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44 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is a nation? |
A political community with sense of self, shard history, culture, and often language. Artificial constructions (They are socially-constructed) |
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What is a state? |
Has a defined territory, permanent population, stable government, and the capacity to enter relations with other states. |
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How many current states are there? |
193 |
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Do states make nations or do nations make states? |
States typically create nations |
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What is an institution? |
Working structures of governments. |
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Who are rarely able to institutionalize their power? |
Dictators |
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What is a regime? |
The fundamental rules and norms of politics |
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What are a regime's long-term goals? |
Embody individual freedom, collective equality, political order, the locus of power, and the use of that power. |
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What are the 2 major types of regimes? |
Democratic and authoritarian |
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What are the differences between a democratic and authoritarian regime? |
The degree to which the public participates in the political life. |
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What is an effective/strong state? |
able to fulfill basic tasks, defend its territory, make and implement rules. collect taxes, manage economy |
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What is a weak state? |
Cannot execute tasks very well, tax evasion, public non-compliance, organized crime, corrupt state officials. |
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What is a failed state? |
Very structure of the state is so weak, it collapses, resulting inanarchy and violence. |
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What is capacity? |
Strength/effectiveness. Ability of the state to wield power in order to carry out basic tasks of providing security, infrastructure, and social welfare. |
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What is autonomy |
The ability of the state to wield its power independently of the public Pursues best interests of the country, irrespective of public opinion. |
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What is an example of a state with High capacity and high autonomy? |
Soviet Union, Nazi Germany |
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What is an example of a state with High capacity and modest/low autonomy? |
US, Great Britain |
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What is an example of a state with low capacity and high autonomy? |
Niger, Cuba |
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What is an example of a state with low capacity and low autonomy? |
Afghanistan, South Sudan |
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What is an absolute monarchy? |
Royals are still in charge of policy making |
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What is a constitutional/ceremonial monarchy? |
Monarch no longer exercise power Symbolic leaders only |
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What is a confederation? |
a more or less permanent union of countries with some or most politicalpower vested in a central authority. |
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What is a federalism? |
Grants some autonomy to states (US States) |
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What is a unitary system? |
Concentrate all political authority in the hands of the centralgovernment |
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What is devolution? |
Central government gives and can just as easily take away |
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How many federations are there in the world? |
22 |
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What are some pros of federalism? |
People have input into thedecisions of their local governments Robust anddiverse economy Larger &stronger military forces |
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What are some cons of federalism? |
Localgovernments may lack resources needed· Localofficials often incompetent and corrupt ·Lack ofuniformity in citizens’ rights and in laws (Gay couple married in MA but not inTX) |
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What are some pros of unitary? |
· Fewer layers of bureaucracyand greater government efficiency wastes fewer resources and finances |
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What are some cons of unitary? |
Over centralization ofauthority… local governments may not be able to do very basic things withoutcentral government’s permission. (bus stop, traffic light, etc) · Regions (mostly poor) mayresent central government due to cultural, religious, or linguistic reasons. |
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Why are electoral systems so important? |
It influences the number of parties, citizen interest in politics, and governing stability/effectiveness |
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What is SMD (Single-member districts) |
Several candidates compete to be the sole representative of that consitutency |
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What is MMD (Mulit-member districts) |
More than one legislative seat is contested and filled in a each district. |
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What is an electoral threshold? |
A minimum percentage of votes required to join the legislature (typically 3-8%) |
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What is FPTP (first-past-the-post) |
The candidate with the largest number of votes wins the seat. |
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What is a district vote? |
Decides who will be elected to the House of Representatives from that district |
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What is a party vote? |
Decides the share of seats that each of the parties will have in the House of Representatives. |
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What is PR (proportional representation) |
The number of seats you get is proportional to the amount of votes you get |
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Who do voters vote for in PR? |
Vote for parties, not candidates. |
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What is Duverger's Law? |
Under FPTPmost people are unwilling to vote for smaller parties because those parties areunlikely to win. Voters are better off giving their vote to a stronger party. FPTP leadsto a two-party system |
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What are some pros of FPTP? |
· Centralist politics:Politics tends to go to the center rather than to extremes. · Efficient government: 1party can get legislative majority, making it easier to govern and legislatequickly. · Relative simplicityStable politics (Voters know parties…cananticipate victory of major party) |
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What are some cons of FPTP? |
· Createsartificial majority, not accurately reflecting public opinion. · Non-competitivedistricts |
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What are some pros of PR? |
· Parties canarticulate ideological principles more clearly. · Multipartysystem= large number of parties = more representative legislature with freshand diverse policy ideas. · Participationrates are high |
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What are some cons of PR? |
· May lead toimmobilism and inefficient policy-making (many parties must agree for a bill topass) · Coalitionsbetween parties are required to pass laws and to govern, but coalitions tend tobe unstable. · Individualmembers do whatever the party leadership wants them to do, rather than servingtheir own local needs. · Extremistparties may be elected |
