Pols 102 Uwec Midterm

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Nation-State

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A geographically defined community administered by a government.

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Legitimacy

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The exercise of political power in a community in a way that is voluntarily accepted by the members of the community.

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Community

Back 3

A group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.

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Sovereignty

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A government's capacity to assert supreme power successfully in a political state.

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Noble Lie

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A myth or untruth, often, but not invariably, of a religious nature, knowingly told by an elite to maintain social harmony or to advance an agenda. The noble lie is a concept originated by Plato as described in the Republic.

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Plato's Republic

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Gold, Silver, Bronze people. Gold= philosopher kings; make choices. Silver=

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Class Conflict

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The tension or antagonism which exists in society due to competing socioeconomic interests and desires between people of different classes.

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Base and Superstructure

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In Marxist theory, human society consists of two parts: the base and superstructure; the base comprehends the forces and relations of production — employer-employee work conditions, the technical division of labour, and property relations — into which people enter to produce the necessities and amenities of life.

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Utopia

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Any visionary system embodying perfect political and social order- tries to change human nature.

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Surplus Value

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Excessive profits created through workers' labor and pocketed by the capitalist or owning class.

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Economic Determinism

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A theory that economic relationships (such as being an owner or capitalist, or being a worker or proletarian) are the foundation on which all other social and political arrangements are built.

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Eugenics

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The science of controlling the hereditary traits in a species, usually by selective mating, in an attempt to improve the species.

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Necessary and Proper Clause

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The Congress shall have Power to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

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Totalitarianism

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A political system in which every facet of the society, the economy, and the government is tightly controlled by the ruling elite. Secret police terrorism and a radical ideology implemented through mass mobilization and propaganda are hallmarks of the totalitarian methods and goals.

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Ideology

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Any set of fixed, predictable ideas held by politicians and citizens on how to serve the public good.

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Private vs Public

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Totalinarism wants everything public.

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Traditional Rule

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Based on a system in which authority is legitimate because it "has always existed". People in power usually enjoy it because they have inherited it.

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Coup D'etat

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The attempted seizure of government power by an alternate power group (often the military) that seeks to gain control of vital government institutions without any fundamental alteration in the form of government or society.

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autocracy

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Unchecked political power exercised by a single ruler.

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oligarchy

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A form of authoritarian government in which a small group of powerful individuals wields absolute power.

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Parliamentary System

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They feature a fusion of powers in which Parliament chooses the prime minister who then forms a government; Party discipline votes with agreeing party on all issues.

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Majority Rule

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The principle that any candidate or program that receives at least half of all votes plus one prevails.

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Tyranny of the Majority

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The condition arising when a dominant group uses its control of the government to abuse the rights of minority groups.

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Ex Post Facto Law

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A law that retroactively changes the legal consequences of actions that were committed, or relationships that existed, before the enactment of the law- related to a bill of attainder (targets a specific group of people).

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Magna Carta

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A list of political concessions granted in 1215 by King John to his barons that became the basis for the rule of law in England.

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Habeas Corpus

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In the US system, federal courts can use the writ of habeas corpus to determine if a state's detention of a prisoner is valid. A writ of habeas corpus is used to bring a prisoner or other detainee (e.g. institutionalized mental patient) before the court to determine if the person's imprisonment or detention is lawful.

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Federalism

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A system of limited government based on the division of authority between the central government and smaller regional governments.

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Confederalism

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The membership of the member states is voluntary- has weakest central government.

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Unitary

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A form of government in which most or all power to make and enforce laws resides in the central government; opposite of federal system.

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Checks and balances

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Constitutional tools that enable branches of government to resist an illegitimate expansion of power by other branches.

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Loyal Oppostion

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The belief, which originated in England, the out-of-power party has a responsibility to formulate alternative policies and programs; such a part is sometimes called the Loyal Opposition.

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Federalist #10

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No. 10 addresses the question of how to guard against groups of citizens with interests contrary to the rights of others or the interests of the whole community. Madison argued that a strong, big republic would be a better guard against those dangers than smaller republics—separation of powers.

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Federalist #51

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No. 51 addresses means by which appropriate checks and balances can be created in government and also advocates a separation of powers within the national government- federalism.

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Judicial Review

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The power of a court to declare acts by the government unconstitutional and hence void.

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James Madison

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Wrote some of the Federalist papers. Was instrumental in the drafting of the U.S. Constitution and as the key champion and author of the Bill of Rights.

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Common Law System

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In the United States, the part of common law that was in force at the time of the Revolution and not nullified by the Constitution or any subsequent statue- interprets.

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Codified Law System

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The process of collecting and restating the law of a jurisdiction in certain areas, usually by subject, forming a legal code- law as is.

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John Locke

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Sovernity is in the people- big move towards democracy.

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Thomas Hobbes

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Developed social contract theory- typically addresses the questions of the origin of society and the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual.

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Shadow Cabinet

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The Shadow Cabinet is a feature of the Westminster system of government. It comprises a senior group of opposition spokespeople who, under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition, form an alternative cabinet to that of the government, and whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the Cabinet.

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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Studied state of nature- a concept in moral and political philosophy used in religion, social contract theories and international law to denote the hypothetical conditions of what the lives of people might have been like before societies came into existence.

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Separation of Powers

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The organization of government into distinct areas of legislative, executive, and judicial functions, each responsible to different constituencies and possessing its own powers and responsibilities; the system of dividing the governmental powers among three branches and giving each branch a unique role to play while making all three independent.

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Fusion of Power

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A feature of parliamentary democracies, especially those following the Westminster system, where the executive and legislative branches of government are intermingled. It is often contrasted with the more strict separation of powers found in most presidential democracies. Germany and Great Britain.

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Diffusion of Power

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France

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Vote of No Confidence

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A statement or vote which states that a person in a superior position — be it government, managerial, etc. — is no longer deemed fit to hold that position.

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Cohabitation

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A government occurs in semi-presidential systems, such as France's system, when the President is from a different political party than the majority of the members of parliament (divided government).

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Article 16 (arbitrage)

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French president can rule by decree under national emergency.

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Jacobinism

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Used in Britain as a pejorative for radical, left-wing revolutionary politics, especially when it exhibits dogmatism and violent repression.

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Article 48

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The Weimar Republic of Germany (1919–1933) allowed the President, under certain circumstances, to take emergency measures without the prior consent of the Reichstag. This power was understood to include the promulgation of "emergency decrees (Notverordnungen)".

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Articles 20 & 21

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WAITING FOR RESPONSE FROM PROF

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Landers

Back 51

German "states."

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Basic Law

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A law given to have constitution powers and effect.

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Proportional Representation

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Any political structure under which seats in the legislature are allocated to each party based on the percentage of the popular vote each receives.

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Single Member Single District

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An electoral district that returns one officeholder to a body with multiple members such as a legislature.

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Divine Wind

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Kamikazi- Suicide pilots in WWII

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Meiji Restoration

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A chain of events that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji.

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Occupation

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The action, state, or period of occupying or being occupied by military force.

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Article 9 (peace clause)

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In the National Constitution of Japan outlawing war as a means to settle international disputes involving the state.

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Liberal Democratic Party

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A major conservative political party in Japan.

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MITI

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Ministry of international trade and industry in Japan- part of a iron triangle- federal economic policy.

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DIET

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Name of Japanese legislature.

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British Constitution

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The UK has no single constitutional document. This is sometimes expressed by stating that it has an uncodified or "unwritten" constitution. Much of the British constitution is embodied in written documents, within statutes, court judgements, works of authority and treaties.

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SMSD-Plurality

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Something less than an absolute majority. Where the plurality vote principle applies, the candidate or party receiving the largest umber of votes wins; where the are multiple parties of candidates, winners typically receive fewer than half of the total votes cast.

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Political Culture

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The moral values, beliefs, and myths by which people live and for which they are willing to die.

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Consensual

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Citizens tend to agree on the appropriate means of making political decisions and to agree on the major problems facing the society and how to solve them

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Dissensual

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Difference of opinion.

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Chancellor

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The head of the government in some European countries, such as Germany.

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Nullification

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According to this controversial idea, a state can nullify acts of the U.S. congress within its own borders; John Calhoun and other states' rights advocates put forward this doctrine prior to the Civil War.

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Divided Government

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This occurs when different branches of the federal government are controlled by different political parties.

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Authoritarian Rule

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Wherever supreme political power is concentrated in one person (dictatorship) or a small group of persons (oligarchy), individual rights are subordinate to the wishes of the state, and all means necessary are used to repress dissent and crush opposition.

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Enumerated Powers

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A list of items found in the U.S. Constitution that set forth the authoritative capacity of Congress.

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Elastic Clause

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A statement in the U.S. Constitution granting Congress the power to pass all laws necessary and proper for carrying out the enumerated list of powers.

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5th Republic of France

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Emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system.

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Constitutional Council

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The highest constitutional authority in France.

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Charles de Gaulle

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Wanted a strong power in the president and refused to elect communist to the cabinet. Forced to resign.

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Weimar Republic

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A name given by historians to the federal republic and semi-presidential representative democracy established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government. It is named after Weimar, the city where the constitutional assembly took place.

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Politics

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Choosing people to make rules.it refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance — organized control over a human community, particularly a state. Furthermore, politics is the study or practice of the distribution of power and resources within a given community as well as the interrelationship(s) between communities.