1618254071460 Comparative politics exam guide 4th sem April 21 final PDF

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New SyllabusBy the Author ofPOL SC HELPEXAM GUIDE Chapter wise Key points and Model Answers to Past Year’sQuestions 3 sets of Sample Papers with Hints for Semester Exam Tips for Writing Answers in Open Book ExamCOMPARATIVE POLITICS:PROCESSES & INSTITUTIONSBA Hons Semester 4PLEASE SPARE FEW MINUT...

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Pol Sc Help Exam Guide

Comparative politics Semester 4

2021 Edition

EXAM GUIDE New Syllabus

COMPARATIVE POLITICS: PROCESSES & INSTITUTIONS BA Hons Semester 4

• Chapter wise Key points and Model Answers to Past Year’s Questions • 3 sets of Sample Papers with Hints for Semester Exam • Tips for Writing Answers in Open Book Exam

By the Author of

POL SC HELP All rights reserved @polschelp.in

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PLEASE SPARE FEW MINUTES TO READ THIS Dear students…WELCOME BACK! This guide is intended to be like a cheat code ( oh no ! not cheating, like the cheat code of winning the computer game) for your semester exams! What it contains? Key points on each of topics/theme of the revised CBCS Syllabus. Theme/topic wise Answer templates to past year’s questions (taken from DU) and other important questions. • 3 sets of sample question papers with Answer Hints. • Answer writing tips and tricks for OBE. What is Answer Template? • •

Answer written in a particular way (Intro, Body, Conclusion) as expected against essay type questions in university exam. • I have given you a template(format/structure). You may add or delete contents to make the answer as your own. How to use the Guide for the best results? •

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For best results, this guide must be used with Pol Sc Help Videos on You Tube. First, watch the videos on the theme/topic from POL SC HELP- at least 4-5 times, first in normal speed, later on with faster speed and selectively. Final watching shouldn’t take more than 5 min. Second, read the key points on the theme/topic very carefully. In fact, even if you only remember the key points you can write answers in the exam. Third, read the answers of past year questions, at least 5 times. Again, the final reading may not take more than 5-10 minutes. o I have chosen the questions to cover the entire syllabus. o Note the key phrases repeated, made bold underlined, and in violet colour in the answers. You should remember and reproduce them in your answers. Violet bold are most important phrases. You should google them for further understanding. o Also, note the standard (academic or legal) words I have used in the answer. Their easier meaning/synonyms are given in bracket.

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Fourth, read carefully the sample question papers (3 sets). I have given hints to those questions, too. Read them carefully. Finally, read the answer writing tips; use them in the exam

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SECTION 1 Chapter Wise

Key Points and

ANSWERS Past Year’s & Important Questions All rights reserved @polschelp.in

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THEME 1: FORMS OF GOVERNMENT 1.A: CBCS SYLLABUS •

Unitary and Federal System

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Regime Types: Democratic, Authoritarian, Populism and Totalitarian

1. B: KEY POINTS: Forms of Government: Unitary and Federal •

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Federal form of Government: •

In federal form of Government, there are at least two layers of governments (central/federal and provincial), both drawing power & autonomy from a written constitution that is subject to specific amendment procedures and judicial review by independent courts.

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Provincial or regional Governments are not subordinate to federal Government; they are equal partner in governance.

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Sovereignty is divided between vertical layers of Governments (Central, provincial, local)

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Example: USA, India, Canada, Australia, Germany, Switzerland

Unitary form of Government •

All governing powers are concentrated in the central government. Administrative divisions at regional and local levels exercise only those powers that the central government has delegated to them.

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Example: UK, France, Poland, Peru, Sri-Lanka, Egypt, Israel, etc.

Regime Types: Democratic, Authoritarian, Populism and Totalitarian •

Regime: •

Political regime denotes principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, institutional arrangements, etc. following which the governance of a country is carried out.

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Regime, therefore, denotes how political relationships are structured, and organised in a given society.

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As per Roy Macridis, famous comparative thinker, a political regime embodies the set of rules, procedures, and understandings that formulate the relationship between the governors(rulers) and the governed(ruled).

Democratic Regime •

Rulers are chosen by the people through free fair, and periodic election

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legitimate Govt having people’s consent and mandate to rule

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Civil and Political Liberties: Rights & Freedom to Citizens protected by constitution and courts, which limit the powers of the state

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Rule of Law: Constitutional Government

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Presence of strong & autonomous Civil Society (NGOs, interest groups, social movements, opinion leaders)

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Free participation of citizens in political processes

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Strong, Independent, and Autonomous Institutional arrangement based on rule of law.

Populism: Populist Regimes •

Populism denotes democratic politics for protecting and furthering the interests of ‘the people’, ‘the real and pure people’, against the ‘corrupt elites’, and entitled class.

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Populist leaders, party, and movements claim to represent ‘the real and pure people’.

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In Populism, ‘the real people’ are generally the majority ethnic, racial, religious community. In the populist ideology, they are the true and real people of that nation.

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Populist ideology don’t believe in minority rights, pluralism, and multi-culturalism.

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Populism is anti-elitist, anti-establishment, anti-system, anti-institutionalist, and illiberal. Populism denotes majoritarianism, as the ‘the people’ are always in majority.

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It also denotes identity politics. Cultural Nationalism is the most common identity used in Populism. ‘the people’ are considered as true and pure member of the nation and political community as defined by the Populist leader/party.

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Authoritarian Regime: •

Authoritarianism denotes any political system that concentrates power in the hands of a supreme leader or a small elite that are neither chosen by nor responsible to the people.

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A form of government characterized by the rejection of political plurality ( diversity of culture, political ideologies), the use of a strong centralised power to preserve the political status quo, and dilution in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic values.

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It denotes blind submission to a central authority, as opposed to individual freedom of thought, belief, and action.

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Personalistic: Headed by supreme leader wielding great amount of individual power- Hitler in Nazi Germany, Francisco Franco Spain, Saddam Hussein- Iraq, Zia-ul-Haq- Pakistan, Mobutu in Zaire

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It also denotes arbitrary use of power by the ruler, who is not bound by rule of law or constitution. People have no choice in replacing the ruler by voting.

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Individuals and groups have very few civil & political rights.

Totalitarian Regime •

Oppressive Rule by single political party following distinct political ideology.

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Total control of State/Govt of almost all aspects of public and private life.

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State/Government interfere in both public and private domain to decide for the people the right way of life- food, dress, entertainment, travel, moral standards, education, etc

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For the ruling party the totalitarian regime is project for social transformation- bringing in new civilisation.

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All these actions are guided by the state ideology. The party becomes the vehicle to implement the ideology. Difference between the party and state are diluted.

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Thus, it denotes subordination of all aspects of individual life to the authority of the state.

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Denotes most extreme and complete form of authoritarianism.

Benito Mussolini coined the term ‘totalitario’ in the early 1920s to characterize the new fascist state of Italy, which he further described as “all within the state, none outside the state, none against the state.” This became the defining feature of totalitarian regime.

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1.C ANSWER TEMPLATES OF PAST YEAR’S AND OTHER IMPORTANT QUESTION (Note: This is newly added theme, there are no past questions. However, important questions, covering entire syllabus, have been framed and answer templates of them are provided below)

Q.1: Discuss the federal and unitary forms of Government, highlighting the differences between them. Answer Template:

Introduction: On the basis of vertical division of powers between different layers of Governments, we can classify forms of Government as federal or unitary. In federal form of Government, there are at least two layers of government (central/federal and provincial), both drawing power & autonomy from a written constitution that is subject to specific amendment procedures and judicial review. Thus, in the federal form of Government, the provincial or lower levels of Government are not subordinate to federal Government; they are equal partner in governance. On the contrary, in the Unitary form of Government all governing powers are concentrated in the central government. Administrative divisions at regional and local levels exercise only those powers that the central government has delegated to them. In sum, in federal form of Government there are at least two independent and autonomous Governments, whereas in Unitary form of Government there is only one independent and autonomous Government- the central Government. All other Governments draw their powers from the central Government, which is supreme. Above definitions of federal and unitary form of Government are basic and simplistic. There are different types of federal and unitary form of Governments. In recent times, differences between these two forms of Government have blurred (become unclear). Many federal Government acts like a unitary Government, whereas many unitary Government look like federal Government. India and UK are examples of such federal and unitary Government respectively. Why a country adopts federal or unitary form of Government depends upon its historical, geo-political, and socio-cultural contexts. Political culture also plays its role in it. How a nation-state was formed or constituted also become important factor in choosing federal or Unitary form of Government. Generally, geographically large and/or culturally diverse nation-states have adopted federal form of Government. All rights reserved @polschelp.in

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Federal form of Government, in comparison of Unitary form of Government, is recent phenomenon. First federal nation-state is USA, which adopted a federal constitution in 1789. Canada and Germany became the 2nd and 3rd federal nations in 1867 and 1871 respectively. Australia became a federal country in 1901. Many European communist regimes, such as Russia/USSR, and Yugoslavia, adopted federal form of Government. many of the Post-colonial States adopted federalism to accommodate ethnic, racial, and linguistic diversities. Thus, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Congo, Cameroon, United Arab Emirate, etc adopted federal form of Govt after becoming independent. On the contrary, older and well-established nation-states remained unitary. UK is the best example. Other prominent unitary nations are, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Japan, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, Finland). After having outlined the meaning, basic differences, and historical evolution of federal and unitary form of Governments in different parts of the world, in the next section of the answer, I will try to list out the features of both forms of Government and also highlight the differences between them.

Features of federal form of Government: Great variation and types of federalism: •

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On the basis of type of government system •

Parliamentary model- Canada, Australia, India

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Presidential model- USA, Switzerland, Brazil

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Hybrid Model-Spain, Germany, Belgium, Russia, Pakistan

On the basis of Power division & relation between Federal and Regional govt •

Dual Federalism •

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Cooperative Federalism •

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Central & regional Governments join hands in governance

Competitive Federalism •

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Central & regional Governments are independent of each other

Competition between Central & regional Governments

On the basis of evolution/formation •

Coming-together federation: •

Regional or state Governments come together to form a federal nation-state

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Example: USA, Canada, Australia, Switzerland

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Holding-together federation: •

Central Government share power with provincial Government, which are purposely created by the center.

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India, Belgium and Spain

On the basis of Power divisions among constituent units •

Symmetric: same power to all constituent units/regional govt

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Asymmetric federalism: special powers to some constituent units/ regional govt

Other features: •

At least two layers of Government, Governance, legislature, election, etc.

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Citizens have political obligations to, or have their rights secured by, two govts.

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Clear Separation of powers: •

Powers and jurisdictions of central/federal and state/provincial Government are clearly written in constitution

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Constitution is not easy to amend, especially the clauses related to federal structure.

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Supremacy of Constitution representing General Will and Popular Sovereignty- ‘Living Constitutions’.

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Independent and strong Judiciary to interpret constitution, review constitutional amendments, and adjudicate dispute between constituent units(states) and federal Govt (centre)

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It is a kind of ‘self-rule plus shared rule’: Shared rule through a federal/central govt for common purposes and self-rule for constituent units (Regional or State Govt.). (by Daniel Elazar)

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Based on the presumed value and validity of combining unity in diversity, i.e. accommodating, preserving, and promoting distinct local identities within a larger unified political system.

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Federalism denotes divided sovereignty and divided territoriality in contrast to classical Westphalian Nation-State having unified sovereignty and unified territoriality

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Amount of federalism vary across federations. Generally, more diverse the Society, more ‘federal’ the federation.

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Federalism is reflected in federal party system, federal political economy, and federal social structure; all this make a federal society.

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Features of Unitary form of Government: •

It is based on the principle of geographical centralisation of power. All the powers and authority of the state is concentrated in a single governing entity- central Government.

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For administrative convenience country may be divided into several provinces but they do not enjoy any independent power and autonomy. Powers to them are delegated by the central Government, which can be taken away whenever desired by the centre.

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Horizontal separation of power, but no vertical division of power: •

Powers are clearly separated between legislature, executive, and judiciary.

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But there is no vertical separation of power between central and regional/local Government.

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only the central entity (central Government) is legally independent and other authorities are subordinate to the central government.

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Undivided sovereignty: o Only one Government exercises the sovereign powers of the state.

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No rigid constitution: o Constitution, in unitary states, may be written (France) or unwritten (UK). But such constitutions are much less rigid. They can be more easily amended.

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Less power to Judiciary for Judicial Reviews: o In unitary states, federal legislatures (parliament) are supreme. They represent the popular sovereignty. Courts have limited power to struck down laws made by the parliament.

Two models of Unitary form of Government: As per Daniel Elazar, we may identify following two models of unitary Governments: Hierarchic model: •

Administrative of governing powers arranged in top to bottom like pyramid. Central Government is at top and regional and local Government below it.

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Lower levels of administrative units/Government get whatever power devolved or delegated by the central Government.

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Example: France

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Organic Model: •

There may be regional or sub-national constituting units having distinct culture, language, identity, etc. But all of them act like integral part of an organic whole headed by the central Government.

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UK is the best exa...