Comparative Final
Terms
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- less-developed countries (LDCs)
- economic/political structures have remained weak or grown weaker over the past decades; marked by economic stagnation or even decline, with some sliding into poverty, violence, and civil conflict
- colonialism
- physical occupation of a foreign territory through military force, businesses, or settlers; means to consolidate one's empire
- devolution
- process by which political power is sent down to lower levels of government; intended to increase local participation, efficiency, and flexibility
- newly industrializing countries (NICs)
- "third world" countries that have experienced dramatic rates of economic growth and democratization, to the point where they now resemble advanced democracies in many ways
- communist political economy
- markets/property are wholly absorbed by the state, central planning replaces the market mechanism, economy functions in essence as a single large firm, state provides things like public education, health care, and retirement
- shock therapy
- advocating rapid market reforms that would free prices and bring an end to central planning and state subsidies for business virtually overnight
- communism
- set of ideas that view political, social, and economic institutions in a fundamentally different manner than most political thought; ideology that seeks to create human equality by eliminating private property and market forces
- state-sponsored terrorism
- states do sometimes sponsor nonstate terrorist groups as a means to extend their power by proxy, using terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy
- semipresidential system
- prime minister coexists alongside a president that is directly elected by the people
- Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs)
- groups created by states to service particular policy ends (United Nations, European Union)
- concrete review
- court can rule on constitutional issues on the basis of disputes brought before it; has power but is reactive and must wait for a legal dispute before it can rule on constitutionality of any law/state action
- import substitution
- mercantilist idea that uses the state to create more positive conditions for the development of local industry; countries restrict imports (tariff/nontariff barriers, helps spur demand for local alternatives
- neocolonialism
- upon independence, many countries found themselves in a continued state of economic dependency on the former colonial powers; language ties/infrastructure/production favored continuation of relationships (bad for long term); unequal relationship
- imperialism
- system whereby a state extends its power to directly control territory, resources, and people beyond its borders; economic, strategic, and religious motives; leads to colonialism;
- integration
- process by which states pool their sovereignty, surrendering some individual powers in order to gain political, economic, or societal benefits in return
- globalization
- intensifying linkages between states, societies, and economies; challenging long-standing institutions, assumptions, and norms at an increasingly rapid pace
- parliamentary system
- head of state and government are separate
- judicial review
- mechanism by which the court can review laws and policies and overturn those that are seen as violations of the constitution (two forms: concrete and abstract)
- democracy
- political power exercised either directly or indirectly through participation, competition, and liberty
- marketization
- recreation of market forces of supply and demand
- multinational corporations (MNCs)
- firms that produce, distribute, and market their goods or services in more than one country (Microsoft, General Electric)
- liberal democracy
- political system that promotes participation, competition, and liberty; emphasis on individual rights and freedoms; collective welfare over individual rights
- rule of law
- political system that all individuals are subject to regardless of their position or power
- nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
- national and international groups, independent of any state, that pursue policy objectives and foster public participation (Greenpeace, Red Cross)
- terrorism
- use of violence by nonstate actors against civilians in order to achieve a political goal
- advanced democracies
- country with institutionalized democracy and a high level of economic development, high human development, capitalist economic systems (liberal, social democratic, or mercantilist), private property, free markets,
- informal economy
- segment of the economy that is not regulated or taxed by the state; typically dominated by self-employed or small enterprises (ex: street vendor, family creating goods out of home)
- central planning
- government controls how much is produced, setting the final prices, deciding where goods will be sold
- modern
- secular, rational, materialistic, technological, bureaucratic, and placing a greater emphasis on individual freedom than on collective equality
- structural adjustment
- state involvement is reduced as economy opens up, foreign investment encouraged, often follows important substitution, criticism for failing
- civil rights
- refer to promotion of equality
- microcredit
- (or microfinance); system that involves not an individual lender and borrower, but borrowing groups made up of several individuals
- political violence: ideational
- ideas may justify or promote the use of violence (some forms of religious fundamentalism, nationalism)
- direct democracy
- public participates directly in governance and policy making
- political violence: individual
- psychological or strategic factors may lead people to carry out violence (humiliation)
- privatization
- transfer or state-held property into private hands
- presidential system
- directly elected president in charge of all executive powers- domestic/international affairs; US, Mexico, Brazil
- civil liberties
- refer to promotion of freedom
- political violence
- violence outside of state control that is politically motivated
- abstract review
- court can decide on questions that do not arise from actual legal cases, sometimes even before legislation actually becomes law
- export-oriented industrialization
- seeks to directly integrate into the global economy by concentrating on economic production that can find a niche in international markets
- indirect democracy
- public participates indirectly through its elected representatives
- guerilla war
- involves nonstate combatants who largely accept traditional rules of war and target the state rather than civilians
- empires
- single political authorities that have under their sovereignty a large number of external regions or territories and different peoples
- republicanism
- (indirect democracy) emphasizes separation of powers within a state, representation of public through elected officials
- political violence: institutional
- existing institutions may encourage violence or constrain human action, creating a violent backlash (Presidentialism)
- revolution
- public seizure of the state in order to overturn the existing government and regime