Poli 11D Final

Separate Survival

Fixed terms of office; legislature cannot remove the executive (except in very unusual circumstances) and vice versa.

Single Party Authoritarian Regime

A single party controls office and sets policy. Party organization exercises some power over leader, controls career paths of officials, distributes benefits, mobilizes citizens. Opposition co-opted. Share goodies widely. Examples: the PRI in Mexico; the CCM in Tanzania; the CP in China and Vietnam.

Effective number of parties

A weighted average that takes into account the size of each party. In formula, n is the number of parties getting at least one vote, and p is each parties proportion of the all votes. *5 equally sized parties is a bigger party system than 2 big parties and 3 tiny ones.

Nelson Mandela

ANF leader jailed and then released basically dope af, elected president of South Africa in 1994

Common Survival

Each branch can dismiss the other. Cabinet must sustain the "confidence" of parliament (support of a majority of Members of Parliament) or resign. Terms of office are (usually) not fixed, so cabinet can dissolve parliament and call new elections when it sees fit (within a time period).

Hutu and Tutsi

"ethnic" groups in Rwanda

Primordialism

- Ethnic identities activate deep emotional responses. Stimulate primal brain not rational brain. They come first: more fundamental to our core beings than identities that are adopted later. Ethnic group is similar to family and kin. "Blood runs deeper than water." Fear, hatred, pride. - Ethnic identities are fundamentally fixed and unchangeable. - Given at birth. You cannot escape your inheritance, the identities you were born into. - Little choice. - Context does not shift our core ethnic identities. - These are something essential to our core beings. - Ethnic mobilizations are motivated by expressive not instrumental desires. - About identity expression. Participants want to affirm belonging in group, defend group's dignity, prestige, honor because they associate themselves so profoundly with the group. - Not about rational self interest of pursuit of strategic goals. Join even if not in self-interest.

African National Congress

- South African anti apartheid group, led protests against colonial gov't - eventually legalized Formed in 1912 as a protest to apartheid 1950s: Initial response to apartheid Freedom Charter (1955): non-racial democracy, mild socialism. Sporadic, small scale peaceful protests in urban areas led by small African middle class. Rural areas (with most of population) quiet, isolated, controlled. - initially banned by the state and leaders were jailed

Parliamentary Democracy

- common origin, - common survival, - Divided government is impossible. - Cabinet must have majority support in Parliament. - All government is unified government. - Deadlock from divided government, also impossible. - This does not imply the absence of conflict! - Difficulties forming government - Difficulties maintaining government

what does it mean to have competitive elections

- opposition is legal others can campaign freely - freedom to choose - respect for civil/political liberties - free of systematic, consequential fraud

Compare and contrast primordial and constructivist/instrumental approaches to ethnicity. Discuss four key ways in which they differ. Which approach do you find most persuasive and why?

- primordialism - Ethnic identities activate deep emotional responses. Stimulate primal brain not rational brain. They come first: more fundamental to our core beings than identities that are adopted later. Ethnic group is similar to family and kin. "Blood runs deeper than water.", given at birth cannot change nor escape, essential to core being Fear, hatred, pride. - Participants want to affirm belonging in group, defend group's dignity, prestige, honor because they associate themselves so profoundly with the group. Not about rational self interest of pursuit of strategic goals. Join even if not in self-interest. - ethnic based conflict is inevitable - instrumentalism - Serving as an instrument or means in pursuing a goal. Constructivism: People construct their own understanding of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. Together: identity is constructed as a means to achieve some goal. - Ethnic identities are not different (more emotionally laden) than other types of identity. Human beings can devolve into an "us-vs-them" mentality about all sorts of trivial divisions. Human beings have killed each other over many diverse types of identity.

Democracy

- rule by the people A regime in which the highest offices of government are selected through periodic competitive elections in which virtually all of the adult population is eligible to vote. Minimal: Define by procedures and institutions. - Competitive selection of leaders through elections - ("contestation") - Universal suffrage ("participation") - Horizontal accountability (executive counterbalanced by legislature) Maximal: Define by outcomes (e.g. "equality" or "social justice").

Military Authoritarian Regime

A group of military officers controls access to political office and sets public policy. Officers owe primary loyalty to the military. Can by highly institutionalized. Examples: Brazil (1964-1985); Argentina (1976-1983); El Salvador (1948-1984); South Korea; Thailand.

Amoral Familism

All loyalty and trust centered in family. Maximize material, short-run advantage of family. Citizens are not public spirited. Public domain is battlefield for pursuing self-interest. Weak associational life; low social capital. Community cannot solve collective action problems. (Southern Italy)

Civic Culture

Citizens have a participatory attitude toward politics and community life. Communities have a rich associational life. People interact repeatedly with each other. Communities have high social trust. High social capital (norms of reciprocity, dense networks of social relationships). - Northern Italy members of associations displayed more political sophistication, social trust, political participation and subjective civic competence

Compare and contrast "civic culture" with "amoral familism." According to Robert Putnam, how do these cultural differences explain variations in the ability of communities to solve collective action problems? In your answer, define social capital and discuss its significance.

Citizens have a participatory attitude toward politics and community life. Communities have a rich associational life. People interact repeatedly with each other. Communities have high social trust. High social capital (norms of reciprocity, dense networks of social relationships). - Northern Italy v. All loyalty and trust centered in family. Maximize material, short-run advantage of family. Citizens are not public spirited. Public domain is battlefield for pursuing self-interest. Weak associational life; low social capital. Community cannot solve collective action problems. (Southern Italy) members of associations displayed more political sophistication, social trust, political participation and subjective civic competence in civic culture communities including northern Italy social capital: interactions, relationships and networks built between members of a community, enables communities to solve problems through collective action

Personalist Authoritarian Regime

Discretion of leader is paramount. Leader unconstrained by rules or institutions. Leader has small inner circle built on trust. Narrow group of beneficiaries. He rotates personnel to prevent alternative centers of power. Examples: Trujillo in Dominican Republic (1930-1961); Idi Amin in Uganda (1971-1979).

Modernization theory

Economic development => Social Changes Urbanization; education; expansion of communication/transportation networks; rising wealth levels; increasing complexity and organizational capacity of civil society. These changes culminate in democracy. The path of Western Europe. Notable exceptions: India, Singapore

Adolf Hitler

Hitler, who struggled in obscurity for years, suddenly became an attractive option. Played to grievances and fears, with message of intolerance and hatred. Portrayed Nazis as only party that could stop disintegration of Germany. Had devastatingly effective grass roots operation. Made no secret of desire to end democracy.

Electoral formula

How votes in a district are converted into a distribution of seats. Majoritarian: the party winning a majority of votes wins all seats. Plurality: the party winning the most votes wins all seats.

Does the absence (or slow progress) of democracy in China and the Middle East suggest support for Huntington's "World Religions" theory?

Huntington's world religion theory: Democracy requires commitment to liberal norms and values. Some "world cultures" are predisposed against liberal norms and values. Where these world cultures dominate, consolidated democracy is less likely - Thus, Huntington and others argue, consolidated democracy requires a firm foundation of liberal beliefs and norms. You have to have liberals before you have democrats. *** Some "world cultures" (by which he means religions other than Protestant Christianity) are inhospitable to liberal norms and values. Catholicism: hierarchical, not egalitarian. Emphasizes a single notion of what is right and good (delivered by the Pope to the people) rather than toleration of disagreeing viewpoints. Values harmony and consensus over competition. Confucianism: emphasizes groups over individuals, hierarchy and authority over individual liberty, responsibility over rights, harmony over disagreement. Merges state and society. Islam: rejects distinction between religion and state. In contrast, Protestant Christianity advocated separation of church and state, opposed hierarchy of Catholic church, promoted religious freedom and tolerance, and instituted some forms of voting within congregations. Thus, for Huntington, consolidated democracy is unlikely in regions of the world dominated by religions whose traditional norms and values conflict with those of liberalism. Bottom line: successful consolidated democracy is primarily a "Western" and "Northern" phenomenon Nah China is due to other factors and maybe Middle east I don't know counters: Religions are dynamic and adaptive. They evolve away from liberal norms (and vice versa). Huntington ignores some aspects of religions that are very consistent with liberalism. Cooperation may be as important to democracy as competition. Religions that promote this may in their own way foster democracy.

Distributional theories of democratization

It's the distribution of wealth in society, not the level, that shapes the emergence of democracy. (Boix; Acemoglu & Robinson) Basic setup: Rich ruling class, poor disenfranchised class demanding inclusion. - Unequal societies: fight. Rich fear democracy will lead to radical redistribution. Costs too high, opt to fight instead. More equal societies: democratize. Democracy is less likely to lead to radical redistribution, is less threatening and costly than resistance. - Distribution of wealth is particularly consequential when assets cannot be moved.

What are the core qualities of ethnic groups? How much choice is involved in ethnic identity? How is ethnic identity different than class based identities or religious ones?

Liberalism views ethnic identity as morally suspect because it emphasizes individual rights over groups and choice over duty. Ethnicity is temporary (primitive) stage in human development. Will inevitably dissolve through process of economic development and modernization BUT ethnic identities are still alive and well across the globe - primordialism - Ethnic identities activate deep emotional responses. Stimulate primal brain not rational brain. They come first: more fundamental to our core beings than identities that are adopted later. Ethnic group is similar to family and kin. "Blood runs deeper than water.", given at birth cannot change nor escape, essential to core being Fear, hatred, pride. - Participants want to affirm belonging in group, defend group's dignity, prestige, honor because they associate themselves so profoundly with the group. Not about rational self interest of pursuit of strategic goals. Join even if not in self-interest. - ethnic based conflict is inevitable - instrumentalism

authoritarian elections

May hold elections that fail to be fully democratic: Opposition not legal or severely limited Extensive violation of civil rights/political liberties Extensive fraud/violence Elections not regular/suspended/cancelled Not highest offices "Electoral Authoritarianism." Why do it? Is it a good strategy?

Coalition Parliamentary

Multiple parties form cabinet and rule together. Common in multiparty systems.

Civil Society

Non-state movements, organizations and institutions that manifest the interest and will of citizens. Not necessarily effective or civil!

Single Member Plurality (SMP) Rules

Only one candidate per party, so no allocation issue there. Who is party's candidate? No primary: party controls whose name is on the ballot. UK. Primary: a primary is used to determine who will run for the party. US.

Apartheid

Political. Denial of voting rights to black people (80% of population). Economic. 1913 Natives' Land Act; laws creating color bars for jobs, education. Social. Separation of whites and blacks. Blacks to live in separate "homelands." Institutionalized as Apartheid in 1948, with election of National Party. Result: an extremely unequal society based on coerced labor of Africans in an economy of fixed (agriculture, mines) assets.

Duverger's Law and the M+1 Rule

SMP systems tend to produce two parties. PR systems tend to produce more than two parties. Generalized as Cox's M+1 Rule: the number of parties in a district is bounded by district magnitude (M) + 1. M = 1: at most 2 parties. M = 4: at most 5 parties. M = 400: ? Empirically, Duverger's Law/M+1 Rule are well supported (if not deterministic): SMP rules tend to produce fewer parties than PR rules.

Instrumentalism (Constructivism)

Serving as an instrument or means in pursuing a goal. Constructivism: People construct their own understanding of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. Together: identity is constructed as a means to achieve some goal. - Ethnic identities are not different (more emotionally laden) than other types of identity. - Human beings can devolve into an "us-vs-them" mentality about all sorts of trivial divisions. - Human beings have killed each other over many diverse types of identity.

Social Capital

Social capital helps the community overcome collective action problems. Collective action problem: when everyone in a group would be better off if they could cooperate to solve a common problem. But cooperation involves costs, and the rational thing for each individual is to free-ride on the efforts of others. If everyone free-rides, cooperation fails. - Repeated interactions mean free riders are easily identified and punished by withholding future cooperation. Norms of reciprocity: people help each other even without promise of immediate gain. Community cooperates to solve its problems.

Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic was born in 1919, with the defeat of Germany in WWI; it was the first full fledged democratic period in Germany. Collapsed in 1933, when Hitler seized power

Nation

The group of people that commands your loyalty. Can be based on blood/heritage or allegiance to a set of civic ideals. May or may not overlap with states.

Government

The group of people who occupy positions of power (control the state) at any given time. Examples: The Bush Administration (USA) The Hu-Wen Administration (China) The Blair Ministry (Great Britain) Government change: very common, takes many forms.

what is democratic consolidation?

The process of making new democracies secure against the threat of authoritarian regression. A consolidated democracy is one in which authoritarian regression is highly unlikely.

State

The set of permanent or nearly permanent institutions and structures of authority in a particular territory. Courts, legislatures, police, military, tax structure. Has domestic and international faces. State change: very rare. Cataclysmic events.

Regime

The set of rules by which political power is allocated. Two main types: Democracy, Autocracy. Regime change: Democratization (D->A), authoritarian reversion (A->D). More common than state change.

Sincere voting

Voting as an expression of preference without thought to outcome. Vote for the party you like best, regardless of whether it is likely to win seat.

Strategic voting

Voting with goal of influencing outcome. Vote for party you like best from within set with realistic chance of winning seat. psychological justification of Duvergers law Knowledge of the mechanical effect has a big impact on the behavior of voters! This impact, known as the psychological component, operates through a strategic logic of not wanting to waste votes on likely losers. Compounds mechanical effect.

Disproportionality

a large difference (distortion) between percentage votes won and percentage seats captured. Only 1 seat per district, can only go to one party Can create big winners and big losers, especially when first and second placed parties are close in size.

Minority Parliamentary

a minority party forms cabinet and rules alone but depends on support from other parties in parliament to stay in office. Common in multiparty systems.

Liberalism

a system of political beliefs that emerged in Europe in the mid-seventeenth century in response to feudalism. Feudalism: hierarchical, individual dominated by social structure. Liberalism: political philosophy of individualism. Developed by philosophers of the Enlightenment: John Locke, Adam Smith, etc. - Limited government. Protection of individual rights and liberties from the predation of powerful groups and governments. Diversity of viewpoints, competition and disagreement over harmony and consensus. - Tolerance of dissent. Egalitarianism over hierarchy. Separation of church and state, and in general a separate, private realm for society independent of the state. - Historically, liberalism was a precedent to consolidated democracy in Western Europe and the United States. - Egalitarianism => level playing field => more competition. - Tolerance of opposition => more competition - Promotion of individual rights => protection for minorities => majority rule less threatening - Promotion of individual rights => ability to chose free of coercion

Which approach, primordial or constructivist/instrumental, offers the best explanation for the Rwanda genocide?

collective/instrumental

Deadlock

debilitating disagreement between branches that prevents policymaking, shuts down government. Much more likely with divided government. Especially divided government when the president has a hard time building large multiparty coalitions in the legislature.

what are the two components that enable modernization theory

demand and capacity - Economic development increases demand for self-governance and participation in political affairs. Workers are more political than peasants. Educated people have a wider knowledge of the world, appreciate/understand value of democracy more than uneducated people. - Economic development increases capacity for collective action and protest. Improved communication/transportation networks makes it easy to organize people. Development strengthens civil society, which provides organizational muscle for protest. Urban areas are easier to organize than rural ones.

What is democratic consolidation? How is it different from democratic transition? What are the core norms and beliefs of liberalism?

democratic consolidation is the process of making new democracies secure against the threat of authoritarian regression. A consolidated democracy is one in which authoritarian regression is highly unlikely. - modernization theory consolidation: Economic development reduces intensity of political conflict Greater wealth: bigger pie, more for everyone, less conflict. Greater wealth: ability to cushion economic crises, provide a social safety net so downturns are less destabilizing. - Economic development improves capacity for self-governance Education enables informed choices, critical for reasoned voting. Education makes people harder to mislead, less prone to demagogues, etc. ** economic development leads to reduction in intensity of conflict and improved citizenship skills which leads to the consolidation of democracy - democracy is fully entrenched such that citizens and politicians alike find it impossible to imagine life under any other kind of system. Democracy is "the only game in town." Authoritarian reversion is very unlikely. - democratic transition=shift towards democracy, consolidated democracy= protection of democracy core norms and beliefs of liberalism are egalitarianism, protection of individual rights, and tolerance of opposition

Paul von Hindenburg

elected during economic crisis: 1932 Presidential elections. Paul von Hindenburg wins 53% of vote; Adolf Hitler 36.8%. Post-election, renewed instability. In last ditch effort to restore order, Hindenburg appoints Hitler Chancellor in January 1933. Hitler shuts down democracy, Weimar ends.

District and district magnitude

electoral district: geographical unit magnitude: The number of representatives elected from a given district to the same legislative body. Single member districts: one representative elected per district. (UK) Multi-member districts: more than one representative elected per district. (Brazil, SA)

Presidential Democracy

executive branch headed by a president, separation of executive and legislature so separate origin and separate survival - Cabinet selected by president, answers to president. Separate non-overlapping personnel for legislature and executive.

Does social capital promote healthy democracy? Why or why not? Give at least one example from class in which social capital facilitated non-democratic outcomes.

generally yes but the nature of social capital matters not just the level of it - may have facilitated the rise of the Nazi party in Germany

Divided Government

implication of separate origin; one party controls legislature; different party controls executive

Common Origin

one election, for Parliament (the legislature); Parliament selects Prime Minister, PM names Cabinet (executive). No direct election for executive. Government formation is function of elite negotiation. Origin of the executive is the legislature. Cabinet and PM: subset of Parliament.

Majority Rule Parliamentary

one party has a majority in parliament, forms cabinet and rules solo. Most common in two party systems. Power is highly concentrated: "majoritarian." concentrate political power in the hands of a majority. Two party competition => majority party. Single party majority cabinets Works best with alternation of party in power.

Unified Government

same party controls both branches.

Proportional Representation

seats are allocated proportionally according to the percentage of votes won. each party presents a list of candidates for each district in which it runs.

Chinese Communist Party

single party authoritarian regime. China does what it wants

Separate Origin

the legislative and executive branch have separate elections: - Vote for president, vote for member of legislature. - Can be concurrent or non-concurrent - Enables split ticket voting

Closed List Proportional Representation

the list is ranked in the order that the candidates will get seats and this order is fixed by the party.

Electoral system

the set of rules governing how votes get converted into an allocation of political offices (eg "seats" in a legislature).

Interahamwe

trained/armed youth military "those who attack together" - northern Hutu hardliners form these civilian militias

Open List Proportional Representation

voters have choice over the order in which candidates get seats. The rank is not fixed.

Does a correlation between tolerance of opposing viewpoints and democratic consolidation prove that liberalism is a precondition for democracy? Why or why not?

yes because one feature of democracies is competition,