POSC 1040 - General and UK

Horizontal Accountability: When a government agency audits the accountability of the government

Vertical Accountability: When the people audit the accountability of the government

Administration: The chief executive and their cabinet 

Anti-Establishment: Being against the current political structure

Authoritarianism: A type of government where the ruling party or leader has complete control over the state

Authoritarian Regime: favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom

1.  Criteria:

   1. Ruling elites are NOT chosen in free and fair elections OR …

   2. Certain rights or protections are NOT guaranteed

   3. The state keeps out of most aspects of private life 

2. A form of government in which power is highly concentrated at the top, political freedom is limited, and those with authority are not accountable to those they govern

Ballot Structure: Who or what people are voting for when they turn out to vote

Bicameral Legislature: Legislative house has two sections (house and senate)

Unicameral Legislature: Legislative house has one section

Bourgeoisie: Elite/capitalist class that owns the modes of production

Brexit: Britain's EU exit: June 23, 2016

“British Disease:” People's overreliance on government AND UK's economy was not competitive internationally (inefficient because of overreliance on government) 

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

Cabinet: The body of officials (eg, ministers, secretaries) who direct executive departments presided over by the chief executive (eg, prime minister or president)

Cabinet Government: A system of government in which most executive power is held by the cabinet, headed by a prime minister

Capitalism: An economic system based on a free market, individuals have complete control over economic decisions in the marketplace

1.  "the doctrine stating that investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth should be made and maintained chiefly by private individuals (or corporations)

   1. Economic decisions are made by "private" individuals and groups

   2. Private property

   3. Prices and production set by supply and demand, the "market”

Causal Theory: An influential approach in comparative politics that involves trying to explain why “if X happens, then Y is the result”

Civil Right: The rights of political and social freedoms

Classical Liberalism: A political ideology that advocates individual liberty and economic freedom by limiting government power

1. It supports private property, an unhampered market economy, the rule of law, constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly, and international peace based on free trade

Coalition Government: When no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, political parties enter a power-sharing arrangement of the executive

Cohabitation: The term used by the French to describe the situation when a president and prime minister belong to opposing political coalitions

Collective Identities: Group identity, cultural identity, regional identity

Collective Responsibility: (unwritten custom) members of one party are encouraged to disagree and debate behind closed doors; however, once a decision is made, every member should support the policy to the public

Collectivist Consensus: Term used to describe the broad agreement on social and economic policies between the major political parties in the United Kingdom after World War II

1. The collectivist consensus included a commitment to a mixed economy, a welfare state, Keynesian economics, and nationalization of key industries

Communism: Aims to create a (stateless) classless society where the means of production are commonly owned and distributed according to need

Communism Party-State: Authoritarian regime that has complete control over the economic situation

1. The communist party is the only legal political party and holds a monopoly of power over the state

2. The communist party also selects and appoints the head of state and the head of government, as well as the members of the legislature and the judiciary

3. The communist party-state is often considered a type of one-party state or dictatorship

Comparative Politics: The study of the domestic politics and economics of multiple, and typically foreign, countries in an attempt to generate broader generalizations about important questions in political science

Comparativist: A scholar who studies the differences and similarities between political systems, often across countries

Consensus Democracy: A type of democracy where decision-making is achieved through broad agreement rather than majority rule, emphasizing compromise and inclusivity

Consolidated Democracy: A democratic political system that has been solidly and stably established 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

Contractarian View of State: The theory is that the state is the result of a social contract among individuals who consent to surrender some of their freedoms in exchange for the protection of their remaining rights

Core: The dominant, most powerful, and technologically advanced area or countries in the world

Corruptions Perception 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

Country: A distinct territorial body or political entity is recognized as an independent nation

Critical Juncture: A turning point in history or a situation where significant political, social, or economic changes occur, leading to a path-dependent sequence of development

Democracy: A form of government where power is vested in the people who exercise power 

1. A political system featuring selection to public offices through free and fair elections; the right of all adults to vote, political parties that are free to compete in elections, government that operates by fair and relatively open procedures, political rights and civil liberties, an independent judiciary (court system), and civilian control of the military

Democratic Consolidation: The process by which a new democracy matures, in a way that means it is unlikely to revert to authoritarianism without an external shock

Democratic Transition: The specific point in time where a country becomes more democratic than authoritarian (meets the two criteria)

Democratization: The process of moving from a non-democratic regime to a democratic regime involves significant political reforms

Dependency Theory: A theory suggests that economic development in some countries is constrained by their dependence on more developed countries

Dependent Variable: The variable symbolized by Y in the statement that “If X happens, then Y will be the result;’’ in other words, the dependent variable is the outcome of X (the independent variable)

Devolution: The delegation of powers from a central government to regional or local governments

Dictatorship: A form of government in which power and political control are concentrated in one ruler or a few rulers who have concentrated and nearly absolute power

Disproportionality: The discrepancy between how the votes were cast and who the winner is (the gap between how votes are cast and the results)

Distributional Politics: The use of power, particularly by the state, to allocate valued resources among competing groups

District Magnitude: How many voting districts there are (how many seats are up for grabs)

Duverger’s Law: The electoral system determines the number of political parties that a country has

Economic System: The structure by which a society allocates resources and distributes goods and services, including capitalism, socialism, and mixed economies

Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index: An index that measures the state of democracy in 167 countries, based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation, and political culture

1. An index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), based in the United Kingdom, measures and ranks the state of democracy in 167 countries It classifies the world’s states as Full Democracies, Flawed Democracies, Hybrid Regimes, and Authoritarian Regimes

Economy: The system by which goods and services are produced, distributed, and consumed in a society

1. The interactions between consumers and producers

“Enterprise Culture”:  A social and economic atmosphere that encourages entrepreneurial skills and activities, is often associated with the promotion of private enterprise and self-reliance

Environmental Performance Index: A method of quantifying and numerically marking the environmental performance of a state's policies

Ethnocentric: Evaluating other peoples and cultures according to the standards of one’s own culture

Executive: The agencies of government that implement or execute policy The chief executive, such as a prime minister or president, also plays a key policy-making role

Extreme Poverty (how measured): Poverty is determined by using pretax income compared to a threshold ($1.90 per day as measured in 2011 international prices)

Failed State: A political body that has disintegrated to a point where basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign government no longer function properly

First Past the Post: The same thing as Single-Member Districts

Foreign Direct Investment: An ownership stake in a foreign company or project made by an investor, company, or government from another country

1. It refers to the purchase of an asset in another country that gives direct control to the purchaser over the asset

2. FDI establishes substantial influence or effective control over foreign business

Formula: Mathematical means of how votes turn to seats

Fusion of Powers: The parliament fulfills all branches of the government

1. A constitutional principle that merges the authority of branches of government

Global Gender Gap: an index designed to measure gender equality

Globalization: a historical process that describes the growing interdependence of the world's economies, cultures, and populations

Government: System or group of people governing an organized community, typically a state

Grand Coalition: An arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): The total of all goods and services produced within a country that is used as a broad measure of the size of its economy

Gross National Product (GNP): GDP plus income earned by the country’s residents; another broad measure of the size of an economy

Head of Government: The person who is in charge of the direction in which the government goes in

1. Manages daily operations of the government

Head of State: The person who is in charge of being the face of the country

1. Represents unity and sovereignty of a country

Hegemonic Power: The ability of a strong and powerful country to control others

1. It is a term used to describe the geopolitical and cultural predominance of one country over other countries

2. Hegemony works by consent, not coercion caused by force or violence

House of Commons: The UK branch of government lead by the “common man”

1. Elected representatives

House of Lords: The UK branch of government lead by the “rich”

1. Appointed by the King/Queen with advice from the Prime Minister

Human Development Index: A statistical tool used to measure a country's overall achievement in key dimensions of human development

1. These dimensions include a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable and having a decent standard of living

Hung Parliament: No party has a enough seats to have a majority

Hybrid State: A country whose political systems exhibit some democratic and some authoritarian elements

Idea: An opinion, conviction, or principle

Identifiability: The people's ability, to know before the election, who the chief executive would be

Identity/Identities: Who you think you are; how you see yourself v how others see you

1. Examples: race, ethnicity, religion, partisan, political-territorial (national)

2. Identities are malleable and politicized 

Ideology: A set of doctrines or beliefs about how states should govern

Illiberal Democracy: A state where the government has been brought to power (and perhaps reelected) by democratic election, but then takes steps to seriously limit political competition, undermine the rule of law, and deprive citizens of their basic rights

Independent Variable: The variable symbolized by X in the statement that “If X happens, then Y will be the result;” in other words, the independent variable is a cause of Y (the dependent variable)

Individual Ministerial Responsibility: (unwritten custom) whoever is heading a different government department automatically takes full personal responsibility for anything that happens in their department while they are head and resigns/steps down

Industrial Policy: When the government has the duty to bail out failing businesses

1. A policy that uses state resources to promote the development of particular economic sectors

Industrial Revolution: The evolution of the manufacturing industry to be able to mass produce (hand making to machine making)

Institutional Design: The institutional arrangements that define the relationships between executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government and between the national government and subnational units, such as states in the United States

Institutionalization: A human activity that installs, adapts, and changes rules and procedures in both social and political spheres. It affects the interactive behavior of individuals and organizations as well as of political entities

Institutions: Rules and procedures that structure social interaction by constraining and enabling (political) actors' behavior 

Interests: The underlying motives, ideological beliefs, political agenda, and worldview held by a given political actor

Iron Triangle: A term coined by scholars of US politics to refer to the relationships of mutual support formed by particular government agencies, members of congressional committees or subcommittees, and interest groups in various policy areas

Judicial Independence: The ability of judges to make decisions without being influenced by outside factors. It means that judges can make impartial decisions based on the law and facts, not political climate

Judicial Review: The capacity of a high court to nullify actions by the executive and legislative branches of government that in its judgment violate the constitution

Judiciary: The political institutions in a country responsible for the administration of justice, and in some countries, for determining the constitutionality of state decisions

Keynesianism: Keynesianism (government intervention is needed)

1. In bad times, government should spend a deficit

2. In good times, government should cut back on spending

2. Named after British economist John Maynard Keynes, an approach to economic policy in which state policies are used to regulate the economy to achieve stable economic growth

Labour Unions: A group of workers in a company, industry, or trade that negotiates with management on issues like pay, benefits, and working conditions

Laissez-Faire: An economic philosophy of free-market capitalism that opposes government intervention

Legislature: The political institutions in a country in which elected or appointed members are charged with responsibility for making laws and usually for authorizing the taxation and expenditure of the financial resources enabling the state to carry out its functions

Legitimacy: A belief by powerful groups and the broad citizenry that a state exercises rightful authority

Less Developed Country: A large share of the population cannot meet or experiences great difficulties in meeting basic material needs such as housing, food, water, healthcare, education, electricity, transport, communications and physical security 

1. Characteristics:

   1. Weak infrastructure

   2. Informal settlements

   3. Informal sector

   4. Primary products and labor intensive manufacturing

Liberal Democracy: A democratic system of government that officially recognizes and legally protects individual rights and freedoms and in which the exercise of political power is constrained by the rule of law

Liberalism (Classical): See number 19 for definition

Macroeconomics Policy: A policy intended to shape the overall economic system by concentrating on policy targets such as inflation and growth

Majoritarian(ism): Hard for smaller parties to get representation

1. Tend to get automatic majority 

Majority: At least 51 or more percent (%)

Marxism: The political and economic theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, later developed by their followers to form the basis for the theory and practice of communism, says capitalism is bad because the workers were readily exploited and taken advantage of

Member of Parliament (MP): A person formally elected to the UK national legislative body or other similar legislature elsewhere

1. A representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district

Middle-Level Theory: A theory that seeks to explain phenomena in a limited range of cases, such as countries with particular characteristics, such as parliamentary regimes, or particular types of political institution (such as political parties) or activities (such as protest)

Minority Government: A government in which the governing party has most seats but still less than half the total

Mixed Systems: Dual executive (president and PM)

1. Example: France and Russia

Mode(s) of Production: The various ways societies produce or gather the items they need to survive and prosper Marx identified the following modes of production: Primitive communism, Slave society, Feudalism, Capitalism, Communism

Modernization Theory: Technological change is the key driver of development. Technological change along with population growth leads to more wealth, more wealth leads to a larger middle class, and a larger middle class provides the social basis for democracy

Monetarism: Thatcher’s ideology, heavily influenced by Hayek, revolved around free market capitalism

1. An approach to economic policy that assumes a natural rate of unemployment, determined by the labor market, and rejects the instruments of government spending to run budgetary deficits for stimulating the economy and creating jobs

Mother Nature (Theory): Nature itself is reason to why poor people are poor

Nation: A group of people with a common identity 

Nationalization: The policy by which the state assumes ownership and operation of private companies

Nation-State: A distinct, politically defined territory in which the state and national identity (that is, a sense of solidarity and shared values based on being citizens of the same country) coincide

Neoclassical Economics: Poor countries are poor because of themselves

Neoliberalism: Favored little federal government involvement with individuals

1. National government mainly functioned to “facilitate trade” and defend against foreign invasion

2. A term used to describe government policies aiming to promote free competition among business firms within the market, including reduced governmental regulation and social spending

3. Many gov functions/powers reserved to the states

“New Labour”: Period in UK economics from 1997-2010 that put emphasis on lowering unemployment and implementing social services

Parliamentarism: Fusion of powers, the parliament fulfills all branches of government

1. Prime minister is the head of government, someone else is the head of state

2. Selected by the majority party in legislature

3. Term length is flexible → vote of confidence

Parliamentary Democracy: System of government in which the chief executive is answerable to the legislature and may be dismissed by it

Parliamentary Sovereignty: The doctrine that grants the legislature the power to make or overturn any law and permits no veto or judicial review

Periphery: A group of nations that are dominated by other nations

1. The periphery is also known as dependent developing countries

Plurality: Getting more votes than any other

Political Economy: The study of the interaction between the state and the economy in a country; that is, how politics influences the economy and how the organization and performance of the economy influence the political process

Political Science: Political science is an academic discipline that systematically studies political systems, institutions, behavior, and theories

1. It aims to understand and analyze political phenomena

Political System: A type of political organization that defines the process for making official government decisions

Politics: Politics refers to the activities associated with the acquisition, distribution, and exercise of power in society

Popular Sovereignty: The idea that the people are the source of all political legitimacy

1. Popular sovereignty means that the government can only exercise authority if the people have given it permission to do so

Populism: A style of mobilization by a political party or movement that seeks to gain popular support by emphasizing anti establishment rhetoric, decrying elite concentrations of power as the source of national decline, and promising to be responsive to the needs of ordinary people

Post-War Settlement: Period of time in UK politics following WW2, using Keynesianism to keep unemployment low even if inflation goes high

Poverty (how measured): See number 56

Predatory View of the State: State's monopoly of violence enables state to threaten and exploit citizens

Presidentialism: Separation of powers, checks and balances

1. President is HOG and HOS

2. Directly elected by the people

3. Fixed term length

Prime Minister’s Question Time: Constitutional convention in the United Kingdom, currently held as a single session every Wednesday at noon when the House of Commons is sitting, during which the prime minister answers questions from members of Parliament (MPs)

Principal-Agent Problem: The relationship between the citizens (the principals) and the government officials (the agents) is often characterized by conflicting interests and asymmetric information

1. Can affect the accountability, responsiveness, and effectiveness of the agents, as well as the satisfaction and participation of the principals

Privatization: The sale of state-owned enterprises or services to private companies or investors

Proletarian(s): Member(s) of the working class

Proletariat: The working class

Proportional Representation: A procedure for electing representatives in which political parties sponsor rival lists of candidates within multi member constituencies

1. Seats are allotted to parties in proportion to the votes that a party’s list receives in the district

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP): A method of calculating the value of a country’s currency based on the actual cost of buying goods and services in that country rather than how many US dollars the currency is worth

Quango: (short for “quasi-non governmental organization”) is an organization to which a government has devolved power, but which is still partly controlled and/or financed by government bodies

1. It’s a hybrid form, combining elements of both NGOs and public sector bodies

Rational Choice Theory: A largely quantitative approach to analyzing political decision making and behavior that assumes that individual actors rationally pursue their aims in an effort to achieve the most positive net result

Referendum: An election in which citizens vote on approving (or rejecting) a policy proposal

Regime (type): The set of rules that regulates how a state governs 

Rent-Seeking: Profit-seeking that takes the form of nonproductive economic activity

Retrenchment: Cutting back on government spending/welfare policies 

Rostow’s Stages of Development: It outlines five stages through which countries progress in their development:

1. traditional society

2. preconditions for change

3. take-off

4. drive to maturity

5. mass consumption

Rule of Law: Everyone is subjected to the same laws, and no one is above the law (including the HOS)

Scientific Method: Question, hypothesis, experiment, data, conclusion

Semi-Presidentialism: Semi-presidentialism is a political system that combines features of presidentialism and parliamentarism

Single Member District: Refers to an electoral district represented by a single legislative representative

1. The party with the most votes in a given district (that is, a plurality) wins the seat, a procedure that favors larger parties and thus reduces the number of parties represented

Snap Election: An election called earlier than expected

1. Significance: The power to call snap elections (the dissolution of parliament) usually lies with the incumbent, they often result in increased majorities for the party already in power provided they have been called at an advantageous time

2. However, snap elections can also backfire on the incumbent resulting in a decreased majority or in some cases the opposition winning or gaining power

Social Class: A group whose members share common worldviews and aspirations determined largely by occupation, income, and wealth

Social Contract: Elites gain the privilege of power, but only so long as they use it to promote the public interest

Socialist Market Economy: The term used by the government of China to refer to the country’s current economic system that mixes elements of both socialism and capitalism

Socialism: "the doctrine stating that the state should organize and direct the economy in order to promote economy in order to promote equality and help low-income groups"

1. Economic decisions are made by the state

2. Collective/public ownership through state-owned enterprises

3. Prices and production set by bureaucratic planners

Social Market Economy: A system that aims to combine the efficiency of market economies with a concern for fairness for a broad range of citizens

Social Movement: Large-scale grassroots action that demands reforms of existing social practices and government policies

Social Progress Index (SPI): A comprehensive tool that measures the extent to which countries provide for the social and environmental needs of their citizens

Sovereignty: The doctrine that grants the legislature the power to make or overturn any law and permits no veto or judicial review

Special Relationship: A unofficial term, first used by Winston Churchill, to describe the unusually close political, cultural, economic, and historical relations between the United States and the United Kingdom

State: The most powerful political institutions in a country, including the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, as well as the police and armed forces

State Capacity: The ability of a government to accomplish policy goals, either generally or in reference to specific aims

State Capitalism: An economic system that is primarily capitalistic but in which there is some degree of government ownership of the means of production

State Formation: The historical development of a state, often marked by major stages, key events, or turning points (critical junctures) that influence the contemporary character of the state

State of Nature: Individuals give up their natural rights in exchange for civil rights

Thatcherism: The conservative politics of the UK under prime minister Margaret Thatcher

Third Way: A method to modernize the New Labour, rejecting interest-based politics (alternative to Thatcherism)

Threshold: Minimum number requirement a party must get for them to hold any seats in a proportional representation

Tories: The conservative party of the UK, influenced by economic ideas of Hayek

Totalitarianism: a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state

1. Criteria:

   1. Ruling elites are NOT chosen in free and fair elections AND …

   2. … Violations of basic rights are widespread

   3. Government pervades private life and even tries to control speech and thought

Typology: A method of classifying by using criteria that assign cases to categories whose members share common characteristics

Underdevelopment: The state of experiencing deprivations (housing, food, water, healthcare, education, electricity, transport, communications and physical security) in society 

Unitary State: A system of government in which no powers are reserved for subnational units of government

Federal System: A political structure in which subnational units have significant independent powers; the powers of each level are usually specified in the federal constitution

Vote of (No) Confidence: Formal way of testing the support for a leader, government, or policy in a parliament or other organization

Welfare State: 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

Westminster Model: The unique combination of the UK’s Parliamentary democracy and single-member districts