Shared Flashcard Set

Details

Comparative Politics Midterm 1
Comparative Politics Midterm 1
25
Political Studies
Undergraduate 1
02/14/2010

Additional Political Studies Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Schmitter and Karl definition of democracy
Definition
a system of governance in which rulers are accountable for their actions in the public realm by citizens, acting indirectly through the competition and cooperation of their elected officials
Term
7 elements of Ronald Dahl's "polyarchy"
Definition
1) Decisions about policy are vested in elected officials
2) Frequent and fairly conducted elections
3) right to vote for practically all adults
4) right to run for practically all adults
5) Citizens have rights to express themselves without punishment
6) CItizens have right to seek out alternative sources of information
7) Citizens have right to form relatively independent associations or organizations
Term
Schmitter and Karl "procedural minimum" conditions for democracy
Definition
All 7 of Ronald Dahl's elements of polyarchy plus
1) Elected officials can exercise constitutional powers without subjecting to overriding opposition from unelected officials
2) Must be self-governing (In other words, it must act independently from an overarching political system
Term
11 Ways democracies differ by Schmitter and Karl
Definition
1) Consensus
2) Participation
3) Access
4) Responsiveness
5) Majority rule
6) Parliamentary sovereignty
7) party government
8) Pluralism
9) Federalism
10) Presidentialism
11) Checks and Balances
Term
Schmitter and Karl: 4 Things Democracies are not
Definition
1) Not necessarily more economic efficient
2) Not necessarily more efficient administratively
3) Not likely to appear more orderly or stable than autocracy
Term
Zakaria definition of democracy
Definition
elections must be open and fair, and this requires some protections for freedom of speech and assembly
Term
Research design steps
Definition
1) Define concepts
2) Operationalize concept
3) Use comparative method
Term
Ragin's definition of the comparative method
Definition
the comparison of large macro social units with the goal of explaining and interpreting macrosocial variation
Term
Schmitter and Karl concepts of democracy
Definition
1) public realm
2) citizens
3) competition
4) election
5) majority rule
6) Numbers meet intensities
7) Cooperation
8) Representative
9) Regime
Term
Experimental Method
Definition
Randomize assigns cases to either treatment group or control
Term
Three types of scientific methods
Definition
Experimental, Statistical, Comparative
Term
Statistical Method (2)
Definition
1) Does with math what we do with randomizing in the experimental method
2) Random selection rather than random assignment
Term
deterministic cause
Definition
a cause is truly a cause when the outcome is present if and only if the cause is present
Term
1) Reason in support of probabilistic causation
Definition
1)accounts for measurement error and general random nature of world
Term
Mill's Methods of Agreement (Def, 3 Weaknesses)
Definition
1)if two or more cases have only one circumstance in common, than that circumstance is the cause of the given phenomenon
Weaknesses
1) No variation on dependent variable
2) Chance of reverse causation
3) Doesn't explain multiple causation
Term
Mill's Method of Difference (Def, 1 Strength, Weaknesses)
Definition
1) if two or more cases have nearly every circumstance in common except for one, and experience different outcomes, the circumstance in which they differ is the cause of the variation of outcomes
Strengths
1) if it is known that the outcome occurs after the circumstance, than cause and effect can be satisfied
Weaknesses
1) case selection
2) Reverse causation if order of outcome and circumstance is unknown
3) Multiple causation
Term
Comparative Method is good at (2):
Definition
1) making arguments sensitive to context
2) teasing out causally complex processes
Term
4 Drawbacks of Comparative method
Definition
1) Limited ability to control
2) many variables, few cases
3) hard to generalize
4) measurement problems
Term
Keohane, King, and Verba (KKV) Unified Logic
Definition
Unified Logic of Inference: you collect data points in order to draw generalized conclusions
-We see this in both qualitative and quantitative research
Term
KKV 4 Characteristics of Scientific Research
Definition
1) The goal is inference: to go beyond the particular observations collected
2) the procedures are public: use of explicit public methods to generalize and analyze data
3) The conclusions are uncertain: inference is imperfect
4) The content is the method: methods can be used to study virtually anything
Term
Rationalist Paradigm (1) definition, (2) strengths, (2) weaknesses
Definition
1) based upon the maximization of interests
Strengths
1) clarity of mathematical reasoning
2)) good for looking at static not dynamic level
Weakness
1) anemic view of interests
2) lack of realism
Term
Culturalist paradigm
Definition
1) preferred causal explanation is culture
2) Culuture is defined roughly as a society's ways of life, systems of meaning and values
Strength
1) Provide nuanced and detailed descriptions of particular cases
Weaknesses
1) leads to non-generalizable theories
2) problems with defining culture
3) mechanisms are hard to specify
Term
Structuralist/Institutional Paradigm
Definition
1) draw together long-standing interests in political and social institutions in order to produce interpretive understanding
Weaknesses
1) role of human intention is not factored in
2) too static (How do you explain institutional change
Term
How the paradigm differ in ontology
Definition
1) Rationalists study how actors employ reason
2) culturalists study rules
3) Structuralists explore relations
Term
Schmitter and Karl Two defining features of democracy
Definition
1) contingent consent: elected officials and citizens submit to the rules of democracy
2) unbounded certainty: outcomes of future elections are unclear until they actually occur
Supporting users have an ad free experience!