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78 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Institutions
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stable, long lasting organizations that help to turn political ideas into policy
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Democracies
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type of governemnt that bases its authority on the will of the peolple
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Parlimentary Systems
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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 |
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Presidential Systems
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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 |
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Semi- Presidental System
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Where a prime minister co-exista with a president who is directly elected by the people and who holds a significant degree of power
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Totalitarism
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gets confused with authoritaranism, it has more negaitive connotations, used to describe a particularly repressive, often detested regime.
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Military Rule
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non-democratic; in states where legitimacy and stability are in question, and especially when violence is threatened, the military may intervene in politics
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Coup d' etat
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forced takeover of the government (may or may not have widespread support among the people)
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Corpratism
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Method thorough which business, labor, and or other interest groups bargain with the state over economic policy
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Patron- clientelism
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system in which the state provides specific benefits or favors to a single person or small group in return for public support
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Pluralism
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a situation in which power is split among many groups that compete for the chance to influence the governments decision making
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Legitmacy
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right to rule, determined by citizens
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Common Law
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based on tradition, past practices, legal precedents set by courts through interpretations of statues, legal legislation and past rulings
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Code Law
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based on a comprehensive system of written rules (codes) of law divided into commercial, civil, and criminal codes
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Political Culture
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Refers to the collection of political beliefs, values, practices, and institutions that the government is based on
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Liberalism (Political Ideology)
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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)
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Communism
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values equality over freedom
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Socalism
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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
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Fascism
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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
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Radicalism
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Belief that rapid dramatic changes need to be made in the existing society often including the political system
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Liberalism
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Supports reform and gradual change than radicalism and communism
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Reactionary beliefs
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Protect against change even more
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Social Cleavages
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Division among religion, ethnicity, race and economic classes that all interact with the political system and have an impact on policy making
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Gross Domestic Product
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Total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during one year
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Gross National Product
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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
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Purchasing Power Party
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Theory of long term equilibrium exchange rates based on relative price levels of two countries
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Gini Index
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Measure of statistical dispersion enveloped be the Italian statician Corrado Gini and published in his 1912 paper "variability and mutability"
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Human Development Index
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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
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Freedom House
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US based NGO that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights
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Social Boundaries
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When cleavages separate people from each other
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Coinciding cross cutting cleavages
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Divide society into many different groups that may have conflict on issue, but cooperate on another.
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Political Efficancy
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Citizens capacity to understand and influence political events
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Subject Activities
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Obeying laws, following military orders, and paying taxes
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Civil society
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Voluntary organizations outside of the government, that people define and expand own interests.
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Social Movements
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Organized collective activities that aim to bring about or resist fundamental change in an existing group/society
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Tyranny of the Majority
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Tendency in democracies to let the majority rule to neglect the rights/liberties of minorities
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Cosmopolitanism
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Universal political order that draws its identity values from everywhere
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Conservatism
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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
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Substantive Democracies
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Also called liberal democracies; where citizens have access to multiple sources of information
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Illiberal Democracies
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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
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1st wave of Democratization
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Developed gradually over time
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2nd wave of Democratization
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Occurred after the allied victory in WWII and continued through the early 1960's. characterized by decolonization around the globe
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3rd wave of Democratization
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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
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Command economy
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The government owned almost all industrial enterprises and retail sales outlets (to help achieve equality)
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Market Economy
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One that allowed significant control from the central government
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Mixed economy
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One that does not allow control from the central government; and only a market economy
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Marketization
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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
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Privatization
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Transfer of state owned property to private ownership
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Fragmentation
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Divisions based on ethnic or cultural identity
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Samuel Huntington's conflict prediction
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Thinks that future conflicts will be based on clashes of civilization, not on socioeconomic or even ideological differences
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Unitary System
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concentrates all policy making powers in one central geographic place
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Confederal System
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spreads the power among many sub-units (such as states) and has weak central government
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Federal System
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divides the power between the central government and the sub-units
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Globalization
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an integration of social, environmental, economic and cultural activities of nations that has resulted from increasing international contacts
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Supernatural Organization
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cooperating groups of nations that operate on either a regional or international level
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Devolution
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tendency to decentralize decision-making to regional governments
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3 Major Causes of Devolution
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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 |
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Bureaucracies (6 Common Characteristics)
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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 |
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Head of State
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role that symbolizes and represents the people both nationally and internationally and may or may not have any real policy making power
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Head of Government
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deals with the everyday tasks of running the state, and usually directs the activities of other members of a branch
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Bicameral Legislature
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two houses; upper house has more power while the lower house has less power
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Unicameral Legislature
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one house; holds all power
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Constitutional Courts
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serve to defend democratic principles of a country against infringement by both private citizens and the government are a much more recent phenomenon
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Judicial
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mechanism that allows courts to review laws and executive actions for their constitutionality
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Two Party System
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rarity, only occurs in about 15 countries today; people vote for two parties
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Multi-Party System
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what most European countries have; arise with strong parliament and use a proportional method for elections
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Single- Member Districts
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candidates compete for single representative's seat (winner take all)
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Proportional Representation
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Majority rules
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Multi-Member Districts
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more than one legislative seat is contested in each district
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Mixed System
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combines first-past-the-post and proportional representation (very old elects, new members for replacements)
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Interest Groups
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organizations of like-minded people whose goal is to influence and shape the public policy.
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State Corporatism
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where the state determines which groups are brought in
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Societal Corporatism
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where interest groups take the lead and dominate the state
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Political Socalization
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how the citizens learn about the country
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Transparency
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operates openly by keeping citizens informed about government operations and political issues and responding to citizens questions and advice
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Civil Society
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refers to voluntary organizations outside of the state that help people define and advance their own intrests
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Cosmopolitanism
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universal political order that draws its identity and values from every where
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Non-Govermental Organization
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people that find common interests with others that are in other places around the world
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