Ap Comp Gov: Ethel Woods Chap. 1

Front 1

Institutions

Back 1

stable, long lasting organizations that help to turn political ideas into policy

Front 2

Democracies

Back 2

type of governemnt that bases its authority on the will of the peolple

Front 3

Parlimentary Systems

Back 3

Where citizens vote for legislative represenatives, which in turn select the leaders of the executive branch
- Legislature makes the laws, controls finaces, appoints and dismisses the prime minister and the cabnit and debates public issues

Front 4

Presidential Systems

Back 4

where citizens vote for legislative represenatitives as well as for executive branch leaders, and the two branches function with separation of powers
-Head of state and Head of governemnt are the President

Front 5

Semi- Presidental System

Back 5

Where a prime minister co-exista with a president who is directly elected by the people and who holds a significant degree of power

Front 6

Totalitarism

Back 6

gets confused with authoritaranism, it has more negaitive connotations, used to describe a particularly repressive, often detested regime.

Front 7

Military Rule

Back 7

non-democratic; in states where legitimacy and stability are in question, and especially when violence is threatened, the military may intervene in politics

Front 8

Coup d' etat

Back 8

forced takeover of the government (may or may not have widespread support among the people)

Front 9

Corpratism

Back 9

Method thorough which business, labor, and or other interest groups bargain with the state over economic policy

Front 10

Patron- clientelism

Back 10

system in which the state provides specific benefits or favors to a single person or small group in return for public support

Front 11

Pluralism

Back 11

a situation in which power is split among many groups that compete for the chance to influence the governments decision making

Front 12

Legitmacy

Back 12

right to rule, determined by citizens

Front 13

Common Law

Back 13

based on tradition, past practices, legal precedents set by courts through interpretations of statues, legal legislation and past rulings

Front 14

Code Law

Back 14

based on a comprehensive system of written rules (codes) of law divided into commercial, civil, and criminal codes

Front 15

Political Culture

Back 15

Refers to the collection of political beliefs, values, practices, and institutions that the government is based on

Front 16

Liberalism (Political Ideology)

Back 16

places emphasis on individual political and economic freedom (wants to max. freedom)(has the right to disagree and possibly change what has been put in place by the political leader)

Front 17

Communism

Back 17

values equality over freedom

Front 18

Socalism

Back 18

accepts and promotes private ownership and free market principles; believe that the state has a strong role play in regulating economy and providing benefits to the public in order to ensure some measure of equality

Front 19

Fascism

Back 19

devalue the idea of individual freedom; rejects the value of equality, and accepts the idea that people and groups exist in degrees of inferiority and superiority

Front 20

Radicalism

Back 20

Belief that rapid dramatic changes need to be made in the existing society often including the political system

Front 21

Liberalism

Back 21

Supports reform and gradual change than radicalism and communism

Front 22

Reactionary beliefs

Back 22

Protect against change even more

Front 23

Social Cleavages

Back 23

Division among religion, ethnicity, race and economic classes that all interact with the political system and have an impact on policy making

Front 24

Gross Domestic Product

Back 24

Total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during one year

Front 25

Gross National Product

Back 25

Total value of goods produced and services provided in a country in one year equals the gross domestic product plus the net income from foreign investments

Front 26

Purchasing Power Party

Back 26

Theory of long term equilibrium exchange rates based on relative price levels of two countries

Front 27

Gini Index

Back 27

Measure of statistical dispersion enveloped be the Italian statician Corrado Gini and published in his 1912 paper "variability and mutability"

Front 28

Human Development Index

Back 28

Measure and rank countries levels of social and economic development based on criteria: life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling, expected years of schooling and gross national income per capita

Front 29

Freedom House

Back 29

US based NGO that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights

Front 30

Social Boundaries

Back 30

When cleavages separate people from each other

Front 31

Coinciding cross cutting cleavages

Back 31

Divide society into many different groups that may have conflict on issue, but cooperate on another.

Front 32

Political Efficancy

Back 32

Citizens capacity to understand and influence political events

Front 33

Subject Activities

Back 33

Obeying laws, following military orders, and paying taxes

Front 34

Civil society

Back 34

Voluntary organizations outside of the government, that people define and expand own interests.

Front 35

Social Movements

Back 35

Organized collective activities that aim to bring about or resist fundamental change in an existing group/society

Front 36

Tyranny of the Majority

Back 36

Tendency in democracies to let the majority rule to neglect the rights/liberties of minorities

Front 37

Cosmopolitanism

Back 37

Universal political order that draws its identity values from everywhere

Front 38

Conservatism

Back 38

Much less supportive of change in general than radicalism and liberalism. Tend to see change as disruptive, and they emphasize the fact that it sometimes brings unforeseen outcomes

Front 39

Substantive Democracies

Back 39

Also called liberal democracies; where citizens have access to multiple sources of information

Front 40

Illiberal Democracies

Back 40

Also called procedural democracies; are countries that have regular and free election processes but are missing: civil liberties, rule of law, neutrality of the judiciary, open civil society, and civilian control of the military

Front 41

1st wave of Democratization

Back 41

Developed gradually over time

Front 42

2nd wave of Democratization

Back 42

Occurred after the allied victory in WWII and continued through the early 1960's. characterized by decolonization around the globe

Front 43

3rd wave of Democratization

Back 43

Characterized by the defeat of dictatorships or totalitarian rulers in South America, Eastern Europe, and some parts of Africa; also what we are living in now

Front 44

Command economy

Back 44

The government owned almost all industrial enterprises and retail sales outlets (to help achieve equality)

Front 45

Market Economy

Back 45

One that allowed significant control from the central government

Front 46

Mixed economy

Back 46

One that does not allow control from the central government; and only a market economy

Front 47

Marketization

Back 47

Term that describes the states re-creation of a market in which property, labor, goods, and services can all function in a competitive environment to determine their value

Front 48

Privatization

Back 48

Transfer of state owned property to private ownership

Front 49

Fragmentation

Back 49

Divisions based on ethnic or cultural identity

Front 50

Samuel Huntington's conflict prediction

Back 50

Thinks that future conflicts will be based on clashes of civilization, not on socioeconomic or even ideological differences

Front 51

Unitary System

Back 51

concentrates all policy making powers in one central geographic place

Front 52

Confederal System

Back 52

spreads the power among many sub-units (such as states) and has weak central government

Front 53

Federal System

Back 53

divides the power between the central government and the sub-units

Front 54

Globalization

Back 54

an integration of social, environmental, economic and cultural activities of nations that has resulted from increasing international contacts

Front 55

Supernatural Organization

Back 55

cooperating groups of nations that operate on either a regional or international level

Front 56

Devolution

Back 56

tendency to decentralize decision-making to regional governments

Front 57

3 Major Causes of Devolution

Back 57

Ethnic: when a certain ethnic group thinks that they are a nation within a nation
Economic: if the money is unequal around the nation
Spatial Forces: distance, remoteness, and peripheral location promote devolution, especially if the ocean/body of water, mountains, desert separate the region of power from the rest of the state

Front 58

Bureaucracies (6 Common Characteristics)

Back 58

Structure- how the control flows down
Task Specialization- clear division of labor, where everyone has their own job
Extensive rules- clearly written, well-established rules that everyone in the organization follows
Clear goals- clearly defined set of goals that all people strive toward
Merit Principel- no granting of jobs to friends or family unless they are best qualified
Impersonality- job performance that is judged by productivity, or how much work the person gets done

Front 59

Head of State

Back 59

role that symbolizes and represents the people both nationally and internationally and may or may not have any real policy making power

Front 60

Head of Government

Back 60

deals with the everyday tasks of running the state, and usually directs the activities of other members of a branch

Front 61

Bicameral Legislature

Back 61

two houses; upper house has more power while the lower house has less power

Front 62

Unicameral Legislature

Back 62

one house; holds all power

Front 63

Constitutional Courts

Back 63

serve to defend democratic principles of a country against infringement by both private citizens and the government are a much more recent phenomenon

Front 64

Judicial

Back 64

mechanism that allows courts to review laws and executive actions for their constitutionality

Front 65

Two Party System

Back 65

rarity, only occurs in about 15 countries today; people vote for two parties

Front 66

Multi-Party System

Back 66

what most European countries have; arise with strong parliament and use a proportional method for elections

Front 67

Single- Member Districts

Back 67

candidates compete for single representative's seat (winner take all)

Front 68

Proportional Representation

Back 68

Majority rules

Front 69

Multi-Member Districts

Back 69

more than one legislative seat is contested in each district

Front 70

Mixed System

Back 70

combines first-past-the-post and proportional representation (very old elects, new members for replacements)

Front 71

Interest Groups

Back 71

organizations of like-minded people whose goal is to influence and shape the public policy.

Front 72

State Corporatism

Back 72

where the state determines which groups are brought in

Front 73

Societal Corporatism

Back 73

where interest groups take the lead and dominate the state

Front 74

Political Socalization

Back 74

how the citizens learn about the country

Front 75

Transparency

Back 75

operates openly by keeping citizens informed about government operations and political issues and responding to citizens questions and advice

Front 76

Civil Society

Back 76

refers to voluntary organizations outside of the state that help people define and advance their own intrests

Front 77

Cosmopolitanism

Back 77

universal political order that draws its identity and values from every where

Front 78

Non-Govermental Organization

Back 78

people that find common interests with others that are in other places around the world