Vocabulary

Question 1

Endogeneity

Answer 1

When the dependent variable has an impact on the independent variable. (i.e. the trend is working both ways, causing a feedback loop). Example: A high quality institution can help boost GDP, but a high GDP can also lead to a better institution.

Question 2

Counterfactual

Answer 2

Expressing what did not happen, helpful in showing causal relationships. If you want to prove that x causes y, you can prove that when x doesn’t happen, neither does y.

Question 3

Selection Bias

Answer 3

When the groups being studied/surveyed for research are not representative of the whole population you are trying to represent. (surveying political opinions from only young students from a district and claiming they are representative of all citizens of that district)

Question 4

Independent Variable

Answer 4

The variable that is manipulated

Question 5

Dependent Variable

Answer 5

The variable that is measured and changes as a result of changes in the independent variable

Question 6

Natural experiment

Answer 6

A case where nature assigned a random treatment, so you can treat the correlation as a causal relationship

Question 7

Field Experiment

Answer 7

Assigning a treatment to people in a real world environment (unethical in political science usually)

Question 8

Internal Validity

Answer 8

Exists if the observed results of a study aren’t caused by outside factors that could be manipulating them

Question 9

External validity

Answer 9

the ability to generalize the results of this study to other groups outside of the range of your experiment

Question 10

State fragility

Answer 10

Deficiencies in state authority, capacity, or legitimacy. Basically whether a state is able to carry out the duties it needs to.

Question 11

Ethno-linguistic Fractonalization (ELF) measure

Answer 11

The probability that two randomly drawn individuals belong to two different ethnic groups

Question 12

Majoritarian (SMD)

Answer 12

Candidate who gains the most votes wins the election in a winner-take-all system. Duverger’s law states that this type of system will always lead to a 2 party system due to the inability to balance a 3rd party effectively in the competition

Question 13

Proportional Representation (PR)

Answer 13

Citizens vote for parties, and the seats in the legislature are distributed according to the proportion of votes received by each party

Question 14

Parliamentary System

Answer 14

A system of governance in which the executive is selected by the legislative branch

Question 15

Presidential System

Answer 15

A system of governance in which the executive is the head of state and is elected separately from the legislature

Question 16

Duverger’s Law

Answer 16

3rd parties are always underrepresented in the winner-take-all system

Question 17

Selectorate

Answer 17

The group that chooses the executive and maintains his/her power.

Question 18

Resource Curse

Answer 18

A term for the trend of failure in very resource-rich countries due to the lack of incentive for their economies to grow and evolve past simply exporting raw materials.

Question 19

Descriptive representation

Answer 19

How well the population relates to an elected representative as a person living their own life similar to the citizens own

Question 20

Substantive representation

Answer 20

How well the elected official’s policies benefit the people who they are representing

Question 21

Symbolic representation

Answer 21

The ways that a representative “stands for the represented” as a symbol of representation.

Question 22

First Wave of Democratization

Answer 22

Sparked by American and French Revolutions and began in the early to mid 1800s. This wave abolished property qualifications for voting white males in the US. This allowed suffrage for the majority of white men.

Question 23

Second Wave of Democratization

Answer 23

Began after the allied victory in WWII and lasted from 1945-62. Many new democracies were added during this period, and the 3rd wave did not follow long after

Question 24

Third Wave of Democratization

Answer 24

The third wave began dramatically in 1974 with the Carnation Revolution in Portugal. This wave was the most massive in scale of the three, with many major democracies in Latin America, Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa. It was from the 70’s to the 90’s

Question 25

Revolution

Answer 25

Public seizure of the state in order to overturn the existing regime

Question 26

Concession vs Repression response to revolution

Answer 26

When citizens demand change, the regime can either give in or resist the will of the people.

Question 27

Opportunity Cost

Answer 27

The value of the best forgone alternative of a choice

Question 28

Absolute advantage

Answer 28

The ability of an entity to produce more of a certain good or service as compared to another party

Question 29

Comparative advantage

Answer 29

The ability of an entity to produce a certain good or service at a lower marginal opportunity cost than another party

Question 30

Division of labor

Answer 30

a given number of workers can produce far more when the labor is divided among them rather than each person working alone

Question 31

Gains from Trade

Answer 31

Gains from trade are the net benefits to economic agents from being allowed an increase in voluntary trading with each other

Question 32

Gross Domestic Product

Answer 32

All of the state’s economic activity, all goods and services produced within state boundaries. Calculated by adding Consumption + investment + Government Spending + Exports - Imports.

Question 33

Gross National Income (GNI)

Answer 33

A metric for the national income that discludes savings, sale of used items, and enterprises owned abroad.

Question 34

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)

Answer 34

A measurement that standardizes different currencies by their ability to buy different goods. This allows for an apples-to-apples comparison of economics

Question 35

Gini Coefficient

Answer 35

The Gini Coefficient measures income and wealth inequality in different countries on a scale from 0-1 where 0 is perfect equality and 1 is absolute inequality.

Question 36

Human Development Index (HDI)

Answer 36

A summary metric of average achievement in key dimensions of human development such at Life expectancy at birth, median years of schooling, GNI per capita

Question 37

Gender Inequality Index (GII)

Answer 37

A measure of gender inequality in 3 main areas: health, empowerment, and labor.

Question 38

Pubic good

Answer 38

A good that is non-excludable and non-rivalrous (ex. access to clean air and water)

Question 39

Club Good

Answer 39

A good that is excludable but still non rivalrous (ex. private park, tolled highways)

Question 40

Private Good

Answer 40

A good that is excludable and rivalrous (ex. food and most consumer goods)

Question 41

Collective Action Problem

Answer 41

A situation where everyone involved would benefit from cooperating but fail to do so because of conflicting interests.

Question 42

What is the relationship between democracy and economic growth in less developed countries?

Answer 42

Democracy promotes investment/secure property rights both foreign and national which leads to better economic development.

Question 43

Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI)

Answer 43

• Based on mercantilism(state plays a strong role in the economy)
• state actively promotes domestic production, sometimes through state-owned businesses.
• trade barriers used to restrict imports(creates a demand for locally produced goods)

Question 44

Structural Adjustment

Answer 44

based on “neoliberalism” - policies aimed at diminishing the role of the state in the economy

• state involvement is reduced as the economy opens to the global market
• government spending, in general, is reduced
• often viewed as having failed to bring substantial economic development.

Question 45

Export-oriented industrialization

Answer 45

A trade and economic policy aiming to speed up the industrialization process by exporting goods for which the nation has a comparative advantage.

Question 46

Capability approach to development

Answer 46

Development can be seen as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy. Focusing on people’s capability to choose the lives they value.