Gulf Coast Comparative Government Final study

Following Constructivist theory, which group was responsible for establishing a strict regime of racial apartheid beginning in 1948?

Afrikaaner Nationalist Party

Although the US Constitution does not use the term, what part establishes 'judicial review' by giving our federal courts the power to judge cases involving government officials?

Article III

One feature typically studied by comparative political scientists is political participation among citizens. One component of political participation that includes non-governmental non-violent activity by organized groups who have common interest, known collectively as

Civil society

A major subfield of political science in which the primary focus is on comparing power, government systems, and decision making across a number of countries is known as

Comparative Politics

The bi-cameral legislature of the US is the ________; it is established and its powers described in Article ____ of the US Constitution.

Congress; 1

The US established its sovereignty by

Declaration of Independence followed by formal creation of legitimacy in the Constitution

Because of his push to reform CCP and government institutions, ___ was the most influential Chinese leader since the death of Mao Zedong in 1976.

Deng Xiaoping

______ theorists describe a pattern and attempt to explain what causes it using facts without arguing whether the theory is good or bad.

Empirical

Western European cooperation, that eventually resulted in creation of the European Union in 1993, was motivated in part by

Europe's need to recover from devastation caused by World War II.

A common law system restricts judges' abilities (discretion) to interpret the law.

False

A form of corruption in which advantage is gained, not with engaging in equally productive activity, but by 'scamming the system' is known as Iron Triangle.

False

A system or ruler that is seen as lacking legitimacy will nevertheless be able to produce policies and enforce them more effectively than a system or ruler that is legitimate.

False

In a country using 'command & control' environmental policies the government can only indirectly influence the amount of pollution each polluting entity is allowed, and then only after a referendum.

False

Movements of capital in the form of money across international borders, known as 'international capital flows', have dropped dramatically in almost all countries, resulting in less than $1 million crossing international borders daily, according to your textbook.

False

Pluralists explain that societies are ruled by a small group or ruling class while elite theorists argue that power is dispersed among many groups so that no one group has complete control.

False

Political appointees are directly elected in first-past-the-post elections.

False

Social democratic welfare states, like Sweden, emphasize universal entitlements in order to promote business and other market-based programs.

False

Germany's Nazi regime's ideology combined

Fascism & racism

The total value of goods and services produced within a country is referred to as

Gross Domestic Product

Which countries, of those profiled in chapter 8 case studies, have AVOIDED authoritarian or totalitarian rule (since independence) in the 20th and 21st centuries?

India, United Kingdom, United States

Which nation is an example of a theocracy?

Iran

_____ argued that governments can manage business cycles of capitalism via active fiscal policy.

John Maynard Keynes

According to the Human Development Index score chart on page 198 of your textbook, which two states have the highest level of absolute poverty?

Nigeria and India

In the United States, the ____ case reinforced post-slavery definitions of race that classified in law a person as "black" if the individual had one-eighth black ancestry because identity at that time determined rights that could be enjoyed and protected.

Plessy v. Ferguson 1896

In China, true decision-making power resides with the Communist Party of China (CCP), especially its

Politburo Standing Committee.

In order to determine what kinds of economic policies work best in particular cultural, social, and political contexts, we study

Political Economy

What kinds of evidence can help us determine why political actors do what they do?

Quantitative statistical analysis, comparative method of study, single case study.

If a nation is able to shape or determine political demands by causing people to think about political issues in ways that are contrary to their own interests, like human trafficking, that nation is said to be exerting the

Third dimension of power

A good example of the "principle-agent problem" is when a president directs an agency, like the Environmental Protection Agency, to carry out a task, but the bureaucrats go slow or otherwise thwart progress on the goal. Political appointees serve at the pleasure of the president and are assigned the duty of overseeing work of their bureaucratic agency.

True

Although they may have little else in common, fellow "BRIC" countries India and Brazil are rapidly growing economies, both participating in neo-liberal IMF programs, with only limited poverty reduction at home but are able to use their new-found wealth to leverage more foreign investments and increased political influence.

True

As an example of absolutist rule, Russian tsars claimed exclusive authority/sovereignty over all Russians and owned all the land in Russia until 1785, when aristocrats were finally able to own land. A large bureaucracy emerged to administer the tsar's lands.

True

Brazil's government institutions and federal structure in the modern era closely approximate that of the US.

True

Clientelism is a typical approach to the elites-masses linkages in Brazil and results in "pork" spending on projects to keep "clients" (voters) happy.

True

Germany pioneered the use of national health insurance, which relies heavily on professional and patient associations (corporatist model) to implement it under the overall regulation of the "state" (national government), with very generous benefits and cost control problems.

True

Globalization is the expansion of economic interactions betweeen countries.

True

Import-Substitution Industrialization (ISI) failed in part because it resulted in inefficient industries that could not compete on the international market.

True

In Japan the Iron Triangle combines with amakudari to produce a government bureaucracy that is usually rewarded with lucrative positions in business after they leave their government positions.

True

In an example of 'clientelism', top leaders (patrons) mobilize political support by providing resources to their followers (clients) in exchange for political loyalty.

True

In the "New Public Management" approach to government service provision, privatization of those services is thought to create a competitive environment thereby simulating a "market". Such an approach is associated with US President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

True

In your book Milan Svolik argues that authoritarian regimes that rely on the military for repression also risk being overthrown by the military, because the military has substantial power in such a society.

True

Iran's election of the president and the Majles are subject to Guardian Council approval of candidates.

True

Leaders of weak states, like Mobutu Sese Seko (Zaire/Democratic Republic of the Congo), maintain their base of power by shuffling subordinates so that none of them becomes entrenched in any one position long enough to successfully challenge the leader by mastering their jobs or building loyal counterforces.

True

Legislative oversight is another means of ensuring accountability among bureaucratic agencies by conducting hearings and examining budgets.

True

Nationalist movements occur when ethnic groups that do not control their own territory and state wish to do so.

True

Reflecting one school of thought on the effects of globalization according to Colin Hay, hyperglobalization usually produces a convergence, or similar economic and social policies across different countries.

True

Risk assessment is an analysis of what the risks of damaging outcomes, like the effects of pollution, are in a particular situation.

True

Seemingly in response to US government pro-business policies in the 1980s an environmental justice movement emerged, which focused on exposing and fighting against racial & class inequalities in exposure to pollution.

True

The "state" differs from a "nation" in that a state is an administrative entity that develops and implements public policies throughout a territory it controls, whereas a "nation" is a group of people with shared identity regardless of a legal boundary.

True

The Nazi form of Fascism, like today's Neo-Fascists, emphasize racial/religious/ethnic superiority of one group over another.

True

When no individual person feels an incentive or ability to preserve a common, shared "good" that is free, they often overuse the "good" or don't contribute to its maintenance (or expense), otherwise known as the tragedy of the commons.

True

Which of the following describe United Kingdom's single payer system known as National Health System according to the "In Context" box, p. 598?

UK has the highest wait times for elective surgery, but also has the best access to doctor or nurse (calculated as a percentage of those waiting longer than 6 days).

What best explains how people act in the political realm?

Underlying structural forces, beliefs/culture and ideology, self-interest/individual motivation.

In Mexico, the PRI party had held power until 2000. The President who broke this trend was

Vicente Fox.

The central doctrine of Liberal Democracy is

a regime is only justified (legitimate) if it preserves and protects individual rights

Think of your textbook's case study of Nigeria. An example of the 'resource curse' is:

an oil-rich country that uses the extraction of oil to feed government corruption and preclude broad-based economic development.

A difference between authoritarianism and totalitarianism is

authoritarian regimes usually lack a driving ideology.

Some ethnic groups do not seek independence from their state but rather want _____, to partially govern their own affairs within a larger state.

autonomy

The right to rule based on one's personal virtue, heroism, sanctity, or other extraordinary characteristics is known as ___legitimacy.

charismatic

The US Constitution establishes a type of horizontal accountability through the ____________ found in Articles I, II, and III.

checks and balances

As a "consensus democracy" the Israeli government selected in 2013 (noted in your textbook) was a _______ government led by the Likud Party.

coalition

The end of the Cold War eliminated the Communist ______ -style economy in which prices, property, and production decisions are controlled by the state; even so there is still great debate the appropriate relationship between a state and its economy.

command

Nigeria's progress as a society, under authoritarian governments' personalized regimes, has been determined by

corrupt relationships, affiliation with the military or their families, strength of certain religious groups.

President Bush's 2008 tax rebate to taxpaying households was an example of an economic tool known as

deficit spending to stimulate the economy.

A government's fiscal policy may also include a practice known as

deficit spending.

Contrary to a pure "unitary" system Scotland has regained its own parliament (though not independent) through a British policy known as:

devolution

The creation of parliaments in Scotland and Northern Ireland are examples of

devolution

During the 1970s Nigeria's primary economic focus was on ____ and service provision.

exploitation of oil resources

Following neo-liberal policies encouraged by the IMF and World Bank investment & lending practices, underdeveloped countries relied on ____, to boost their economies.

export-oriented growth

Sovereignty refers to a nation-state that is recognized by other nation-states and enjoys equal status internationally (____ sovereignty) and is the sole authority over its own affairs within its own territory (_____ sovereignty).

external and internal

In Brazil's symmetric style of federalism, some domestic dependent states have certain rights and special relationships with Brazil's national government

false

In India's asymmetric style of federalism, all domestic dependent states have an equal relationship with India's national government.

false

In stare decisis, Latin for "let the decision stand", judges may only follow the current law as written and ignore past decisions.

false

Think of the French example mentioned in your textbook; assimilationism is the belief that immigrants or other members of minority communities should NOT adopt the culture of the majority population despite public pressure to do so.

false

Prior to 1500 Europe consisted of ____ in which power in a territory was claimed by multiple lords who claimed sovereignty and expected political and military loyalty from dependent vassals and peasants.

feudal states

Often misunderstood, the Islamic concept of "jihad" refers, not necessarily to violence, but to a _______ which may mean renouncing evil and living faithfully according to Islamic religious practices.

great struggle

Using rational choice theory, one would argue that Carlos Salinas, as president of Mexico, supported NAFTA because

he believed it would improve Mexico's economy.

Does modernization always provide the expected result? In other words does the transformation of poor, agrarian societies into wealthy industrial societies result in more democratic and "western" societies?

in some cases yes, but in some cases no

Article II of the US Constitution requires presidents be elected _____________.

independently of our Congress, via Electoral College

Recognized as a very "weak state" despite amazing oil resources, Nigeria is marked by:

internal terrorist pressure from Boko Haram, post-colonial military coups d' etat & shaky governments, national movement divided along regional and ethnic lines

Judges using the civil or "code law" system like the one in Brazil

interpret the laws only, thereby reducing judicial discretion.

If a judge decides that a law is in violation of the Constitution, that judge is exercising

judicial review

Until 2000 long time Turkish residents of Germany were prevented from becoming citizens due to _________ longtime citizenship policy which based German citizenship on "blood" or German ethnicity.

jus sanguinis

Citizenship based on one's residence (literally, the 'soil') is known as

jus soli

Sociologist Max Weber defines rational-legal legitimacy as

legitimacy based on an established Constitution or sets of laws & procedures

Japan today is considered a _____ with symbolic monarch.

liberal democracy

A school of thought that questions hyperglobalization is known as the varieties of capitalism (VOC) approach, focusing on businesses and their interactions with government, each other, workers, and sources of finance. Proponents of this approach distinguish between major types of economies among wealthy capitalist countries:

liberal market economies and coordinated market economies.

The ______ economy, in which individuals and firms exchange goods and services in a largely unrestricted manner, is a relatively modern phenomenon.

market

A type of public assistance in which benefits are provided to individuals who fall below a specific income level, like the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program in the U.S., is described as

means-tested public assistance.

China is transitioning from a totalitarian state to a ____ state that allows limited capitalist development.

modernizing authoritarian

When government institutions, like our Federal Reserve System, set interest rates and influence the amount of money circulating in the society they are practicing

monetary policy.

According to the chart on textbook page 146-7 which nation-state is the MOST ethnically diverse and which is the LEAST ethnically diverse)?

most-Nigeria and least-Japan

A group, like Palestinians, that proclaims itself independent of any other state and has or seeks control of a state of its own is known as a

nation

An advantage of a multi-party system over a two-party system is that the multiparty system

offers better representation & reflection of entire society

One can see participatory democracy in the US via:

organized interest group activities, like lobbying, Public voting on referenda, like new tax proposals, citizen petition initiatives on ballot

Despite its monarchy and the fact that no unified, single constitution exists in UK, the British liberal democracy stands as an example of

parliamentary sovereignty

In comparing the difference between citizen and 'subject', one would say a 'subject' would have little/no say in the governing of his/her state or have independent political and social rights, where as a citizen is a MEMBER of a community or nation-state with certain rights and duties, enjoying

personal sovereignty

The chief decision-making group in a Communist Party, like those in China and the former USSR, is known as

politburo

Using the Failed States Index in your book, nation-states with highest scores were thought to have the most problems, as measured by

political indicators, economic indicators, social indicators

Supporters of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP) approach to a globalized economy argue that

poor countries must reorder domestic political and economic priorities and open their markets to direct foreign investment, trade, and commerce.

In a semi-presidential system, like Russia's, the day to day administration of the nation-state's government is the responsibility of the

prime minister & cabinet

The oldest theory regarding group "identity", ______, is based on the idea that groups automatically or naturally emerge with certain physical characteristics, language, and kinship that never change.

primordialism

What kind of electoral system is most likely to allow a new party or more than two parties to gain seats in the legislature?

proportional representation

An advantage of a strong judiciary with judicial independence is that it:

provides a check on majority tyranny.

Typical basic, "essential functions" of the state (government) in a market economy are providing security, protecting property and contract rights, and

providing currency.

The most common problem(s) facing countries, no matter what health system they use, is (are):

public health risks, access to health care, controlling costs.

In the modern international system weak states are protected from hostile takeovers, but nonetheless are still not able to function fully or provide goods to their citizens. These types of states are known as ___.

quasi-time

As a theory of individual motivation behind political behavior ______ theory explains that human make decisions based on defined preferences after gathering adequate knowledge about options and consequences, like in the example of Congressional approval of highway construction funds

rational choice

Max Weber argues that the leaders of most democratic nation-states have ____ legitimacy, although he acknowledges all three types of legitimacy play a role in electioneering and implementation of their duties.

rational-legal legitimacy

Karl Marx argued that

relations between socio-economic classes are based on conflicts between owners of wealth and the working class.

A group or individual's belief that they are not getting their fair share of something of value relative to others in the society, known as ____, is often at the root of conflicts between elites and those who have been excluded from power.

relative deprivation

A popular rational choice alternative to primordial explanations for ethnic conflicts is _______, in which two or more groups who fear each other do not believe existing institutions (governments, laws, etc.) will protect them from each other.

security dilemma

As a "moderately strong state" Mexico has only recently emerged from a ____ state ruled by one political party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Despite its use of clientelism, corruption, intimidation it maintained a kind of legitimacy by its association with values of the Mexican Revolution: land reform and campesino movement.

semi-authoritarian

The key defining aspect of a presidential system is the

separation of powers apart from legislative branch.

Duverger's Law is the claim that single member districts naturally produce only two major parties and eliminate small parties because

smaller parties do not see enough success to be considered viable by voters, only the two largest parties have the resources to compete successfully, there can only be one winner.

In a corporatist system,

stakeholders/interest groups participate in formulating policies that directly affect them, in cooperation with the government.

Which of the following was NOT an important international economic institution created in the 1940s?

the Federal Reserve

In a parliamentary system, like UK's "Westminster Model"

the prime minister & cabinet are collectively responsible to the legislative body for leadership, policy decisions & implementation, ministers also serve in the parliamentary body, cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister, usually from the majority party.

Among the "weakest" states profiled in the Failed State's Index in your textbook, Iran experienced two major upheavals in the 20th century. The first, a 1953 coup d' etat establishing the first modern Iranian state, differed from the 1979 Revolution in that the latter sought to reestablish

the role of Islamic law

The US Electoral College is a great example of the "first-past-the-post" (FPTP) election result because

the winner is the candidate who receives more votes than other candidates

After gaining full control of the pre-revolutionary Russian empire and additional territories, the resulting regime and state were named the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, wherein the 'soviets' were

theoretically they were decision-making legislative bodies at each level, village to national.

In a parliamentary system the prime minister is typically chosen

to be leader of the majority political party while also serving as a member of parliament

Contrary to centripetal approach, consociationalism is a democratic system to _____ through a legal or constitutional power-sharing arrangement, like Lebanon's agreement between the three largest religious groups or Northern Ireland's Belfast Agreement of 1998.

to ease ethnic tensions

A Centripetal approach was used by Nigerian government officials trying to reduce tensions between the Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa-Fulani

true

As your book explains our use of the term "tribe" is often based, not on true political or legal identities of people or national boundaries, but rather on outdated notions and stereotypes of behaviors.

true

While in the US the head of state/head of government are one in the same, in monarchies and semi-presidential systems these roles are typically split between a prime minister and monarch or prime minister and separately elected president.

true

West Germany's social market economy was hugely successful until the integration with the East German economy upon reunification in 1990, at which time _____ emerged as their biggest problem.

unemployment

Despite being the world's largest democracy India rates a 77.5 score on the Failed States Index because of "uneven economic development" and

vengeance-seeking group grievance among Hindus and Muslims

In majoritarian democracies power is concentrated in fewer government institutions thereby generating greater _______ accountability.

vertical

A cap and trade system, a form of environmental "command and control" policy, consists of a

voucher system in which companies or countries are granted an amount of "pollution rights" that can be traded, bought or sold by high polluters.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, Hobbes and Rousseaus's innovative "social contract theory" heavily influenced the

writing of the Declaration of Independence.