Exam 1 - Exam 1 Study Guide with Answers PDF

Title Exam 1 - Exam 1 Study Guide with Answers
Course Comparative Politics
Institution University of Akron
Pages 3
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Exam 1 Study Guide with Answers...


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Part A: 1st type: (compare and contrast) The Presidential system: Separation of powers.Citizens get 2 votes (legislatures and president), then the president selects cabinet. The only individual that has national legitimacy is the president. The president is head of government and the head of state. STRICT TERMS. The Parliamentary system: Fusion between executive and legislative branch. Eligible citizens have 1 vote (legislature), then the legislature members elect prime minister and cabinet. They can form 3 types of government: They can form 3 types of government; majority, coalition government, and minority government. Liberal democracy: the majority of the people elect representatives to govern according to the rule of law. Illiberal democracy: an electoral process exists, but citizens political rights and civil liberties are limited (Russia, Venezuela, Zimbabwe)

2nd type: significance/define term and give importance of it: Political Socialization: is a lifelong process by which people form ideas about politics and squire political values. All different kinds of influences. I ts significance plays a important role in our lives and orientates the people towards a type of political behavior and ideology.

3rd type: Identify and Describe Almond and Verba 3 types of Culture: - Participants: knowledge about politics, follow it, hold opinions to current issues, vote regularly, involved in politics in other ways - Subjects: (knowledge about politics, aware of government decisions, aware of the output benefits, opinions, however ; individuals vote less regularly. They aren’t as active as participants, input side they are lacking, law abiding - Parochials: don’t follow politics, don’t participate, dont know whats going on, if they are interested its only on the local level, no real separation between religion and politics) Alienated from their government. Output and input side they are apathetic. Germany? - A weaker commitment to democracy - Lower levels of pride in voting and the political system - Lower levels of social trust; faith in others - he strength and durability of a democracy depends on citizen attitudes towards politics, not just the existence of democratic institutions Why study political systems of other countries? It is an important aspect in comparative politics because instead of studying this country, we study why other countries around the world are the way they are. It helps us better understand how certain regime work. It can help us compare and contrast economic strength, military, etc and the structure of the regime in power. 3 methods of comparative politics?

-experimental -statistical -case study Political issues: It’s a concept to why we need government. Ex: issues of Free-Riding, agent that doesn’t pay for its share of the cost of producing a public good). If each individual acts rationally it pays for them not to pay for it. Public good, any good that, if supplied to anybody, is necessarily supplied to everybody, and from whose benefits it is impossible or impractical to exclude anybody. Externalities, A consequence of an economic activity that is experienced by an unrelated third party. Democracy: A political system in which the people have the right to vote, involvement of political decisions, checks and balances (cant have 1 individual holding all the power), freedom to criticize leaders, fair elections, majority rule. 4 operating principles of Democracy? 1. Equality of Political Rights: each person has the same right to vote,serve on juries, speak on public issues, and carry out other public functions 2. Majority Rule: 50%+1, derives from equality of political rights, electoral college, there is also super majorities 3. Political Participation: democratic institutions are founded on mass political participation, direct or representative democracy 4. Political Freedom: quality of political rights/legitimacy of political opposition. 4 Agents of socialization: 1.Peers: learn to deal w conflict, competition, empathy 2.Schools: civics courses in schools, are direct and deliberate sources of political learning. 3.Family: Most of us first learn about politics through our families. It influences on attitudes toward authority. 4.Mass media: displays roles for imitation Political Culture: Attitudes, values, and believes about politics. The configuration of particular people's political orientations- a generalized belief system. Comparative Politics: One of the major subfields of political science, in which the primary

focus is on comparing power and decision making across countries Part B: Mandatory 1 Question Focuses on necessary and sufficient conditions, (DEFINE) analytical question. Gives u a scenario where u are advising someone and a particular situation (prime minister worries about political stability, modernization is necessary, would you advise him to go ahead? Why he should or should not implement it. Necessary conditions: A circumstance in whose ABSENCE the event in question CANNOT occur. (“unless” involved). EX: Sufficient condition: A circumstance in whose PRESENCE the event in question MUST occur BONUS** commanding heights extra 2 or 3 points. Commanding Heights: 2 conflicting theories (1 arguing govt should stay out of the economy) (2 is the opposite) Globalization: brought the citizens of different countries closer together and made them more

dependent on one another. After World War II, the states of the world experienced a rapid process of globalization, they became more open to and dependent on one another. Increasing trade in goods and services. Globalization lowered the prices of many products and increased the richness of life, but it has also created serious challenges for many states. Oligarchy: A small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution (Soviet Union). Rent-seeking: A politician or political group may use the government to reap benefits unfairly at the public’s expense. Rents are benefits created through government intervention in the economy EX: a company lobbying the government for loan subsides, grants, or tariff protection. Vested Interests: A special concern in influencing a condition or action especially for selfish ends. (enjoying benefitting from political privilege). The larger the government, the more attractive the benefits it provides, the more likely it is that such vested interests will resist change. Vested interests make it difficult to change government policies or make them more efficient. Vested interests are particularly likely in political systems that contain many safeguards against rapid political change. CHAPTER 2: Hypothese: are causal explanations that have not yet been proven. They are theories that have not yet been adequately tested or confirmed. Hypotheses are tested against many different kinds of political data. Theories: An abstract argument that provides a systematic explanation of some phenomena. (formulated and well-supported statements about relationships among political events.) Variables: are the features on which our cases differ. Chapter 3: Marketization: an increased public acceptance of free markets and private profit incentives, rather than a government-managed economy. Modernization: has powerful effects as it hits societies (or parts of societies). Spread unevenly across the globe. It has proceeded more slowly and uncertainty in Africa and Arab nations. The transformation of poor agrarian societies into wealthy industrial societies, usually seen as the process by which postcolonial societies become more like societies in the West. Chapter 4: Civil society: An interest group, a potential agents of socialization. It is a sphere of organized, nongovernmental, nonviolent activity by groups larger than individual families or firms. (ethnic organizations, civic associations and policy groups). Collective action problem: Situation in which all individuals would be better off cooperating but fail to do so because of conflicting interests. Discourages joint action. Members share a common problem but none of them will undertake the effort to organize other members because the individual costs outweigh the individual benefits....


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