AP Comparative Government and Politics: Democratic Regimes

What did the structural adjustment imposed on Mexico by the International Monetary Fund in the 1980s make the Mexican government do

Cut state spending and liberalize its trade policy

In Mexico, why was the 2000 election a turning point

The PRI was defeated by an opposition party in the presidential election for the first time (Vicente Fox)

In Mexico, a voter who owns a business, is catholic, and is located near the northern boarder, is most likely go to vote for who

National Action Party (PAN)

Foreign policy in Mexico

focuses on the bilateral relationship with the US

Mexico's Legislature

mixes elements of PR and SMD election systems

Mexico's Judiciary

Trials have historically not been public, but recent reforms require public trials

Mexico state governments

Are elected independently by local voters in the state

Mexico's embrace of free trade

caused by external pressure from leaders who assisted Mexico during its debt crisis

Camarillas

in Mexico, informal personal networks around political leaders or aspiring public officials used for the advancement of their careers

Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM)

Mexico's dominant trade union confederation, which was a main pillar of the PRI's authoritarian regime

Constitution of 1917

Mexico's governing document, establishing a federal system with a supreme national executive, legislature, and judiciary

Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD)

founded as a left-wing opposition party against the PRI; currently one of a few major parties competing for power in Mexico

Federal Election Institute

An independent agency that regulates elections in Mexico; created in 1994 to end decades of electoral fraud

Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)

the political party introduced in 1929 in Mexico that helped to introduce democracy and maintain political stability for much of the 20th century; centrist to center-right

Maquiadoras

A factory built by a U.S. company in Mexico near the U.S. border, to take advantage of the much lower labor costs in Mexico.

Mestizo

Mexicos largest ethnic group; a person of mixed European and Native American descent

"Mexican Miracle"

a period from the 1940s to the 1970s wherein rapid industrialization promoted high levels of economic growth and improved living standards, which gave rise to a new middle class with rising expectations

National Action Party (PAN)

Mexican political party that took power in the 2000 presidential election; founded as the right-wing opposition party to PRI rule.

Opportunidades

welfare payments made to targeted impoverished groups, such as poor single mothers, providing cash payment in exchange for the family or individual meeting certain goals, such as educational attainment, set by the government

Tlateloco Plaza Massacre

a crackdown against anti-government protesters in 1968 that resulted in the deaths of up to 300 demonstrators and the arrest of thousands more

"War on Drugs"

military campaigns against violent drug cartels, ongoing sense 2000

Yo Soy #132

a protest movement during the 2012 election cycle that accused media company Televisa of using its networks to help PRI candidates get elected

Zapatista Movement (EZLN)

a left-wing revolutionary group based in the southern state of Chiapas and made up mostly of indigenous people

Pendulum Theory

The theory that for most of the 20th century, power (PRI) in Mexico swung back and forth between the free market policies favored by the tecnicos and the social reform policies favored by the politicos.

Lazaro Cardenas

President of Mexico from 1934 to 1940; responsible for redistribution of land, primarily to create ejidos, or communal farms; also began labor reforms and nationization

Mexican population

highly urbanized; 80 percent of the population in cities

Nigerias political culture

deeply shaped by European imperialism and colonization

Prebendalism

the tendency of public officials to collect bribes and rents from their office of authority

Presidential election of 2015 (Nigeria)

an opposition party (APC) candidate acquired power through a peaceful election for the first time

Voter turnout in Nigerias elections

turnout rates have dropped substantially in recent elections, but it is unclear whether statistics from previous elections were reliable

Senate elections in Nigeria

gives an equal number of seats to every state (3 per state)

Media in Nigeria

privately owned and diverse, including a variety of international sources

Identity Politics

a tendency for people of a particular religion, race, social background, etc., to form exclusive political alliances, moving away from traditional broad-based party politics.

The People Democratic Party (PDP)

Center-right economic policies, socially convervative

The All People Congress (APC)

Left-leaning in the market, but more socially conservative than the PDP

Biafran Civil War

Sani Abacha

Oppressive Nigerian military dictator from 1993 to 1998 who came to power in a military coup

Biafra

Eastern Nigerian region inhabited mostly by the Ibo people; in 1967 attempted unsuccessfully to secede from Nigeria; defeated and reintegrated in 1970.

Bako Haram

Nigerian militant Islamist group that seeks the imposition of Shariah law throughout all 36 states of Nigeria

Hausa-fulani

the largest ethnic group that lives in northern Muslim Nigeria.

Igbo

Nigeria's third largest group who are mostly Christian. They are located in the southeast part of Nigeria. This group has many conflicts with the Yoruba and at one point they tried to become a independent nation.

MEND

Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, uses gruella warfare, for the environment

Nigerias Presidential Election

4 year term, 2 terms; election lasts one round, candidate must receive at least 25 percent of votes in 2/3 of the states

House of Representatives (Nigeria)

360 SMD seats; each state receiving based on population

Senate Elections (Nigeria)

Each of 36 states selects 3 Senators and the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja elects one for a total of 109 Senators; each state is divided into 3 electoral district, and the candidate who gets the most votes wins

Nigerias President

Fused Head of State and Head of Government; ability to appoint officials in nearly all administrative positions

Federal Charter Principle (Nigeria)

each ethnic group is allowed a certain portion of federal positions based on its regional population

Senate (Nigeria)

can impeach judges and confirms the presidents cabinet.

EZLN (Zapatista Army of National Liberation)

a largely Mayan group that staged an uprising in 1994, demanding political reform and greater rights for Mexico's indigenous people

Federal Election Commission

An independent regulatory body to safeguard honest and accurate election results

Porfirio Diaz/Porfiriato

a dictator who dominated Mexico, permitted foriegn companies to develop natural resources and had allowed landowners to buy much of the countries land from poor peasants

typical voter for PAN

more from north, middle-class professional, urban, more educated, religious

typical voter for PRI

small town/rural, less educated, older, poorer (looking for pensions)

Mexican Senate

128 members, 4 from each state, mixed electoral system, 3/4 candidates from FPTP; 1/4 from second place party; one proportional representation; 50% of people on list have to be women

Mexican House of Deputies

500 members, 300 from FPTP, 200 proportional representation, no party can have over 300 seats

judiciary branch in Mexico

judicial review, serve for 15 years

Is the UK a unitary or federal state?

Unitary, or quasi-federal

parliamentary sovereignty

parliament is supreme ruling institution in UK; mainly power centered in House of Commons

Collective Consensus

came about after WWII; was the agreement by Labour and Conservative parties that social welfare programs were necessary

Margaret Thatcher

Labour Party nationalized so many things that economy wasn't doing well; she ushered in new economic thinking and pulled Conservative party to the far right; neoliberalism; it worked but she took it too far and was eventually replaced by her own party; 1970-1994

New Labour

Tony Blair modernized and centralized the party; accepted some privatization but still wanted social welfare programs; dominated from 1994-2010 but was brought down by international problems with Iraq war and Brown

Judicial Branch (UK)

no judicial review because no constitution; acts can be challenged based on common law and application of the law itself; parliamentary sovereignty so can't challenge that; appointed for life but retire at 75; multiple tier structure (district-high-Supreme court)

Labour Party

constituency is working class; goes back to a unionist party originally; industrial cities are strong-holds; far left is old labour of unionists and socialists; new labour is Tony Blair; did well with collective consensus, but then had to center to get support; leader is Ed Miliband

Conservatives

have far right Thatcherites (neo-liberalism) and center right Traditionals (noblesse oblige, accept social welfare programs); leader is David Cameron; receives most their votes from England

Liberal Democrats

centrist party; saw an opening in the fracturing of the two-party structure; was an alternative to Thatcherites and Far Left and made parties realize they needed to center; declined in strength once parties went back to center; but did well since Brown's Labour party; currently in coalition with conservatives; leader Nick Clegg

Scottish National Party (SNP)

nationalist party; does well in regional elections for Scottish Parliament; leading organization pushing for independence from UK

British National Party

made of of anti-Semitic and anti-Muslims; they're an ultra-national party (fascist); large numbers of immigrants in UK, many are Muslim, so party is on the rise

Regional governments

in Scotland or Wales; it's done through proportional representation so the percentage of votes the party gets is equal to the percentage of seats that party gets in Parliament

EU and role of UK

UK already has distrust towards continent so adding to EU; EU expanded greatly and some countries in EU have issues so UK must give lots of GDP to help the other countries which creates antagonism

Devolution in regions of UK

UK is unitary gov with power centralized in national gov, but to appease the people UK can give some power to regional gov, but can also take it back whenever they want and don't have to give it to each equally

Beveridge Report

a social insurance program that was accepted during WWII in the collective consensus spirit and was intended to give every British citizen some income to sustain them

Tony Blair and the New Labour party

Labour ceased to advocate for nationalization and public ownership of industries

The modernization of noblesse oblige is most evident in

the general willingness of the wealthy to support welfare state programs

Elections in regional governments in Britain

incorporates elements of PR

Executive and Legislative powers in the UK

Fused

Supreme Court of the UK

Created to align with EU laws

UK's Prime Minister

Functional Head of Government, elected every five years

House of Commons (UK)

650 members (MPs), SMD plurality elections with each member running for a specific constituency

House of Lords

around 800 members, upper house but plays little part in policy making

The Cabinet (UK)

Prime Minister and 22 ministers; typically party leaders as MPs in the majority party of the HoC

collective responsibility

a custom of British politics in which cabinet ministers hold themselves responsible to support all policies of the government collectively or to resign if they do not feel capable of doing so

Fixed-term Parliaments Act of 2011

a law passed by Parliament that established a fixed five-year election cycle starting in 2015; the prime minister retains the power to call snap elections but now needs a two-thirds majority instead of a simple majority

hung parliament (UK)

A situation after an election when no single party comprises a majority; results in a new elections

British political trends

traditionalism and gradualism

Lords reform under New Labour

Labour removed most hereditary peerages that had been passed on for many generations; they were replaced with life peerages, which would only last a life time of the Lord

Good Friday Agreement

an agreement to end the conflict in Northern Ireland signed in 1998, Blair

2010 Election (UK)

Conservatives gained 96 seats in Parliament; David Cameron formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democratic Party, making him PM

UKs austerity measures

Cameron reduced government spending and balanced the budget

Brexit Referendum

The British Exit from the European Union; Cameron steps down

Social class in the UK

class divisions are deeply pronounced; remains the most important social cleavages in British politics

Status of minority groups in Britain

generally poorly integrated into society, often report profiling and mistreatment by police

UKs Parliament (HoC)

650 members in a SMD plurality election

House of Lords Act 1999

removed all but 92 hereditary peers in the house

parliamentary sovereignty

the idea that final authority should rest with decisions in the democratically elected House of Commons, rather than unelected officials in the judiciary

Porfirio Diaz/Porfiriato

Dictator in Mexico from 1876 to 1911; characteristics included: stability, economic growth, and massive inequality (economically)

Lazaro Cardenas (1934-1940)

most eventful sexenio of early PRI rule; his reform agenda focused on: land reform (land redistribution of land from landowners to peasants, ejidos), labor reform, and nationalizartion

Mexicos Structural Adjustment Program

caused Mexico to privatize many state owned companies, cut government spending, and increase free trade

MORENA

Andres Manual Lopez Obrador; coalitiojn of leftist and the evangelical right

Mexico's President

6 year terms, FPTP plurality race; fused head of state and government

Supreme Court of Justice (Mexico)

11 judges appointed to 15-year terms; still veiwed as corrupt and not trusted