POL 114 Lecture

Question 1

What is politics?

Answer 1

Collective action, cooperation, authority, power, accountability, institutions, exchange of stuff

Question 2

Laswell politics definition

Answer 2

Who gets what, when, and how

Question 3

Easton politics definition

Answer 3

The authoritative allocation of values for a society

Question 4

What are the stages of development for modern political science?

Answer 4

1900- 1940- further discussion of politics, traditional phase, lack of comparison; described the elements of gov, focus on normative systems of governance

1950- 1960- behavioral revolution following WW2, became more comparative, unit of analysis shifted to individuals and their motives, methods became more scientific

1970- 1980- post developmentalism, world economy became modernized, studied dependency on industrialized world from developing countries, more scientific methods

Question 5

What is easton’s political system?

Answer 5

The demands and supports inputted into the center of a system, the president, chief, collective etc, respond to the inputs with decisions and actions, no matter the scale or type of political system; creates a feedback loop in theory, every decision or action creates new demands and supports and so on

Question 6

What are the elements of ideal democracy?

Answer 6

Multi party, competitive system, citizens have a voice, free and fair elections, representative gov, anyone capable of running for office, checks on power, accountability, competing policy platforms, protected rights

Question 7

What is dahls theory of democracy?

Answer 7

Book polyarchy, 1971; democracy is the continuing responsiveness of government to preferences of its equal systems, should be the rule of the many (polyarchy)

Question 8

What is dahls framework for mapping governments?

Answer 8

Square with frames which shows where governments land based on their respective amounts of liberalization (freedom to disagree and compete) and inclusiveness (who can participate). Allows for change and shows where governments move, and the gradations and types of regimes possible; creates spectrum

Question 9

What is populism?

Answer 9

A method of campaigning, not a party or political system; leaders have common strategies: them vs us mentality, common enemies, the corrupt elites, vague policy plans, no real solutions to problems, destruction of current institutions, charismatic and energized leadership

Question 10

What is the difference between a command and market economy?

Answer 10

Command, gov makes all economic decisions; market, free trading and individual decisions

All world economies are mixed economies, elements of both types

Question 11

What are the elements of a presidential system?

Answer 11

Direct elections, separation of power, checks and balances, president is both head of state/ gov, fixed terms, concentrated power, law making with checks

Out of 20 richest countries, only 1 is presidential (US)

Question 12

What are elements of a parliamentary system?

Answer 12

Indirect elections, fused executive and legislative branch, separate heads of state/ gov, mutual confidence, cabinet based government, parliamentary sovereignty

Question 13

What are the problems of presidential regimes?

Answer 13

Fixed terms, double minority presidencies (lacks legitimate majority), inflexibility (all or nothing), dual legitimacies (questioning of power), zero sum game (winner takes all), incentive structure, election of outsiders, personalization of power (same head of state and gov)

Question 14

What are the problems of parliamentary systems (bad ones)?

Answer 14

Less decisive, not more moderated, excessive government turnover, not less prone to personalization of power, lacks checks and balances, difficulty informing government, legislative blackmail

Question 15

Why are the problems of parliamentary systems solved by strong ones?

Answer 15

Specific designs aid effectiveness; constructive vote of no confidence, need a strong enough coalition to build up before shooting down, minimum threshold of vote needed to enter government, reduces regionalization and prevalence of small parties, moderate election systems, need higher percentage of votes to win; design of the systems is most important factor

Question 16

Which system designs are most effective (in terms of party and regime style)?

Answer 16

Parliamentary/ Multi Parties- works well if the design is strong
Parliamentary/ 2 Parties- almost always works well
Presidential/ 2 Parties- just meh, but it does work
Presidential/ Multi Parties- absolute gigantic mess, doesn’t work; think Latin governments

Question 17

Why does the US 2 party presidential system work compared to other similar formed governments?

Answer 17

Homogenous historical context during formation, 2 party system still does the job, majoritarian style gov, federalism leaves conflicts to the states, ***most presidents have had a majority in congress during presidency, able to accomplish laws and maintain stability

Question 18

What are the functions of political parties?

Answer 18

Collect ideas under 1 name (interest aggregation), mobilization of voters, sets the agenda with wedge issues, simplifies political issues (interest articulation), political recruitment/ selection (finding and organizing candidates for party), political communication through media

Bring legitimacy to political system when they are done well!

Question 19

Why can some countries have many parties vs 2 parties?

Answer 19

Type of election system matters, amount of ideological breadth, social divisions, seats per district (m=1), mechanical effect, psychological effect, cadre vs mass parties, crosscutting vs overlapping of political issues and where splits are created

Question 20

Which system works better (Siavelis version)

Answer 20

“2 party= exclusion= instability”
“Multi= negotiation and consensus= stability”

Question 21

What are elements of majoritarian election systems?

Answer 21

M= 1, single member districts, favors large parties, goals of stability, strong majorities, and personal accountability; more likely to produce 2 party system

Question 22

What are elements of proportional representation election systems?

Answer 22

M > 1, multi member districts, less punishment for minority parties, goals of representation, consensual democracy/ coalition forming, collective accountability; more likely to produce multi party system

Question 23

What are the variations in proportionality?

Answer 23

Magnitude- number of seats per district, threshold needed for election; counting method to determine vote percent and number of seats, list type on the ballot, threshold needed to earn seats

Question 24

Why do counting systems matter?

Answer 24

Formula used determines number of seats per party based on vote percent, doesnt regard individual; doesnt account for other forms of manipulation such as list type, quotas, gerrymandering