Chapter 17 Flashcards
(19 cards)
Rule of Law
Set of laws, reflecting broad consensus within society, even bound to most powerful leaders
Dysfunctions in Rule of Law
Political elites may become above the law (e.g. Russia under Putin)
Law could be applied in discriminatory way
Police/Judiciary are overburdened and unable to enforce law effectively
Common Law
Judges base decisions on both written law and past court cases
-Originated in Britain
Code Law
Judges base decisions only on written law
-Originated in ancient Rome and modified by Napoleon
Judicial Review
Ability of judiciaries to decide if a law is constitutional or not
-Invented in the US and spread over past decade
Decentralized Judicial Review
exercised in regular courts
-Typical under common law
Centralized Judicial Review
Exercised in special constitutional court
-Typical under code law
Concrete Judicial Review
Court exercises judicial review in response to particular cases
-Typical under common law
Abstract Judicial Review
Constitutional court considers legislation before it becomes a law
-Mostly under code law
Strong Judicial Review
-US
-Canada
-Germany
-India
Weak Judicial Review
-UK
-New Zealand
-Israel
^no constitution
-Netherlands bans judicial review
Bureaucracy
Set of appointed officials that implement the law as directed by the executives
-most positions are appointed based on merit and credibility except top positions appointed politically
Corruption
When officials use public funds for gain
-called kleptocracies
Clientelism
Occurs when democracy develops before bureaucracy, so that bureaucratic positions are handed out to gain votes
Routes to Modern Democracy
Warfare (China, Prussia/Germany)
-Countries become modern states before developing democracy, due to military competition
-Peaceful Political Reform
Unitary Systems
Central gov has sole constitutional authority
-Like UK and most other countries
Federal Systems
Constitutionally guaranteed division of powers between central and regional governments
Symmetrical Federalism
All sub govs have same relationship to central gov
Asymmetrical Federalism
Different sub govs have distinct relationships to central gov
