Comparative Government & Politics: Sovereignty, Regimes, and Institutions

Sovereignty, Power, and Authority

• Power: The ability to direct the behavior of others through coercion, persuasion, or leadership.

• Authority: The legal right to exercise power on behalf of society and/or government.

• Sovereignty: The legal right and ability (power) of a state to carry out actions and policies within its territory.

• Capacity and Sovereignty:

  • Capacity Definition: The degree to which a state or government is able to implement its policies.

  • Relationship to Sovereignty: Some nation-states possess greater capacity than others, and therefore possess greater popular sovereignty.

  • Limitations on Sovereignty and Capacity:

  • Permeable Borders: Anything that crosses a border without sanction demonstrates a nation-state's limitations in capacity and sovereignty.

• Concept of Legitimacy:

  • Definition: The general belief that the government has the right to rule and exercise authority (popular acceptance of authority).

  • Traditional Legitimacy: Tradition determines who should rule and how (e.g., monarchy, religion, nationalism).

  • Charismatic Legitimacy: Based on the dynamic personality of a leader — personal virtue, heroism, or other extraordinary circumstances.

  • Rational-Legal Legitimacy: Based on an accepted set of well-established laws and procedures (e.g., United Kingdom). Key foundations include:

  • Common law

  • Code law (constitutions)

  • Elections

States, Nations, and Regimes

• State:

  • Possesses a government that makes and implements policy.

  • Maintains a permanent population.

  • Controls a defined territory.

  • Holds international recognition.

  • Contains institutions such as an executive, legislature, judiciary, and bureaucracies.

  • Establishes and maintains armed forces.

• Regimes:

  • Definition and Types: Fundamental political systems, categorized as liberal democracy, illiberal democracy, or authoritarian.

  • Regime Change: A change in the fundamental system of government, which does not occur often.

  • Mechanisms of Regime Change:

  • Coup d'état: The overthrow of a government led not by a large population, but usually by the military.

  • Revolution: An overthrow of a regime based on widespread popular support.

  • Institutional Hierarchy: A regime sits above a structural pyramid where:

  • Government: Positioned at the top (less institutionalized).

  • State: Positioned at the base (more institutionalized).

• Nations:

  • Definition: A human community with a shared history, culture, and/or political identity.

  • Ethnic Identity: Often shares a common ethnic identity.

  • Nationalism: A common political identity.

Regime Types and System Dynamics

• Liberal Democracy: A system with free and fair elections that provides citizens with a wide array of civil rights and liberties.

• Illiberal / Hybrid Democracy: A system where elections may be marred by fraud; the state protects some civil liberties while restricting others.

• Democratic Regimes:

  • Accountability Mechanics: Accountable to the people through:

  • Free and fair elections.

  • Protection of underrepresented groups (e.g., through the use of quotas).

  • Electoral Oversight: Some democratic regimes utilize independent commissions to oversee elections (e.g., Mexico, Nigeria).

  • Transparency: The ability of citizens to know what the government is doing.

  • Democratic Views (Substantive vs. Procedural):

  • Substantive View: Refers to "good" democratic practice.

  • Procedural View: Refers to "bad" democratic practice.

• Authoritarian and Totalitarian Regimes:

  • Authoritarian Regime: A system without free and fair elections in which civil rights and liberties are restricted.

  • Totalitarian Regime: A specific type of authoritarian government where the state controls nearly all aspects of citizens' lives.

  • Structural Vulnerabilities and Characteristics:

  • Weak Institutions: Problems existing within the bureaucracy and branches of government.

  • Lack of Accountability: Issues stemming from the way situations and public matters are dealt with.

  • Leadership Styles: The specific manner in which the leader runs the country.

  • Resource Concentration and Control Dynamics: Authoritarian regimes concentrate resources to a far greater extent than democracies do. In democracies, individuals in power often focus on ensuring their friends stay in power. In contrast, authoritarian regimes take control of all resources. This total resource control makes it almost impossible to distribute resources to everyone, thereby enabling the leader to control the population more tightly.

Levels of Government and System Structures

• Supranational Organizations:

  • Definition: Organizations in which member nations are not totally sovereign actors, operating internationally or regionally (e.g., the European Union).

  • Sovereignty Trends: There is a growing trend toward states pooling their sovereignty to gain political, economic, or social clout, driven by globalization.

• Unitary System:

  • Definition: Concentrates all policy-making power in one geographic/central place; the central government is responsible for most policies.

  • Prevalence: Used by most countries.

  • Examples: United Kingdom, China, Iran.

• Federal System:

  • Definition: Power is divided between the central government and sub-units. Regional bodies hold significant powers (such as taxation, lawmaking, and policing).

  • Examples: Mexico, Russia, Nigeria.

  • Advantages of a Federal State:

  • Makes it easier to govern a physically large country (physically large countries tend to have federal arrangements, with exceptions such as China).

  • Better accommodates regional differences.

  • Helps guard against the concentration of political power.

  • Disadvantages of a Federal State:

  • Lack of uniformity in policy (e.g., differing voting requirements across sub-units).

  • Can enable segregation.

• Confederal System:

  • Definition: Power is spread among many sub-units (e.g., states), resulting in a weak central government.

  • Example: European Union.

• Devolution:

  • Definition: Occurs when leaders of unitary systems voluntarily choose to decentralize power, transferring authority from the central government to a lower, regional government.

  • Example: Transfer of power from Westminster to regional governments around the United Kingdom (e.g., the Northern Ireland Assembly).

  • Three Causes of Devolution:

  • Ethnic Forces: Identity based on language, religion, or customs leading to ethnonationalism, where a group sees itself as a distinct nation with a right to autonomy.

  • Economic Forces: Regional inequalities in income or standard of living.

  • Devolution in Unitary Systems vs. Federal Systems:

  • In a unitary system, devolved power can be revoked or taken away by the central government.

  • Subnational governments' powers are not constitutionally protected in a unitary system.

  • In a unitary system, decentralization is not symmetrical.

  • A local legislature can be dissolved in a unitary system, but cannot be dissolved in a federal system.

Legitimacy, Stability, and the Rule of Law

• Types of Legitimacy:

  • Traditional Legitimacy: The right to rule based on a society's long-standing practices and patterns, such as monarchy, religion, or nationalism.

  • Charismatic Legitimacy: The right to rule based on a leader's personal virtue, heroism, or extraordinary circumstances.

  • Rational-Legal Legitimacy: The right to rule based on an accepted set of laws and elections.

• Factors Improving State Stability:

  • Free and fair elections.

  • Political efficacy.

  • Economic growth.

  • Reduction of corruption.

• Rule of Law versus Rule by Law:

  • Core Distinction: Lies in the application of the law between democratic and authoritarian states.

  • Rule of Law: Used by democratic states; features a clear set of laws that govern citizens equally.

  • Rule by Law: Relied upon by authoritarian states; the law is applied arbitrarily, and government officials are not subject to the same rules and penalties as everyday citizens.

• Conceptual Analysis Writing Guidelines:

  • Defining Key Terms: Part A requires a direct definition of a key term.

  • Explanatory Structure: When prompted with "explain," use the word "because."

  • Sentence Construction: Restate the question/prompt immediately before the word "because."

• Democratic Transitions:

  • Democratization: The process of transitioning from an authoritarian regime toward democracy.

Measuring Democracy, Development, and Comparative Analysis

• Gini Index:

  • Definition: Measures income inequality on a scale where $0$ represents complete equality and $1$ represents complete inequality.

  • Alternative Term: Also referred to as the Gini coefficient.

  • Interpretation: The higher the score, the bigger the gap between rich and poor populations.

• Freedom House:

  • Function: An organization that studies democratic performance and rights.

  • Evaluative Criteria: Evaluates civil liberties, political rights, and individual freedoms.

  • Scoring Scale: Evaluated on an overall scale from $0$ to $100$.

  • Political Rights: Evaluated up to a score of $40$.

  • Civil Liberties: Evaluated up to a score of $60$ (can be negative).

  • Classification Categories:

  • Free ($\text{F}$)

  • Partially Free ($\text{PF}$)

  • Not Free ($\text{NF}$)

  • Related Concept: Democratic consolidation.

• Foundational Comparative Politics Concepts:

  • Government: The leadership and institutions that make policy.

  • Politics: The power to make decisions, encompassing both formal and informal processes.

  • The Comparative Method:

  • Empirical Data: Based on objective facts, numbers, and statistics. Examples include metrics of economic development such as GNP per capita, income, imports, and exports.

  • Normative Data/Analysis: Based on value judgments. Examples include assessing whether statistics bode well or ill for a country.

• Human Development Index (HDI):

  • Definition: A composite measure assessing a country's achievements in health, education, and standard of living, reflecting overall human development rather than economic growth alone.

  • Three Dimensions:

  • Health: Measured by life expectancy.

  • Education: Assessed through educational attainment.

  • Standard of Living: Measured by Gross National Income.