Political Science Midterm

Consociationalism

Four pillars:

Grand coalition government with representatives from all groups, proportional allocation of resources, community autonomy, and mutual veto

Forbearance

The avoidance of actions that are technically legal, but clearly violate the spirit of the law

Democratic consolidation

A widely shared and unconditional commitment to a constitution

Ranked-choice voting

If no one wins a majority of first place votes, the candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated, and the ballots are then recast for their second choice. This forces candidates to appeal to broader audiences and creates an instant runoff situation.

Contemporary authoritarianism

A system in which parties compete in elections, but the incumbent’s abuse of power heavily tilts the playing field against all opposition.

Ways to limit contemporary authoritarianism

Independent agencies (FBI, DOJ, and Courts), civil service positions based on merit, functional civil society that is unlikely to be bullied into submission, high barriers to constitutional amendments, and federalism

Democratic transition

Country goes from an autocracy towards democracy. Top-down transitions require some agreement from the ruling party to leave power, while bottom-up transitions usually entail a relatively violent overthrow of current leaders.

Only game in town consensus

Occurs when all military, elites, businessmen, parties, unions, etc., hold the opinion that the only way to choose a government is through free and fair elections. This directly leads to democratic consolidation because citizens put an immense of trust in the efficacy of their constitution and electoral systems.

Vertical Accountability

Has to do with the holdings of elections and the rules associated with them- Authoritarian leaders will often try to bend these rules

Horizontal Accountability

Has to do with associations that are independent from the government (Federal Reserve, FBI, Justice Department)

Populism

Leaders who project themselves ahead of the political party and appeal to the general public. They seek to vilify existing establishments and thus seek unconstrained power to eliminate them without introducing a concrete political ideology. They also typically break society down into “real people” and people who are a threat to society.

Right-wing populism

Typically focus on anti-immigration and nativist sentiments. Trump and Viktor Orban are examples of this. Anti globalization because they believe it has threatened their traditional way of life and economy.

Left-wing populism

Focus more on redistribution of wealth, and vilify existing societal elites. Bernie Sanders and Venezuela are examples of this. Anti globalization because they believe that big business is exploiting it at the expense of common people.

Presidential Democracy

When a government does not depend on a legislative majority to exist. Government refers to the president and his cabinet which can be in the executive branch.

Parliamentary Democracy

When the government depends only on the legislative majority to exist, meaning the executive and legislative branches are fused together.

Plurality

Occurs when a candidate wins the greatest percentage of votes compared to all the other candidates (i.e. 30% vs. 21% vs. 13%)

Majority-plurality two-round system

Only those who win 12.5% or more of the vote in the first round get to compete in the second round. If no one wins with a majority, then the second round can be win through a plurality.

Majority system

Whoever wins must capture a majority, meaning a runoff between the top two candidates will often occur. This can be disadvantageous because you have to hold two elections which can be very costly and turnout is often extremely low.

First past the post system

Whoever receives the most votes wins. The problem is that someone can win with only 20% of the vote, especially in districts where there are many candidates.

Parliamentary systems can be unitary or federal

UK is primarily unitary, although they have devolved some powers to Scotland and Wales.

3 features of a presidential system:

Head of state is popularly elected for a fixed period, legislature can neither appoint nor remove the government, head of state is also the head of government

3 features of a parliamentary system:

Government refers tot he prime minister and his cabinet, the executive and his cabinet are also in the legislature, although the government still meets privately

Restraint

A key concept in UK political culture because although parliament is sovereign, they do not operate like a bull in a China shop. Party’s also typically alternate in power, so most governments try not to overreach to avoid getting the same treatment when the inevitably fall out of power.

Hung parliament

Parliament where no party has a majority which forces the formation of a coalition government

Shadow cabinet

The opposing party appoints someone to monitor each cabinet position of the current government who evaluates what they are doing. The two main advantages of this system is that accountability is boosted, and government can transition quickly.

How to change governments in the UK

Party leaders can step down or be voted out by their own party. Elections are otherwise held every five years.

Reasons for BREXIT:

Soviet Union had held together an anti-communism coalition between Britain and the rest of Europe

In 2004, ten new countries joined the EU, leading to unprecedented migration to the UK

In 2016, 73% of British voters who said they were “worried” about immigration voted to leave the EU

Proportional representation

The percentage of votes that a party receives directly corresponds to how many seats in Parliament they will hold.

Duverger’s Law

In first past the post systems, you are likely to see only two parties, whereas proportional representation often leads to many parties.

Israel

Utilizes a proportional representation system to fill its 120 seats in Parliament. Upholds Duverger’s Law because there are many parties, and they have a cutoff point around 3.5% to ensure that no parties with a minuscule portion of the vote receive seats.

Disadvantages of proportional systems

Must keep having elections until a coalition government is formed, which can be very expensive and reduce voter turnout. It is also somewhat reliant on a king or president to facilitate the creation of a coalition government, and deals must often be made, meaning that Parties may not be able to execute on the policies which they promised their voters.

Reserved powers associated with the British monarchy:

Calling for new elections

Power of veto- House of Lords can send the bill back to the House of Commons, and the King must give his Royal Assent

Conferring with the Prime Minister- Monarch meets with the PM every week and has a right to advise them

Forming a government to handle a hung parliament

Address the parliament every year in November

Officially represent the state

West Lothian Question

The member from the West Lothian constituency in Scotland once questioned in the House of Commons once questioned why regional parliaments get to decide local matters, but anything concerning England is settled in the House of Commons where Scottish and Welsh representatives can also vote

British personality of government

Constitutional monarchy- ruled in the name of the monarch

Considered to be a unitary state

Executive and legislative are fused together in the House of Commons

Parliament is sovereign

Strong ethic of responsible government

Types of judicial review

Post-enactment: Congress creates or enacts legislation and then the Court can rule whether it’s constitutional or not

Pre-enactment: A bill gets published (gazetted) and goes straight to the court where they rule on it

Five sources that contribute to a codified Constitution

Common law that comes out of the court system

Statute law refers to laws that are passed by government, but they can override common law

European law because so much trade happens with the EU

Customs and conventions: things have been done a certain way for centuries

Commentaries: Opinions given by very smart or knowledgeable people

Powers of the House of Lords

Can send a bill back to the House of Commons

Can delay a bill by not passing it for up to one year

Salisbury Convention

An agreement that says if the House of Commons has been elected, the House of Lords will not undermine, oppose, or delay any legislation that it passes in the first year of government. The Lords are also supposed to stay out of financial matters because the Commons, like American Congress, has the power of the purse

Good Friday Agreement

Brought to an end to constant fighting between catholics and protestants in Northern Ireland

Four freedoms of the EU

Goods (physical products), services, capital (a business can be headquartered in London, but conduct affairs across the Union), and people (open borders once within the Union)