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Ocepek PS 0300
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veto player
individual or collective actor who needs to agree to a change in the political status quo for it to occur
institutional veto player
veto players generated by a country’s constitution
partisan veto player
veto players generated by the way the political game is played
judiciary
supports the constitution of a state through judicial review
constitution
document or set of documents that outlines the powers/institutions/structure of government, expresses rights of citizens, and explains limits on government
judicial review
power of the courts to determine the constitutionality of actions by other branches of government
codified constitution
contained in single, comprehensive document that serves as the primary source of constitutional law
uncodified constitution
made up of several different sources, including written and unwritten laws and precedents
rigid constitution
a constitution that is difficult to amend or change, requiring special processes beyond ordinary legislation
flexible constitution
a constitution that can be easily amended using regular legislative process
concrete review
when a Supreme Court provides judgement based on the constitutional validity of a law in the context of a specific case
abstract review
when a Constitutional Court provides an advisory but binding opinion on a proposed law that’s based on suspicion of inconsistency with the constitution
supreme court
final court of appeals; provides concrete review
constitutional court
court focused on interpreting and upholding the laws of the constitution; provides abstract review
judicial restraint
view that judges should only apply the letter of the law, leave politics to elected bodies
judicial activism
willingness of judges to venture beyond narrow legal reasoning to influence public policy
common law
judicial rulings on matters not explicitly treated in legislation; based on precedents set by decisions in specific cases
civil law
judicial rulings founded on written legal codes which seek to provides a single overarching framework for the conduct of public affairs
religious law
when a religious system or document is used as a legal source; methodology used varies
sub-national governance
management of government affairs at levels below the national scope
multilevel governance
when power is distributed and shared horizontally and vertically among different levels of government (supranational to local); considerable interaction between the different parts
unitary system
when sovereignty rests with the national government; regional/local units have no independent powers
regional government
in a unitary system, it is a lower level of government that is between the national and local levels
deconcentration
when central gouvernement tasks are shifted from employees in the capital to those in regional or local districts
delegation
when central government responsibilities are shifted to semi-autonomous bodies accountable to central government
devolution
when central government transfers some decisions-making autonomy to lower levels
federal system
sovereignty is shared between two or more levels of government, each with independent powers and responsibilities
federation
states where federal systems are used
asymmetric federalism
when states within a federation have unequal power/influence bc of size, wealth, etc.
dual federalism
when national and local levels of government function independently, and with separate responsibilities
cooperative federalism
when the layers of government are intermingled; difficult to see who has ultimate responsibility; operates with assumption of subsidiarity
subsidiarity
idea that the central government should only play a supporting role in governance, acting only if the constituent members are incapable of acting independently
quasi federalism
when the system of administration is formally unitary, but has some features of federalism
confederation
looser form of a federation; consists of a union of states with more powers in the hands of constituent members
what are some reasons for judicial activism
increased reliance on regulation as a mode of governance; prestige of the judiciary encourages some transfer of authority to it; decline of the political left has enlarged the scope of the judiciary
strengths of federalism
practical arrangement for large/divided states; stronger checks and balances; allows recognition of diversity; encourages competition between states; allows citizens to move between states; brings government closer to the ppl
weaknesses of federalism
might be less effective against security threats; slower and more complicated decision-making; could entrench internal divisions; harder for center to launch national initiatives; complicates accountability; representation in the upper chamber of states violates “one person, one vote”