comparative politics final

legislative responsibility

A legislative majority has the constitutional power to remove the government from office without cause

ideologically-connected coalitions

a coalition government made up of parties that are next to each other on the ideological spectrum with no major ideological gaps between them.

minimum-winning ideologically-connected coalitions

a coalition government that meets two conditions at the same time:

• The coalition has just enough seats to control a majority in the legislature.

• The parties in the coalition are ideologically close to each other and sit next to each other on the ideological spectrum—no big jumps.

what countries use a majoritarian system?

U.S. and UK

what country use a proportional representation system?

Germany

what country uses an independent mixed system?

New Zealand

what country uses a dependent mixed electoral system?

Japan

vote of no confidence

initiated by the legislative opposition; if the government does not obtain a legislative majority in this vote, it must resign.

What happens in Ireland if a government loses?

It almost always leads to a new election

What happens in Italy and Denmark when a government loses?

Parties in the legislature will bargain among themselves and form a new government without an election.

constructive vote of no confidence

must indicate who will replace the government if the incumbent loses a vote of no confidence. (Germany, Belgium, Spain)

What are the two questions to classify if something is a democracy?

1. Is the government responsible to the elected legislature?

2. Is the head of state popularly elected for a fixed term in office?

Is the government responsible to the elected legislature?

no = presidential

yes = parliamentary or semi-presidential

Is the head of state popularly elected to a fixed term in office?

yes = semi-presidential

no = parliamentary

presidential democracy

the government does not depend on a legislative majority to exist

parliamentary democracy

the government depends only on a legislative majority to exist

semi-presidential democracy

the government depends on a legislative majority and the head of state is popularly elected.

head of state

• monarchs or presidents

• “above” the messiness of day-to-day politics

• can be elected (directly or indirectly) or hereditary office

• symbolic

head of government

• prime ministers

• responsible for day-to-day politics and running the country

• in presidential systems the president is both the head of state and the chief executive

• holds “real” constitutional power over policy-making

What are the processes a head of state is popularly elected?

• voters cast a ballot directly for a candidate

• cast ballots to elect an electoral college, whose sole purpose is to elect the head of state

parliamentary government

comprises a prime minister and the cabinet

parliamentary cabinet

composed of ministers whose job it is to be in the cabinet and head the various government departments

prime minister

• chief executive/head of government responsible for day-to-day political activites

• leader of their political party

• indirectly elected by citizens

• responsible to the parliament and dependent on parliament to maintain their office

how does a prime minister lose their position?

1. replacement by the PM’s own party

2. a legislative/parliamentary election

3. vote of no confidence

ministerial responsibility

the constitutional doctrine by which cabinet ministers must bear ultimate responsibility for what happens in their ministry

collective cabinet responsibility

the doctrine by which ministers must publicly support collective cabinet decisions or resign

parliamentary system voting

• voters do NOT elect governments

• voters elect representatives, who bargain over who should go into government

what do all parliamentary governments need?

support of a legislative majority

what two circumstances do praliamentary governments form in?

• following elections

• in the middle of an interelection period, following the resignation of the current government

legislatures rely on…

majority support to pass legislation

if a single party controls a majority of seats…

they will typically control government on its own

a party that has at least one ministry is…

“in government”

if any party pulls out of the coalition…

the government “falls”

if no single party controls a majority of legislative seat…

two or more parties often coalesce to form the government

who controls the position of prime minister?

the largest party in the coalition

investiture vote

a formal vote in the legislature to determine whether a proposed government can take office

caretaker government

occurs when an election is called or when an incumbent government either resigns or is defeated in a vote of no confidence

free-style bargaining

formateur

is the political actor (usually a party leader) who is chosen to form the government after an election.

informateur

is a political actor who is appointed before the formateur to explore possible coalition options and determine which parties could work together.

office-seeking politician

Wants power, positions, cabinet seats.

policy-seeking politician

Wants policies enacted, even if that means fewer positions or sharing power.

Gamson’s Law

states that cabinet portfolios will be distributed among government parties in strict proportion to the number of seats each party contributes to the government’s legislative seat total.

example of Gamson’s Law

• Party A (80 seats) and Party B (40 seats) form a government
  (120 seats).

• Party A should receive 80/120 = 2/3 of the cabinet portfolios.

• Party B should receive 40/120 = 1/3 of the cabinet portfolios.

office-seeking parties

the main goal is to gain and control positions of power (cabinet seats, prime ministership, ministries, etc.). you won’t want more parties in government than is strictly necessary to obtain a legislative majority

minimal winning coalition (MWC)

one in which there are no parties that aren’t required to control a legislative majority

least minimal winning coalition

the MWC with the lowest number of surplus seats

connected coalition

one in which the member parties are located directly next to each other in the policy space.

what if parties also care about policy?

• form coalitions with parties that are located close to you in the policy space

• choose the connected least minimal winning coalition

single-party majority government

comprises a single party that controls a majority of the legislative seats

single-party minority government

comprises a single party that doesn’t command a majority of the legislative seats

minority coalition government

comprises multiple governmental parties that don’t together command a majority of the legislative seats

coalition

a formal alliance of two or more political parties that come together

surplus majority government

compromises more parties than are strictly necessary to control a majority of the legislative seats

minority governments

• a regular feature in some countries

• must have an implicit support of a legislative majority

• more common in countries with corporatism, no investiture vote, and opposition parties that have power to shape policy through committees

corporatism

a system in which interest groups (like business associations, labor unions, or professional groups) are formally integrated into the policy-making process by the government.

no investiture vote

the failure of a proposed government or Prime Minister to win the investiture vote in the legislature.

investiture vote

a vote in a legislature to formally approve a new government or Prime Minister after elections or a government change.

presidential democracy

one in which the government does not depend on a legislative majority to exist

president

the political chief executive and head of the state

presidential government

compromises the president and the cabinet

presidential government formation

• cannot be dismissed by legislature even if a majority of legislators want this to happen

• the president is always the formateur regardless of how well his/her party does in the polls

• the president’s party must be included in the cabinet regardless of its legislative size

coalition government

a government formed by two or more political parties who join together to control a majority in the legislature.

size of presidential cabinets

presidents who have relatively weak decree power and whose party does not control a legislative majority needs the support of other parties to achieve their policy goals

nonpartisan minister

someone who does not come from the legislature

government in presidential democracies

• governments in presidential democracies have more nonpartisan ministers

• presidents allocate cabinet portfolios in a less proportional way than prime ministers

semi-presidential democracy

one in which the government depends on a legislative majority and on an independently elected presidents to exist

what are the two types of semi-presidential democracy?

premier-presidential and president-parliamentary

premier-presidential

president has no power to remove the government (ireland)

president-parliamentary

president can remove the government (france)

cohabitation

—a president from one political bloc and a prime minister from another—occurs when the party of the president does not control a legislative majority

why do we get cohabitation?

• the government must enjoy the support of a legislative majority.

• the president may need to appoint a prime minister from an opposition party when the president’s party or bloc does not control a legislative majority.

the french semi-presidential system

• Power is shared between a directly elected President and a Prime Minister appointed by the President.

• Cohabitation occurs less frequently now that both the President and Prime Minister have 5-year terms.

electoral integrity

the extent to which the conduct of elections meets international standards and global norms concerning ‘good’ elections

electoral malpractice

violations of electoral integrity

electoral system

a set of laws that regulate electoral competition between candidates or parties or both

electoral formula

determines how votes are translated into seats

majoritarian electoral system

the canidates or parties that receive the most votes win

single-member-district plurality (SMD-p)

each district elects one representative, and the candidate with the most votes wins, even without a majority.

single nontransferable vote (SNTV)

a system in which voters cast a single candidate-centered vote in a multimember district

what kind of majoritarian electoral system is SNTV?

plurality

who is elected in a SNTV?

the candidates with the highest number of votes

alternative vote

used in single-member districts, is an electoral system in which voters mark their preferences by rank ordering the candidates

preferential voting

involves voters ranking one or more candidates or parties in order of preference on the ballots

what kind of majoritarian electoral system is an preferential voting?

absolute majority

what happens if no candidate wins an absolute majority?

the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their votes are reallocated until one candidate has an absolute majority of the valid votes remaining.

what is the win threshold for an absolute majority?

more than 50%

two-round systems

a majoritarian electoral system in which voting occurs in two rounds if no candidate achieves a required threshold in the first round (usually a majority, over 50%).

proportional representation

• proportional formula is used to translate votes into seats

• more than one representative is elected from each electoral district

district magnitude

number of representatives elected per district

two types of proportional representation system…

list PR and single transferrable vote (STV)

list PR system

each party presents a list of candidates to voters in each multimember district. voters vote for party NOT candidate.

how are seats distributed in a list PR system?

• parties receive seats in proportion to their overall share of votes.

  • If a party wins 30% of the national vote, it gets about 30% of the seats.

• these seats are then allocated among the candidates on their list

  • If Party A wins 40 seats, the first 40 people on its list get elected.

variations in proportional representation

1.The precise formula for allocating seats to parties
2.The district magnitude
3.The use of electoral thresholds
4.The type of party list employed

quota

the ‘price’ in terms of votes that a party must ‘pay’ to guarantee themselves a seat in a particular electoral district

divisor (highest average system)

divides the total number of votes won by each party in a district by a series of numbers

what is the key variable for determining the proportionality of an electoral system

the district magnitude

electoral threshold

the minimum level of support a party needs to obtain representation

natural threshold

a mathematical by-product of the electoral system

formal threshold

explicitly written into the electoral law