Download Vocabulary- the key to understanding this stuff

Vocabulary- the key to
understanding this stuff
Correlation
An apparent association between certain
factors or variables
 For example, there is a positive correlation
between medical care and life expectancy

Causation
When a change in one variable causes a
change in another variable
 For example, when the temperature drops
below 32 degrees, water freezes

Politics
A struggle for power
 That gives the winners the ability to make
decisions affecting others
 Who gets what, when, and how

Nation
A group of people
 Psychological sense of identity
 Based on cultural, geographic, or linguistic
ties

The State
Institutions, people, and groups
 Have the power to effect
change
 Has monopoly of force
Over territory

Regime
Fundamental
norms and rules
 Established by
administrations
over time

Sovereignty
•A state’s ability to carry out actions independently
Legitimacy
•Generally accepted view that the
government has the right to rule
•Traditional--the right to rule, because “it has
always been that way.”
•Charismatic--rule based on personality
•Rational-legal--based on a widely accepted
system of laws and procedures
Democracy
A system of government where people
choose policymakers in free, regular,
competitive elections
 Illiberal--procedural (holds elections) but
without civil rights and liberties
 Liberal--political competition,
accountability, civil rights and liberties

Institutions

Structures, how they are set up and how
they shape the political decision making
process
–
–
–
–
Executive
Legislative
Judicial
Bureaucracy
FPTP/SMD

First past the post, single member district
– Winner-take-all
– The winner gets the one seat available in an election
(one person is elected to represent each district)
– Plurality –the highest number of votes among
competing candidates
– House of Commons, US Congress
Proportional Representation
Votes for parties, rather than candidates
 Parties are represented in legislature
according to percentage of votes received
 Parties select office holders based on
candidate lists

Corporatism
A system of formal interest-group participation
in the states’ decision-making processes
 Key groups in society-especially business and
labor- should negotiate directly with
government officials to work out the country’s
principal economic and social welfare policies
– When business, labor, and the government
work closely in policymaking
 This limits the influence of
smaller groups

Cooptation
Granting favors in exchange for a benefit
 “Buying off” critics

Cleavages



Factors that separate
groups
Cross-cutting--a division
that includes people with
differences, strengthening
society
Coinciding--a division that
strengthens feelings of
difference and discrepancy,
weakening society
Political Culture
History
 Values
 Beliefs
 Traditions
 Influencing
political behavior

Political Socialization
The means by which citizens learn about
government and the political process
 How people get their ideas about
government and acquire their values about
the political process

Neo liberal Economics


Classical liberal economics- Focus on the free marketstate should strictly be limited
– Few restrictions on business … property rights strictly
guaranteed
Neo liberal economics
– Mixed economy that combines private enterprise and
a large economic role for the state