General Terms Flashcards Preview

Politics > General Terms > Flashcards

Flashcards in General Terms Deck (23)
Loading flashcards...
1
Q

Head of state

A

Chief public representative of a country. Queen Elizabeth and Emperor Akihito

2
Q

Head of government

A

Leader of the administration at that time. Highest official in the executive branch

3
Q

Presidential political system

A

Legislature and executive branches are independent. Different political agendas. Different constituencies. Stalemates are common

4
Q

Parliamentary System

A

Prime ministers are connected with the legislation. The party works together more since executive branch and legislature are the same.

5
Q

Dual legitimacy problems

A

Two branches have equal power and are voted in separately. They do not necessarily have to agree with each other

6
Q

SMPD

A

Single Member Plurality District. Single member per district. Only need the most votes to win a seat

7
Q

PR

A

A certain number of spots are open to vote for in each district. Vote for parties. Proportion of vote party gets equals the amount of seats they win

8
Q

Electoral Thresholds

A

Minimum share of vote a party needs to be represented in some way

9
Q

District magnitude

A

Primary proponent on how votes get in from districts

10
Q

Vote of no confidence

A

Where a PM checks to see if the parliament is backing them up. I’d succeeded, a minority Government can be put into place

11
Q

Coalition government

A

When two parties work together to achieve power in the government

12
Q

Grand coalition

A

Two largest political parties of opposing ideologies unite

13
Q

Minority government

A

When a cabinet is formed when a political party does not have majority seats in parliament

14
Q

Qualified majority

A

Number of votes required for something to be passed. Used in EU politics

15
Q

Ideology

A

Beliefs and values on someone’s political views

16
Q

Political legitimacy

A

Other countries recognize youre the leader of a government

17
Q

Liberal democracy

A

Elections are free and fair. Substantial protection of Civil liberties

18
Q

Electoral democracy

A

Elections are free and fair enough to determine a leader. Problems with protecting civil liberties

19
Q

Pseudo-democracy

A

Elections are not free or fair. Severe problems with protecting civil liberties

20
Q

Authoritarian regime

A

No elections. No protection of civil liberties

21
Q

Unitary system

A

State governed by a single power

22
Q

Federal System

A

State run by multiple branches that have checks and balances

23
Q

Duverger’s Law

A

SMPD will lead to 2 party systems and PR will lead to multiple party systems