AP Comparative Government

N.K. Silverman

GENERAL TERMS

Austerity: Measures taken by the government to reduce spending by the public sector in an attempt to reduce the government deficit
Authoritarian: A system of government based on coercion
Bicameralism: A legislature with two houses
Causation: When a change in one variable causes a change in another variable
Charismatic legitimacy: The right to rule based on the personality of an individual
Civil society: The web of membership in formal and informal social and political groups that are not part of the state apparatus but operate in public, and which some analysts believe is needed to sustain democracy; composed of organizations that are voluntary and autonomous self-governing groups created to advance their own causes
Cleavages: Factors that separate groups
Coinciding cleavage: A division that strengthens feelings of difference and discrepancy, weakening society
Colonialism: The control or governing influence of a nation over a dependent nation, territory, or people
Command economy: A system in which the central power makes all major economic decisions through central planning
Conservatism: An ideology that questions whether change is necessary
Cooptation: Granting special favors in exchange for a benefit. “Buying off” critics.
Corporatism: When groups, such as business and/or labor, work closely with the government in policy-making
Correlation: An apparent connection between variables
Country: The state, government, regime, and people who live in a political system
Coup d’état: a few individuals in the military forces, quickly overthrow the leadership usually leading to military rule
Cross-cutting cleavage: A division that includes people with differences, strengthening society
Democracy: A system of government that allows citizens to choose policy makers in free, competitive elections
Democratization: Transformation process from a non-democratic regime to a procedural democracy to a substantive democracy
Developed countries: Countries with a high standard of living and strong economies
Developing countries: Countries attempting to improve their economic status. Currently with low average income and less sophisticated infrastructure. Might be described as the “third world”
Devolution: decentralization of national/central power to local units of government
Economic liberalization: Less government regulation of the economy and greater participation of private entities
Electoral system: Mechanisms through which votes are cast and tallied, and seats in the legislature are allotted
Empirical statement/question: contain factual or objective statements
Fascist: Authoritarian regimes, such as Hitler’s and Mussolini’s. Totalitarian attempts to impose state control on all aspects of life.
Federal system/federalism: A way of organizing a nation so that two levels of government have formal authority over the same land and people, with shared power between units of government
First-past-the-post, Single member district: Winner-take-all. Whoever wins the most votes gets the one seat available in an election
Gross Domestic Product: The total value of goods and services produced in a country
Globalization: The process of expanding and intensifying the interconnectedness among states, societies, and economies.
Government: Institutions with legitimate authority
Human Development Index: A measure of a country’s standard of living, including health and education
Hybrid regime: has elements of both democracy and authoritarianism
Illiberal democracy: A procedural democracy, with elections, but without real competition, and lacing some civil rights and liberties
Institutions: The executive, legislature, judiciary, and bureaucracy
Legitimacy/Political legitimacy: Generally accepted view that a government has the right to rule
Liberal democracy: A system with political competition, economic freedom, civil rights, and liberties, and open access to information
Liberalism: A political ideology that places high value on political and economic freedom, human needs, and social needs over military needs; an attitude favoring evolutionary transformation of the system
Libertarian: An ideology favoring little government interference in the economy and personal freedoms
Market economy: System where laws of supply and demand determine allocation of resources and private property is encouraged
Marxism: The theory that in a struggle over resources, the elite will dominate. Eventually the proletariat will create a classless state.
Nation: A group of people with a psychological sense of identity based upon cultural, geographic, or linguistic ties
Nationalism: Pride in one’s people, and the belief that they have their own unique political destiny
Neoliberal economics: Reforms that focus on the free market with few restrictions on business and property rights
Normative statement/question: contain subjective or value-related judgments
Parliamentary system: When the executive is part of the legislature
Party system: the system of interactions resulting from inter-party competition; may be classified as one-, two- or multi-party
Pluralism: a theory of government and politics emphasizing that politics is mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies
Political attitude: Views about the policy-making, the government’s role, the pace of change, and freedom and equality
Political culture: The history, values, beliefs, and traditions that influence political behavior
Political economy: The relationship between political and economic systems
Political efficacy: A citizen’s belief that he or she can understand and influence government or political affairs
Political ideology: A set of political beliefs and values about the goals of government
Political liberalization: Increasing citizen rights and liberties and minimizing government supervision of society/individuals
Political socialization: The process by which people form their ideas about politics (political orientation) and acquire their ideas about government
Politics: Who gets what. The process through which people are governed
Purchasing Power Parity: The buying power of income in a country
Presidential System: When the executive is elected separately from the legislature
Privatization: The selling off of state-owned companies
Procedural democracy: A democracy in which citizens have all the symbols or trappings of democratic process, but these symbols or trappings carry far less influence than in traditional democracies
Proportional representation: Votes for parties, rather than candidates. Parties are represented in the legislature according to the percentage of votes received
Public Policy: The decisions made by a state that define what it will do
Radical: Political extremes to the right or left
Rational-legal legitimacy: The right to rule based on a widely accepted system of laws and procedures
Reactionaries: Those who want to restore political, social, and economic institutions that existed in the past
Referendum: National vote by the electorate on an issue referred by the government
Regime: The fundamental norms and rules established by administrations over time
Rentier state: A country that obtains lucrative income by exporting a raw material or leasing out a natural resource to foreign countries
Revolution: The overthrow and replacement of a regime based upon broad popular support
Social democracy: A system with competitive elections and civil rights, coupled with an emphasis on economic equality
Society: A complex human organization with shared institutions
Sovereignty: The ability to carry out actions independent of internal or external forces
State: Institutions, people, and groups that have the power to effect change, including a free monopoly of force
Subnational entities: designated portions of a country, often used for administrative or governmental purposes
Substantive democracy: The electoral process gives all eligible citizens the opportunity to equal participation in truly fair, frequent, and competitive elections; citizens have freedoms and liberties
Supranational organization: an organization that has national governments as members with its own sovereign powers over the member states
Theocracy: A form of government where religion and politics are intertwined
Traditional legitimacy: The right to rule because “it has always been that way”
Transparency: When a government disseminates accurate political and economic information to the public, allows information about government and policy to circulate openly, and allows citizens several points of access for obtaining information about government actions
Under-developed countries: The poorest countries. The bottom 12 (varies). Might be described as the “fourth world”
Unitary system: A system in which all of the power rests with the central government
Welfare state: A state with a set of public policies designed to provide for citizens’ needs through direct or indirect provision of pensions, healthcare, unemployment insurance, and assistance to the poor