Exam 2 ( Ch.5 and 6) Ch.5 inquisitive, Chapter 6 NonDemocratic Regimes, Chapter 5 Democratic Regimes

kleptocracy

"Rule by theft," where those in power seek only to drain the state of assets and resources

international relations

-A regionally important state gives funds to a like-minded country's authoritarian leaders to keep them in power.

(OL) Explain Civil rights versus civil liberties.

-Civil rights refer to the promotion of equality; civil liberties refer to the promotion of freedom. Together, these concepts often include the right to practice religion, to speak freely, and to equal treatment under the law, among other rights. - Democracies around the world vary in the number and types of rights emphasized in their constitutions. Some of the rights rest in the individuals, such as the freedom of speech, while other countries place the state as the defender and creator of these rights, such as the right to education. - Liberty is therefore not simply the absence of controls over our scope of action, but also something that must be created, institutionalized, and defended.

(OL) What are characteristics of a democracy?

-Democracy is a political system in which political power is exercised either directly or indirectly by the people. -liberal democracy is a political system that promotes participation (such as voting in elections) and competition (such as between political parties) and emphasizes liberty and civil rights. -Liberal democracy does not require a liberal ideology or a liberal economic system. -early Greek political system of direct democracy provided democracy's foundation of political participation. -Roman Empire emphasized republicanism, which includes the separation of powers (power sharing between institutions) and representation through elected officials. This has become the most prevalent form of democracy in the modern age. -The "modern" era of democracy begins in thirteenth-century England with the Magna Carta. This document provided a basis for a legislature and asserted that all freemen should enjoy the due process before the law, thus setting the stage for the idea of liberty and, later, the United Kingdom's slow transition to democracy. -Modernization approaches argue that as societies become more socially and economically sophisticated, they have a desire for more control over the state, leading to democracy. This approach has fallen out of favor since the 1970s. -Some scholars argue that the concentration of power and wealth matters more than a country's overall wealth. - If relatively few elites control power and wealth, they may act as a barrier to political change. - A flourishing civil society—clubs, organizations, and social connections that exist outside the state—may help foster democracy by encouraging citizen engagement. - International pressure, through direct involvement of foreign governments or through international trade and cultural sharing, may encourage democratization. Countries that are more connected to the global community and have less wealth concentrated in the government may be more susceptible to international pressures favoring democratization. - Finally, some scholars argue that a democracy cannot function unless a country's political culture promotes certain values. -Others argue that political culture does not prevent countries from becoming democracies, but may instead determine the nature of democracy once a country chooses to adopt this system.

Which of the following statements are true about the semi-presidential system?

-It usually features both a president and a prime minister. -It is the least common of the three types of democratic systems.

Which of the following statements are true about judicial review?

-Judicial review allows courts to review the constitutionality of laws and actions of the government. -Many more countries have adopted judicial review in the past 75 years.

(OL) What are Executive, legislative, and judicial variations

-Liberal democracies use one of two electoral systems: plurality or majority systems that use single-member district (SMD), or proportional representation (PR). - In an SMD system, each constituency is allocated one seat in the legislature and the candidate or party who wins the most votes (or a majority of votes, depending on the system) in that district wins the seat. Variants of SMD systems include first past the post (or plurality) systems and majority (also known as runoff) systems. o In plurality systems, the candidate with the most votes wins. - In majority systems, the winning candidate must win a majority of the votes. If no candidate does this in the first election, the top two candidates must win a majority in a second "runoff" election. o Due to their winner-take-all nature, SMD systems tend to favor large parties and marginalize or eliminate small parties. In addition, because voters are choosing one candidate to represent their district, national politics may be driven by local rather than national interests. o PR systems use multimember districts (MMDs), and seats in the legislature are allocated according to the proportion of votes the party receives. - The size of each district may vary greatly from one PR system to the next. -PR makes it easier for smaller parties to gain representation (fewer votes are wasted because seats are given to a party based on the number of votes they received whether they win or not). -Party discipline and ideology are often more pronounced in a PR system. o Some countries use a mixed electoral system of PR (people vote for a party) and SMD (people also vote for an individual candidate) to try to balance the benefits and tradeoffs of these two systems.

Which of the following are true about populism?

-Most populist movements are based on the idea that elites do not represent the will of the people. -Populists tend to be anti-institutional.

(OL) · What type of democracy (obviously you need to know the variations) is the best for a diverse population? What about a non-diverse population? Does the population matter in this?

-Parliamentary systems are found in the majority of democracies around the world. They display two key elements: 1) prime ministers and their cabinets are often members of the legislature; and 2) the legislature elects, and removes (when it holds a vote of no confidence), the prime minister from office. o In presidential systems, the people select the president, and the president is usually both the head of state and the head of government. -In this system, the president can choose the cabinet, which may be made up of people from within and outside the legislature. There are greater checks and balances in a presidential system than in a parliamentary system. o In a semi-presidential system, the executive is separate from the legislature, but executive powers are shared between the president and prime minister. Developed in France, this system has also been adopted in some parts of the former Soviet Union (such as Russia) and parts of Asia and Africa. - Parliamentary, Presidential, and Semi-Presidential Systems: Benefits and Drawbacks o Some scholars argue that parliamentary systems make for better democracy since the close relationship between the legislature and the executive in a parliamentary system leads to greater efficiency. In addition, the prime minister may be easily removed by the legislature. -Critics point out that adopting this system may result in a loss of public oversight over the executive and the passing of legislation. o Presidential systems allow the public to directly select their executive. However, the stronger checks and balances between the executive and legislature in a presidential system can make passing legislation more difficult. Presidencies may also provoke more conflict, as they are "zero-sum" offices, where power is not shared. Finally, even if a president loses the confidence of the public, he or she cannot be replaced except through new elections, making these systems inflexible. - While semi-presidential systems may look like the "best of both worlds," conflicts can arise between presidents and prime ministers, and power can become overly concentrated in the executive. In some cases, this type of system has become a platform from which democracy has been dismantled.

modernization

-Rapid urbanization in a democracy creates unrest and allows the military to launch a successful coup.

Why does it matter that presidents are elected separately from the legislature in presidential systems?

-The president is an important national symbol because they are both head of state and head of the government. -The president is not directly beholden to the legislature, as prime ministers often are. -Presidents have popular legitimacy by being directly elected by the people.

What roles do political parties serve in democracies?

-They help establish the means by which the majority can rule. -They allow the public to hold politicians accountable.

Elites

-Those in a country whose wealth depends on the country's diamond mines use that wealth to buy off support and keep themselves in power.

What are the two kinds of basic rights that democratic constitutions tend to include?

-civil liberties -civil rights

A __________ is a geographic area an elected official represents. If only one elected official represents this area, it is a___________ . If more than one official represents the area, it is a _______________

-constituency -single-member district -multimember district.

Some states have struggled to establish democracy because of the legacy of their time as imperial territories. This is most consistent with which explanation for the persistence of nondemocratic regimes?

-international relations

(OL) What are characteristics of a non-democracy?

-non-democratic regimes are those controlled by a small group of individuals who exercise power over the state without being constitutionally responsible to the public. We also sometimes use the term authoritarianism to refer to these states. -Nondemocratic regimes restrict individual freedom, though their relationship with equality is less clear. Some strive to provide social and economic equality, while others value neither freedom nor equality. o In regards to ideology, some non-democracies are highly ideological; others reject ideology and simply pursue power for the state or its leader.

Which of the following are part of the definition of liberal democracy?

-participation -liberty -competition

Imagine that the legislature of a country puts a new policy on a tax increase to a national vote. This is an example of a _____________. If instead, the policy ended up on the ballot because a coalition of interest groups got enough citizens to sign a petition asking for the policy to be voted on, then we call it an ________________.

-referendum -initiative

(OL) What are electoral Systems?

-some democracies, policy can be set through elections by the use of the referendum, in which a policy is placed on the ballot and voted on by the people) and initiative (where people gather signatures in order to place a policy on the ballot for a vote). o While this expands the participation in the policy process, some analysts argue that voters are not equipped to decide on complex public policies.

Sort the following into whether they are truer of corporatism or clientelism.

-uses organized groups to co-opt the public -approves a single labor union to represent all labor in the country -gives the public limited say in the regime through approved organizational channels

If a prime minister loses the support of their own party in the legislature, they might be subject to

-vote of no confidence

0

1

(OL) · How/why do certain countries become democracies? Or stay non-democracies?

1. Modernization 2. Elites 3. Interest groups 4. Civil society 5. International actors 6. Political Culture

(OL) Direct Democracy

A form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives

constituency

A geographical area that an elected official represents

corporatism

A method of co-optation whereby authoritarian systems create or sanction a limited number of organizations to represent the interests of the public and restrict those not set up or approved by the state

referendum

A national vote called by a government to address a specific proposal, often a change to the constitution

initiative

A national vote called by members of the public to address a specific proposal

Theocracy

A nondemocratic form of rule where religion is the foundation for the regime

totalitarianism

A nondemocratic regime that is highly centralized, possessing some form of strong ideology that seeks to transform and absorb fundamental aspects of state, society, and the economy, using a wide array of institutions

nondemocratic regime

A political regime that is controlled by a small group of individuals who exercise power over the state without being constitutionally responsible to the public

authoritarianism

A political system in which a small group of individuals exercises power over the state without being constitutionally responsible to the public

democracy

A political system in which political power is exercised either directly or indirectly by the people

unicameral system

A political system in which the legislature comprises one house

bicameral system

A political system in which the legislature comprises two houses

parliamentary system

A political system in which the roles of head of state and head of government are assigned to separate executive offices

presidential system

A political system in which the roles of head of state and head of government are combined in one executive office

liberal democracy

A political system that promotes participation, competition, and liberty and emphasizes individual freedom and civil rights

Populism

A political view that does not have a consistent ideological foundation, but that emphasizes hostility toward elites and established state and economic institutions and favors greater power in the hands of the public

rent seeking

A process in which political leaders essentially rent out parts of the state to their patrons, who as a result control public goods that would otherwise be distributed in a nonpolitical manner

clientelism

A process whereby the state co-opts members of the public by providing specific benefits or favors to a single person or a small group in return for public support

illiberal regime

A regime where democratic institutions that rest on the rule of law are weakly institutionalized and poorly respected

electoral system

A set of rules that govern how votes are cast, counted, and translated into seats in a legislature

rule of law

A system in which all individuals and groups, including those in government, are subject to the law, irrespective of their power or authority

bureaucratic authoritarianism

A system in which the state bureaucracy and the military share a belief that a technocratic leadership, focused on rational, objective, and technical expertise, can solve the problems of the country without public participation

Patrimonialism

An arrangement whereby a ruler depends on a collection of supporters within the state who gain direct benefits in return for enforcing the ruler's will

multimember district

An electoral district with more than one seat

single-member district

An electoral district with one seat

first past the post

An electoral system in which individual candidates compete in single-member districts; voters choose between candidates, and the candidate with the largest share of the vote wins the seat

proportional representation

An electoral system in which political parties compete in multimember districts; voters choose between parties, and the seats in the district are awarded proportionally according to the results of the vote

mixed electoral system

An electoral system that uses a combination of single-member districts and proportional representation

Semipresidential system

An executive system that divides power between two strong executives, a president and a prime minister

semi-presidential system

An executive system that divides power between two strong executives, a president and a prime minister

In,_______, the people had the ability to control the government by making governmental decisions directly, whereas Rome introduced the idea of________________, in people elect officials to make decisions on their behalf.

Athens, republicanism

Indirect democracy

Democracy in which representatives of the public are responsible for government decision making

Direct democracy

Democracy that allows the public to participate directly in government decision making

republicanism

Indirect democracy that emphasizes the separation of powers within a state and the representation of the public through elected officials

civil rights

Individual rights regarding equality that are created by the constitution and the political regime

civil liberties

Individual rights regarding freedom that are created by the constitution and the political regime

abstract review

Judicial review that allows the constitutional court to rule on questions that do not arise from actual legal disputes

concrete review

Judicial review that allows the constitutional court to rule on the basis of actual legal disputes brought before it

One-party rule

One party monopolizes power with other parties banned are excluded from power. (commonly associated with totalitarianism) Large party membership helps mobilize support and maintain public control often in return for political or economic benefits.

civil society

Organizations outside of the state that help people define and advance their own interests

Personality cult

Promotion of the image of an authoritarian leader not merely as a political figure but as someone who embodies the spirit of the nation and possesses endowments of wisdom and strength far beyond those of the average individual and is thus portrayed in a quasi-religious manner

This kind of electoral system involves voters voting for parties rather than for individual candidates. The seats in the district or legislature are awarded based on the percentage of the vote each party receives?

Proportional representation

Personal/monarchical rule

Rule by a single leader, with no clear regime or rules constraining that leadership

Illiberal or hybrid regime

Rule by an elected leadership through procedures of questionable democratic legitimacy

legislature

The branch of government charged with making laws

executive

The branch of government that carries out the laws and policies of a state

separation of powers

The clear division of power among different branches of government and the provision that specific branches may check the power of other branches

head of government

The executive role that deals with the everyday tasks of running the state, such as formulating and executing policy

head of state

The executive role that symbolizes and represents the people both nationally and internationally

constitutional court

The highest judicial body in a political system that decides whether laws and policies violate the constitution

judicial review

The mechanism by which courts can review the actions of government and overturn those that violate the constitution

resource curse

Theory of development in which the existence of natural resources in a given state is a barrier to modernization and democracy

Authoritarian or nondemocratic regimes represent a wide array of systems and, unlike democratic regimes, often bear little resemblance to one another T/F

True

Nondemocratic regimes have declined as a percentage of world governments over the past 40 years. T/F

True

Presidential systems tend to feature a more active judicial branch than do parliamentary systems. t/f

True

Regimes that fall into the resource curse often rely on rent seeking to maintain control. T/F

True

vote of no confidence

Vote taken by a legislature as to whether its members continue to support the current prime minister; depending on the country, a vote of no confidence can force the resignation of the prime minister and/or lead to new parliamentary elections

Coercion

as compelling individuals by threatening their lives or livelihoods; public obedience is enforced through violence and surveillance.

(OL) What are the types of non-democracies?

autocracy, oligarchy, dictatorship, tyranny

Co-optation

members of the public are brought into a beneficial relationship with the state and government, often through corporatism or clientelism.

Imagine a country where there is a constitutional monarch who serves as the ceremonial head of state but does very little else. There is a bicameral legislature, though the upper house has very little authority. The lower house is composed of two larger parties, the leader of which serves as the prime minister. The prime minister and their cabinet hold a tremendous amount of power. This is an example of what system of government?

parliamentary

How votes are cast, counted, and translated into legislative seats is an important component of how _________________ is allocated in a democracy.

political power

Military rule

rule usually through a coup d'etat, wrests power from the government and restricts civil liberties and bans political parties. They maintain control through bureaucratic authoritarianism. They believe technocratic leadership focused on objective, rational and technical expertise can solve the problems of a country without public participation.