POLI 2 - Comparative Politics Midterm
What is equality?
A shared material standard of living shared by individuals within a community, society, or country - regardless of race, religion, gender
What is a nation-state?
A sovereign state encompassing one dominant nation that it claims to embody and represent - Ex: Japan
What are the advantages of having multiple political parties?
Allows for many views can be represented
What is Germany's constitution called?
Basic Law - adopted after WW2
How might we study causal relationships and test theory?
Choose independent variable and see how it effects/find relationship to the dependent variable
What is the tautology fallacy?
Circular Reasoning - Ascribes causation to the very phenomenon whose causes we are trying to explain
What is the main characteristic of a semi-presidential system?
Cohabitation of the Prime Minister and President - PM and Pres. share executive power - Pres. usually takes on foreign policy issues - PM usually takes on domestic policy issues - PM chosen by party - Pres. chosen through direct elections - Can be conflict when Pres. & PM from different parties
What is a spurious correlation?
Correlation that occurs when two variables APPEAR to be directly linked in a cause-and-effect relationship, but in fact they are LINKED INDIRECTLY by some other causative variable/variables
How is the president elected in a presidential system?
Direct elections for the president - Gives Pres. the sense that they have the right to do what they want because the people elected them - Pres. feels that they have a mandate, legitimacy
What is a multi-member district (MMD) electoral system?
District is divided proportionally based on number of votes they get, with multiple members representing the constituency - Proportional Representation (PR)
What is a snap election?
Election that takes place outside of the fixed time
What is the false inference fallacy?
Making unwarranted inferences from statistical data or other facts, especially when trying to establish causation
What is the inevitability fallacy?
Just because things turn out a certain way, beware of assuming that they necessarily had to turn out as they did
What are institutions?
ORGANIZATIONS or activities that are SELF-PERPETUATING and VALUED FOR THEIR OWN SAKE
What kind of democracy does India have?
Parliamentary democracy and federal state
What kind of democracy is Germany?
Parliamentary democracy and federal state
Who is the primary initiator of legislation in a parliamentary system?
Prime Minister and Cabinet
What are the two main types of research methods?
Quantitative and Qualitative
Who is the President of France and what are his roles?
Emmanuel Macron - International policy - National symbol - Appoints PM - Executive Head of State - Commander in Chief of French Armed Forces - 5-year term
What is the traditional approach?
Emphasis on describing political systems and their various institutions
Who is Germany's president and what are his roles?
Frank-Walter Steinmeier - From the Social Democratic Party - Official head of state - Similar role to Queen, but can sign off laws - Appoints chancellor - 5-year term
What is the executive branch?
The branch of government that carries out laws and policies of the state
What kind of electoral system of France have?
Two-round system: if no candidate receives majority (50%), top two candidates go onto next round - Direct elections - Used to elect President & National Assembly
What are the two types of legislatures?
Unicameral and Bicameral
What are intervening variables?
Variables that fall in between independent and dependent variables
How do Prime Ministers leave office in a parliamentary system?
Vote of no confidence - PM looses support of their party and party votes to remove them from office - PM can resign - PM can easily be replaced between elections
Why do some countries have a two-party system?
Winner-take-all type of electoral system - Tend to moderate
What are the three main characteristics of a state?
Sovereignty, Legitimacy, & Autonomy
What is the current constitution in France?
The Fifth Republic
What is the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy?
"After it, therefore because of it" - Concludes that A caused B just because A proceeded B
What is the a fortiori fallacy?
"All the more" - Assumes that what is true of a phenomenon at one level or degree is automatically true of the same phenomenon at at larger level or degrees
What are they types of logical fallacies?
- Fallacy of composition - Tautology - Post hoc ergo propter hoc - Inevitability fallacy - A fortiori - False analogy - Nonfalsifiable hypothesis - False inference - Reductivism
What does India's constitution establish?
- Federal Republic: state & union gov - Longest written constitution with 98 amendments - Egalitarian System - no caste system - Secularize gov
What did Machiavelli do for the study of comparative politics?
- First modern political scientist - Emphasized statecraft and empirical knowledge - Analyzed different political systems, believing findings could be applied to statesmen and the future
What did Aristotle do for the study of comparative politics?
- First separated politics from philosophy - Used comparative method to study Greek city-states - Conceived idea of an empirical study of politics with a practical purpose
What are quantitative research methods?
- Gathering of statistical data across many countries to look for correlations and test hypotheses about cause and effect - Emphasis on breadth over depth - Deals more with data and numbers - Often lends itself to be more mathematical and statistically grounded - Often conducted through surveys
What kind of electoral system does India have?
- House of the People: SMD plurality system - State legislatures elect members of Council of States
What are qualitative research methods?
- Mastery of a few cases through detailed study of their history, language, and culture - Emphasis on depth over breadth - Narrative responses, more storytelling - Often conducted through interviews and focus groups - Help answer the question: Why? - Get more in depth information
What are the advantages of a MMD system?
- Maximizes number of votes that count - More representation - Better representation for women and minorities - Stronger party discipline and ideological branding - Gerrymandering is not as effective
What are the characteristics of a valid/good election?
- Meaningful: positions - Competitive: for positions - Free: freedom to vote - Secret: secret ballot so voters are pressured into voting a certain way - Fair: process of casting and counting votes - Frequent: held at regular intervals - Inclusive: all adults above certain age must have right to vote - Equal: voting rights are equal
What are the benefits of a parliamentary system?
- More responsive - Easier to pass legislation - Easy to replace executive
How do we choose the independent variable?
- Narrow it down from multiple IV to just a couple IV - Want to find variables that are most important/most correlated
What are the benefits of a presidential system?
- National mandate - President is directly elected by voters
What is a republic?
- Not a monarchy - May have representatives - Ex: US, North Korea
What is the N value?
- Number of cases one looks at when doing studies - Higher N value: more data, less depth → Quantitative - Lower N value: less data, more depth → Qualitative
What are common characteristics of a democracy?
- People have the right to determine who governs them - In most cases, people elect principal governing officials and hold them accountable for their actions - Often impose legal limits on government's authorities by guaranteeing certain rights and freedoms to their citizens
What are the benefits of a semi-presidential system?
- Pres. and PM share power and responsibilities - Create public mandate (pres.) plus support of parliamentary coalition
Continuum of Popular Sovereignty (Power of the People): Min to Max
- Representative Democracy - Plebiscitary Democracy (form of referendum democracy) - Techno-democracy (allow the use of technology to give people a say) - Direct Democracy
What is polyarchy?
- Rule by many - Political systems that are OPEN, INCLUSIVE, COMPETITIVE
What is the role of the Head of Gov. in the executive branch?
- Runs the state and leads the gov. - Makes national policies - Directs officers and ministers
What is the behavioral revolution?
- Shift from a descriptive study of politics to one that emphasizes causality, explanation, and prediction - Emphasizes political behavior of individuals more than larger political structures and quantitative more than qualitative methodology - Modernization theory predominates: eventually states will become democracies as they develop
What did Japan's new constitution of 1947 do?
- Shifted power from Emperor to PM - Created parliamentary democracy - Prevented waging war - Created unitary state of Japan - Established fundamental rights and freedoms
What is a theory?
- Something that is measurable - Explains complex phenomena in a simple way - However, we know that it cannot always be exactly precise
What did Baron de Montesquieu do for the study of comparative politics?
- Studied government systems - Advocated for separation of powers within government
What is the role of the Head of State in the executive branch?
- Symbolic, embodiment of the people - Sometimes conducts international affairs
What is the comparative method?
- The MEANS by which social scientists make comparisons across cases - HOW they go about making these comparisons
What is autonomy?
- The relative independence of state authorities from the population - Ability of the state to wield its power independently of the public or international actors
What is legitimacy?
- The right to rule - A value whereby something or someone is recognized and accepted as right and proper
What is the criteria for a democracy to be a polyarchy?
- Universal suffrage and right to run for office - Free and fair elections - Right to free speech - Free press - Right to form and join autonomous organizations (political parties) - Responsiveness of governments/parties to voters - Accountability of government to election outcomes and government
Causation vs. Correlation
- Very rare to have direct causation → usually strong correlation - Why: -- Can't control every variable -- People aren't always predictable
What can cause a snap election?
- Vote of no confidence - Coalition breaks apart - PM wants snap election: extend PM's term, show that public is behind them
What did Weber to for the study of comparative politics?
- Wrote widely on bureaucracy, forms of authority, and impact of culture on economic and political development
What are the main political parties in India?
1. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP): Hindu nationalism, middle class 2. Indian National Congress (INC): social reform, secularism, lower class, oldest party
What are the main coalitions in France?
1. Ensemble Coalition: Centrist - En Marche (153) 2. NUPES Coalition: Left Wing - La France Insoumise and Allies (72)
What is the criteria for a good theory?
1. Has strong predictive capacity - can predict accurately 2. Is universally applicable - works in all cases and for all politics 3. Is methodically sound - clear, simple, precise
Who are the main political parties in Japan?
1. Liberal Democratic Party: conservative/nationalist 2. Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan: social-liberal, center-left
What are the main political parties in Israel?
1. Likud: right 2. Yesh Atid: center left
What are the main political parties in Germany?
1. Social Democratic Party: Socialist 2. Christian Democratic Union: Christian & conservative
What are the main political parties in the UK?
1. The Labour Party: working class, welfare policies (199) 2. The Conservative Party: private property, strong military, preserve cultural values and traditions (357)
How many federal states does Germany have?
16 - Landers (provinces)
How many branches of government does the US have?
3 branches: Executive, Legislative, Judiciary
What is the purpose of political parties?
Allow for people of similar interest to COLLECTIVELY express their opinions
What is a majoritarian system?
An electoral system in which the winning candidate/party must achieve an absolute majority (over 50%) of votes
What is freedom?
An individual's ability to act independently, without fear of restriction or punishment by the state or other individuals or groups in society
What kind of legislative branch does India have?
Bicameral Parliament: - Lower: Lok Sabha (House of the People) (545), 543 directly elected, 2 elected by Pres. - Upper: Rajya Sabha (Council of States) (245), 12 elected by Pres.
What kind of legislative branch doe France have?
Bicameral Parliament: - Lower: National Assembly (577), voted by districts - Upper: Senate (348), indirect by electoral college
What is the judicial branch?
Branch of gov. that maintains and upholds the rule of law
What is the legislative branch?
Branch of gov. that makes laws
Who is the Prime Minister of Japan and what are his roles?
Fumio Kishida - Commander in Chief of Japan Self-Defense Forces - Appoints ministers of state - Submits bills to Diet - Reports to Diet on national affairs & foreign relations - Signs all laws and orders
What are the characteristics of the President's cabinet in a presidential system?
Cabinet comes from the people - Can be from anywhere - If from legislative branch, member gives up seat in legistlation
What is method in comparative politics?
HOW we study, the specific way we study
Comparative Politics vs. International Relations
Comparative Politics: - Study and comparison of DOMESTIC politics ACROSS countries - Internal: about how things work within a state - Topics: regimes, elections, culture, economic development
What is a bicameral legislature?
Consist of two houses - Usually upper and lower houses - Two houses to divide power and offers more representation - Upper House: equally reps each state/province within country - Lower House: representation based on population - Common in larger, more diverse countries - Often related to federalism - Houses may be elected using different rules
What is a unicameral legislature?
Consists of only one house (or chamber) of parliament - Common in small, homogenous countries
Who is the Prime Minister of France and what are her roles?
Elisabeth Borne - Mainly day to day domestic policy - Second only to President - Head of Gov. - Civil services - Gov. agencies - Armed forces - Can be dismissed by national assembly - No term limit
What is the reductivism fallacy?
Explaining something in terms of one sole cause when other causes could also be at work
Who is the Prime Minister of India and what are his roles?
Narendra Modi - Head of gov. & chief advisor to Pres. - Chairman of Cabinet - International representative
Who is the Emperor of Japan and what are his roles?
Naruhito - Symbol of state - Appoints PM & Chief Justice - Convokes sessions of Diet - Promotes laws and treaties - Awards state honors
What is the main characteristic of a parliamentary system?
No separation of power - All branches are part of parliament: fusion - Executive and legislative branches fused
Who is the German Chancellor and what are his roles?
Olaf Scholz - From the Social Democratic Party - Elected in 2021 - Roles are similar to PM - Head of German gov. and its chief exec - Commander in chief during wartime - 4-year term
What kind of democracy is Israel?
Parliamentary democracy and unitary state
What is the threshold?
Percentage of votes needed for a party to get a seat - Lower threshold when more seats → more parties - Higher threshold when less seats → less parties
What is a single-member district (SMD) electoral system?
Person who gets the most votes is elected, does not have to get 50% - Plurality - Winner Take All - First Past the Post - Majority (Run Off): two-round system
What is the modern definition of democracy?
Political power exercised either directly or indirectly by the people - power of the people
Positive vs Negative Correlation
Positive: IV & DV go in SAME direction Negative: IV & DV go in OPPOSITE direction
What is judicial review (constitutional court)?
Power of a court to decide whether laws and policies violate the constitution - Abstract Review: political leaders can refer questions to a court, often before laws are passed - Concrete Review: Citizens use court cases to challenge a law after its passage
What kind of term does the president serve in a presidential system?
Pres. serves for fixed term - Regularly scheduled elections - Hard to remove President - Gives Pres. fixed time to do what they want
What are the roles of the president in a presidential system?
President is head of state and head of government - Head of Gov: run the day to day, lead executive branch in governing - Head of State: speak on behalf of entire nation, more symbolic role
What is gerrymandering?
Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power
What are the three theories of comparative politics?
Rational Choice, New Institutionalism, Political Culture
What is a guiding ideal of democracy?
Reconciling freedom and equality
What is a constitutional monarchy?
Regime in which MONARCH is head of state, but real decision making powers is in hands of other institutional authorities such as legislators, PM, and other officials
What is a correlation?
Relationship in which two or more variables change together
What kind of democracy does the US have?
Representative federal presidential democracy
Who came up with the idea of polyarchy?
Robert A. Dahl
What are the two pillars of comparative politics?
Scope and Method
What kind of democracy is France?
Semi-presidential democracy and unitary state
How is power distributed in a parliamentary system?
Separate roles of head of state and head of government - Head of Gov: prime minister - Head of State: President (republic), King/Queen (monarchy)
What is the main characteristic of a presidential system?
Separation of the branches - doesn't allow one branch to have all the power - Executive and legislative branches separated
What is a federal system?
System of gov. in which political authority is shared between national gov. and sub units - As countries get bigger in pop., diversity, and land mass → tend to become federal - Ex: US, Germany, India, Russia
What are the disadvantages of having multiple political parties?
Tend to polarize more
What is power?
The ABILITY to INFLUENCE others or impose one's will on them
What kind of legislative branch does Israel have?
Unicameral: Knesset - 120 seats
Is the UK a unitary or federal state?
Unitary
What is the scope?
What we study, the content that we study
Who is the Prime Minister of Israel and what are his roles?
Yair Lapid - Head of Gov.: Has most of the power - Appoints ministers of Cabinet - 4-year term - Controls 28 ministries' leaders
What is the dependent variable?
- Variable we are most interested in examining or explaining - Main object of our study - Effect or outcome that is influenced or caused by another variable or variables
What kind of legislative branch does the UK have?
Bicameral Parliament: - Lower: House of Commons, elected by people - Upper: House of Lords, elected by King
What kind of term does the Prime Minister serve in a parliamentary system?
PM has no fixed term - PM often doesn't finish their term - Can be in office forever
How is the Prime Minister elected in a parliamentary system?
PM indirectly chosen by the people - People vote for reps, who then choose for PM - PM chosen by the party, usually leader of majority party
What kind of democracy is Japan?
Parliamentary democracy and unitary state
What kind of democracy is the UK?
Parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy
What do political parties do in democracies?
Parties promote: - Participation - Competition - Governance and policy making - Accountability
What is a unitary system?
System of gov. in which political power is concentrated in central national gov. - No sub-state/provincial level governments - Ex: UK, France, Japan
What is politics?
The STRUGGLE for any group for POWER that will give one or more persons the ability to make decisions for the larger group
What is sovereignty?
The exclusive legal authority of a government over its population and territory, independent of external authority
What is the focus of comparative politics?
The focus is on each country's INTERNAL politics, with a view to making GENERALIZATIONS about politics in a variety of domestic settings
What is a coalition?
Grouping of several parties - Partnership between parties
Is India a direct or indirect democracy?
Indirect - Indian people are largely underrepresented
What is the rule of law?
All individuals and groups, including those in government, are subject to the law irrespective of their power or authority
What kind of electoral system of Israel have?
Multi-Member District system - Threshold = 3.25%
Is India a two-party system or multi-party system?
Multi-party system
Is Japan a two-party system or a multi-party system?
Multi-party system - Due to electoral system
Is Germany a two-party system or multi-party system?
Multi-party system - No winner take all mentality - Different electoral system → more parties
What kind of legislative branch does Germany have?
Bicameral Chamber: - Lower/Main: Bundestag (598), directly elected - Upper/Second: Bundesrat (69), 3-6 votes based on pop.
What kind of legislative branch does the US have?
Bicameral Congress: - Lower: House of Representatives (435) - Upper: Senate (100)
What kind of legislative branch does Japan have?
Bicameral National Diet: - Lower: House of Representatives (480), 300 single-seat, 180 prop. rep - vote for party - Upper: House of Councilors (242), 19% single-seat, 41% multi-seat, 40% prop. rep
What are the drawbacks of a parliamentary system?
Due to indirect elections, public may feel it has less control over executive and passing of legislation
What is the false analogy fallacy?
Making inappropriate or inexact analogies or comparisons between one phenomenon or situation and another
What is the history of democracy?
- Ancient Greece (Athens): small community of direct democracy with few fixed institutions - Rome: Republicanism, separation of powers and elected officials - England: Magna Carta - limits power of monarchy and establishes rights; taxes and borrowing controlled by parliament
What is the rational choice theory?
- Approach that assumes that individuals weigh the costs and benefits and make choices to maximize their benefits - Most precise/concise theory in how it looks at human behavior - INDIVIDUAL is the unit of analysis - all about the person and what the individual chooses to do - All individuals are RATIONAL - Individuals are SELF-INTERESTED - individuals do what's in their own self-interest as opposed to what's good for everyone else - MAXIMIZE UTILITY - want to maximize happiness - LOGICAL and transitive decisions - can predict their future decisions based on past decisions
What did Rousseau do for the study of comparative politics?
- Argued citizen's rights are inalienable and cannot be taken away by the state - Influenced development of civil rights/liberties
What did Locke do for the study of comparative politics?
- Argued private property is essential to individual freedom and prosperity - Advocated for a weak state
Who are the major thinkers in comparative politics?
- Aristotle - Machiavelli - Hobbes, Locke - Baron de Montesquieu - Rousseau - Marx, Weber
What are the disadvantages of a MMD system?
- As # of parties inc., gov. becomes more unstable → moves towards extremes - Small parties may have more power than they should have → especially when trying to gain majority
What are the disadvantages of a SMD system?
- Can weaken power of smaller parties - Wastes votes - Less representative - Disproportional results
What is the new institutionalism theory?
- Can't understand individual without first understanding institution - Institutions matter - Analysis shifts from individual to institution - Institutions dictate the choices and provide the context for rational actor's behavior - Bounded Rationality: Rational choices are constrained by existing institutions
What is a participatory democracy?
- Citizens able to vote directly on certain propositions/measures - referendum - Citizens able to participate more than in indirect democracies
What are the characteristics of direct democracy?
- Citizens have direct say on policy and what it should be - Hard to account for large populations - Not everyone will have the expertise about every policy
What are the characteristics of indirect democracy?
- Citizens participate through elected representatives - Reps may not always speak on behalf of entire constitutents - Easier to account for large populations
What is comparative politics?
- Comparative politics examines political activities WITHIN individual countries - It then compares the domestic experiences of particular countries with the domestic experiences of others
What are the drawbacks of a semi-presidential system?
- Conflict between PM and Pres. may deadlock system - Presidents can use powers to dismantle democracy
What are the advantages of a SMD system?
- Consolidates power with the majority - Can amplify political power of larger parties - More likely to produce two-party system - Individuals can connect with their elected officials more easily - Political accountability
What are the problems in comparative research?
- Controlling large number of variables - Controlling for interaction of variables (multicausality) - Limited number of cases to research - Limited access to info for cases - Uneven research across cases and regions - Cases selected on basis of effect and not cause (selection bias) - Variables may be either cause or effect (endogeneity)
What is the political culture theory?
- Culture matters - Culture: beliefs, norms and values of society → more difficult to pin down - Most vague and imprecise
What did Hobbes do for the study of comparative politics?
- Developed notion of "social contract" where people surrender certain liberties in favor of order - Advocated for a powerful state
What are the drawbacks of a presidential system?
- Divided gov. may deadlock legislation - Difficult to remove Pres.
What are the relations between branches in a semi-presidential system?
- Dual executive - Neither fused nor separated
What did Marx do for the study of comparative politics?
- Elaborated a theory of economic development and inequality - Predicted eventual collapse of capitalism and democracy
Why are institutions important?
- Embody the NORMS or VALUES that are central to people's lives and are NOT EASILY DISLODGED or changed - SET THE STAGE for political behavior by influencing HOW POLITICS IS CONDUCTED - Favor and allow certain kinds of political activity and not others, making a more likely "path" for political activity - Influence politics, and how political institutions are constructed, and will profoundly affect how politics is conducted
What is the independent variable?
- Factor or characteristic that influences or causes the dependent variable - Cause-and-effect cases: causal or explanatory variable - Changes in the indep. var. may produce changes in the dep. var.
What is the fallacy of composition?
Assumes that the whole is exactly the same as its parts
What are the two distinct roles in the executive branch?
Head of State and Head of Gov.
What is the nonfalsifiable hypothesis fallacy?
Hypothesis that cannot be tested empirically
What are formal institutions?
Institutions based on officially sanctioned rules that are relatively clear Ex: constitution, electoral systems, federal vs. unitary systems
What are informal institutions?
Institutions that are unwritten and unofficial rules Ex: legislative norms (US Senate's filibuster), societal rules and culture (neopatrimonialism, gender relations, shaking hands)
International Relations vs. Comparative Politics
International Relations: - Study of relations BETWEEN countries - Topics: foreign policy, war, trade, foreign aid
What is the role of courts in democracies?
Interpret applications of laws - Judge criminal complaints - Rule on civil suits Have a hierarchy - Losers in a case can usually appeal to a higher court
Who is the President of Israel and what are his roles?
Isaac Herzog - Figurehead, symbolic - More limited power - Can pardon and commute prisoners
Who is the primary initiator of legislation in a presidential system?
Legislature
How is political science becoming more like a science?
Methods we use to study politics are becoming more scientific → do this to make study seem more credible
What is deductive reasoning?
Starting from a hypothesis, then seeking out the evidence
What is inductive reasoning?
Starting from a single case, then generating a hypothesis
What is Duverger's Law?
Suggests that in a SMD electoral system, almost always end up with a 2-party system - SMD is winner take all
What kind of courts does Israel have?
Supreme Court, District, Military, Labor, Magistrates', Religious
