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