Introduction To Comparative Vocab/Concepts
Tools of Study
- Normative Statements
- Empirical Statements
- Correlation vs. Causation
- Inverse vs. Coinciding correlation
- Inductive vs. Deductive Thought
- Political Economic Theory
- Political Culture Theory
- Modernization Theory
- Dependency Theory
- Selection Bias (Be wary of)
Geography of Power
- Unitary (UK, China, Iran)
- Federal (Russia, Mexico, Nigeria)
- Confederal (EU)
- State
- Nation
- Nation-state
- Regime
Key Concepts
- Civil Society
- Sovereignty
- Political legitimacy (sources)
- Political socialization
- Transparency
- Cross Cutting Cleavages
- Political Liberalization
- Economic Liberalization
- Globalization (promise and peril)
Democracy
- Liberal Democracy
- Transitional Democracy
- Representative Democracy
- Parliamentary System
- Presidential System
- Global Trends in Democracy (Quantity, Quality?)
- Predictors of participation. (Education)
- Merit System
- Independent Judiciary
- Legal-rationalism (as opposed to patron-client)
- Rule of Law
- Pluralist (as opposed to corporatist)
Democracy at Risk
- Illiberal democracy (characteristics)
- Rentier States
- Theocracy
- Patron-clientelism (as opposed to legal rational)
- Spoils System
- Corruption
- Corporatist (as opposed to pluralist)
Not Very Democratic
- Authoritarian Regime
- Soft-authoritarianism
- Hybrid Regime
- Oligarchy
- Failed States
Electoral Systems Cause Party Systems
- Duverger’s Law
- First-past-the-post system
- Proportional representation system (PR)
- Single-member-district (SMD)
- Winner-take-all
- One-Party System
- Two-Party System
- Multiparty System
Ideologies
- Liberals
- Islamists
- Socialism
- Command Economy
- Libertarians
- Conservatives
- Reactionaries
- New Conservatism
- Neoliberalism
- Postmaterialism
Develop vs. Developing
- Gross National Product (GNP)
- Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
- Demographic pressures on developed vs. Devolving
- Gini Coefficient