PLSC Final

PLSC 3 FINAL EXAM

A surplus majority government

Coalition is comprised of more parties than are strictly necessary to control a majority of the legislative seats.

Above average income earners

The net contributors to taxes

Abstract constitutional review

involves the constitutional review of legislation in the absence of a concrete legal case.

Accountability

the extent to which voters are able to reward or punish parties for their behavior in office.

Adverse selection

occurs when the agent has attributes that are hidden from the principal. "Types" are unobserved

Asymmetric bicameralism

occurs when the two legislative chambers have unequal constitutional power

Asymmetric federalism

exists when some territorial units enjoy more extensive powers than others relative to the central government.

Below average income earners

The net recipients to taxes

bicameral legislature

legislative deliberation occurs in two distinct assemblies.

Cabinet

Composed of ministers whose job it is to head the various government departments

codified constitution

Constituion that is written in a single document

Collective cabinet responsibility

Ministers must publicly support policy decisions or resign.

Coming-together federalism

The result of a bargaining process in which previously sovereign polities voluntarily agree to give up part of their sovereignty in order to pool together their resources and improve their collective security or achieve other, economic goals.

common pool resource problem

exists when actors can consume some commonly held resource and pay only a share of the costs

Concrete constitutional review

involves the constitutional review of legislation with respect to a specific legal case.

Confessionalism

a form of government that emphasizes power sharing by different religious communities through guaranteed group representation.

Congruence (static representation)

refers to how well elected representatives match the preferences of the electorate.

Congruent bicameralism

occurs when two legislative chambers have a similar political composition

Congruent federalism

exists when the territorial units of a federal state share a similar demographic makeup with one another and the country as a whole

Connected coalition

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

Consensus democracies

1\. Representative institutions are created so as to reflect the preferences of as many voters as possible.

2\. Legislators represent the interests of the full spectrum of voters and vote on issues the way "citizens themselves would have voted."

3\. Institutions are designed to maximize the representation of all views found in society and to make sure that decisions reflect consideration of minority views.

consensus vision

Disperse power to as many people as possible

constitution

provides the formal source of state authority

Constitutional review

the authority of an institution to invalidate legislation, administrative decisions, judicial rulings, and other acts of government that violate constitutional rules, such as rights.

Constitutionalism

commitment of governments to accept the legitimacy of, and be governed by, a set of authoritative rules and principles that are laid out in a constitution.

Constitutive rules

Rules that define the set of practices that make up any particular consciously organized social activity - that is, they specify what counts as that activity.

constructive vote of no confidence

must indicate who will replace the government if the incumbent loses a vote of no confidence.

Constructivism / Social Constructivism

A theoretical approach in world politics that attempts to explain the formation and transformation of ideas related to identities and interests, including those of states. It contends that the fundamental structures of world politics are social rather than strictly material.

Countries with more parties in government

have higher spending and more debt.

Cultural idealism

Applying an instrumentalist perspective to states

Cultural idealist hypotheses supported by

Systematic research on the relationship between the cultural composition of states and the likelihood of international conflict lend supports this

Cultural Idealist Support

Systematic research on the relationship between the cultural composition of states and the likelihood of international conflict find that the more similar states are culturally, the more likely they are to fight.

Cultural realism

Applying a primordialist perspective to states

Decentralization

the extent to which actual policymaking power lies with the central or regional governments.

decentralization increases ethnic conflict

when regional parties are strong

decentralization reduces ethnic conflict

when regional parties are weak

Delegation

an act where one person or group, called the principal, relies on another person or group, called an agent, to act on the principal's behalf.

Devolution

When a unitary state grants powers to subnational governments but retains the right to unilaterally recall or reshape those powers.

Diasporization

The process of transplanting cultural groups from home regions to new ones either voluntarily (e. g. immigration, colonization) or involuntarily (e.g. displacement, enslavement).

Direct democracy

a form of government in which people collectively make decisions for themselves

entrenched constitution

can be modified only through a special procedure of constitutional amendment

Ex ante mechanisms

Help principals to learn about their agents before these agents are chosen

Ex post mechanisms

Used to learn about agents' actions after they have occurred.

In a parliamentary democracy, what two things are the same thing

Executive branch and the government are the same thing in this parliaments

Fault line

The site within or between states where different civilizations share a common border.

federal state

sovereignty is constitutionally split between at least two territorial levels so that independent governmental units at each level have final authority in at least one policy realm

Federalism

1 Geopolitical division. 2 Independence. 3 Direct governance.

Fiscal policy

involves the manipulation of tax and spending decisions to accomplish governmental goals.

fixed term

the head of state serves for a fixed period of time before she needs to be reappointed and cannot be removed in the meantime.

Formateur

person designated to form the government in a parliamentary democracy, and is often the PM designate

higher law constitution

has constitutional review, has a bill of rights, and is entrenched.

Holding-together federalism

the result of a process in which the central government of a polity chooses to decentralize its power to subnational governments in order to diffuse secessionist pressures.

How federalism intensify ethnic conflict.

1\. It reinforces regionally-based ethnic identities.

2\. It provides access to political and economic resources that ethnic leaders can use to bring pressure against the state.

3\. It makes it easier for ethnic groups at the sub-national level to produce legislation that discriminates against regional minorities.

Immobilism

a situation in parliamentary democracies in which government coalitions are so weak and unstable that they are incapable of reaching an agreement on new policy.

In a parliamentary democracy, voters

do not elect governments but instead for for representatives who bargain over who should go into government

incongruent and asymmetric federalism

1\. Bringing the government closer to the people.

2\. Increasing opportunities to participate in government.

3\. Giving groups discretion over their political, social, and economic affairs.

Incongruent bicameralism

occurs when the two legislative chambers differ in their political composition.

Incongruent federalism

exists when the demographic makeup of territorial units differs among the units and the country as a whole

informateur

examines politically feasible coalitions and nominates a formateur

institutional veto player

veto player generated by a country's constitution

Instrumentalism

Emerging from the arguments of Merton (1957) this view rejects the view that conflict emerges from some "natural" division of groups into nations. Group conflict, especially inter-nation conflict, is largely the result of elite manipulation of nationalist appeals in pursuit of their own interests.

Investiture hypothesis

Minority governments will be less likely when there is a formal investiture vote

investiture vote

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

It is likely that a formateur will have to give more policy concessions to

larger parties than small parties

judicial review

When constitutional review is conducted by ordinary judges

least minimal winning coalition

Coalition in which there are the lowest number of surplus seats

Legislative Fragmentation

1\. increases the likelihood of deadlock.

2\. increases the likelihood of ideological polarization, which makes solving deadlock situations more difficult

3\. creates a need for coalition building, something inexperienced presidents will find difficult to do

Legislative responsibility

Refers to a situation in which a legislative majority has the constitutional power to remove a government from office without cause

legislative supremacy constitution

has no constitutional review, has no bill of rights, and is not entrenched.

Legislators in (large district magnitude) PR systems

"internalize" the cost of such spending and are, therefore, less likely to spend money on concentrated benefits.

Legislators in SMDP systems

vote for lavish levels of spending because the benefits can be concentrated in their districts while the costs are shared with the entire nation.

Major causes of hunger in the world

Climate, weather, natural disasters such as floods, tropical storms, desertification, and long periods of drought

Majoritarian democracies

1\. Teams of politicians compete for the support of voters. 2. The team selected by a majority of the voters are given unfettered control over policy.

2\. The team selected by a majority of the voters are given unfettered control over policy.

3\. Voters observe social, economic, and political outcomes, and then decided whether to retain or replace the team that is held responsible for producing those outcomes.

4\. Institutions are designed to maximize clarity of responsibility and accountability.

majoritarian vision

Concentrate power in the hands of the majority

Malapportionment

occurs when the distribution of political representation between constituencies is not based on the size of each constituency's population.

mandate

a policy that the government is both authorized and obligated to carry out in office.

Meltzer-Richard Model

Citizens should differ in their preferences for taxation.

Merton's view of international relations

Emphasizes the multiple identities that all people manifest and the overwhelming evidence of the persistence of "intergroup" cooperation.

minimal winning coalition

Coalition in which there are no parties that are not required to control a legislative majority

Ministerial responsibility

Constitutional doctrine by which cabinet heads must bear ultimate responsibility for what happens in their ministry.

minority coalition government

Coalition is comprised of multiple governmental parties that do not together command a majority of the legislative seats

Minority governments are more frequent in

What are more frequent in presidential democracies?

Minority governments are not

This coalition is not anti democratic

Monarchs can exist in

This kind of head of state can only exist in parliamentary democracies

Montreal Protocal

Treaty signed in 1987 designed to phase out CFCs, chemicals that deplete the ozone layer

Moral hazard

occurs when the agent has the opportunity to take actions that are hidden from the principal. "Actions" are unobserved.

mutual dependence

The government needs the support of a legislative majority to stay in power (parliamentarism)

mutual independence

The president and legislature have their own fixed electoral mandates and their own sources of legitimacy (presidentialism)

new constitutionalism

describes a situation in which almost all countries

now have a higher law constitution.

nonpartisan minister

Someone in government who does not come from the legislature

partisan veto player

veto player generated by the way the political game is played

Perils of Presidential regimes

1\. They find it difficult to resolve deadlock or crisis situations because they lack of a vote of no confidence.

2\. There is a greater chance of gridlock in presidential regimes because divided government is possible.

3\. Presidential elections tend to produce politically inexperienced candidates.

Perils of presidentialism

1\. Concentration of power over policy.

2\. Inexperienced leaders.

3\. Difficulty in making policy quickly.

4\. Difficulty in locating responsibility for policy.

5\. Difficulty in making comprehensive policy.

Pluralist interest group relations

occur when interest groups compete in the political marketplace outside of the formal policymaking process

policy-seeking politician

only wants to shape policy

popularly elected

When a head of state is elected through a process where voters either (i) cast a ballot directly for a candidate or (ii) they cast ballots to elect an electoral college, whose sole purpose is to elect the head of state

posteriori constitutional review

occurs only after a law is formally enacted.

Potential advantages of federalism

1\. Closer match between policy and citizen preferences.

2\. Greater government accountability by bring the government closer to the people.

3\. Competition among states creates an incentive for good government.

4\. Policy experimentation.

5\. System of checks and balances.

Potential disadvantages of federalism

1\. Unnecessary duplication and contradictory policies.

2\. Increases collective action problems in policy formulation.

3\. Competition leads to downward harmonization.

4\. Competition amplifies pre-existing inequalities.

5\. Facilitates blame shifting and credit claiming, thereby reducing government accountability.

PR facilitates coalition bargaining between

What facilitates bargaining centrist and left-wing parties