Term
| What are some selfish benefits of leadership? |
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Definition
Kleptocracy: government by thieves
Prebendalism: channeling "fruits" of gvt. to the particular community that go you elected (at the expense of the "general will") |
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Term
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Definition
(1932-1998)
-Studied how societies can be most prosperous.
-From Hobbes; "state of nature" to kelptocracy, not much to operation, gains from specialization. Need to understand power.
Criminal Metaphor- in populous prosperous society, lone criminal is better off. crime decreases the wealth of society
Mafia family- monopolize crime, keep other criminals out but dont steal all that it can. Too much crime makes business less profitable.
Roving vs. Stationary Bandits
Origins of Autocracy-"a bandit leader with sufficient strength to control and hold a territory has an incentive to settle down, wear a crown, and provide a public good-providing autocrat" |
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Term
| Why democracy rather than autocracy? |
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Definition
It has the same interest in prosperity and reaping, however "majorities" also benefit directly from the market income of society.
Majority maximizes total income through lower tax rate and smaller redistribution to itself than an autocrat. |
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Term
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Definition
Utilitarianism- the moral worth of any action is solely determined by its contribution to overall utility. (greatest happiness to the greatest number of people)
pannomion- a complete utilitarian code of law
Panoptic prison- cells built around center tower so guards can see every aspect of every cell, tower has mirrored windows, greatest deal of enforcement by greatest number of guards (utilitarianism?), fear that deviant behavior might be seen--prisoners serve as their own guards |
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Term
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Definition
(1926-1984)
-panoptic means controlling behavior
-analogy between how prison guards can control hundreds to how government controls societies
-fear of getting caught leads to self policing
-government maintains order and control even over a country full of people who despise them
"Big Brother" is watching you |
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Term
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Definition
1906-1975
How were Hitler and Stalin able to control?
Atomization through fear
-prevents people from trusting one another, stops bonding and coordination |
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Term
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Definition
having people police each other
-secret police, atomization, presumption of guilt
-seattle carpool lanes
-churches policing adult bookstores |
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Term
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Definition
Hiding-away the way you truly feel while publicly expressing what those in power want to see and hear
-make it illegal to express dissatisfaction
-encourage others to echo leaders preferences |
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Term
| What is the democratic procedure for channeling contention and conflict? |
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Definition
-legitimate and constructive rather than destructive outcomes
1. conflict promotes group self-identification by identification with those who are not part of the group
2. within group conflict acts as a safety valve (allows frustrations to be vented)
3. cross cutting cleavages (dimensions of differences) within group (ethnicity, religion, class ideology)
more cleavages, more division |
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Term
| What are political structures, give examples. |
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Definition
generic framework that provides basic funcitons governments need to perform
-determine, enable, and limit basic form functions of government
-political institutions: specific organizational structures through which political power is exercised to carry out specific government functions
e.x
structure=legislature institution=House of rep's
structure=judiciary institution= US supreme court |
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Term
| What is the importance of institutions? |
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Definition
product of social and governmental action
shape subsequent political activities
"human beings are the products of the societies they create" |
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Term
| What are Aristotle's 6 basic government types? |
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Definition
Good
-monarchy
-aristocracy
-polity
Bad
-dictatorship
-oligarchy
-democracy |
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Term
| What are the advantages of single authority forms of government? |
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Definition
Monarchy/Dictatorship
+Ease of Quick decision-making (crisis, war...)
+National symbol; enhances national unity
-Question means of acquiring power; limit its exercise
-Downside: "Violence inherent in the system;" repression |
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Term
| What does a delegate functions do? |
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Definition
-tries to do exactly what constituency wants
Is that always possible? |
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Term
| What is the purpose of a trustee? |
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Definition
-selected by constituency as a political expert
-trust expertise and experience to do what is right (and get reelected!) |
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Term
| What is are the differences between parliamentary and presidential systems? |
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Definition
parliamentary
1. Fusion of executive & legislative powers
2. Prime Minister as head of executive branch is also a member of the parliament (MP)
3. High Accountability
a. If something goes wrong, no question as to who is to blame: the ruling party!
4. High flexibility (policy instability?)
a. One party in charge means dramatic decisions can be made (No gridlock!)
5. High party loyalty
a. All MPs owe seats to the party.
b. Nothing to be gained from being a “maverick”
c. Usually quite effective
6. Can be unstable |
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Term
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Definition
A. Presidential Systems
1. Separation of legislative & executive institutions.
2. Checks & balances so that no branch gets too powerful
3. Executive (president) elected separately from legislators
4. President doesn’t “owe” his power to legislature
a. Tends to be more powerful than legislature
5. Can be difficult to get anything done: gridlock
6. Low accountability: finer-pointing btw. Branches
7. High stability: from routinization |
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Term
| What are the Pros and Cons of proportional representation (PR)? |
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Definition
Cons: too complex, frequently need to rule by coalition, potentially unstable, multiparty coalitions can be less accountable than one-party majorities, lack of clear mandate from electorate, small parties may wield disproprtionate power, diversifying political spectrum increases extremism, undermines geographic representation
Pros: more accurate interest representation, greater representation of women and minorities, no wasted votes, greater party unity, no need spoilers, better more competent candidates |
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Term
| What is the difference between a head of state and a head of government? |
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Definition
State: national symbol, figurehead of the country, can come with little or no political power, adds legitimacy to government
Government: hands on manager of the daily operations of the executive, often head of military, responsible for policy implementation and enforcement |
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Term
| Define the electoral system. |
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Definition
the basic procedural rules by which votes are cast and counted and winners are determined
SMDP
PR |
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Term
| What are the pros and cons of a Single Member District Plurality? |
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Definition
Pros: Ensures geographic diversity
Cons: lack of competitive elections, 90% of incumbents reelected, two party monopoly constrains choices |
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Term
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Definition
the skillful manipulation of voting boundaries to influence political outcomes
tactics
-cracking
-packing |
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Term
| How is the US constitution un-democratic? |
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Definition
| -did not forbid slavery, did not grant sufferage |
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Term
| What are the characteristics of the federal system? |
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Definition
-Same division of power and responsibilities between national and local governmental units
-tend to have a bicameral legislature |
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Term
| Describe some characteristics of the Confederation system. |
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Definition
Local governments have the real power, sovereignty
-they can leave when they dont like something
-too difficult to get necessary things done
-as a result, confederacies are exceedingly rare, or fail |
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Term
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Definition
SMDP systems tend to create two-party systems
-single party more often controls both executive and legislature
PR systems tend to create multi-party systems
-likely to require coalition gvt. of two or more parties |
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Term
| What are some other governmental arrangements? |
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Definition
Split System- half of members from SMDP, half from party-list PR
Multi-Member Districts (MMD)- larger districts, multiple candidates, smaller parties have a chance!
Preferential Voting- rank preferred candidates, too complex
Progressive Elimination- Flavor of Love |
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Term
| What was Arrow's Theorem? |
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Definition
Elections cannot be the perfect means of making collective decisions, because how you tally the votes can alter the outcome, even when they are counted fairly.
-There is no way to guarantee the outcome reflects "true will" of majority
class example showed 3 different ways of voting and three different winners |
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Term
| Economic Theory of Democracy. |
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Definition
-both parties attempt to appeal to the median voter
proves their is some benefit in organizing voter preferences along a left-right spectrum
-assumes bell curve to represent voting tendencies with most a moderates
demonstrates how and extreme candidate can win if there are multiple moderate candidates |
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Term
| Discuss Direct Democracy. |
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Definition
everyone votes on every bill passed
-Athens was small enough to make it work.
republic is necessary where government decisions are made by representatives rather than citizens
Referenda-questions legislatures put on ballots to let people decide
Initiative- questions citizens put on the ballot through petitions
Problems- inability of masses to study up on all policy matters, leads to bad policy choices |
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Term
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Definition
A distinctive form of social authority w/ own logic, proclivities
They exercise power through ability to make impersonal rules, which are used to constitute and construct the social world
1. rules prescribe action both inside and outside bureaucracy
2. rules shape how bureaucrats see the world, frame problems
3. bureaucrats use their rules to shape the social world in ways that make it easy for them to intervene
autonomy- some independence from citizens
authority- legitimate expertise based on rationalism, rules, resources and information |
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Term
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Definition
"the system of empirical beliefs, expressive symbols, and values, which defines the situation in which political action take place"
Shared- a. religious culture b. practices traditions c. implicit and explicit beliefs
two societies outwardly similar, differences in culture can impede communication and understanding
Consequences: differences in broadcast standards? (sexual, racial, violence content) |
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