AP Comparative Government and Politics

Accommodation

An informal agreement or settlement between the government and important interest groups in response to the interest groups' concerns for policy or program benefits.

Accountability

a government's responsibility to its population, usually by periodic popular elections and by parliament's having the power to dismiss the government by passing a motion of no confidence. Ina political system characterized by accountability, the major actions taken by government must be known and understood by the citizenry.

Acephalous societies

literally "headless" societies. A number of traditional Nigerian societies, such as the Igbo in the precolonial period, lacked executive rulership as we have come to conceive of it. Instead, the villages and clans were governed by committee or consensus.

Amerindians

original peoples of North and South America; indigenous people.

Anticlericalism

opposition to the power of churches or clergy in politics. In some countries, for example, France and Mexico, this opposition has focused on the role of the Catholic Church in politics.

Anti-Rightist Campaign

launched by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Mao Xedong in 1957 in the aftermath of the Hundred Flowers Movement. The Campaign was aimed at critics of the CCP who were labeled as "rightists," that is, counterrevolutionaries. Millions of people were affected and hundreds of thousands sent to labor reform camps. Many were not released until after Mao's death in 1976,

Articles of Confederation

the first governing document of the United States, agreed to in 1777 and ratified in 1781. The Articles concentrated most powers in the states and made the national government largely dependent on voluntary contributions of the states.

Assembly of Religious Experts (Iran)

nominates the Supreme Leader and can replace him. The assembly is elected by the general electorate but almost all of its members are clerics.

Asymmetrical federalism

a system of governance in which political authority is shared between a central government and regional or state governments, but where some sub-national units in the federal system have greater or lesser powers that others.

Authoritarianism

a system of rule in which power depends not on popular legitimacy but on the coercive force of the political authorities. hence, there are few personal and group freedoms. It is also characterized by near absolute power in the executive branch and few, if any, legislative and judicial controls. (Autocracy, Patrimonialism)

Autocracy

a government in which one or a few rulers has absolute power, thus, a dictatorship.

Autonomous region

in the People's Republic of China, a territorial unit equivalent to a province that contains a large concentration of ethnic minorities. These regions, for example Tibet, have some autonomy in the cultural sphere but in most policy matters are strictly subordinate to the central government.

Ayatollah

literally, "sign of God." High-ranking clerics in Iran. The most senior ones - often no more than half a dozen - are known as grand ayatollahs.

Balance of payments

an indicator of international flow of funds that shows the excess or deficit in total payments of all kinds between or among countries. included in the calculation are exports and imports, grants, and international debt payments.

Bazaar

an urban marketplace wheres hops, workshops, small businesses, and export-importers are located.

Bicameral

a legislative body with two houses, such as the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. Just as the U.S. Constitution divides responsibilities between the branches of the federal government and between the federal government and the states, it divides legislative responsibilities between the Senate and the House.

Bill of Rights

the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution (ratified in 1971), which established limits on the actions of government. Initially, the Bill of Rights limited only the federal government. The Fourteenth Amendment and subsequent judicial rulings extended the provisions of the bill of Rights to the states.

Bureaucracy

an organization structured hierarchically, in which lower-level officials are charged with administering regulations codified in rules that specify impersonal, objective guidelines for making decisions. In the modern world, many large organizations, especially business firms and political executive,s are organized along bureaucratic lines.

Cabinet

the ministers who direct executive departments. In parliamentary systems, the cabinet and high-ranking sub-cabinet ministers (also known as the government) are considered collectively responsible to parliament.

Cabinet government

a system of government, as in Britain, in which the cabinet (rather than the prime minister) exercises responsibility for formulating policy and directing both the government and the executive branch. In the UK, cabinet government has been undermined as a check on the power of the prime minister.

Cadre

a person who occupies a position of authority in a communist party-state; cadres may or may not be Communist Party members.

Checks and balances

a governmental system of divided authority in which coequal branches can restrain each other's actions. For example, the U.S. president must sign legislation passed by Congress for it to become laws. If the president vetoes a bill, Congress can override that veto by a two-thirds vote of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Civil society

refers to the space occupied by voluntary associations outside the state, for example, professional associations (lawyers, doctors, teachers), trade unions, student and women's groups, religious bodies, and other voluntary association groups. The term is similar to "society," although "civil society" implies a degree of organization absent from the more inclusive term "society."

Clientelism (or patron-client networks)

an informal aspect of policy-making in which a powerful patron (for example, a traditional local boss, government agency, or dominant party) offers resources such as land, contracts protection, or jobs in return for the support and services (such as labor or votes) of lower-status and less powerful clients; corruption, preferential treatment, and inequality are characteristic of clientelist politics. Patrimonialism, prebendalism

Cold War

the hostile relations that prevailed between the United States and the USSR from the late 1940s until the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991. Although an actual (hot) war never directly occurred between the two super-powers, they clashed indirectly by supporting rival forces in many wars occurring in the Third World.

Collective identities

the groups with which people identify, including gender, class, race, region, and religion, and which are the "building blocks" for social and political action. Any given individual has a variety of identities, for example, a Muslim woman who is a member of the Kurdish ethnic group of northern Iraq. There is enormous variation regarding which collective identities are uppermost for particular individuals, which ones are influential within particular countries, and how effectively political systems process conflicts among collective identities. This question is among the most important issues studies in comparative politics.

Collectivization

a process undertaken in the Soviet Union under Stalin in the late 1920s and early 1930s and in China under Mao in the 1950s, by which agricultural land was removed from private ownership and organized into large state and collective farms.

Command economy

a form of socialist economic organization in which government decisions ("commands") rather than market mechanisms (such as supply and demand) are the major influences in determining the nation's economic direction; also called central planning.

Communism

a system of social organization based on the common ownership and coordination of production. According to Marxism (the theory of German philosopher Karl Marx, 1818-1883) communism is a culminating stage of history, following capitalism and socialism.In historical practice, leaders of China, the Soviet Union, and other states that have proclaimed themselves seeking to achieve communism have ruled through a single party, the Communist Party, which has controlled the state and society in an authoritarian manner, and have applied Marxism-Leninism to justify their rule.

Communist party-state

a type of nation-state in which the communist party attempts to exercise a complete monopoly on political power and controls all important state institutions. Communism.

Comparative politics

the study of the domestic politics, political institutions, and conflicts of countries. Often involves comparisons among countries and through time within single countries, emphasizing key patterns of similarity and difference.

Comparativists

political scientists who study the similarities and differences in the domestic politics of various countries. Comparative politics.

Consolidated democracies

political systems that have been solidly and stably democratic for an ample period of time and in which there is relatively consistent adherence to core democratic principles.

Constitutional monarchy

a system of government in which the head of state ascends by heredity, but is limited in powers and constrained by the provisions of a constitution.

Corporatism (state corporatism)

a system of interest representation in which the constituent units are organized into a limited number of singular, compulsory, noncompetitive,hierarchically ordered and functionally differentiated categories, recognized or licensed (if not created) by the state and granted a deliberate representational monopoly within their respective categories in exchange for observing certain controls in their selection of leaders and articulation of demands and supports.

Corporatist state

a state in which interest groups become and institutionalized part of the structure. Corporatism, democratic corporatism, state corporatism.

Corruption Perceptions Index

a measure developed by Transparency International that ranks countries in terms of the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians. It is a composite index, drawing on corruption-related data in expert surveys carried out by a variety of reputable institutions. It reflects the views of businesspeople and analysts from around the world, including experts who are locals in the countries evaluated. Range: 10 (highly clean) to 0 (highly corrupt).

Country

a territorial unit controlled by a single state. Countries vary in the degree to which groups within them have a common culture and ethnic affiliation. Nation-state, state.

Coup d'etat

a forceful, extra-constitutional action resulting in the removal of an existing government.

Critical juncture

an important historical moment when political actors make critical choices, which shape institutions and future outcomes.

"Danwei"

a Chinese term that means "unit" and is the basic level of social organization and a major means of political control in China's communist party-state. A person's "danwei" is most often his or her workplace, such as a factory or an office. The "danwei" has faded in importance as China moves toward a market economy.

Declaration of Independence

the document asserting the independence of the British colonies in what is now the United States from Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.

Democratic centralism

a system of political organization developed by V.I. Lenin and practiced, with modifications, by all communist party-states. Its principles include a hierarchical party structure in which (1) party leaders are elected on a delegate basis from lower to higher party bodies; (2) party leaders can be recalled by those who elected them; and (3) freedom of discussion is permitted until a decision is taken, but strict discipline and unity should prevail in implementing a decision once it is made. In practice, in all Communist parties in China, the Soviet Union, and elsewhere, centralizing elements tended to predominate over the democratic ones.

Democratic transition

the process of a state moving from an authoritarian to a democratic political system.

"demokratizatsiia"

the policy of democratization identified by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987 as an essential component of "perestroika." The policy was part of a gradual shift away from a vanguard party approach toward an acceptance of liberal democratic norms. Initially, the policy embraced multicandidate elections and a broadening of political competition within the Communist Party itself; after 1989, it involved acceptance of a multiparty system.

Developmental state

a nation-state in which the government carries out policies that effectively promote national economic growth.

Distributional politics

political conflicts involving the distribution of valued resources among competing groups.

Distributive policies

policies that allocate state resources into an area that lawmakers perceive needs to be promoted. For example, leaders today believe that students should have access to the Internet. In order to accomplish this goal, telephone users are being taxed to provide money for schools to establish connections to the Internet (which, in large part, uses telephone lines to transfer data).

Dual society

a society and economy that are sharply divided into a traditional (usually poorer) and a modern (usually richer) sector.

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

the organization established in 1975 among the sixteen governments in West Africa. Its goals are to strengthen and broaden the economies in the region through the removal of trade barriers among its members (such as import quotas and domestic content laws), freedom of movement for citizens, and monetary cooperation.

"Ejidatario"

recipient of an "ejido" land grant in Mexico.

"Ejido"

land granted by Mexican government to an organized group of peasants.

Emir

traditional Islamic ruler. The emir presides over an "emirate," or kingdom, in northern Nigeria.

Environmental Performance Index

a measure of how close countries come to meeting specific benchmarks for national pollution control and natural resource management.

Ethnic cleansing

concerted political violence akin to genocide applied to a minority population in a country or region, usually to force its expulsion or mass destruction.

European Union (EU)

an organization of European countries created in 1958 to promote economic integration and political cooperation among European states. At first, the EU's mandate was primarily to reduce tariff barriers among West European states. Since then, more countries throughout Europe have joined the EU, and its power have vastly expanded to include promoting common policies on immigration, technical standards, and economic and monetary regulation.

Executive

the agencies of government that implement or execute policy. The highest level of the executive in most countries is a president or prime minister and cabinet. The top executive officeholders supervise the work of the administrative departments and bureaus.

Expediency Council

a committee set up in Iran to resolve differences between the "Majles" and the Guardian Council.

Farsi

Persian word for the Persian language. Fars is a province in Central Iran.

Federal Reserve Board

the U.S. central bank established by Congress in 1913 to regulate the banking industry and the money supply. Although the president appoints the chair of the board of governors (with Senate approval), the board operates largely independently. many criticize its policies as reflecting the needs of banks and international capital over the needs of citizens, particularly workers.

Federalism

a system of governance in which political authority is shared between the national government and regional or state governments. The powers of each level of the government are usually specified in a federal constitution.

Foreign direct investment

ownership of or investment in cross-border enterprises in which the investor plays a direct managerial role.

Foundation of the Oppressed

a clerically controlled foundation in Iran set up after the revolution.

"Four Cardinal Principles"

ideas first enunciated by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1979 asserting that all policies should be judged by whether they uphold the socialist road, the dictatorship of the proletariat, the leadership of the Communist Party, and Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought. The main purpose of the Four Cardinal Principles was to proscribe any challenge to the ultimate authority of the Chinese Communist Party, even during a time of far-reaching economic reform. The Principles have been reaffirmed by Deng's successors and continue to define the boundaries of what is politically permissible in China.

Free market

a system in which government regulation of the economy is absent or limited. Relative to other advanced democracies, the United States has traditionally had a freer market economically. Laissez-faire.

Free trade

international commerce that is relatively unregulated or constrained by tariffs (special payments imposed by governments on exports or imports).

Freedom in the World rating

an annual evaluation by the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Freedom House that identifies the level of freedom in countries around the world, measured according to political rights and civil liberties through a multi-layered process of analysis sand evaluation by a team of regional experts and scholars. Countries are ranked in .5 gradations between 1 and 7, 1.0-2.5 being free, 3.0-5.0 being partly free, and 5.5-7.0 not free.

Fundamentalism

a term recently popularized to describe radical religious movements throughout the world.

Fusion of powers

a constitutional principle that merges the authority of branches of government, in contrast to the principle of separtion of powers. In Britain for example, Parliament is the supreme legislative, executive, and judicial authority. The fusion of legislature and executive is also expressed in the function and personnel of the cabinet.

Gender gap

politically significant differences in social attitudes and voting behavior between men and women.

Genocide

the intentional and coordinated attempt to destroy a people, defined in national, religious, racial, or ethnic terms.

"glasnost"

Gorbachev's policy of "openness" or "publicity," which involved an easing of controls on the media, arts, and public discussion, leading to an outburst of public debate and criticism covering most aspects of Soviet history, culture, and policy.

Global Gender Gap

a measure of the extent to which women in 58 countries have achieved equality with men in five critical areas: economic participation, economic opportunity, political empowerment, educational attainment, and health and well-being.

Globalization

the intensification of worldwide interconnectedness associated with the increased speed and magnitude of cross-border flows of trade investment, and finance, and processes of migration, cultural diffusion, and communication.

Great Leap Forward

a movement launched by Mao Zedong in 1958 to industrialize China very rapidly and thereby propel it toward communism. The Leap[ ended in economic disaster in 1960, causing one of the worst famines in human history.

Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution

the political campaign launched in 1966 by Chairman Mao Zedong to stop what he saw as China's drift away from socialism and toward capitalism. The campaign led to massive purges in the Chinese Communist Party, the widespread persecution of China's intellectuals, extensive political violence, ad the destruction of invaluable cultural objects. The Cultural Revolution officially ended in 1976 after Mao's death and the arrest of some of this most radical followers.

Green revolution

a strategy for increasing agricultural (especially food) production, involving improved seeds, irrigation, and abundant use of fertilizers.

Gross domestic product (GDP)

the total of all goods and services produced within a country; it is used as a broad measure of the size of its economy.

"Guanxi"

a Chinese term that means "connections" or "relationships," and describes personal ties between individuals based on such things as common birthplace or mutual acquaintances. "Guanxi" are an important factor in China's political and economic life.

Guardian Council

a committee created int eh Iranian constitution to oversee the Majles (the parliament).

Guerrilla warfare

a military strategy based on small, highly mobile band of soldiers (the guerrillas, from the Spanish word for war, guerra) who use hit-and-run tactics like ambushes to attack a better-armed enemy.

Hegemonic power

a state that can control the pattern of alliances and terms of the international order, and often shapes domestic political developments in countries throughout the world.

Hezbollahis

literally "partisans of God." In Iran, the term is used to describe religious vigilantes. In Lebanon, it is used to describe the Shi'i militia.

Hojjat al-Islam

literally "the proof of Islam." In Iran, it means a medium-ranking cleric.

Household responsibility system

the system put into practice in China beginning in the early 1980s in which the major decisions about agricultural production are mad3e by individual farm families based on the profit motive rather than by a people's commune or the government.

"Hukou"

a Chinese term that means "household residency permit" and refers to the system in which all citizens of the People's Republic of China must have an official card that allows them to live, work, and receive benefits only in a specific location. The "hukou" system was used as a means of social control, political surveillance, and internal migration restrictions. The "hukou" system has not been vigorously enforced since China has moved toward a market economy and the need for labor mobility.

Human Development Index

a composite number used by the United Nations to measure and compare levels of achievement in health, knowledge, and standard of living. HDI is based on the following indicators: life expectancy, adult literacy rate and school e3nrollemnt statistics, and gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity.

Hundred Flowers Movement

refers to a period in 1956-1957 when Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong encouraged citizens, particularly intellectuals, to speak out ("Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend!") and give their view on how to improve China's government. Mao was shocked by the depth of the criticism of communist rule and cracked down by silencing and punishing the critics by launching the Anti-Rightist Campaign of 1957.

Ideology

a set of fundamental ideas, values, or beliefs about how a political, economic, or social system should be organized. Examples of ideology include capitalism, communism, and socialism.

Imam Jum'ehs

prayer leaders in Iran's main urban mosques. Appointed by the Supreme Leader, they have considerable authority in the provinces.

Import substituting industrialization (ISI)

strategy for industrialization based on domestic manufacture of previously imported goods to satisfy domestic market demands. Developmentalism.

Indigenous groups

population of Amerindian heritage in Mexico.

indirect rule

as term used to describe the British style of colonialism in Nigeria and India in which local traditional rulers and political structures were used to help support eh colonial governing structure.

Informal sector (economy)

that portion of the economy largely outside government control in which emplo9yees work without contracts or benefits. Examples include casual employees in restaurants and hotels, street vendors, and day laborers in construction or agriculture.

Insider privatization

a term used in relation to Russia to refer to the transformation of formerly state-owned enterprises into joint-stock companies or private enterprises in which majority control of the enterprise is in the hand s of employees and/or managers of that enterprise.

Institutional design

the institutional arrangements that define the relationships between executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government and between the central government and sub-central units such as the states in the United States.

Interest groups

organizations that seek to represent the interests - usually economic - of their members in dealings with the government. Important examples are associations representing people with specific occupations, business interests, racial and ethnic groups, or age groups in society.

International financial institutions (IFIs)

generally refers to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF,) but can also includ3e other international lending institutions. Structural adjustment program (SAP)

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

the sister organization of the World Bank and has more than 180 member states. It describes it s mandate as "working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty." It has been particularly active in helping countries that are experiencing serious financial problems. In exchange for IMF financial or technical assistance, a country must agree to a certain set of conditions that promote economic liberalization. Structural Adjustment program and World Bank.

Interventionist

an interventionist state acts vigorously to shape the performance of major sectors of the economy.