Political Institutions

Vocab Terms

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Institutions- The executive and bureaucracy, the legislature, and the judiciary.

Executive- The chief political power in a state, usually a president or prime minister.

Bureaucr

acy- A large set of unelected officials who implement the laws.

Legislature- A group of lawmakers that passes laws and represents citizens. 

Judiciary- The system of courts that interprets the law and applies it to individual cases.

Parliamentary system- A system in which the executive and legislature are fused.

Prime minister- The head of government in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. In a parliamentary system, the PM is a member of the legislature and is elected by the majority party.

Coalition government- When two or more parties agree to work together to form a majority and select a prime minister

Member of parliament- A representative in the legislature elected by citizens.

Vote of no confidence- In parliamentary systems, a vote by parliament to remove a government (the prime minister and cabinet) from power.

Presidential system- A system in which the executive and legislature are elected independently and have separate and independent powers.

Separation of powers- A division of power among the major branches of government.

Divided government- When one or both houses of the legislature are controlled by a political party other than the party of the president.

Semi-presidential system- A system that divides executive power between a directly elected president and prime minister.

Term limit- A restriction on the number of terms the executive may serve.

Term of office- A specified number of years that an executive can serve.

Impeachment- The process of removing a president from office before the end of his or her term. 

Cabinet- The heads of major departments or ministries in the bureaucracy.

Legislative oversight- The power of the legislature to hold cabinet officials and members of bureaucracy accountable for their actions and policies.

Unicameral legislature- A legislature with one chamber.

Common Law- A single system in which previous written opinions serve as precedent for future cases.

Code Law- A legal system in which judges follow the law written by the legislature and previous court decisions do not serve as precedent. 

Judicial Independence- The ability of judges to decide cases according to the law, free of interference from politically powerful officials or other institutions.