AP Comparitive Government: Unit 1 Vocab
Empirical v. Normative Statements: Empirical statements are based on facts and data; normative statements involve value judgments or opinions on what should be.
Causation v. Correlation: Causation means one event directly causes another; correlation means two things are related or happen together without one necessarily causing the other.
Political System: The laws, ideas, and procedures that govern a society and allocate power.
State: A political organization with a monopoly on the use of force over a defined territory and population.
Sovereignty: A state's independent legal authority to govern itself without external interference.
Nation: A group of people bound together by a common culture, language, history, or ethnicity.
Nation-State: A sovereign state whose citizens are relatively homogeneous in terms of shared language or common identity.
Government: The specific individuals and groups currently holding office and exercising power.
Regime: The fundamental rules, norms, and institutions that determine how a government is chosen and exercises power (lasts longer than governments).
Federalism v. Unitary: Federal systems share power between central and regional governments; unitary systems concentrate all power in a single central government.
Devolution: The transfer of power from a central government to regional or local governments.
Political Ideology (Various Types): A set of values about the goals of government (e.g., liberalism, socialism, communism, fascism, libertarianism).
Institutions of Government: The permanent structural organizations that make, implement, and enforce policy (e.g., legislatures, judiciaries, executive branches).
Political Attitudes/Spectrum (Various Types): Views on the speed and methods of political change, usually ranging from radical and liberal to conservative and reactionary.
Political Culture: A society's shared beliefs, values, norms, and expectations about how government should function.
Political Participation: The ways citizens take part in politics and seek to influence government (e.g., voting, protesting, joining groups).
Political Efficacy: A citizen's belief that their political participation matters and that government will respond to them.
Political Socialization: The lifelong process by which people acquire their political beliefs and values (via family, school, media, peers).
Civil Society: Autonomous voluntary organizations outside of government control that form the basis of a functioning society (e.g., charities, clubs, unions).
Interest Groups: Organizations trying to influence public policy without running candidates for office.
Political Parties: Groups that share ideologies and seek to win government power by running candidates in elections.
Political Legitimacy: A population's belief that a government has the rightful authority to rule.
Traditional Legitimacy: Right to rule based on historical tradition, custom, or myth (e.g., monarchies).
Charismatic Legitimacy: Right to rule based on the dynamic, magnetic personality of an individual leader.
Cult of Personality: An authoritarian leader using propaganda and media to build a god-like, heroic public image.
Rational – Legal Legitimacy: Right to rule based on established, codified laws, rules, and procedures (e.g., a constitution).
Other Indicators of Legitimacy: Signs beyond elections—like economic performance, social order, or public safety—that prove a government's right to rule.
Globalization: The increasing interconnectedness and integration of global economies, cultures, and policies.
Supranational Organization: An alliance of multiple sovereign states where member countries pool some sovereignty to achieve common goals (e.g., the EU).
Developed v. Developing Countries: Developed countries have high GDP per capita, strong infrastructure, and service-based economies; developing countries have lower industrialization, lower incomes, and are building their infrastructure.
Race to the Bottom: When countries lower environmental, labor, or tax standards to attract foreign businesses.
Political Economy: The relationship between a country's political system and its economic policies and outcomes.
Liberal Economy: A free-market capitalist system based on private property, minimal state intervention, and free trade.
Liberalization: The process of removing state controls, regulations, and restrictions from an economy to encourage free markets.
Subsidization: Financial support (like grants or tax breaks) given by the government to a domestic industry.
Privatization: The transfer of state-owned businesses or property into private hands.
Gini Index: A statistical formula measuring economic inequality within a country (0 is total equality, 100 is total inequality).
GNP/GDP: Gross National Product (total value of goods/services produced by a country's citizens globally) and Gross Domestic Product (total value produced within a country's borders).
Tariffs: Taxes placed on imported goods to protect domestic industries from foreign competition.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): Money invested by foreign companies or individuals into business operations within another country.
Social Cleavages: Divisions within a society based on identity (e.g., religion, ethnicity, social class, region).
Coinciding/Cross-Cutting: Coinciding cleavages divide society along the exact same fault lines (dangerous for stability); cross-cutting cleavages overlap and pull people in different directions (fosters stability).