Vocabulary Important Themes and Concepts The Key to Understanding.
Post on 27-Dec-2015
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Vocabulary
• Important Themes and Concepts
• The Key to Understanding
Correlation
• An apparent association between certain factors or variables
• For example, there is a positive correlation between medical care and life expectancy
Causation
• When a change in one variable causes a change in another variable
• For example, when the temperature drops below 32 degrees, water freezes
Politics
• A struggle for power
• That gives the winners the ability to make decisions affecting others
• Who gets what, when, and how
Nation
• A group of people• Psychological sense of
identity• Based on cultural,
geographic, or linguistic ties
The State
• Institutions, people, and groups
• Have the power to effect change
• Including a monopoly of force
• Over territory
Regime
• Fundamental norms and rules
• Established by administrations over time
Sovereignty
• A state’s ability• To carry out actions• Independently
Legitimacy
• Generally accepted view that the government has the right to rule
• Traditional--the right to rule, because “it has always been that way.”
• Charismatic--rule based on personality
• Rational-legal--based on a widely accepted system of laws and procedures
Democracy
• A system of government where people choose policymakers in free, regular, competitive elections
• Illiberal--procedural (holds elections) but without civil rights and liberties
• Liberal--political competition, accountability, civil rights and liberties
Institutions
• Executive
• Legislative
• Judicial
• Bureaucracy
FPTP/SMD
• Winner-take-all• The winner gets the
one seat available in an election
• House of Commons, US Congress
Proportional Representation
• Votes for parties, rather than candidates
• Parties are represented in legislature according to percentage of votes received
• Parties select office holders based on candidate lists
Corporatism
• When business, labor, and the government work closely in policymaking
• This limits the influence of smaller groups
Cooptation
• Granting favors in exchange for a benefit
• “Buying off” critics
Cleavages
• Factors that separate groups
• Cross-cutting--a division that includes people with differences, strengthening society
• Coinciding--a division that strengthens feelings of difference and discrepancy, weakening society
Political Culture
• History
• Values
• Beliefs
• Traditions
• Influencing political behavior
Political Socialization
• The means by which citizens learn about government and the political process
• How people get their ideas about government and acquire their values about the political process
Neoliberal Economics
• Focus on the free market
• Few restrictions on business or property rights
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