Comparative Politics

Electoral regulations

rules governing elections, e.g. age, citizenship, voluntary or compulsory

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access-requirement to ballots

registration and terms of presidency or parliament (how long)

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electoral system

set of rules governing the conversion of votes into seats. Often according to number of constituencies

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Majoritarian systems: Single Member Plurality (FPTP)

candidate with most votes elected

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Majoritarian systems: Two Round System (TRS)

if no candidate achieves majority in the first round, the least successful candidates are eliminated and a second round takes place

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Majoritarian systems: Alternative vote (AV)

rank order of candidates, lowest is eliminated and their votes are redistributed to voter's second preference.

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Proportional systems: List systems

party present list of candidates. in Open systems, candidates are ranked, closed systems can not rank

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Proportional systems: Single Transferable Vote

application of alternative vote to multi-member districts. Requirement is set by the number of seats available

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Mixed Systems

Some seats kept back to counter dis-proportionality. Voter has two votes (one for candidate and one for party list)

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Compensatory mixed systems/mixed member proportional (MMP)

List seats are used to iron-out the disproportionality

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Parallel mixed systems/mixed member majoritarian (MMM)

List and constituency part are independent

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Variations in electoral systems

district magnitude, number of tiers, number of votes, ballot structure, intra-party choice, thresholds (prevent small parties winning, 3-5%)

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Consequences of different electoral systems

mechanical: disproportionality. Psychological: decisions e.g. tactical voting. Effects political outcomes e.g. trust in legislature, candidate behaviour

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Constitution

rule of politics, establish governmental institutions

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constitutionalism

commitment to accept legitimacy of constitution

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constitutional justice

procedures for judicial protection of fundamental rights set by constitution

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absolutist constitution

absolute power- rules are 'above the law'

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legislative supremacy constitution

requires legislative elections, constitution not entrenched, no constraints on parliamentary power

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higher law constitution

requires legislative elections, constraints on public authority, legislative sovereignty rejected

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entrenchment

long process to amend constitution

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constitutional rights

Meta-norms that impose constraints on the acts of public authority. These acts may be invalidated if contrary to a Constitutional Right

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constitutional review: decentralised American model

judicial review, all judges possess review powers

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constitutional review: centralised European model

constitutional court, separate from legislature & judiciary. Must be reasonable doubt as to constitutionalist. Often ineffective

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zone of discresion

combination of authority given to the court & instruments available for constraining the court

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Judicial activism

general tendency now for the courts to take a more active role in government across the democratic world where the judiciary has the right of judicial review

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constitution = contract

Incomplete contract; uncertainty & not all possible outcomes can be negotiated. Courts are a response to this

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Presidential govt

power balanced by separate legislatures, may appoint cabinet members that are also seperate

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Presidential govt

president is head of state & govt, executes policies, dependent on legislative branch for approval

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parliamentary govt

have a PM drawn from elected legislature

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parliamentary govt

must have directly elected legislature, fused exec and legislative institutions, executive that emerges from legislature

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parliamentary govt

separation of head of state and head of govt, PM share responsibilities with cabinet memeber

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semi-presidentialism

head of state elected by people, head of state =/= head of govt. focus of national feeling, newly dependent states. overcome party fragmentation

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where is semi-presidentialism used

ex-communist countries

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Roles of legislature

representation, legitimisation, law making, scrutiny, debating, policy influencing

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Representation of legislature: descriptive OR substansive

reflect demographic makeup OR reflect diversity of perspectives

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Representation of legislature: Trustee OR delegate

follow their own judgement OR stick to preference of their group

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Representation of legislature: local OR national

act in interest of constituencies OR country a whole

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Legislature Legitimisation

can resolve conflict. reflecting and discussing the view of the country

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law-making

Consultation, initiation, amendment, delay, rejection/approval. YET actually have minor power to amend legislatures

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scrutiny

oversight of governmental policy, budgetary control, debates hearings and committees

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bicameral vs unicameral

two houses/chambers versus one house/chamber makeup

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congruent bicameralism

two legislative chambers possess a similar political composition (e.g. all elected)

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incongruent bicameralism

two legislative chambers differ in their political composition (e.g. elected, nominated)

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strong VS weak bicameral legislature

equal powers VS unequal power. strong chamber is 'lower' and weak chamber is 'upper;

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symmetric VS asymmetric bicameral legislature

same constitutional powers in chambers VS unequal power

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resources of legislature

parliament budget, committees, representatives & staff pay

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Arena VS transformative legislatures

little impact on policy making VS focus on committee work

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presidential internal workings

exec power tends to be concentrated in directly elected person. govt includes president and appointed cabinet

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parliamentary internal workings

cabinet govt discuss and decide collectively. takes long to develop

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directional govt

federal council with 7 leading members, elected by both legislative chambers. lots of referendums. federal president = head of exec and state

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influence of political parties on govt

party manifestos, selection of cabinet members, duration of partys control of govt

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three ideal types of party-govt relations

one of the two dominates, autonomy: coexistance without influence on another, fusion: party & govt become politically indistinguishable

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semi/presidential executives political capacity

constrained in cases of divided govts, where president is from one party and one chamber of legislature controlled by another. risk of gridlock

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majority parliamentary govts

leading party has majority of seats

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minority parliamentary govts

largest party in legislature has plurality of seats, often stable govts, policy oriented rather than office-seeking politicians

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single party vs coalition

single party means quick decisions, no compromise, yet internal rivalry

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layers of govt

national/federal, regional/country/state, local/municipal, sub-national

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supra-national/international govt

cooperation between countries to keep national sovereignty. supra-national govt includes UN, joint decision making

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international confederations

NATO and UN: manage affairs of common interest whilst maintaining independence

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federal states vs unitary states

unitary more centralised, federal allow independence from central govt

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actual difference

federal features in unitary states, unitary not as centralised as they seem, federal becoming more centralised. unitary used in smaller countries

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federal states

divided into units given their own govts, authority to govern is constitutionally divided, makes it easier to hold politically and ethnically diverse area together

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cooperative vs dual federalism

federal and state govt share powers VS clear separation of functions and powers

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dual federalism

clear s

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de jure federalism

constitutionally designed to be federal

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features: geopolitical division

mutually exclusive regional govt that cannot be abolished by central govt

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features: independence

regional & central govt individual authorities

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features: direct govt

authority must be shared, and each level of govt must act independently in one policy area

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features: congruent federalism

The territorial units of a federal state share a similar demographic makeup

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features: incongruent federalism

the territorial units of a federal state differ in demographic makeup

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features: symmetric VS assymetric

territorial units possess equal powers relative to central govt VS some units have more powers than others

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causes: coming-together

previously sovereign states comes together and agree to give up some sovereignty to improve collective wellbeing

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causes: holding-together

top-down process in which the central govt of a state chooses to decentralise its power to sub-national govt

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local govt services

planning and transport, high priorities handled by central govt

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fused systems

central govt agents sent out to local to supervise work

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dual systems

central has large power but cant control local, only 'manage'

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local self-govt

nordic countries. local govt entrusted to tasks by central

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central-local political conflict

if opposition parties are elected locally, or problems of how to fund local govt

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political interests

may be material e.g. money or ideal e.g. freedom or justice

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political culture

absorbed through socialisation, based on our own social background. must fit democratic structure

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the civic culture- almond and verba

describe political culture as a pattern of orientations to parts of politics.

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the civic culture- cognitive orientation

to participate in politics we must understand the system

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the civic culture- effective orientation

we must believe politics is important enough

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the civic culture- evaulative orientation

ask q's, such as should the system be supported

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they identified 2 pure types of political culture

parochial (low awareness/involvement) VS subject (awareness, small input)

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participant culture VS civic culture

knowledge & participation VS subject & participant mixed

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materialism and postmaterialism- inglehart

values in west go from material to post-material due to economic development

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post materialism

greater tolerance, young/wealthy/educated groups

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consequences

religious conflict, political participation, new issues (feminism), persistant left/right divisions

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political cleavages

social differences that must be aware of their identity & express them. e.g. race

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spatial seperation

likely to involve the concentration of ethnic/religious groups in an area

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modes of political behaviour: gladiator

leader & activists who run parties/campaigns

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spectators

voters, discussions

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apathetics

no involvement

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volatility

change in voting patterns from one election to another due to rise in class

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patterns of political behaviour

most people occasionally vote

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reasons for inactivity

marginals (e.g. criminals), conflict avoiders, apathetic, alienated, sporadic

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mass media should be

pluralist, provide full and fair account of political opinion

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media are strong political players bcos

may influence peoples thoughts, difficult to be pluralist because difficult to be both subjective and neutral

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regulating the media: public service model

granting broadcasting licenses to public bodies for public interest rather than profit.

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tv and radio regulated by democracies in the 1920s-70s through:

market and content regulation. public funding

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the market model

print media subject when danger of monopoly.

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mixed model adopted due to:

news media increasingly driven by commercial pressures of profit. also now have internet/texts

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mixed model

regulation to ensure market competition, content regulation for political balance

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ownership of media

media is global so companies merge. cross-media ownership, internationalisation

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potential of social media

promote discussion / impoverishes politics and creates divides

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media dangers for democracy

few corporations with similar political/economic interests; no competition

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reinforcement theory

mass media has minimal effects, reflect + reinforce

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agenda-setting theory

media does not determine what we think but strongly influences

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priming and framing theory

media has influence over how the public sees politics

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direct effect theory

media has effect on politics e.g. attitudes and behaviours of citizens and politicians

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political parties

autonomous group of citizens having the purpose of making nominations and contesting elections in the hope of gaining control over governmental power through the capture of public offices’

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media parties

no need for mass meetings due to technology

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cartel parties

collaborating for resources as well as stability and continuity for leaders

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electoral-professional parties

parties run by skilled professional career politicians

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new parties/anti-parties

more affluent democracies; 'new' issues e.g. feminism

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functions of parties:

coordination, contest elections, recruitment and selection, representation

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elite parties

earliest, aristocrat and bourgeious membership

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mass parties

strategy of 'encapsulation', working and middle classes, extensive organisation

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catch-all parties

weaker ideologically, developed from mass parties

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cartel parties

get subventions from the state, agencies of the state rather than society

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anti-cartel parties

deeper commitment from members, frustration with mainstream parties and systems

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2 ways to measure membership

# of members, ratio of party membership to size of electorate

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party families: liberals

democratisation, economic liberalism, supported by bourgeoisie

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conservaties

support from aristocracy, maintaining old regime with strong state aithority

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communists

parties created as sections of international workers movement, led by soviet union

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Socialists, social democrats, labour

initially unions, increase living standards of working class

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Agrarians, peasants, farmer parties

reaction to industrial revolution, favour protectionism of agricultural sector of economy

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religious parties

after WW2, Christian democrats moved away from church's refusal of liberal democracy

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greens

generational value change, environmental protection and international peace

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Neo-populist, right wing/nationalist

recently developed from 'opening borders', appeal to 'losers of globalization'

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party systems: dominant 1-party

one party holds >50% for several decades

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party systems: two-party systems (most stable)

two parties share majority, alternation of power, effect of FPTP system, similarity of parties

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party systems: multi-party systems (the norm)

coalition govt, more distinctive ideologies, involves minorities and reaches consensus

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bipolar systems

two large pre-election coalitions of several parties, each sharing majority of votes, alternation of power

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Duvurgers law

affinity between electoral and party systems

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1st law

majoritarian electoral systems favour two party systems

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2nd law

PR system leads to multi-party systems.

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interest associations

voluntary membership organisations that appeal to govt but dont participate in elections

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what they do

aggregate interests, articulate interests

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cause groups

fight for non-occupational goals e.g. churches

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3 types of pressure groups

episodic (e.g. football club), fire brigade (particular political campaign) and those created to engage in politics

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'insider' groups

have direct access to high-level govt officials, often represent professionals

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direct vs indirect routes

going straight to a govt official VS going to parties or public campaigns

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features of pressure groups

income, membership size, divided groups, sanctions, leadership, the issue

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differentiating between different groups

pressure groups want to influence, parties want to become

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republican theory- rousseau

interest groups a threat to democracy. corrupt relationship between citizens and the state

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liberal theory

interest groups as a source of democracy. pluralist perspective.fundamental to political rights

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corporatist theory

inbetween previous 2. political system as a body composed of cells (individuals) and groups (organs)

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corporatist theory

policy production through negotiations, interest groups pursue interests cannot be excluded from political progress

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para-govt

large institutional groups providing public services with financial help from state e.g. churches. neither public nor private

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tri-partism

less centralised system of policy making. consultation between govt and business/trade union organisations

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agenda setting

by politicians

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policy formulation

proposals developed, discussed and accepted/rejected

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implementation

conversion of new laws/programmes into practice. longer the chain of people involved, more difficult the process

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evaluation

examine whether it has attained the goals. feedback loop. cost-benefit analysis

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the incremental model

more realistic model, consider fewer alternatives to come to a quick decision

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the scientific method

replicability, precision, falsifiability, parsimony

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comparative method

a collection of approaches that enable us to make comparisons/conclusions

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small-n VS large-n

2-5 cases VS 20+ cases

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method of agreement

MDSD: comparing two cases that differ in every aspect except those being studied

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method of comparison

compare 2 cases that differ on the aspects of study

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political culture

mass patterns in beliefs/values/attitudes of a country or nation

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2 dimensions of cross-cultural variation:

traditional VS secular-rational

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2

survival VS self-expression

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deductive vs inductive

theory testing of concepts and patterns from empirical data, theory-building from observed data

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spurious relationship

between 2 factors, infact no correlation but a hidden factor

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d'hondt method

divide by 1,2,3,4... largest number gets seats

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sainte-lague method

divide by odd number

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Comparative Politics

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