Poli 130 Final Review

Presidentialism examples

​1. Separation of powers: president and legislature each directly elected ​​2. Fixed presidential terms in office US, all of Latin America, much of Africa, South Korea, Taiwan

Interhamwe

Definition: young state militia of the MRND associated with ruling party, used to perpetrate violence against Tutsi during Rwandan genocide by organizing local neighborhoods and providing weapons

Parliamentarism examples

1. Executive and legislature fused: prime minister elected/removed by Parliament 2. No fixed terms: prime minister can be removed any time by no confidence vote Most of Europe, Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Israel, India

Instrumentalism (ethnicity)

Definition: A theory of ethnic identity that sees ethnicity as a device that groups or individuals use to unify, organize, and mobilize populations to achieve larger goals Example/Reading: Yang 2000. Rwandan Genocide. Yavi Boni became president of Benin using instrumentalism (emphasized parts of his identity to get votes). Significance: ethnic identities are more stable than instrumentalist theories predict, but are similar to other group memberships, "really" about power/money but disguised by ehtnic identities— ethnic conflict exacerbated by institutional rules and state (in)action

Primordialism vs. constructivism

Definition: A theory of ethnic identity that sees ethnicity as being natural or fixed, as having always existed, and as defined by kinship, language or phenotype vs A theory of ethnic identity that sees ethnicity as being created or constructed through social and political processes Example/Reading: Yang 2000: Theories of Ethnicity Significance: Problems-you can't easily see people's race or ethnicity.

Ethnic entrepreneur

Definition:Manipulating ethnic identity to gain power Example/Reading: Hitler creating an artificaial hatred towards jews to mobilize Germans to the Nazi Cause Significance: element to understanding how power is attempted to be maximized when understanding elements/instruments of ethnic violence

Arusha accords

Arusha accords (1993) Definition: A peace agreement that stated there would be power-sharing of ministerial posts between Hutu and Tutsi; RPF integration of national assembly Example/Reading: Mamdani 2001 Significance: backdrop to genocide

Dual legitimacy

Definition: The idea that a directly elected president can claim legitimacy outside of legislature, although both the president and parliament have legitimate power in a dual legitimacy system Example/Reading: Linz 1990: The perils of presidentialism Significance: Disagreement between the president and the prime minister may cause deadlock, and therefore is known to be a less effective system. Premier presidentialism, where legislature holds slightly more power has been proven to be a more effective system of democracy

Rwandense Patriotic Front (RPF)

Definition: The ruling political party in Rwanda, formerly a nationalist militant group. Ethnically Tutsi and killed many Hutu people Example/Reading: Mamdani 2001

Premier-presidential system

Definition: A type of REGIME where the President may choose the Prime Minister and Parliament but the Parliament must approve and can still remove with a vote of no-confidence (premier-presidentialism -> closer to parliamentarism | whereas | president-parliamentarism -> closer to presidentialism) Example/Reading: Shugart and Carey 1992: Presidents and Assemblies Significance: Categorizations of different regime types allows for comparison between democratic regimes in order to create trends and observe which type of system is most effective. Hybrid regimes such as premier-presidential systems and presidential-parliamentary systems combine elements of parliamentarism and presidentialism Through these trends we have found parliamentarism to be most effective in decision making for a democracy, adn presidential-parliamentarism to be the least effective

Civic community vs "amoral familism"

Definition: Civic community: communities populated with dense civic associations and characterized by high levels of cooperation and civic engagement Example/Reading: Putnam 1994 Significance: Civil community explains why some places perform better than others even if they started under similar conditions (such as 20 regions in Italy). Civil communities develop horizontal links between people, they build more trust, sense of group, and have more social capital. Amoral familism is a counter example of civil community, in those cases, human relations are vertical and institutions are weak because people are not treated equally. People care less about their surrounding people in this case.

The Ustashi in Croatia

Definition: Croatian fascists backed by Nazi Germany after the Germans conquered Yugoslavia; committed mass murder of Serbs and Jews during the war; ultra nationalistic facist sect in croatia/the yugoslavia Example/Reading: Gagnon- Serbia's Road to War 1994

Hutu Power

Definition: Decolonization process: National liberation struggles as "democratic" & power handover to native majority - Reclaiming superiority: Based on original inhabitants of Rwanda & focused on Tutsi as foreign invaders - Resurgent communal conflicts: Hutu vs. Tutsi violence & forced exile of Tutsi Example/Reading: Mamdani 2001 Significance: Following Rwandan independence, Rwanda became a democracy. Since Hutu were the ethnic majority, they were appointed to all administrative, military and political positions. They confiscated Tutsi land and killed/displaced 160,000 Tutsi

Segmented autonomy

Definition: Delegation of personal status code to individual communities Example/Reading: Lebanon Significance: Since political/public posts are predetermined to specific ethnicities, not all people have the equal access to political participation. This may elevate ethnic conflicts and fragmentalize the society. (Another example could be Bosnia's rotating government).

Democratic deconsolidation

Definition: The gradual erosion of democratic norms, support, practices and/or institutions in an otherwise established a long-standing democracy. Example/Reading: in 2016, the public approval for congress stood at 13% Significance: the degree of popular support for a democracy has an effect on its legitimacy

Centripetalism

Definition: A centripetal political system or strategy is designed to focus competition at the moderate center rather than the extremes by making politicians do more than just shop for votes in their own community. Example/Reading: Reilly 2002 Significance: a strategy for reducing conflict in divided societies by incentivizing moderation and cross-group alliances while depoliticizing social cleavages

Ahmedbad

Definition: A city in India that is home to a lot of ethnic conflict between the Hindu and Muslim populations in India. Muslims and Hindus live very separated lifestyles in Ahmedabad, which could be tied to higher rates of ethnic violence in the city. Example/Reading: Varshney 2001, Ethnic Conflict and Civil Society: India and Beyond Significance: Was compared to Surat, a city in the same ethnic region of Gujarat, and the same history as Ahmedabad, yet has significantly less ethnic violence. Comparison of the two cities is used to explain the factors that lead to ethnic violence, which in this case stems from intracommunal civic societies

Consociationalism

Definition: A form of government which seeks to regulate the sharing of power in a state that compromises diverse societies by allocating these groups' specific representation in the political system. Example/Reading: Lebanon. Shi'a speaker of the house and Sunni prime minister Significance: Aims to distribute power among ethnic groups to defuse tensions

Nation and nationalism

Definition: A group of people linked by unifying traits and the desire to control a territory that is thought of as the group's national homeland Example/Reading: Yang 2000

Effective number of parties

Definition: A measure that captures both the number and size of parties in a country Example/Reading: Gujarat Significance: Regions w/ highly fractionalized parties where politicians must compete for minority votes will have less violence

Presidential-parliamentary system

Definition: A regime type where the president and the parliament rule together, but the president is responsible for creating the cabinet. This type of regime has been shown to have the worst outcomes Example/Reading: Shugart and Carey 1992: Presidents and Assemblies Significance: Categorizations of different regime types allows for comparison between democratic regimes in order to create trends and observe which type of system is most effective. Hybrid regimes such as premier-presidential systems and presidential-parliamentary systems combine elements of parliamentarism and presidentialism Through these trends we have found parliamentarism to be most effective in decision making for a democracy, and presidential-parliamentarism to be the least effective Note: again, (premier-presidentialism -> closer to parliamentarism | whereas | president-parliamentarism -> closer to presidentialism)

Gujarat

Definition: A region in India with bipolar party competition between the BJP and Congress Party. When BJP is in power, politicians more likely to stoke ethnic tensions, governments less likely to intervene and Hindu-Muslim violence more likely to occur. Example/Reading: This is a case study from Wilkinson, showing regions where there are two parties and no/few minority votes lead to ethnic violence. Significance: Where parties are highly fractionalized and must compete for minority (Muslim) votes politicians do not "play the ethnic card". Relate this electoral explanation for ethnic violence (Wilkinson) to the explanation of civil society groups (Varshney). Civil society networks may facilitate certain types of party systems so Wilkinson and Varshney's arguments may work together.

Democratic erosion

Definition: A slower process where year-by-year some sort of fundamental element of democracy is eroded in some way, this usually leads to a small move away from democracy into a non democracy, usually a hybrid regime. Example/Reading: The United States is the longest standing democracy but in 2020, the US fell below the baseline requirement for democracy for the first time. Nancy Bermeo Week 16 reading on Democratic Backsliding speaks to how democracies can erode and move backwards. Significance: Relates to present day democratic erosion in America.

Democratic breakdown

Definition: A state that fully switches from a democratic regime to one that is fully autocratic, usually as the result of a coup d' etat. Example/Reading: Turkey was a democracy in the 1980s up until 2013 where the president began ruling by executive decree. Significance: This is much rarer than democratic erosion, and while it's more immediate, it produces greater instability for the incoming regime.

Ubureetwa

Definition: A system of forced labor, performed as a "payment" for living on a chieftains land Example/Reading: The origins of Hutu and Tutsi- Mamdani 2001 Significance: System in Rwanda where ethnic division was politicized through pre-colonial practices

Preferential voting

Definition: A system that allows voters to rank order candidates Example/Reading: Reilly 2002/Australian voter ballots Significance: Ensures politicians are being elected with complete majority

Lebanese civil war

Definition: Followed the misrepresentation of ethnicities in the government. Lasted from 1975 to 1990. Was a religious conflict between Christians and the PLO, Sunni Muslims and Shi'a Muslims. After war equal seats were given in Parliament to Christians and Muslims Example/Reading: Howard 2012 Significance: Conflict arises because Lebanon's demographics composition changed, but the senate seat proportion remained the same (based on original ethnicity composition). Parties are formed according to ethnicity classifications, no multi-ethnicity party forms. This proves segmented anatomy worsen civil division.

Franjo Tudjman (Croatia)

Definition: Former president of now Croatia, a country where serbs were persecuted by the nationalist party in a conflict in Yugoslavia that eventually resulted in the splitting of the state. Credited with leading his country to independence from Yugoslavia. Example/Reading: Gagnon 1994

Cohabitation

Definition: In a semi-presidential system when the elected president is from one party, and the prime minister is from another. This can lead to deadlock if they disagree Example/Reading: In France, Francois Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac had different approaches on how to resolve economic issues, and ultimately Mitterrand was voted out of office Significance: Cohabitation can be the result of a semi-presidential system, which tends to be inefficient in passing laws as it often leads to deadlock. Through these trends we can measure the efficiency of each type of democratic system, and conclude through which system is a democracy most likely to survive

Vote of no confidence

Definition: In parliamentarism, if parliament decides that a prime minister is no longer fit for office, they may hold a vote to have the prime minister removed before the term is over Example/Reading: In 1979, a vote of no confidence was used in the UK to remove James Callaghan from his position as Prime Minister Significance: If a prime minister loses a no-confidence vote, the entire government, including himself, must resign. When this takes place, it shows that the citizens have lost trust in the current government and that there are internal party splits leading to some members of the ruling party voting against its leaders

Vote of confidence

Definition: In parliamentarism, the prime minister may initiate a legislature vote on whether the prime minister should stay in office Example/Reading: Shugart and Carey 1992: Presidents and Assemblies Significance: In parliamentarism, vote of confidence is a good way to test the efficiency and the popularity of a prime minister, and whether the legislature thinks they are doing a good enough job to stay in power. Vote of confidence can ratify executive power through legislative merit

Intercommunal vs. intercommunal civic associations

Definition: Intercommunal civic associations is a society where two ethnic groups often interact, and therefore tend to have less ethnic violence. Intracommunal civil associations is a society where the two prominent ethnic groups rarely interact, and live very isolated from one another. These areas are more likely to have ethnic violence. Example/Reading: Surat is an example of intercommunal civic associations and Ahmedabad is an example of intra communal. Significance: These two categorizations are used to differentiate between social lifestyles of societies that have two or more ethnic groups residing within them. Using such categorizations allows us to compare and conclude which is more likely to experience high rates of ethnic violence and therefore what factors lead to ethnic violence.

Populist leader

Definition: Leaders who claim to support democracy, by raising a campaign where they represent the people against the political elite. They claim to be on the side of the common folk, against political elites, and they promote a Manichean view of politics while doing so. Example/Reading: Viktor Orban, Prime minister of Hungary promoted the idea that democracy does not necessarily have to be liberal. He promoted a Christian democracy, and therefore only protected those who hold Christian values, against the established elite that wanted to promote atypical social values that are not necessarily Christian. Significance: As populist leaders tend to overstay their terms, and become anti-democratic, they are an example of what might be leading to the global trend of democratic deconsolidation, and they provide an answer for the question "Why do democracies die?"

Congress party

Definition: One of the two major parties in India. Basically all Hindu → facilitated riots Example/Reading:Varshney-Ethnic Conflict and Civil Society: India and Beyond Significance: Goes back to idea of civil society's role in political success or failure

BJP

Definition: One of the two major parties in India. Bharatiya Janata party, congress party ruled India until 1990's, wanted election, wanted to unite government and Hindu religion Example/Reading: Current prime minister Modi is a member of the BJP, the party benefits from areas that are less representative Significance: BJP is intentionally inflicting ethnic conflicts between Hindu and Muslim in order to gain and remain in power. This is an example of Instrumentalism explanation of ethnicity.

Plurality/majoritarian versus proportional representation systems

Definition: Reps chosen by plurality/majority rule are chosen by widest range of people, where proportional representation systems have representatives based off of different ethnic groups proportional to their populations Example/Reading: Shugart and Carey 1992 Significance: Plurality promotes parties with more centrist ideas whereas proportional representation increases representation for minorities

Duverger's Law

Definition: Single member districts that use plurality for elections tend to produce a two-party system Example/Reading: The mechanical effect of Duverger's Law in majoritarian rules systems is that the parties want to move to the center to capture the median voters Significance: Makes more centrist parties in plurality/majoritarian systems so it reduces the influence of extremist parties

Weimar Republic

Definition: The German government from 1919-1933 following WWI. Germans hated the Weimar Republic because they felt their country had received a "harsh deal" in the Treaty of Versailles. The unpopularity of this government allowed Hitler to take over. Example/Reading: Berman 1997 Significance: The example of Weimar Germany demonstrated how a civil society does not always have a positive effect on democracy. High levels of association and poor government/ institutional cohesiveness results in fragmented society. This proves weak institutions, instead of weak civil society, are responsible for instability.

Krajina

Definition: underdeveloped region of Croatia; Serb majority (62%); contained only 30 % of Croatia's total Serb population Example/Reading: Gagnon 1994

Hutu and Tutsi

Definition: Two major ethnic groups in Rwanda. The Tutsi were a minority, but they were favored by the Belgians. After Rawandan independence, the Hutu group came to power and persecuted the Tutis, raising ethnic violence in Rawandan, and Tutsi genocide. Example/Reading: The origins of Hutu and Tutsi- Mamdani 2001 Significance: The Rawandan Tutsi genocide provides an example of how ethnic violence can start, and what factors tend to lead to ethnic violence. In this case, poorly drawn state lines by colonizers from pre-colonization of Rwanda included two ethnic groups, and therefore increased chances of ethnic violence. Favorable treatment of the Tutsis by the Belgians also led to resentment from the Hutu group.

Single transferable vote

Definition: Voters rank candidates in order of preference on the ballot. The count begins by determining the "quota" of votes required to elect a single candidate. Any candidate who has more first preferences than the quota is immediately elected. If no one has achieved the quota, the candidate with the lowest number of first preferences is eliminated, and his or her second and later preferences are redistributed to the candidates left in the race. Example/Reading: Reilly 2002 Significance: This is significant because it allows electors to rank candidates according to their preference. This therefore encourages politicians to capiang for second choice votes in addition to first choice votes in divided societies.

Slobodan Milosevic (Serbia)

Definition: Was president of Yugoslavia. Previously president of Serbia. Example/Reading: ​​Milosevic's 1987 speech in Kosovo Significance: Instigated the start of ethnic violence in Yugoslavia by building upon ethnic tension and siding with Serbians.

Josip Broz Tito

Definition: Yugoslavia president until his death in 1980 Example/Reading: Yugoslavia Communist Period Significance: Charismatic president that used fear and force to implement communism. This limited nationalist parties divided by ethnic groups which helped maintain an autocratic regime. However after his death, the state went into anarchy

Ethnic group

Definition: a group of people who see themselves as united based on a shared belief in a common ancestry and common ascriptive traits (race, language, religion, region) Example/Reading: Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda Significance:ethnicity and ethnic conflicts have many implications for political environments

Uncivil society

Definition: a set of associations within civil society that challenge liberal democratic values by promoting exclusivist ideologies, predatory practices or violence (vs civil society: the sphere of organized, non-governmental, non-violent associations that exist outside of the state, market, and family) Example/Reading: mafia/ criminal groups, gangs, extremist groups, fundamental groups and hate groups (example of significance of an uncivil society: Weimar Germany), Berman 1997 Significance: impacts the strength of Democracy (promotes negative values, undermines cooperation across different categories of citizens, promotes violence)

Bridging vs. bonding social capital

Definition: bridging social capital is social capital that links individuals across multiple cleavages or categories of difference; bonding social capital is social capital that exists among individuals within a single, homogenous community Example/Reading: 2014 study from Public Religion Institute in US showed 75% of white americans had no non-white friends (similar stats with political party membership) - the data showed lots of bonds but few bridges in American society Significance: bonds and bridges increase trust is those who are different from us, not having many bridges breeds communities of distrust

President Juvenál Habyarimana

Definition: former president of Rwanda from 1973-1994. Ethnically a Hutu. Was assassinated in 1994 after his plane was shot down. This sparked the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi

Social Capital

Definition: networks of natural trust and reciprocity developed through interpersonal ties. Example/Reading: Putnam 1994, example of better social outcomes in Northern italy as opposed to Southern italy because Northern italians generally had more interpersonal connection and civil group membership. Significance: Putnam noted three main "shifts" which reduced social capital: 1, that individuals/families are less stagnant and therefore form less entrenched social bonds with others, 2, that women entering the workforce left less room for civic engagement, and 3, that technological advancements (especially in entertainment) caused people to engage with one another less. This matters because more social capital is positively correlated with better governance and institutional effectiveness in a given area/state.

Nazi Party (National Socialist German Worker's Party)

Definition: political party of the mass movement known as National Socialism. Under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, the party came to power in Germany in 1933 and governed by totalitarian methods until 1945. Example/Reading: Germany 1933-1945 Significance: The Nazi Party emerged from the extremist German nationalist, racist, and populist paramilitary culture, which fought against the communist uprisings in post-WWI Germany. Upon gaining popularity in Germany, the party began spreading the ideology antisemitism, which was a fundamental cause of the Holocaust.

Lame duck effect

Definition: president or official holding office, but unable to be re-elected will choose to not pass legislation to possible help the opposing party's candidate get the glory from their work Example/Reading: Shugart & Carey reading "Presidents and Assemblies" Significance: considered one of the perils of presidentialism, leads to stagnancy in policymaking at the end of presidential terms

Ethnic security dilemma

Definition: spiraling dynamic in which fear and insecurity regarding another group's intentions leading each side to prepare for ethnic violence; the fact that both major ethnic groups have attempted to capture state power at the expense of the other, resulting in electoral outcomes embedded in zero-sum political games where winner takes all Example/Reading: Week 15 lecture 1, people living in by the former Yugoslavia all fear one another's ethnic groups. As a result, each group arms themselves

Civil Society

Definition: the sphere of organized, non-governmental, non-violent associations that exist outside of the state, market and family Example/Reading: sports teams (bowling leagues, fantasy football leagues), youth groups (girl scouts), hobby groups and labor unions Significance: important for politics for three main reasons: (1) helps citizens transmit interests to state, (2) helps to "check" the state and maintain a balance of power and (3) serves as a "school of democracy" which socializes citizens to engage in civic behavior

Institutional strength vs. enforcement

Institutional stability and institutional enforcement i. High stability - high enforcement: US Constitution ii. High stability - low enforcement: Mexican Constitution iii. Low stability - high enforcement: Madagascar Constitution iv. Low stability - low enforcement: Pakistan Constitution - pre 1985

Rational-choice institutionalism

Institutions as rules to coordinate behaviors and preferences; institutions are only as good as their fuction therefore malfunctioning institutions will be abandoned

Sociological instituitonalism

Institutions as rules to coordinate expectations like moral templates; produced from bound rationality

Historical institutionalism

Institutions as rules to resolve conflicts and solve problems; embedded in socio-political context; may survive despite malfunction or produce unintended consequences

Cabinet instability vs. regime instability

Related to institutionalist approaches to democratization (presidentialism and parliamentarism) Cabinet instability refers to parliamentary system - new prime ministers with a high frequency makes it difficult to govern well, caused collapse of Weimar Republic, but DOES NOT not imply regime instability Regime instability refers to the likelihood that a regime will fall, mitigated by parliamentary system Perhaps the best way to summarize the basic differences between presidential and parliamentary systems is to say that while parliamentarism imparts flexibility to the political process, presidentialism makes it rather rigid. Proponents of presidentialism might reply that this rigidity is an advantage, for it guards against the uncertainty and instability so characteristic of parliamentary politics. A prime minister who becomes embroiled in scandal or loses the allegiance of his party or majority coalition and whose continuance in office might provoke grave turmoil can be much more easily removed than a corrupt or highly unpopular president

Institution

Rules of the game that structure politics; allocate power and resources; shape interests, incentives, strategies, and shape political identities

Surat

Surat Definition: A city in India, in the Gujarat region, that has significantly lower rates of ethnic violence between Hindus and Muslims, compared to similar cities in the region such as Ahmedbad. Surat is a trading city where generally, Hindus and Muslims work in the same environments and have consistent interactions with one another. Example/Reading:Varshney 2001, Ethnic conflict and Civil Society: India and Beyond. Significance: Surat is an example of an intercommunal civil society. When compared to Ahmedabad, a city with identical demographics, we can conclude that Ahmedabad has significantly higher rates of ethnic violence due to the lack of interactions between Hindus and Muslims in the city, and thus being classified as Intra-communal civil society. This comparison is used to explain the factors that tend to lead to ethnic violence.

Informal institution

institution represented by cultures, ethics, and norms; unwritten and unofficial rules

(Robert) Michels' iron law of oligarchy

states that all forms of organization, regardless of how democratic they may be at the start, will eventually and inevitably develop oligarchic tendencies, thus making true democracy practically and theoretically impossible, especially in large groups and complex organizations