kurdistan population and explains how this region has contributed to the weakness of the Iraqi constitution. Iraq's constitution is seen as weak because it does not grant Iraq any authority over its subnational regions. Kurdistan, for example, practices self-rule because there is no higher law forcing it to abide by the laws of the constitution. This is important for comparative government because it exemplifies the importance of a strong constitution. By having a state with strong constitutionalism there is a more equal division in power between national and subnational regions and allows for the state to be more federal in practice.

Preference falsification

The misrepresentation of private preferences due to the overwhelming public support that another preference receives. This happens when one preference is favored in private, but a differing preference is favored publicly out of fear of going against the majority. This concept is important for comparative government because it relates to the level of federalism within the state. Since federalism is the shared authority between national and subnational units, there should be an equal representation of all preferences made by the subnational regions; in other words, there should be no majority opinion that deters one region from publicly stating a differing preference.

Veto player

An individual or collective actor, such as a legislature or interest group, whose agreement is essential for any policy change. An example of this is in a coalition government, like Germany, where the parties involved in the government become the specific veto players, as they are the only ones who can provide any institutional policy change. This is important for comparative government because it can show how systems can change or adapt over time, and the difference between each system of government and the role each one has in being a player.