Western European Gov + Politics - Exam #1 Flashcards

Chapters 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6

Parliamentary systems

Democratic form of government where the executive branch derives its legitimacy from and is accountable to the legislative branch (the parliament), government passes bills through support of parliamentary majority

Minority government

A government whose cabinet parties do not command a parliamentary majority. Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Norway, Sweden

European Economic Community

Created by the Treaty of Rome in 1958, set out to foster economic integration and free trade among its member states, hopefully preventing future wars

Wanted to ensure the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people

Founding members were: Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands

European Parliament

The legislative chamber of the EU made of directly elected members who represent EU citizens, elects the President of the European Commission following a proposal by the European Council

European Union

Supranational political system in Europe to which member states have delegated policy authority through the European treaties

Precursors: European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community

EU stands for the promotion of peace, a single market, economic and monetary union, freedom and justice without internal borders, and cultural and linguistic diversity.

Europeanization

A reciprocal relationship between European and national level policymaking, where policy and politics made at one level affects actions at other level.

Polity

Group of people united under a common political organization united by a collective identity and shared system of governance/laws, regulate power distribution in a society

Supranational

A political system above the level of the nation-state

Republic + two types of republics

A system of government where the head of state is directly or indirectly elected (in contrast with a constitutional monarchy) (ex: Germany, France, and Italy)

Parliamentary republic: head of state is usually indirectly elected and has little power (Ireland, Finland, Poland)

Semi-presidential system: head of state is directly elected and has more political power (France)

Constitutional monarchies

A system of government where a hereditary monarch serves as a head of state but possesses very little or no political power. The monarch, instead, is a figurehead and a representative of the state, while all political authority rests with the elected head of government (ex: Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden)

Presidential systems

A democratic regime type based on mutual independence between the legislature and the executive. Both parliament and the president have separate electoral mandates and their own legitimacy (ex: Cyprus in EU, and USA)

Semi-presidental

A democratic regime type with a popularly elected president with a fixed term who exists alongside a prime minister and cabinet who are responsible to a legislative majority in parliament

Liberal democracy

A democratic system of government in which individual rights and freedoms are officially recognized and protected, and the exercise of political power is limited by the rule of law

Ideology

A belief system, including a wide range of political attitudes that are consistent with one another given the political context (e.g., socialism, liberalism, conservatism, etc)

Left-right dimension

A conflict dimension that structures political competition in most European countries. Left: more state intervention in the economy and greater redistribution

Right: free market with less state involvement, redistribution, and spending

Median Voter Theorem

In a majority-rule, two-party system with a one-dimensional political spectrum, the candidate or policy closest to the preference of the median voter will win.

AKA voter with equal number of voters on either side

Manichean view

“good” citizens vs “evil” elite, seen in populism

Principal-agent problem: adverse selection

Occurs before delegation (ex ante) when agent has attributes that are hidden from principal

• Ex: used car sellers, voting for politicians, choosing a roommate

Principal-agent problem: moral hazard

Occurs after delegation (ex post) when agent has opportunity to take actions that are hidden from principal

• Ex: sports contracts for free agents, lifestyle choosing after health insurance, having voted for politicians and they behave differently than they campaigned

Prospective voting

Citizens vote for a political party (or candidate) based on the policy proposals that this political party (or candidate) aims to implement in the future

Retrospective voting

Voters sanction or reward a political party (or candidate) on their evaluations of the past policy performance of this political party (or candidate) and vote accordingly in elections (think incumbent stays in office or is removed)

Technocracy

A system of governance where decision-making is led by technical experts, scientists, and engineers based on data, scientific methods, and empirical evidence rather than by elected politicians or public opinion

Status quo

The current policy in place, usually in the form of an adopted and implemented law.

Unconsolidated democracy

A newly formed democracy that has a relatively high likelihood of reverting back to an authoritarian form of government.

Consolidated democracy: long-standing and unlikely to revert back

Modernization Theory

Suggests that democracy can only take hold in a society that is sufficiently wealthy, urban, and educated → have the ability and time to pay attention to and become informed about politics

Delegation model of democracy

In which citizens possess ultimate political authority, but delegate decision-making authority to politicians by electing them to office, who in turn delegate authority further to specific politicians holding positions in governments, the bureaucracy, or to the EU.

Congruence

The fit between the policy preferences of citizens and the policy positions of their representatives (ex: ideological distance between the median voter and the policy position of the government)

Responsiveness

A political system is responsive if policy shifts with the position of voters. Parties are responsive if they change their policy positions in line with changes in public opinion.

Agenda setting

Parliamentary context: ability to make proposals that can either be defeated or passed, but not amended

Public sphere: ability to influence the importance placed on certain topics or policy issues in public debate

Shirking

Failing to uphold one’s end of a bargain, or deviating from an agreed upon position

Coming-together federalism

Previously independent political entities come together in a bigger territorial unit in order to benefit from pooling authority to improve their economic and security situation

Holding-together federalism

A type of federalism whereby the central government of a given country chooses to decentralize its power to subnational governments in order to diffuse secessionist pressures.

European Council

Sets the EU’s overall political direction and priorities, traditionally by adopting ‘conclusions’ during European Council summits which identify issues of concern and actions to take. It is led by a president and comprises of the national heads of state or government as well as the President of the European Commission.

Council of the European Union

Represents the governments of each of the member states at the ministerial level and is one of the main decision-making bodies of the EU, together with the European Parliament.

European Commission

An EU institution with the mandate of protecting the general interest of the EU by proposing and enforcing legislation as well as by implementing policies and the EU budget. It is the only European institution that can propose legislation.

Court of Justice of the European Union

This court upholds the rule of EU law. It ensures that EU law is applied in the same way in all EU member states and settles legal disputes between national governments and EU institutions. In certain circumstances, it can be used by individuals, companies, or organizations to take action against an EU institution, if they feel that their rights were infringed upon.

European Central Bank

The central bank of the EU member states that have adopted the Euro as their official currency. Its main task is to maintain price stability in the Eurozone in order to preserve the purchasing power of the Euro.

European Court of Auditors

The supreme audit institution of the EU, established in 1975.

De facto federalism

Refers to the degree to which a country resembles a federal state in practice, even when it cannot be classified as federal based on its constitution (AKA decentralization and unitary states)

De jure federalism

Refers to the extent to which regional authority is constitutionally recognized and cannot be unilaterally abolished by the central government (AKA federalism)

Decentralization

The process by which the authority of national governments over policy-making is transferred to regional governments

Devolution

The process by which a unitary state grants more authority to regional governments, but holds the right to revoke these rights.

Fiscal decentralization

The degree to which a regional, rather than central, government is able to collect a share of the tax revenue

Federalism

Power divided between central national government and individual state or regional governments

Seen as a way to diffuse regional or ethnic tensions within a given geographical area/country and to create a political structure that can facilitate cooperation in the economic and security realm

Three components:

1. two levels of government rule same land and people, autonomy

2. at least one level of action in which it is autonomous

3. some guarantee of the autonomy of each government in its own sphere

Cleavage theory

A theory about the origins of European party systems as based in historical developments, such as the national revolutions, the Reformation, and the Industrial Revolution, that produced enduring lines of conflict that continue to shape political structure, political organization, and the content of political conflict.

Cleavages

A societal division in which the groups involved are conscious of their collective identity and have organizational expression, such as a political party that expresses the views of the group (class, religion, education)

Euroscepticism

Opposition to political cooperation in Europe, the institutions of the European Union, and/or the process of European integration.

Pluralism

View that power is not concentrated in the hand of a single party or societal interest, but that political power and influence are distributed across multiple groups.

Populism

A thin-centred ideology that divides society into two homogeneous and antagonistic groups: ‘the pure people’ on the one side and ‘the corrupt elite’ on the other.

Postmaterialism

A theory that posits that, when people’s material needs are taken for granted in their formative years, they are likely to privilege post-material values like the environment, gender equality, democracy, self-expression, and human rights, over material concerns.

Paradox of voting/Downs paradox

The observation that the level of actual voter turnout is inconsistent with an expectation based on the notion of a rational, self-interested voter.

Electoral volatility

When voters vote, they are more likely to switch between parties

Social group identification

A person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership, such as social class or religious groups.

Michigan model of voting

A theory of voter choice stressing the importance of partisanship in shaping policy preferences, candidate evaluations, and vote choices.

Costs of voting

The efforts that voters need to endure in order to cast a ballot in an election, such as transportation to the voting booth or getting informed about political parties (or candidates). The term is often associated with Downs paradox of voting.

Economic voting

The idea that voters use their evaluations of past economic performance evaluations to reward or punish an incumbent government in elections.

Partisanship

The loyalty of voters to a specific political party (also Party identification or party attachment).

Electoral threshold

minimum share of votes that a party/candidate must earn to gain seats within a legislature