Term
| In the film, what foreign agreement forced the Mexican gov't to ammend its constitution so that peasant or communal lands could be bought and sold privately? |
|
Definition
| The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) |
|
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Term
| Define and name one example of Super-nationalism at work. |
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Definition
| Super nationalism includes the efforts of two or more countries who limit their own sovereignty be establishing decision making structures over and above their national gov'ts. An example is the European Union. |
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Term
| What is self-determination? |
|
Definition
| A people who conceive themselves as a distinct nation demand the right to come together and govern themselves with little or no interference by other gov'ts or political forces. |
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Term
| Popular sovereignty implies what two key concepts? |
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Definition
| Participation and accountability. If people are sovereign, they have the right to participate in politics themselves. |
|
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Term
| What requires more participation, direct democracy or representative democracy? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What is a coalition gov't? |
|
Definition
| A coalition gov't consist of two or more parties that agree to share their cabinet posts, usually in order to form a voting majority on the legislature. |
|
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Term
|
Definition
| Shared principles, ideals, or community goals. |
|
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Term
|
Definition
| The expression of a distinct local identity on the part of inhabitants of particular geographic regions within a country. |
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Term
| In order to fulfill their task of ensuring citizen participation and accountability effectively, electoral procedures must meet certain basic criteria, name five of these. |
|
Definition
| Meaningful, competitive, free, secret, fair, frequent, inclusive, or equal. |
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Term
| What does inclusion mean? |
|
Definition
| Democratic rights and freedoms must be for everyone. They may not be denied to specifically targeted elements of the population, such as women or minority groups. |
|
|
Term
| what two principles must democracy incorporate? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Hitler's Nazis and Serbs determined to establish "Greater Serbia" on the basis of ethnic cleansing are examples of what? |
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Definition
| Hyper-nationalism, or extreme nationalism. |
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Term
| In what way could the Zapatista movement been seen as particularly nationalistic? |
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Definition
| The Zapatisitas are the decedents of the Aztecs, and therefore see themselves as true Mexicans. They believe in upholding the farming traditions of their forefathers, which the Mexican gov't is trying to dilute and smother. |
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Term
| What is Compulsive Voting? |
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Definition
| Compulsory voting requires electors to vote in elections or attend a polling place on voting day. If an eligible voter does not attend a polling place, they may be subject to punitive measures such as fines, community service, or perhaps imprisonment if fines are unpaid or community service bot performed. |
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Term
| How does the US system of separation of powers work? |
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Definition
| As the gov'ts power is spread into three branches, Legislative, executive, and judicial, each branch provides checks and balances on each other in order significant to prevent any one branch from gainingpower over another. |
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Term
| What is popular sovereignty? |
|
Definition
| Te idea that the people have the right to determine how they are governed. They have the right to determine what kind of political system the want to have amongst them. |
|
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Term
| What are the two steps that define the principles of a parliamentary gov't? |
|
Definition
1) The people elect the national legislature
2) The national legislature (usually the lower house in bicameral legislatures) elects or approves the gov't. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Love of a country, not tied to a specific course of political action. |
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Term
| What are the three main types of democratic gov'ts? |
|
Definition
| Liberal democracy, social democracy and the people's democracy. |
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Term
| What are three basic principles of democracy and what do they mean? |
|
Definition
1. Rule of law: the power of the stte must be limited by law and no one is above the law
2. principle of inclusion: the democratic rights and freedoms need to be available for everyone.
3. principle of equality: the democratic rights and freedoms must be accorded to everyone on an equal basis. |
|
|
Term
| What is direct democracy? |
|
Definition
| It is a political system in which all citizens are allowed to influence policy be the means of direct vote. |
|
|
Term
| What are anticipated elections aka snap elections? |
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Definition
| Parliamentary elections that take place before the expiration of a legislature's full term. |
|
|
Term
| What characteristics did the Zapatistas use to garner regional support? |
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Definition
| Patriotism, civic identity, and regionalism. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The rule of law is the principle that the power of the state must be limited by the law and that no one is above the law. It is one of the three basic principles of democracy. |
|
|
Term
| In some democracies, governing coalitions fall apart and must be replaced fairly frequently, this is a phenomenon known as... |
|
Definition
| Governmental instability. |
|
|
Term
| When members if the elite ruling party initiate reforms aimed at liberalization and democracy, this is called what? |
|
Definition
| Democratization from above. |
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|
Term
| What does the principle of equity (equality?) demand? |
|
Definition
| It demands that the disadvantaged have the sufficient opportunity to surmount these hurdles and join in the political process with a reasonable chance of success. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| An ombudsman's job is to keep the people happy by investigating citizen complaints about gov't agencies, whether it be large or small problems. |
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Term
| What are the four faces of democracy and what are they? |
|
Definition
1. popular sovereignty:the right for the people to govern themselves
2. rights and liberties: is the notion that there are basic rights that cannot be taken away from people even if the majority of people want it.
3. democratic values: tolerence, fairness, and, compramise.
4. economic democracy: establishes various criteria of fairness or equality, socially and economically. |
|
|
Term
| Why would an organization like PETA be a good example if civil society in action while EPA would not? |
|
Definition
| Civil society refers to the population organized into associations independently of the state and PETA is non-governmental while EPA is gov't run (exec. branch) |
|
|
Term
| Which voting system requires one to have the most votes to win in an election? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What is democracy and how long does it have to be around to be considered long-term? |
|
Definition
| Democracy is a multifaceted concept that includes regular elections, civil liberties, and a host of other elements. 40 years in succession to be considered long term. |
|
|
Term
| What is the differnece between analysis based on interest, analysis based on identities and analysis based on institution? |
|
Definition
Analysis based on interst: what matters most in materil interest of the people.
Analysis based on identities: not the material items that make people want what they want, but more so "who they are" their values, beliefs.
Analysis based on institutions: gives all the power to the larger institutions in the state (US- insurance companies) |
|
|
Term
| How does a federation differ from a unitary state? |
|
Definition
Federation: relatively powerful central gov't but still incorporates legitimate authoritative power in various administrative unities below the national level.
Unitary: almost all power in vested in the national central gov't w/ little or no dispersant of the authority. |
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|
Term
| What does "power"refer to when applied to comparative politics? |
|
Definition
| Power, when used in terms of gov't regimes, is referring to the state's ability and capacity to use, enforce, and construct laws while being the governing authority of the state. |
|
|
Term
| What are some cross-cutting issues? |
|
Definition
| Issues that touch on general principles such as democracy and human rights, good governance, children's rights and the rights of indigenous people, gender equality, a sustainable environment... |
|
|
Term
| What are three things that compromise an state? |
|
Definition
| An executive board, a bureaucracy, and courts. |
|
|
Term
| What is meant by the term "democratic institution"? |
|
Definition
| Authoritative rules which govern how a Democracy operates for example, rules for electing their leaders, rules for channeling the flow of legislation, and for determining whether laws are just or constitutional. |
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Term
| Political Science used to be characterized with a division of labor between comparativists and international-relations specialist. Which type of politics did comparativists and international relations specialist each focus on? |
|
Definition
Comparativists: domestic politics
international relations: foreign politics |
|
|
Term
According to Weber, what are the three ways in which political
leaders have convinced their popularions to accept their authority as
legitimate? Briefly describe each one.
|
|
Definition
The three ways are traditional authority, legal-rational
authority, and charismatic authority. With traditional authority, people accept the existing system because it has been there for a long period of time. With legal-rational authority, rules are established for
determining who has the right to issue governmental commands. With charismatic authority, the leader is perceived by others as “set
apart from ordinary men” and as having “supernatural, superhuman, or
exceptional powers and qualities.” |
|
|
Term
What are failed states unable to do and what causes this?
|
|
Definition
Failed states can no longer perform basic functions such as
education, security, or governance. This can be caused by fractious
violence or extreme poverty, as well as, foreign governments fueling
ethnic warfare or supporting rebel forces. |
|
|
Term
What's the difference between power and influence?
|
|
Definition
Power allows you direct control to cause actions and effect
outcomes,
influence lets you indirectly or partially effect outcomes and actions |
|
|
Term
What is the modernization theory?
|
|
Definition
The theory looks at the internal factors of a country while
assuming that, with assistance, "traditional" countries can be
brought
to development in the same manner more developed countries have.
Modernization theory attempts to identify the social variables which
contribute to social progress and development of societies, and seeks
to explain the process of social evolution. |
|
|
Term
Who were considered the first comparativists and what types of
political orders did they identify?
|
|
Definition
The first comparativists were considered to be Aristotle and
Plato.
The types of types of political orders that they identified within
their world were the oligarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. |
|
|
Term
What are the two dimensions of power?
|
|
Definition
The two dimensions of power of of power are dominance and
influence. |
|
|
Term
What does the politicized ethnicity theory primordialism state?
|
|
Definition
Primordialism states that identity is static and that once an
identity group is established, it will be in conflict with other
identity groups. |
|
|
Term
What is a state and what is a nation?
|
|
Definition
A state is the means of rule over a defined or "sovereign"
territory. A nation is a large group of people with strong bonds of
identity-an "imagined community," a tribe on a grand scale |
|
|
Term
What defining characteristic separates Western democracies like the
US
and Europe from Eastern dictatorships and failed states like in
Africa?
ar or internal coup to
another. |
|
Definition
Peaceful transition of power, the ability of one government to
hand
over the reins of power without a civil w |
|
|
Term
How do authoritarian regimes differ from democracies in terms of
rule of law?
|
|
Definition
In authoritarian regimes, leading government officials place
themselves above the rule of law, and do not always observe legal
limits on making authoritative decisions. In a democracy, the legal
authority of the state is limited by law, and no one is above the law. |
|
|
Term
States and Nations exist and together, "nation-state" is a term
that
implies that the two geographically coincide , from where does a
nation-state derive its political legitimacy?
|
|
Definition
A Nation-state derives its political legitmacy from serving as a
sovereign entity for a nation a sovereign territorial unit, the state
is as well a political and geographical entity. |
|
|
Term
Why did comparative politics develop as a sub discipline in the
United
States after
World War II?
|
|
Definition
At this point in time, Americans found themselves in a position
of leadership, with a need for deep knowledge about a huge number
of countries. |
|
|
Term
What are the most important facts about a country in determining
its
politics?
|
|
Definition
It is not definitive as to whether one thing can be single out,
but comparativests have come to the conclusion that two things are
responsible; Material interest and Value ie Religion and Ethnicity. |
|
|
Term
When talking about Comparative Politics, which may be referred to
by other names when applied to specific fields of study, there are
two
main fields. What are they?
|
|
Definition
Comparative Government - the comparative study of forms of
government.
Comparative Foreign Policy - comparing the foreign policies of
different States in order to establish general empirical connections
between the characteristics of the State and the c |
|
|
Term
In authoritarian regimes who defines the extent of the
state's authority and why are they able to do this?
|
|
Definition
In authoritarian regimes, the leading government officials define
the extent of the state's authority. They are able to do this because
authoritarian regimes are rarely based on the rule of law, therefore
the leading government officials put themselves above the law and
they
do not always observe legal limits on their capacity to make
authoritative decisions |
|
|
Term
What does it mean to stabilize power distributions?
|
|
Definition
Stabilizing power distributions means to arrange the nesting of
powers in such a fashion that if one
power starts to fail, sufficient power resources from elsewhere will
be supplied to shore it up. |
|
|
Term
What are three Theories of Politicized Ethnicity?
|
|
Definition
| Contagion, Ethnic Competition, Political Opportunities. |
|
|
Term
What are the major interests seen in democratic states organized
into?
|
|
Definition
The major interests seen in democratic states are organized into
interest groups, trade unions, social movements, and political
parties |
|
|
Term
What is a government called that is ruled by religious leaders?
|
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The state's capacity to make, implement, and enforce the law. |
|
|
Term
The modern day governments of India, Germany, Russia and the
United States constitute examples of?
|
|
Definition
|
|
Term
What is a political revolution?
|
|
Definition
A time of rapid, often erratic, change in the relative power of
social classes, ethnicities, regions, political parties,
legislatures,
military groups, royal or noble lineages. |
|
|
Term
What attracts people to form a new state in the modern globalizing
world?
|
|
Definition
| Repressive governments, and denying minority populations their rights |
|
|
Term
| Why is it important to study comparative politics? |
|
Definition
| to learn how different gov'ts would work in different parts of the world and to study the processes and outcomes of politics in the specific society? |
|
|
Term
| Compare political theorist and comparitivists |
|
Definition
Political Theorists: study different kinds of political orders primarily to make jusdgemnets about them and to justify what is the "right" kind of gov't.
Comparitivists: strive to explain why and what conditions brought a particular country to form their constitution what caused the gov'ts to become unstable and collapse, and what type of gov't emerged from there. |
|
|
Term
| Why do minority ethnic groups mobilize politically in some countries and during some eras but not in others? |
|
Definition
| political change does not always occur slowly and peacefully. Some of the truly monuments changes in political life in countries throughout the world occur quickly and entail a great deal of violence. |
|
|
Term
| What is modernization theory? |
|
Definition
| The theory that nations of the world grow to become wealthier, industrialized, educated and less bound by unquestioned traditions the also become more democratic. |
|
|
Term
| What were the four orders identified by the greek political theorists Plato and Aristotal? |
|
Definition
1. Aristocracy : rule of the best
2. Oligarchy: rule of the few
3. Democracy: rule of the people
4. Tyranny: rule of the tyrant. |
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