Midterm

Question 1

What is a political party?

Answer 1

Organization for purpose of putting people in public office, grew out of extension of franchise in 18th + 19th centuries and developed into mass parties from elite cadres
Formal-legal entities

Question 2

5 functions of political parties

Answer 2

• Recruit and train leaders
• Aggregate demands into platforms
• Intermediaries between government and citizens
• Formation of policy
• Provide legitimacy

Question 3

5 types of political party

Answer 3

• Pragmatic (catch-all like Canadian liberals)
• Ideological (can be hard to win votes, good in one party states)
• Interest party (single interest like BQ)
• Personal (based around a leader like Gaullists, may or may not survive past leader)
• Movement party (movement that becomes party like Congress in India)

Question 4

3 types of party system

Answer 4

One-party
Two-party (also 2.5 like Canada w/ NDP)
Multi-party

Question 5

Major cleavages in British politics

Answer 5

Elitism (differences in schooling, etc)
Class (somewhat leveled post-war due to unions, welfare state)
Religion (less so today exc in NI where protestants control power over 1/3 catholic)
Racism (esp with immigration in Brexit)

Question 6

British political culture

Answer 6

Relatively deferent to authority and few violent protests
Fairly materialistic
Fairly high satisfaction in democracy
Fairly high interest and participation

Question 7

British ideology

Answer 7

Fairly centrist and follow neo-liberal ideas since 1980s, strong individualism, some collectivism

Question 8

British electoral system

Answer 8

3-5 years election (changing to every 5)
FPTP, HoC made of 650 people
Scottish and Welsh assembly turnouts low

Question 9

British voting issues

Answer 9

Focus on party + platform over individual (exc for PM)
Local elections every 3 years
Parliamentary sovereignty strong and little direct democracy
Increasing voter volatility with decreasing party loyalty
Declining class voting and low gender voting differences

Question 10

Recent UK elections

Answer 10

Labour in power 2001-05, Conservatives 2010-Present with other in opp, lib dem strong sometimes

Question 11

UK Conservatives

Answer 11

Old party that governs most of time, elitist but strong middle class backing
Under Thatcher changed from paternal collectivism to neo-liberalism)
Historically pragmatic (may be changing)
Internal affairs elitist and divided over Brexit

Question 12

UK Labour

Answer 12

Started during WW1 out of old Liberal Party, linked with organized labour although influence has declined recently
Party of working class, largely built welfare state post-WW2
Split between socialists and social-democrats, generally avoided Marxism
3rd way under Blair, revert under Corbyn

Question 13

UK Alliance/Lib Dem

Answer 13

Remnants of old Liberal Party and moderate Labour supporters in 80s who didn’t like leftward shift –> form Alliance in 1983-87, become centrist Lib Dem in 1992
Declined in 2015-17, pro-EU and pro-PR
Clegg deputy PM in 2010

Question 14

UK regional parties

Answer 14

SNP (Scottish separatism)
Plaid Cymru (Welsh separatism)
Sinn Fein (IRA Catholics)
Dem unionist (major NI protestant party)
Ulster unionist (moderate NI protestant)
Social Dem Labour (moderate NI Catholics)

Question 15

UK interest groups

Answer 15

Generally weaker due to party whipping, many lobby EU in Brussels, sometimes consulted for policy as quangos (quasi-autonomous gov orgs)
Weak social movements but growing interest group activity overall

Question 16

UK constitution

Answer 16

Unwritten, based on convention and parliamentary supremacy

Question 17

UK monarchy

Answer 17

Symbolic head of state who gives Royal Assent (not denied since 1707), names PM (can be interesting in minority), ceremonial functions

Question 18

UK PM

Answer 18

Head of gov, usually leader of biggest party who appoints cabinet, creates committees, can dissolve parliament and call election

Question 19

UK cabinet

Answer 19

20-25 chosen ministers who are more independent of PM than in Canada
Based on solidarity (opposing views should resign), responsible for bureaucracy and propose legislation with PM

Question 20

UK HoC

Answer 20

HoC originally to represent commoners, 650 seats from which executive is drawn
PM can be very strong via imposing party discipline
Holds gov accountable (no confidence) and debates issues

Question 21

UK HoL

Answer 21

Old chamber that used to have 1200 mainly hereditary peers, now 804 with only 90 hereditary
Unable to kill HoC bills since 1911 and can only delay for a year (month for budget) since 1949
Recent push for elected chamber

Question 22

UK judiciary

Answer 22

No formal judicial review due to parliamentary sovereignty
SC highest since 2009 (before was Lords), decisions can be overturned by majority of HoC
Affected by EU supremacy, UK bill of rights based on EU rights convention
SC can force amendment of some legislation and overturn some executive actions

Question 23

UK bureaucracy

Answer 23

Called “Whitehall”, headed by cabinet and non-partisan

Has been cut back recently

Question 24

UK local government

Answer 24

Have different levels of authority based on region and control things like schools, housing, police, etc
Number greatly reduced in 1972

Question 25

UK regional government

Answer 25

Assemblies with some taxation power and education, culture, housing, tourism, local gov jurisdiction since 1999 with more powers devolved recently Growing number of sovereignty supporters in all regions

Question 26

How do French view the state?

Answer 26

Something that represents the general will, above partisan and special interests Undivided and centralized unitary state

Question 27

French political culture

Answer 27

Fairly deferent but always bubbling anti-authoritarianism and issue-based political activism Occasional violent protest but most satisfied with democracy Growing tensions between secularists and Muslims

Question 28

French political ideology

Answer 28

Strong left/right split traditionally that is closing somewhat, strong individualism but also traditional family values and collectivist notions like welfare state

Question 29

French electoral system

Answer 29

Typically high turnout Election every 5 years with runoff vote (if no majority after first election then second one featuring candidates with 12.5% of vote) 577 in national assembly, Senate elected every 3 years by gov officials Runoff replaced by PR in 1986 but returned

Question 30

French voting issues

Answer 30

Strong party affiliation and voting based on religious lines Little gender voting, candidate personalities very important Referendums common and lots of municipalities = many local and regional elections

Question 31

Recent French elections

Answer 31

Flips back and forth between Gaullists and Socialists from 1965-2012, On The Move (Phllippe + Macron) win 2017

Question 32

French Moderate Right

Answer 32

Gaullists (called Republicans today), formed by DeGaulle to defend 5th Republic Favors strong government but progressive on issues like welfare state (although since 1980s more neoliberal) Supports EU, success helmed by Chirac and Sarkozy since 1974

Question 33

French Center

Answer 33

Was called Union for French Democracy - centrists who weren't members of DeGaulle's party but cooperated with him Policies similar to Gaullists and won in 1974 under Pres Giscard Weakened in 2002 and weak today (now called New Center w/ very few seats)

Question 34

French On The Move

Answer 34

Macron's party founded in 2016, based around his charisma and won in 2017

Question 35

French Socialists

Answer 35

Less radical than Communists (split in 1920) but maintained Marxism until 1980s Support EU and mixed economy, welfare state 1980s became centrist but since more left, won in 2012 but collapsed 2017

Question 36

French Communists

Answer 36

Strong party in 4th republic (less so now esp since 1991) that wants French communism, usually cooperates with Socialists and views role today as keeping them to left (Left Front)

Question 37

French Far Right

Answer 37

National Front formed by Le Pen in 1970s, admires Vichy regime Diminishing neo-fascism but opposes immigration and EU, led by Marine Le Pen today who is more charismatic and moderating Gained lots of strength recently

Question 38

French interest groups

Answer 38

Strong under 4th republic but little access today Big groups are labour, farmer's and employer's associations (low union rate however) Low neo-corporatism (coordination between companies and state policy)

Question 39

French constitution

Answer 39

Popular written and conventional constitution

Question 40

Weakness of 4th republic

Answer 40

Powerful lobby groups and factionalized legislature led to many governments (20+) in just over a decade

Question 41

French President

Answer 41

Elected directly for 5 year terms (was 7) who is head of state and usually gov Has emergency powers, usually initiates legislation and appoints + presides over Council of Ministers Can dissolve assembly, send back bills or refer them to court

Question 42

French PM + Council of Ministers

Answer 42

Usually from largest party in the National Assembly, beholden to Pres unless different party More powerful than Pres and shares executive power if of different party (co-habitation from 1986-88, 1993-95 and 1997-02) CoM heads departments Can be fired by Pres or via forced election or non-confidence by National Assembly

Question 43

French National Assembly

Answer 43

Elected directly for 5 years (577 deputies) Holds gov accountable via censure More muted than UK HoC and has strict party discipline, has weak policymaking powers (gov can pass many bills alone) compared to other EU countries and weak committees

Question 44

French Senate

Answer 44

348 elected by local + regional officials Can reject or amend NA bills but non-binding and can be passed again Strong movement to abolish

Question 45

French courts

Answer 45

``` Constitutional Court (9 judges for 9 year terms by Pres and NA, Senate leaders) Can declare proposed laws unconst and executive acts (limited judicial review) Activist and partisan court that only deals with issues brought by Pres/legislative ```

Question 46

French bureaucracy

Answer 46

Strong civil service usually loyal to gov, politicized with bureaucrats chosen by ministers Lots of elite graduates and highly hierarchical, less accountable compared to UK

Question 47

French territorial politics

Answer 47

22 regions, 96 departments and 36k municipalities elected by people Have control over roads, housing, welfare (not education) pre-1981 had to answer to appointed prefect who had the real power but have had more autonomy since (still lack fiscal power and appointed commissioners with authority) Increased decentralization rejected despite strong willed local mayors who sometimes are also national politicians