Key GV4E2 Concepts Flashcards
(12 cards)
Structural Power
The prospect of a market reaction constrains what democratic government can do. Kalecki describes this as capitalists having “indirect control” over government policies. Lindbolm describes capitalist either withdrawing their investment due to government policies, thus disrupting the market, as a “recoil mechanism.” To go further, Levinsky and Zibllat describe countermajoritarian instutitions as strengthening the structural power that the wealthy has by promoting minority rights, like thorugh the Senate’s Filibuster.
Instrumental Power
When the wealthy ise their disproporionate influece on voter, politician, and policymaker deicisons. An example of this is is the wealthy’s influence over campaigns and shaping policy options and party ideology before they even each voters, which Skocpol and Hertel-Fernandez describe in detail when discussing the Koch network. Another example that Levinksy and Ziblatt and Rodrik discuss is wealthy’s desire to not make redistribution an issue topic and instead focus on race and culture
Median Voter Theorem
Coined by Meltzer and Richard, it’s the concept that the median voter determines electoral outcomes by deciding whether siding with wealthy (right) or poor (left) is in the best economic interest. Basically argues that the median voter decides whether to support more or less redistribution, but also assumes that the median voter understands that taxing people with a higher income benefits them (which Bartels and Hing et al point out that most voters don’t understand tax policies or are just accepting of them even when they don’t benefit them.
Robin Hood Paradox
Basically the places that are the most unequal tend to have the least redistribution
Gini Coefficient
Measure a country’s inequality, the bigger the number, the more unequal
Countermajoritarian Restraints
Institutions that intend to restrict majority rule and protect minoirty rights. Levinksy and Ziblatt argue that some of these enhance and ensure democracy, such as having government representatives to advocate on behalf of people. But the problem these produce is providing minoirty elites with too much power over governmental processes and maintaining institutions and processes that actually reduce democracy, like Filibusters or excessive judicial review.
Populism
Fransico Panizza defines this as “an anti-status quo appeal that draws a political frontier between two antagonistic camps: “the people” and “its other”
Veto Points
Paradox of precommitment
Auto-paternalism
View of the rise of populist and anti-system parties (change in capitalism)
Ahange in capitlaism contributes too tensions between capitalism and democracy rising which then incites the rise of populist and anti-system parties, which thus threatens democracy
View of the rise of populist and anti-system parties (Rise to post-material values)
Baseline economic security gives rise to post-material values which produces cultural processes like anti-woke backlash, social media brainwashing and which produces the rise of populist and anti-system parties, which thus threatens democracy
