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31 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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BIG C CONSTITUTION
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*actual document
*Consitution of the US *generally democratic phenomenon |
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LITTLE c CONSTITUTION
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*sets of rules
*constitutions are everywhere *not just written *not only in a democracy |
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text vs. text-plus
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text= it is what it is
text-plus= things may no longer apply now |
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VAGUENESS OF THE CONSTITUTION
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*if vague it can be flexible
*if vague it cannot be clearly understood |
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LENGTH OF THE CONSTITUTION
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*newer constitutions are longer and far more complex
*older ones are shorter |
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DESIGN PRINCIPLES OF CONSTITUTIONS
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*respect for tradition
*amendability= able to change *incentive compatability |
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INCENTIVE COMPATABILITY
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*avoid the plague of "unintended consequences"
*US legislators and their districts South Africa (legislators without |
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REFERUNDUM
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* utlized by California
*voters make a choice directly over policy alternatives (raising taxes?) *people are fickle and cannot make proper choices concerning our policies *that's why we have elected officials whose sole job is to make policies and important decisions *time constraints *concerns about policy coherence |
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ELECTORAL SYSTEM
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*elections are not simple
*they come in all shapes and sizes *elections are governed by sets of rules *these rules constitute the electoral system |
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SMDP
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*house of representatives
* 1 representative per district *plurality (most votes) wins *winner take all *encourages a 2 party system *biased against small parties *ties legislators to constituents *can lower voter turnout *representatives less reflective of representees *compromise is "frontloaded" |
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PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION
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*multiple member districts
*seats divided up proportionetly according to distribution of votes *encourages the proliferation of parties *lets minority groups get representation *sometimes loosens the bond between representatives and constituents *representatives are more reflective of constituents *can increase voter turn out *compromise is backloaded |
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PARADOX PARTICIPATION
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*will your vote actually make a difference
*people feel like they have to perform their civic duty *its not a "rational" act *benefits are miniscule to the individual |
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POLITICAL PARTY
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*group of officials or would be officials linked with a sizeable group of citizens into an organization to attain power
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PARTIES ARE NOT
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*associated with democracies
*associated with electoral activity *wide variation:versatile tool of modern politcs |
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How do parties differ from other political groups in democracies?
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*paramount in elections
*fulltiime commitment *mobilize large numbers *endurance *politcal symbols |
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FUNCTION 1: MOBILIZATION
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*GOTV campaigns
*other mobilization processes: -mobilize support -mobilize protest/opposition |
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PARTY SYSTEM
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*set of all parties
*they come from: electoral law and nature of cleavages in society |
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ONE PARTY SYSTEM
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*only a single party is allowed to be active
*mobilization *communication *control *China and N. Korea *deal with identity |
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DOMINANT PARTY SYSTEM
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*single party holds power at all time
*BUT other politcal parties are allowed to function openly and with reasonable effectiveness *Mexico (PRI) *India and Israel *having other parties provides a base for criticism of the government *more debate about politcs than in an one-party system |
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TWO PARTY SYSTEM
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*no one party system can count always holding power but only two parties can normally expect to have a chance to win
*US (democrats and republicans) |
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MULTI-PARTY SYSTEM
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*more than two major politcal parties
*Norway *most democratic states are multiparty systems *electoral system will determine whether a state has a multiparty system or a two-party system *SMPS= 2 party system *PS= multi-party system |
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INTEREST GROUP
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*organized group of citizens [working to] ensure that the state follows certain policies
*Not parties but are very similar |
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SELECTIVE INCENTIVE
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*give members an incentive for being in the group
*selective b/c it targets selectively to certain member of groups |
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SECTORAL INTEREST GROUP
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*economic interests
*often narrow interests *dominates most interest group system *AFCLO |
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PROMOTIONAL INTEREST GROUP
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*coalesce around ideas
*important in US politics and other two party systems *NAACP *NRA *organize around an area or point of view to support |
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PLURALISM
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*groups form, organize, and compete freely
*no one group is able to dominate *government it open to pressure from the interest groups *state as "register" responding to interest groups *PROS: -spontaneity -encourages incrementalism -grassroots-people genuinely represented *CONS: -"organize and compete freely" is a myth |
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NEOCORPORATISM
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*state is "hands on" in dealing with interest groups
*interest groups incorporated into government *PROS: -encourages cooperation - solves some of the problems or pluralism- government helps groups organize/get represented *CONS: -fragile -inflexible |
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SOCIAL MOVEMENT
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*informal collective movements of people
*loosely coordinated *some leaderhsip *engaged in contentious politics |
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CHARACTERISITCS OF
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS |
*potentially quite powerful
*not the same as parties or interest groups *grassroots or bottom up linkage mechanism |
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VARIATION OF
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS |
*Scope
-reform vs. radical *Type of Change -innovation vs. conservative *Target Audience -group focus vs. individual focus *Methods -peaceful vs. violent *Range -global vs. local vs. multi-level -compare to politcal parties which are rooted solely in a country *Old vs. new -communication |
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OPPORTUNITY STRUCTURES
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*broader politcal system that give social movements advantages
*allie is in government or opposes opposition *international organization that sympathizes *losing confidence in a leader |
