NEWEST ap comp gov midterm

Anarchism

Belief that the state/government should be abolished and society should be organized voluntarily without centralized authority.

Black market

Illegal buying and selling of goods or services, often created when the state restricts prices, supply, or trade.

Bourgeoisie

In Marxism, the capitalist class that owns the means of production.

Causation

A relationship where one factor directly produces or helps produce a change in another factor.

Central bank

A state institution that manages a country’s currency, money supply, interest rates, and monetary policy.

Centrifugal forces

Forces that divide a state or pull people away from national unity, such as ethnic conflict or regionalism.

Centripetal forces

Forces that unify a state, such as nationalism, shared institutions, common language, or national identity.

Charismatic legitimacy

Legitimacy based on the personal appeal, heroism, or extraordinary qualities of a leader.

Citizenship

Legal membership in a state, usually involving rights, duties, and political identity.

Cleavages

Social divisions that affect political behavior, such as class, religion, ethnicity, region, or language.

Coinciding cleavages

Social divisions that overlap and reinforce each other, making conflict more intense.

Communism

Ideology seeking a classless society where private property is abolished and the means of production are collectively owned.

Conservative

A political attitude favoring tradition, stability, and gradual change rather than rapid reform.

Correlation

A relationship where two variables move together, but one does not necessarily cause the other.

Coup d’état

The seizure of control of the state apparatus by the military.

Cross-cutting cleavages

Social divisions that overlap in different ways, reducing conflict because people share identities across groups.

Democratic centralism

Vladimir Lenin’s model of making political decisions centrally within the inner party elite, though ostensibly for the benefit of the majority of the people.

Democratization

The process of becoming more democratic through expanded political rights, elections, participation, and accountability.

Dependency theory

Theory that poor countries remain poor because wealthy countries exploit them economically.

Developed countries

Wealthier, industrialized countries with higher GDP, stronger infrastructure, and higher standards of living.

Developing countries

Countries with lower income, weaker infrastructure, and economies often still industrializing or modernizing.

Devolution

The transfer of certain powers from Britain’s central government to regional governments in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Empirical statements

Fact-based statements that can be proven or disproven with evidence.

Ethnicity

A shared identity based on culture, language, ancestry, history, or traditions.

Extreme poverty

Living with severe deprivation and lacking basic needs such as food, shelter, clean water, healthcare, or income.

Failed state

A state that cannot provide basic security, order, services, or control over its territory.

Fascism

Extreme authoritarian nationalism that emphasizes state power, militarism, hierarchy, and loyalty to a strong leader.

Federal state

A state where power is constitutionally divided between national and regional governments.

Free trade

International trade with minimal government barriers such as tariffs, quotas, or restrictions.

GDP

Gross Domestic Product; the total value of goods and services produced within a country in a year.

Globalization

The increasing interconnectedness of countries through trade, technology, culture, migration, and politics.

Inflation

A general rise in prices that reduces the purchasing power of money.

Interest groups

Organizations that try to influence government policy without directly running candidates for office.

Legitimacy

The belief that a government has the right to rule.

Liberal

A political attitude favoring individual rights, civil liberties, reform, and often limits on authoritarian power.

Linkage institutions

Institutions that connect citizens to government, such as political parties, elections, media, and interest groups.

Modernization

The process of becoming more industrialized, urbanized, educated, and economically developed.

Nation

A group of people with a shared identity, culture, history, or sense of belonging.

Nationalism

Strong loyalty to one’s nation, often including the desire for national unity, independence, or sovereignty.

Normative statements

Value-based statements about what should happen; they cannot be proven purely by facts.

Oligarchs

Wealthy elites with major political and economic influence, especially in post-Soviet states like Russia.

Parastatals

Companies or organizations owned or heavily controlled by the state.

Personality cult

Extreme glorification of a political leader through propaganda, media, symbols, and public loyalty.

Political attitude

An individual’s opinion or belief about politics, government, or policy.

Political culture

The shared beliefs, values, norms, and expectations people have about politics and government.

Political economy

The relationship between politics, government policy, and the economy.

Political parties

Organizations that seek political power by running candidates and influencing policy.

Proletariat

In Marxism, the working class that sells its labor and does not own the means of production.

Radical

A political attitude favoring rapid, major, or fundamental change to the political system.

Rational-legal legitimacy

Legitimacy based on laws, rules, procedures, and institutions rather than tradition or personal loyalty.

Reactionary

A political attitude favoring a return to an earlier political or social order.

Regime

The rules, institutions, and norms that determine how power is gained and used in a state.

Siloviki

Russian political elites from the military, police, intelligence, or security services.

Social democracy

A system that combines democracy and capitalism with strong welfare programs and government regulation to reduce inequality.

Sovereign

Having independent authority over a territory and population without outside control.

State institutions

Formal government structures such as the executive, legislature, courts, bureaucracy, military, and police.

Strong states

States that effectively provide order, enforce laws, collect taxes, and deliver public services.

Subsidy

Government financial support given to businesses, industries, or citizens to lower costs or encourage production.

Subsistence agriculture

Farming mainly to feed oneself or one’s family, rather than to sell goods for profit.

Supranational organizations

Organizations made up of multiple states that have authority or influence beyond national borders, such as the EU or UN.

Tariffs

Taxes on imported goods, usually used to protect domestic industries or raise revenue.

Traditional legitimacy

Legitimacy based on long-standing customs, religion, monarchy, or historical practice.

Unitary state

A state where most political power is concentrated in the central government.

Weak states

States that struggle to enforce laws, provide services, control territory, or maintain legitimacy.

Welfare state

A state that provides social services such as healthcare, education, pensions, unemployment aid, or poverty relief.

Dominant-party system

A party system in which one party consistently controls the government, though other parties may also exist and run for office.

Duma

The lower and more powerful house of Russia’s legislature, representing the people of Russia based on population.

Federation Council

The upper house of Russia’s legislature, where each regional government has equal representation.

Gulag

Forced-labor camps for political prisoners in remote parts of the USSR during the Soviet era.

Head of government

The individual in the executive branch responsible for the day-to-day operation of the government.

Head of state

The individual in the executive branch who acts as the ceremonial symbol of the country at public events.

Illiberal democracy

A regime in which elections determine who holds political office and wields power, but civil rights and liberties are not protected and the fairness and competitiveness of elections are questionable.

Iron Curtain

A metaphor used to describe the division of Europe between communist countries and liberal democracies.

Kulaks

Landowning peasants who were persecuted during Stalin’s collectivization program.

“Loans for shares” scandal

A scandal surrounding Russia’s 1996 presidential election in which Boris Yeltsin’s campaign received loans and favorable media coverage from wealthy oligarchs, after which the government sold them shares in state-owned companies at discounted prices.

New Economic Policy (NEP)

Reforms made by Lenin beginning in 1921 that allowed collective farmers to sell excess produce for a profit.

Transitional democracy

A regime transitioning from authoritarianism to liberal democracy but in which democracy has not yet been consolidated.

Two-ballot majority

An electoral system requiring a candidate to receive a majority of the vote; if no candidate receives a majority in the first round, a runoff is held between the top two candidates.

United Russia Party

The dominant political party of Russia since 2004, often characterized as a party of power.

Assembly of Religious Experts

An elected body of senior clerics empowered to review the performance of the Supreme Leader and remove him or choose a replacement.

Azeri

Iran’s largest minority ethnic group.

Expediency Council

A collection of leading Iranian officials gathered to settle disputes between the Majlis and the Guardian Council.

Green Movement

A protest movement that emerged after many Iranians believed the official results of the 2009 presidential election were fraudulent.

Guardian Council

A body of twelve officials chosen by the Supreme Leader and chief judge with the power to reject candidates for office and veto legislation passed by the Majlis if it conflicts with Shari’ah law.

Iranian Revolution of 1979

A series of mass demonstrations against the Shah that resulted in his removal and the creation of a new Islamic Republic led by Ayatollah Khomeini.

Jurist guardianship

Ayatollah Khomeini’s concept justifying clerical rule by arguing that Shi’a clerics hold responsibility over all aspects of society.

Majlis

Iran’s national legislature, elected by voters every four years and empowered to make laws that are not religious in nature and pass the annual budget.

Persians

The largest ethnic group in Iran.

Reformist

A political faction in Iran that seeks productive relationships with the West and supports limited secularization and modernization of Iranian society.

Rentier state

A country with a valuable natural resource that funds state operations by selling the resource or extraction rights, creating economic and governmental dependence on that resource.

Shari’ah

A system of laws based on the principles of Islam.

Supreme Leader

Iran’s head of state and most powerful chief executive, regarded as the chief interpreter of Shari’ah law.

Zoroastrianism

The official religion of ancient Persia and a protected minority religion in modern Iran.

Coalition government

A government formed by two or more political parties when no single party controls a majority in the legislature.

Conservative Party, or Tory Party

A major British center-right political party that generally supports free markets, traditional institutions, privatization, and limited government intervention.

Constituency

A geographic electoral district whose voters elect a representative to Parliament.

Constitutionalism

The principle that government power is limited by laws, political institutions, customs, and established constitutional rules.

European Union

A supranational political and economic organization that promotes cooperation, trade, and shared regulations among European countries.

First-past-the-post

A plurality electoral system in which the candidate receiving the most votes in a constituency wins, even without receiving a majority.

House of Commons

The elected lower and most powerful house of the British Parliament.