AP Comp Gov

Political Efficacy

•A citizens belief that he or she can understand and influence government or political affairs

Regime

•a political system with a specific pattern of relationship between the state, society, market, and the world.

• example: from military dictatorship to democratically elected president & legislature.

Procedural Democracy

•Has all the trappings and symbols of democracy but citizens have little impact on government and few

choices of candidates. (SIMILAR TO ILLBERAL DEMOCRACY) ex. Russia, Iran, China, Nigeria

Substantive Democracy

•A democracy that is not at all theoretical, citizens help choose candidates, have many to choose from, have

the ear of government officials, etc. (REAL DEMOCRACY)

ex. United Kingdom, Mexico

Single-Member-District Electoral System

•One person is elected from each sub-sub-unit to represent only the people in that district

• Winners get the most votes (plurality) and not necessarily 50% or more, and winner takes all (no seats for

coming in second in a district)

• SMD systems usually end up two party systems with only weak 3rd/other parties

Proportional-Representations system

•People focus on the party they want to have more seats or jobs, not on individuals

• in a proportional system every party that pases a minimal number of votes get some number of seats\

• Proportional systems usually end up with multi-party systems

Federal System

•Has a constitutional (formal) division of power between national and subnational levels of government

• Regional autonomy and reserved powers are constitutionally (formally) protected.

• Examples: Russia, Nigeria, Mexico

Unitary System

• All the power is constitutionally (formally) given to the national government.

• Devolution may occur, and subnational levels of government may have regional autonomy, but these

powers may be rescinded by the national government.

• Powers held by subnational levels of government are delegated by the central government, and no powers

are reserved to the subnational level.

• Examples: Great Britain, China, Iran

Parliamentary System

• A system of government in which the executive and legislative branches are fused together. The majority

party in the legislature selects the chief executive and also may dismiss the head of the executive.

Rentier State

• A state that derives a substantial portion of its revenue on a regular basis from payments by foreign

concerns in the form of rent (land leasing, etc.).

• A country that obtains significant income by exporting a raw material or leasing out a natural resource to

foreign countries. Often negatively affects economic development.

• Examples of countries include: Iran, Nigeria, Russia (natural resource- oil)

Political Competition

• When there is more than one political group or candidate that can run in an election and have a chance of winning

Civil Society

• Formal and informal organizations that are voluntary and autonomous, created to advance their own causes.

• Bring together people with common interests in social, charitable, religious, community or political

concerns.

Transparency

• When citizens can access information about government decisions and decision-making processes

• Note: Transparency is citizens' ability to access that information, not citizen awareness of information.

Political Ideology

• A coherent set of values and beliefs about the goals of government, public policy, or politics.

• Is not just one individuals idea or opinion, but rather a pattern of beliefs

Liberal Democracy

• Elections are free, fair, and competitive

• The full spectrum of civil liberties and civil rights are in place

• Government has high Transparency

• Government has high accountability

Illiberal Democracy

• Elections are generally not free and not fair, and may not be competitive.

• Do not protect all civil liberties and civil rights

• Government has low Transparency

• Government has Low accountability

Political Socialization

• The process by which people form ideas about politics (political orientation) & about government.

• The process by which political values are formed and transmitted from one generation to the next

Sovereignty

• The right to rule or to exercise power. Countries claim to be sovereign over what goes on within their

borders. Supranational organizations are a challenge to sovereignty.

Theocracy

• Government rule based on clerical authority or religious law; a state lacking a separation of church & state.

Party Systems

• Array of political parties operating in a particular country and the relationships between them.

Welfare State

• A welfare state is a state with a set of public policies designed to provide for citizens' needs through direct

or indirect provision of pensions, health care, unemployment insurance, and assistance to the poor.

• Welfare states have governmental policies that provide citizens with a social safety net.

• A definition may focus on the redistribution of wealth as long as it also addresses the state's intention to

provide for citizens' needs.

Electoral Systems

• Proportional representation (PR) in one type of electoral system; in electoral systems with PR, seats are

distributed according to the proportion of votes a party captures.

• A mixed or split-electoral system is another type; it has both PR and the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system.

•Single-member district (plurality) is the third type (SMDP): a system that provides for a single seat within a

district; the seat is awarded to the person winning the greatest number of votes in the district.

Economic Liberalization

• Less government regulation of the economy and greater participation of private entities (free markets,

reducing state control over markets, pricing, employment, property, distribution).

• Reducing government intervention in the economy.

Political Liberalization

• When elites and non-elites agree on improving the country

Devolution

• Increasing citizen rights and liberties.

• Minimizing government supervision of society/individuals.

Command Economy

• An economy centrally panned by the government, often using 3, 5, or 7 year plans.

• fixed or government-set pricing, distribution, production, wages, etc.

• state ownership of most or all resources, private property is illegal or very limited

• main economic focus is an even distribution of necessary goods, equality of outcome.

Market Economy

• supply and demand set most prices, production, wages, etc.

• private property and unemployment are generally common, profits are the main focus.

• boom and bust cycles are common, competition for jobs, profits are motivating force.

• income/wage/wealth gaps are generally large, equality of opportunity.

Bicameralism

• A legislature with two distinct houses , ex. Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, UK

• divides legislative power, slows the process, represent constituents differently, divides their job duties

Referendum

• A national vote by the people on an issue/policy referred to them by the government, generally to add

legitimacy to the issue, leave the gov. blameless, bypass the legislative branch, or shift accountability

Corporatist System

• Where economic policy is negotiated between government, labor, & industry

Pluralist System

• A system of interest group representation where all groups compete on a theoretically level playing field

Political Legitimacy

• the belief of the citizens that the government has the right to rule/exercise authority

• the belief that you should accept the authority of the state because the state has the right

• usually based on tradition, philosophy, heavenly mandate, or democracy

Correlation

• Two issues that are associated, co-variations, possibly coincidence, probably related.

• Poverty & jail time have are correlated, but not all poor spend time in prison, not all prisoners were poor.

Causation

• One issue explains another, if X then Y, X causes Y, if not for X there would be no Y.

•Steve broke his arm because he fell out a window, the fall wasn't a factor, it was the factor.

Head of Government

• To maintain the operation of the government, to pass legislation, sign treaties, etc.

Head of State

• A ceremonial role including meeting other nations ambassadors, heads of state, etc, to serves as a symbol.

Presidential System

• President is head of Gov. and Head of state, Executive & Legislative branches are separate, President

is a powerful policy maker, President is difficult for legislature to remove, President is elected directly,

Presidential terms are clear, nto based on a window of time, the Presidents may have decree & veto power.

Economically Developed

• A country with a low human development index(HDI) ranking, high GDP per capita, and a well diversified

economy

• The UN HDI is a statistical measure that gauges a country's level of human development. While there is a

strong correlation between having a high HDI score and a prosperous economy, the UN points out that the

HDI accounts for more than income or productivity. Unlike GDP per capita or per capita income, the HDI

takes into account how income is turned "into education and health opportunities and therefore into higher

levels of human development."

Authoritarian

• Authoritarianism is characterized by highly concentrated, and centralized power maintained by political

repression and the exclusion of potential challengers. It uses political parties and mass organizations to

mobilize people around the goals of the state.

• An authoritarian regime is often lead by an influential figure who is charismatic and strong.

• A government in which individual freedom is held as completely subordinate to the power or authority

of the state, centered either in one person or a small group that is not constitutionally accountable to the

people.

Political Participation

• Voting, Discussing Politics, Signing Petitions

• Political participation is the ability of citizens to have a say in their government. Traditional methods

include voting in elections, protests, and actively participating in a political party. However, in countries in

which these methods are not effective, citizens resort to violent tactics.

Colonialism

• Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by

people from another territory.

• The effects of colonialism can be seen in the cultural destruction of the colonized, assimilation of practices/

government of the colony to the colonizer, and internal struggles for power within the colony.

Bureaucracy

• The supporting structure of a government that which carries out the tasks that keeps a government

functioning.

The purpose of a bureaucracy is to successfully implement the actions of an organization of any size

•

(but often associated with large entities such as government, corporations, and non-governmental

organizations), in achieving its purpose and mission, and the bureaucracy is tasked to determine how it can

achieve its purpose and mission with the greatest possible efficiency and at the least cost of any resources.

Legal Systems

• The legal systems of the world today are generally based on one of three basic systems: civil law, common

law and religious law — or combinations of these. However, the legal system of each country is shaped by

its unique history, and so incorporates individual variations. (see code law/common law)

Mixed Presidential/Parliamentary System

• The semi-presidential system is a system of government in which a president and a prime minister are both

active participants in the day-to-day administration of the state. It differs from a parliamentary republic in

that it has a popularly elected head of state who is more than a purely ceremonial figurehead, and from the

presidential system in that the cabinet, although named by the president, is responsible to the legislature,

which may force the cabinet to resign through a motion of no confidence.

• Typically in mixed presidential parliamentary system, the president appoints the prime minister. Example:

The Russian Federation

Privatization

• The gradual process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the

public sector (the state or government) to the private sector (businesses that operate for a private profit) or

to private non-profit organizations.

• Privatization is the release of governmental control of the economy. As privatization continues, generally a

country's economy will diversify and become more dependent upon the international market.

• In a broader sense, privatization refers to transfer of any government function to the private sector -

including governmental functions like revenue collection and law enforcement.

Democratization

• Democratization is the transition to a more democratic political regime.

• The process of transition from authoritarian rule of democratic rule.

• It may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy, a transition from an authoritarian

political system to a semi-democracy or transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a

democratic political system.

• The outcome may be gradual through devolution (United Kingdom) or democratization may face

frequent reversals (Nigeria). Different patterns of democratization are often used to explain other political

phenomena, such as whether a country goes to a war or whether its economy grows. Democratization itself

is influenced by various factors, including economic development, history, and civil society.

Social Cleavage

• Social cleavages are divides within a society which separate citizens into different groups whether it be on

the basis of a political view, religious preference, or ethnic identity. The different sectors formed by these

cleavages may merge to form political parties based on these issues.

Common Law (MCO)

• A legal system based on precedence.

Code Law (MCO)

• A written legal system that often has guidelines for punishment.

Judicial Review (MCO)

• A process by which the judiciary branch/high court determines if a law is constitutional or not. UK lacks it, in Iran the Guardian Council is similar, but not true Judicial Review.

Coalition Government (MCO)

• tend to result from a fragmented legislature in a parliamentary system. Can be

unstable.

Democratic Consolidation (MCO)

• Where elites/non-elites are committed to furthering liberal, substanative

democracy.

GDP (MCO)

• Gross Domestic Product, - A giant aggregate number that is slightly estimated and

tells you almost nothing about the individual well-being of the people.

Interest Groups (MCO)

• do not nominate or run candidates for office. Voluntary associations. With out them, no civil

society can exist. Generally built around a specific issue (guns, kids, civil rights, etc.)

Central Planning (MCO)

• a key tenant of a command economy where the national government makes almost all

economic decisions without regard to supply and demand.

Failed State (MCO)

• A state in which law and order constantly break down.

Empirically Based (MCO)

• Based on personal observation

Nation (MCO)

• an ethnic group; population w/ common historical, ethnic, linguistic, &/or religious bonds

Democratic Deficit (MCO)

• The government is not particularly accountable to average citizens; the gap between the

theoretical/hypothetical level of democracy and the actual input & accountability occurring

Patron Client Relationship (MCO)

• Responsibilities & obligations are based on a hierarchy between elites and citizens

Patron-Client System (MCO)

• Semi-political system that provides favors to its supporters.

State Corporatism (MCO)

• Where the state controls which interest groups have any influence.

Corruption (MCO)

• Misuse of money/power within the government

Coups d'Etat (MCO)

• Transfer of state leadership w/o an election, generally illegitimate and carried out by the military.

Direct Democracy (MCO)

• People making decisions directly.

Republic (MCO)

• refers to a representative democracy where you elect people rather than vote for issues

(In Russia republic is used like we use state, there are 89 states in Russia including all the subunits.)

Supranational Government - (Ethel 1) -

Globalization (MCO)

• Homogenization of global culture.

Neoliberalism (MCO)

• A strategy of econ. development that calls for free markets, balanced budgets, privatization, free

trade, & minimal government intervention in the economy. Usually refers to a former welfare or corporatist state.