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correlation

exists when there is an association btw two variables

causation

what caused something else to happen

empirical data

facts you can see, test, or record in the real world

normative statements

observations made by opinion

economic growth

means more job opportunites and higher incomes

economic growth

measured using GDP

gross domestic product

total value of all goods and services provided in an economy in a year

economic growth rate

is the percentage change in GDP

GDP per capita

is the economic output per person

Human Development Index (HDI)

measure of life expectancy, education, and income used to rank countries into four tiers of human development.

Gini Index

A measure of income inequality ranging from 0 (perfect equality) to 1 (perfect inequality).

Freedom House

An organization that produces research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights.

Transparency International

An organization that tracks and publicizes corporate and political corruption.

Failed (Fragile) States Index

An index that ranks countries by their capacity to maintain rule of law.

Political system

The set of institutions and processes a society uses to make and enforce decisions.

State

political organizations that combine population with governing institutions to exercise control w/ international recognition

Sovereignty

Ultimate authority within a territory and independence from outside control; in practice it can be weakened by low territorial control, corruption, or external influence

Regime

The enduring rules, institutions, and norms that determine how leaders are selected and how power is exercised; usually persists even when leaders change.

Government

The current leadership and governing institutions in office at a particular moment (e.g., the administration, cabinet, ruling coalition).

Power

The ability to get others to do what you want through persuasion, incentives, social pressure, control of resources, or force.

Authority

the governmant’s legitimate right to use power to enforce policies and decisions

Legitimacy

The belief among citizens and elites that a government or regime is rightful and deserves obedience.

State capacity

How effectively a state can implement decisions.

Informal institutions

Unwritten rules and practices that shape outcomes alongside or despite formal rules.

Procedural legitimacy (rational-legal legitimacy)

Acceptance of authority because power is gained and used through accepted procedures such as constitutions, elections, and due process.

Performance legitimacy

Acceptance of a regime because it delivers desired outcomes such as economic growth, safety, and public services.

Ideological legitimacy

Acceptance of a regime because it embodies a guiding worldview (e.g., nationalism, revolutionary ideology, socialism, theocracy).

Nationalist legitimacy

Legitimacy derived from claims that leaders defend the nation from foreign threats or protect national sovereignty and identity.

Charismatic legitimacy

Acceptance rooted in devotion to a leader’s personal appeal, vision, or perceived exceptional qualities.

Re-legitimation

Efforts to rebuild legitimacy through reforms such as new elections, constitutional changes, anticorruption campaigns, or improved service delivery.

Coercion

Maintaining rule through force or intimidation (e.g., surveillance, repression, censorship), especially when legitimacy is weak.

Federal system

A territorial system that divides power between a central government and regional governments, with constitutionally protected regional authority in some areas.

Unitary system

A territorial system that centralizes power in the national government

Nation

A group of people who see themselves as a shared community, based on language, ethnicity, religion, history, or culture.

Nation-state

A state whose boundaries largely match a single national identity.

Citizenship

Formal membership in a political community with rights and duties

Cleavage

A deep, lasting social division (e.g., ethnic, religious, regional, class, urban-rural) that structures political identity and competition.

Ethnic cleavage

A political division based on language, ancestry, tribe, or ethnic identity that can strongly structure voting and party strategies.

Religious cleavage

A division based on faith traditions or denominations

Regional cleavage

A division based on geography (center–periphery, north–south, urban–rural) that influences policy priorities and political identity.

Cross-cutting cleavages

Overlapping divisions that reduce rigid “us vs. them” politics, making coalitions and compromise more likely.

Reinforcing cleavages

Divisions that stack together (e.g., one group is poorer, excluded, and regionally concentrated), intensifying grievances, polarization, and instability risks.

Political culture

Widely shared beliefs, values, and attitudes about politics and government that shape expectations about authority, corruption, and participation.

Political socialization

How individuals learn political values and behaviors through agents like family, schools, religion, media, peers, and major national events.

Civil society

Organizations between the individual and the state (e.g., NGOs, unions, student groups, religious/advocacy groups) that can mobilize participation and monitor government.

Political participation

Ways citizens influence politics, including conventional actions (like voting) and unconventional actions (like protests, strikes, boycotts, and civil disobedience).

Political efficacy

The belief that participation matters; internal efficacy is confidence in one’s ability to participate, and external efficacy is belief the government will respond.

Clientelism

The exchange of targeted benefits (jobs, cash, services) for political support, often through patron-client networks, shifting competition toward access to resources.

Democracy (procedural vs. substantive)

A regime where power ultimately rests with the people

Liberal democracy

A democracy that combines elections with strong civil liberties and the rule of law, including an independent judiciary and constraints on executive power.

Illiberal democracy

A system with elections but weak protections for rights and checks and balances, making it vulnerable to democratic erosion even if voting continues.

Democratization

The process of moving toward democracy, often involving stages such as liberalization, democratic transition (competitive elections), and consolidation (democracy becomes “the only game in town”

Democratic backsliding

The weakening of democratic rights and institutions—often by elected leaders concentrating power—through actions like media restrictions, judicial weakening, or opposition harassment.

Authoritarianism

A regime that concentrates power in a leader or small group and limits meaningful political competition, often using repression, low accountability, and restricted rights.

Co-optation

A strategy of maintaining power by offering jobs, contracts, or privileges to potential opponents to reduce resistance and stabilize rule.

Repression

A strategy of maintaining control through surveillance, arrests, intimidation, or legal harassment to deter opposition and dissent.

rule of law

states that people should be governed by law

rule by law

states that people should be governed by arbitary decisions made by officials

one-party states

only one-party (china)

theocracy

religiously lead state (Iran)

totalitarian regime

total control of public and private life (nazi)

Military regimes

military run government (Nigeria previously)

Political institutions

Formal structures/organizations that make authoritative decisions (e.g., legislatures, executives, courts, bureaucracies, and often militaries/security services) and determine who makes policy, how rules are enforced, and how leaders are chosen/removed.

De jure power

Power “on paper” in constitutions and laws (formal authority).

De facto power

Power in practice based on party control, military influence, patronage networks, or coercion; may differ from formal rules.

Constitution

Foundational rules establishing political institutions, distributing power, defining citizen rights, and outlining the relationship between people and the state.

Codified constitution

A written constitution in a single document (or core set of documents); examples: Mexico, Russia, Nigeria.

Uncodified constitution

Constitutional rules dispersed across statutes, conventions, and court decisions rather than one entrenched text; classic example: the United Kingdom.

Constitutionalism

The principle that government power should be limited by constitutional rules and enforced by institutions (often courts); emphasizes enforcement mechanisms, not just rights listed on paper.

Common law

Legal tradition relying heavily on precedent and judicial decisions; prominent in the UK and many countries influenced by Britain.

Civil law

Legal tradition emphasizing comprehensive legal codes; judges primarily apply written codes rather than creating law through precedent; common in Mexico and Russia.

Religious law

Legal system grounded in religious sources and interpretation; central in theocratic systems and shapes institutions and eligibility for office (notably Iran).

Customary law

Law based on community customs and traditions; used in many societies, including parts of Africa.

Mixed legal system

A legal system combining two or more traditions (e.g., civil + common + customary); real-world systems often blend elements.

Devolution

Delegation of powers to subnational regions by statute/political arrangement (e.g., Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland); unlike federalism, powers are granted by the center rather than constitutionally divided.

legislative branch

makes the law

executive branch

enforces the law

judicil branch

interprets the law

Judicial review

Court power to determine whether laws or government actions violate the constitution; only constrains power if courts are independent and rulings are obeyed.

Representation

A legislature’s function of giving citizens and groups a voice in policymaking through elected (or selected) lawmakers.

Governability

Capacity to make decisions efficiently and implement policy; often in tension with broad representation.

Legislative oversight

A legislature’s monitoring and accountability function (e.g., questioning ministers, investigations, committee scrutiny, budget leverage).

Unicameral legislature

A legislature with one chamber (single house).

Bicameral legislature

A legislature with two chambers

Parliamentary sovereignty

UK principle that Parliament is the supreme legal authority and can create or end laws; shapes how constitutional limits work in practice.

House of Commons

UK lower chamber with 650 elected MPs chosen by first-past-the-post; dominant chamber that passes laws and scrutinizes government, and typically supplies the Prime Minister (leader of the largest party).

House of Lords

UK upper chamber (~800 members), largely appointed; scrutinizes and revises legislation and can delay bills but generally cannot permanently veto them.

Royal assent

Formal approval by the UK monarch that turns a bill into law; part of a largely ceremonial constitutional monarchy role.

Federal Assembly (Russia)

Russia’s bicameral legislature consisting of the State Duma (lower house) and Federation Council (upper house); formally makes laws but often analyzed as influenced by executive dominance.

State Duma

Russia’s lower house with 450 members elected for five-year terms; passes legislation and approves the budget; president can veto and under certain conditions dissolve the Duma.

Federation Council

Russia’s upper house with 170 members representing regions; reviews/approves legislation passed by the State Duma.

Majles (Islamic Consultative Assembly)

Iran’s elected unicameral legislature with 290 members elected every four years; passes laws and supervises the government but is constrained by unelected oversight bodies.

Guardian Council

Iranian 12-member unelected body reviewing legislation for compatibility with Islam and the constitution; 6 clerics appointed by the Supreme Leader and 6 jurists selected through a process involving the judiciary and legislature.

National People’s Congress (NPC)

China’s highest organ of state power in a one-party context; formally enacts laws, amends the constitution, and supervises state institutions; deputies serve five-year terms and the NPC meets annually (commonly in March).

NPC Standing Committee

China’s body that carries out NPC decisions between sessions; interprets laws, issues directives, and supervises government and judiciary when the full NPC is not in session.

National Assembly (Nigeria)

Nigeria’s bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate (109) and House of Representatives (360); bills pass through three readings in each chamber and go to the president for assent, with a possible two-thirds override.

Vote of no confidence

Parliamentary mechanism by which the legislature can force the prime minister and cabinet to resign; a key executive-accountability tool in parliamentary systems like the UK.

Impeachment

Formal process for removing a president (or other officials) in presidential systems; contrasts with parliamentary removal via no-confidence votes.

Parliamentary system

System where executive power rests with a prime minister/cabinet drawn from and accountable to parliament; government depends on legislative confidence and can be removed by a vote of no confidence (e.g., UK).

Presidential system

System where a directly elected president is both head of state and head of government; legislature is separate/co-equal and removal typically requires impeachment (e.g., Mexico, Nigeria).