Chapter 6

Question 1

Policy making

Answer 1

the pivotal stage in the political process, the point at which bills become law or rulers issue their edicts

Question 2

rule of law

Answer 2

This means that government should take no action that has not been authorized by law and that citizens can be punished only for actions that violate the law.

Question 3

constitution

Answer 3

contains a set of decision rules—the basic rules governing how decisions are made.

Question 4

egalitarian

Answer 4

so that each member has the same voting power—simply speaking, one person, one vote.

Question 5

hierarchical

Answer 5

Everybody is supposed to defer to his or her superior. In a pure hierarchy, only the vote of the person at the very top counts. Hierarchical decision making makes it easy to respond quickly in an emergency, but few interests or ideas may be taken into account.

Question 6

democracy

Answer 6

government by the people. ” In small political systems, such as local communities, “the people” may share directly in debating, deciding, and implementing public policy. In large political systems, such as contemporary states, democracy must be achieved largely through indirect participation in policymaking. Policymaking power is delegated to officials chosen by the people

Question 7

authoritarian

Answer 7

non democratic political systems. There are many forms of authoritarianism. Authoritarian policymakers may be chosen by military councils, hereditary families, dominant political parties, or in other ways. Citizens are either ignored or pressed into symbolic assent to the government’s choices.

Question 8

basic decision rules of political systems

Answer 8

1. The separation of powers among different branches of government.
2. The geographic distribution of authority between the central (national) government and lower levels, such as states, provinces, or municipalities.
3. Limitations on government authority.

Question 9

separation of power

Answer 9

Separation of powers, they argued, prevents the injustices that might result from an unchecked executive or legislature.

Question 10

democratic presidential regime

Answer 10

provides two separate branches of government—the executive and the legislative—separately elected by the people. Each branch is elected for a fixed term, neither branch can unseat the other by ordinary means, and each has specific powers under the constitution. Ultimate power to make laws and approve budgets resides with the legislature. Different presidential regimes give their presidents various powers over government appointments and policymaking.

Question 11

parliamentary regimes

Answer 11

make the executive and legislative branches much more interdependent. First, only the legislative branch is directly elected. The prime minister and the cabinet (the collective leadership of the executive branch) emerge from the legislature. The cabinet is chaired by the prime minister, who is the head of government and selects the other cabinet members. Typically, neither branch has a fixed term of office. Commonly, the legislature (the parliament) is elected for a maximum term of four or five years, but it can be dissolved, and new elections held, before that term is up. The cabinet can be voted out of office at any time by the legislative majority.

Question 12

confidence relationship

Answer 12

In a parliamentary system, the prime minister and the cabinet must at all times enjoy the confidence of the parliamentary majority. Whenever a parliamentary majority, for whatever reason, adopts a motion expressing a lack of confidence in the prime minister, the latter and all the other cabinet members have to resign.

Question 13

dismissal and dissolution power

Answer 13

(thus ending its term) and call new elections. The parliamentary majority’s dismissal power and the prime minister’s dissolution power make the two branches of government mutually interdependent. This structure induces agreement between them by forcing each branch to be acceptable to the other.

Question 14

mixed or semi presidential

Answer 14

In these types, the president and the legislature are separately elected (as in presidential systems), but the president also has the power to dissolve the legislature (as in parliamentary systems). In these systems, the president may appoint the cabinet (as under presidentialism), but subject to dismissal by the legislature

Question 15

confederal system

Answer 15

The United States under the Articles of Confederation was confederal. Ultimate power rested with the states. The central government had authority over foreign affairs and defense but depended on the states for financial and other support.

Question 16

federal system

Answer 16

both central and state governments were given separate spheres of authority and the means to implement their power. Today, the United States, Germany, Russia, India, Nigeria, Mexico, and Brazil are federal systems in which central and local units each have autonomy in certain public policy spheres

Question 17

unitary system

Answer 17

Britain, France, China, Japan, and Iran are unitary systems with power and authority concentrated in the central government. Regional and local units have only limited powers specifically delegated to them by the central gov-ernment, which may change or withdraw these powers at will.

Question 18

constitutional regimes

Answer 18

Systems in which the powers of government units are defined and limited by a written constitution, statutes, and custom

Question 19

judicial review

Answer 19

high courts have the power to rule that other units of government have exceeded their constitutional powers.

Question 20

impeachment

Answer 20

Most presidential systems provide for the removal of presidents, but typically only if they are guilty of serious crimes or other wrongdoing.

Question 21

assemblies

Answer 21

variously called senates, chambers, diets, houses, and the like. Assemblies are also known as “legislatures” (regardless of what role they actually play in legislating) or as “parliaments” (mainly in parliamentary systems). Their formal approval is usually required for major public policies and especially for the making of laws and national budgets. They are generally elected by popular vote, and hence are at least formally accountable to the citizenry.

Question 22

unicameral and bicameral

Answer 22

• one chamber assembly
• two chamber assembly

Question 23

bicameralism

Answer 23

but the purpose of the second chamber is to provide a check on policy-making rather than to represent subnational units. In most bicameral systems, one chamber is dominant, and the second (such as the Russian Council of the Federation or the French Senate) has more limited powers often designed to protect regional interests.

Question 24

assembly functions

Answer 24

Assembly members deliberate, debate, and vote on policies that come before them. Most important poli-cies and rules must be considered and at least formally approved by these bodies before they have the force of law. Assemblies typically also control public-spending decisions; budgeting is one of their major functions.

Question 25

mirroring or descriptive representation

Answer 25

It is not obvious, however, what the ideal linkage between citizens and government officials should be. Some argue that government officials should mirror the characteristics of the citizens as far as possible.

Question 26

represenational bias

Answer 26

Most people would probably not agree that government of-ficials should mirror the general population in their abilities to do their jobs. Instead, we generally want political elites to be the best possible agents for their constituents. In this view, government officials should be selected for their ability to serve the interests of the citizens, whether they share the voters’ background characteristics or not.

Question 27

chief executive

Answer 27

officials who sit at the very top of the often colossal executive branch. Such executives have various names, titles, duties, and powers. They are called presidents, prime ministers, chancellors, secretaries general, or even leader (in Iran).

Question 28

structure of chief executive

Answer 28

Democratic governments typically have either a single chief executive (in presidential systems) or a split chief executive of two offices: a largely ceremonial head of state (who represents the nation on formal occasions) and a more powerful head of government (who deter-mines public policies).

Question 29

cabinet

Answer 29

In many political systems, the cabinet is the most important collective decision-making body. Its power can be particularly great in parliamentary systems, where its formation is closely linked to selection of the prime minister. It typically contains the leaders (often called “ministers”) of all the major departments (sometimes called “ministries”) of the executive branch

Question 30

How is the cabinet selected

Answer 30

In presidential systems, selecting cabinet members is typically a presidential prerogative, though sometimes (as with the U.S. Senate) the legislature has the right to approve or reject the nominee.
In parliamentary systems, the process is very differ-ent, since the prime minister and the cabinet need to maintain the confidence of the parliamentary majority. Therefore, cabinet formation depends on the result of parliamentary elections and on the partisan makeup of parliament. Sometimes, the election directly determines who controls the majority and can therefore form the cabinet.

Question 31

coalition cabinet

Answer 31

The more parties there are, the less likely it is that one of them will have a majority on its own. Most commonly under such circumstances, several parties (two, three, or more) join forces and form a coalition cabinet in which they are all represented. Sometimes, parties anticipate this need to form coalitions before the election.

Question 32

function of the chief executive

Answer 32

Typically, the chief executive is the most important structure in policymaking. The executive normally initiates new policies. Depending on the division of powers with the legislature and the partisan balance, the executive also has a substantial part in their adoption.
The political executive also oversees policy implementation and can hold subordinate officials accountable for their performance. The chief executive also generally makes key foreign policy decisions and generates new political initiatives and programs. A bureaucracy without an effective executive tends to implement past policies rather than initiate new ones.

Question 33

bureaucracy

Answer 33

by which we mean all the members of the executive branch below the top executives. the bureaucracy is almost alone in implementing and enforcing laws and regulations. In so doing, they may have quite a bit of discretion.
another def: We commonly use the term bureaucracy to refer to all systems of public administration

Question 34

civil service

Answer 34

The most important officials in bureaucracies are the experienced and expert personnel

Question 35

bureaucracy and performance

Answer 35

According to the classical German sociologist Max Weber, bureaucracies have the following features:
1. Decision making is based on fixed and official jurisdictions, rules, and regulations.
2. There are formal and specialized educational or training requirements for each position.
3. There is a hierarchical command structure: a firmly ordered system of superiors and subordinates, in which information flows upward and decisions flow downward.
4. Decisions are made on the basis of standard operating procedures, which include extensive written records.
5. Officials hold career positions, are appointed and promoted on the basis of merit, and have protection against political interference, notably in the form of permanent job tenure

Question 36

corruption

Answer 36

(abuses of political power for personal gain

Question 37

What are the advantages of more inclusive decision rules in making policies? What are the disadvantages?

Answer 37

The advantages of having an inclusive government include preventing hasty decisions and negating large minorities. The disadvantages are that policies have a higher chance of not getting passed and the minority can prevent the approval of proposals that have popularity among the citizens.

Question 38

Why is confidence relationship so important in parliamentary democracies?

Answer 38

Confidence relationships are important because the legislative assembly of the system could vote out the prime minister at any time. When the parliamentary majority has confidence in the Prime Minister, policy making is not stressful. It is only when the parliamentary shows lack of confidence that things can get sticky. The cabinet and the prime minister could resign or the prime minister could tell the parliamentary majority to resign, calling for new elections. The prime minister can attach confidence motions with the proposal of a new policy. This forces the people of the prime minister’s own party to choose between a new bill of dissolving the current cabinet and calling for new elections.

Question 39

In what different ways can policy making power be dispersed and limited by constitutional arrangements

Answer 39

The policy making power can be dispersed by allowing local governments to have some autonomy in their own policies and not having a primarily centralized government. The power of policy making is limited by the power of judicial review. Depending on the power of the courts, they may have the power to rule a policy unconstitutional and remove it or at minimum determine if a policy is being used incorrectly .

Question 40

What are the advantages and disadvantages of assembly representation that mirrors the characteristics of citizens?

Answer 40

The advantages of having an assembly that mirrors the characteristics of citizens are that it allows for diversity to be more present and it allows the common people to feel more represented by people who look or are in the same economic standing as them. The disadvantage is that having the assembly mirror the citizens takes jobs away from people who are actually qualified for the job. Having a politician who has experience and skills could be better for representing the common people because they have the qualifications to do so .

Question 41

How are cabinets formed after national elections in parliamentary systems?

Answer 41

In a parliamentary system the cabinet is formed after the election and depends on who makes up the parliamentary majority. The prime minister usually makes up the cabinet but sometimes the parliament does it.

Question 42

A set of basic decision rules that also outlines basic rights and the distribution of authority in a society is referred to as a

Answer 42

constitution

Question 43

Which of the following is true about constitutions?

Answer 43

They are often written as a document or a series of documents.

Question 44

The most common form of geographic distribution of government power is a (federal, unitary, or confederal)

Answer 44

unitary

Question 45

The major disadvantage of federalism is that

Answer 45

it may come at the expense of the equality of citizens.

Question 46

Separation of powers in the different branches of government refers to

Answer 46

a means of checking power by distributing roles among the executive, legislature, and judiciary.

Question 47

In federal systems, the two chambers (bicameralism) generally represent

Answer 47

population and geography.

Question 48

In parliamentary systems, the cabinet is generally selected by

Answer 48

the prime minister

Question 49

Responsibilities of the political executive does not include

Answer 49

recruitment.

Question 50

The majority of countries across the globe utilize a federal system of government.
(t or f)

Answer 50

false

Question 51

The theory of separation of powers allows for a democratic regime to function properly.
(t or f)

Answer 51

true

Question 52

Confidence votes are normally introduced by the opposition to get the prime minister to call for new elections.
(t or f)

Answer 52

false

Question 53

In the debate over the best system of representative democracy, many political theorists traditionally favored the British-style parliamentary system.
(t or f)

Answer 53

true

Question 54

The independence of the courts within a country dictates the degree to which the courts can exercise judicial review. (t or f)

Answer 54

true

Question 55

Parliamentary systems with proportional representation often produce unstable coalitions with no party controlling a majority of seats in the legislature. (t or f)

Answer 55

true