● Power & Authority
● House “Freedom Around the World” score/label
● Transparency International
● “Corruption Perceptions Index Score”
● The Fund or Peace “Fragile States Index
● Rule of law v. arbitrary decision
● Degree of transparency
● Control of the media
● Degree/practice of free and fair elections
● Degree of political participation
● Independence of government branches
● Legitimacy & Stability
● Democratization
● Internal/External Forces
● Pluralist or corporatist
● Constitutional
● Methods of Political Analysis
Presidential System
➔ People directly elect their legislatures and their executives (USA).
Parliamentary System
➔ People elect their legislatures who then elect their executives (Great Britain).
Federal System of Government
➔ A system of government where there are multiple levels of government and all of the power is spread out and not in one centralized institution.
Unitary System of Government
➔ A system of government where there is a very strong centralized government that holds most of the power.
Authority
➔ Power that is delegated or vested in one particular state or institution.
Power
➔ The ability to get people or groups of people to do things that they would not normally do.
Authoritarian State
➔ A political system in which a small group of individuals exercises power over the state without being constitutionally responsible to the public.
Political Socialization
➔ The process by which people gain their political views.
Multiparty System
➔ A system of government where there is more than one party, and they compete against each other in elections.
Sovereignty
➔ A government's ability and power to carry out that power.
Transparency
➔ The idea that the people should have access to know everything the government is doing.
Economic Liberalization
➔ The evolution of more economic freedom such as privatization, foreign trade, moving towards a free-market economy, and having less involvement by the government in the economy. The resurgence of capitalism and markets.
Political Liberalization
➔ The evolution of more political freedom so people can elect their own leaders and have more say in the government.
Devolution
➔ Dispersing government power to other levels of the government.
Cleavage
➔ Social divisions. Ex: The Catholics (Ireland) and the Protestants (Rest of UK) in the UK and how what religion you are can affect where you live, what type of job you get, and how much political say you might get.
Welfare State
➔ A state in which basic healthcare, education, and other forms of welfare are provided and create the "safety net."
Liberal Democracy
➔ A form of government where there are civil liberties, rule of law, independent or at least neutral judiciary, open civil society, and civilian control of the military.
Illiberal Democracy
➔ A procedural democracy, with elections, but without real competition, and lacking some civil rights and liberties.
Referendum
➔ A nationwide vote on a particular topic or procedure.
Bicameralism
➔ A legislative branch that has 2 different houses.
Federalism
➔ A form of government where all of the power is not located in one, specific place, but is devolved to many different lower levels of government.
Civil Society
➔ A complex network of voluntary associations, economic groups, religious organizations, and many other kinds of groups that exist independently from the government.
Political Legitimacy
➔ The idea that a government that is in power ought to have that power.
Correlation
➔ Not directly linked.
Causation
➔ Directly linked.
Linkage Institutions
➔ State institutions that are linked to one another.
Supranational Organization
➔ An organization that is composed of many different countries and has some power and authority over them.
Command Economy
➔ An economy where the government controls every aspect of the economy, including all inputs and outputs and the prices of these items.
◆ Example: USSR
Market Economy
➔ An economy that allows private property and ownership, with power distributed mainly amongst the citizens, less so the government.
◆ Example: USA
Democratic Deficit
➔ The lack of intensive public involvement.
Cleavages
➔ Internal divisions that structure societies and may be based on class, ethnicity, religion, or territory.
Coercion
➔ Use of government force to guide citizen behavior and actions; can be as small as a citation and small fine to as large as brute force and violence.
Brute Repression
➔ Use of coercive force by the government to suppress actions the government opposes.
Seperist Movement
➔ When a group’s actions to gain greater autonomy from a government diminishes the sovereignty of that government.
Civil Society
➔ Organizations outside of the state in which people act collectively. Modern civil society created by self constitution, self mobilization, laws, norms, subjective rights.