Political Science Final 2
Terms
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- autocracy
- Government by a single person having unlimited power; despotism.
- monarchy
- Government by a monarch. (Royalty)
- authoritarianism
- A political doctrine advocating the principle of absolute rule
- westminster model
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1.) Popular elected pariliament
2.) executive power by a cabinet and minister
3.) Govt requires a working majority for the ruling party or coalition
4.) Leader of cabinet may dissolve the parliament and call for new elections - house of commons
- The lower house of Parliament in the United Kingdom and Canada.
- house of lords
- in charge of courts of last resort
- oversight
- An unintentional omission or mistake.
- bureaucracy
- a way of organizing the public administration that emphasizes professionalism, recruitment, and promotion on the basis of merit, standardization of procedures, and the smooth flow of commands.
- weber
- came up with bureaucracy, said: "no individual can successfully run and entire govt."
- judicial review
- A court's authority to examine an executive or legislative act and to invalidate that act if it is contrary to constitutional principles.
- Michels
- came up with "Iron law of oligarchy"
- Pareto
- Italian economist and sociologist
- civil service
- Those branches of public service that are not legislative, judicial, or military and in which employment is usually based on competitive examination.
- pendleton act
- The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act established the United States Civil Service Commission, which placed most federal employees on the merit system and marked the end of the so-called "spoils system."
- Hatch Act
- Enacted in 1939, the Hatch Act (5 U.S.C.A. 7324) curbs the political activities of employees in federal, state, and local governments. The law's goal is to enforce political neutrality among civil servants: the act prohibits them from holding public office, influencing elections, participating in or managing political campaigns, and exerting undue influence on government hiring.
- French Mixed System
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see image - spoils system
- The postelection practice of rewarding loyal supporters of the winning candidates and party with appointive public offices.
- ossification
- The process of becoming set in a rigidly conventional pattern, as of behavior, habits, or beliefs.
- iron law of oligarchy
- It states that all forms of organization, regardless of how democratic or autocratic they may be at the start, will eventually and inevitably develop oligarchic tendencies, thus making true democracy practically and theoretically impossible, especially in large groups and complex organizations.
- ombudsman
- A man who investigates complaints and mediates fair settlements, especially between aggrieved parties such as consumers or students and an institution or organization.
- code of hammurabi
- A comprehensive set of laws, considered by many scholars to be the oldest established, that were handed down four thousand years ago by King Hammurabi of Babylon.
- natural law
- A law or body of laws that derives from nature and is believed to be binding upon human actions apart from or in conjunction with laws established by human authority.
- positivist law
- A believer in positivism. -- a. Relating to positivism.
- Electicism
- making decisions on the basis of what seems best instead of following some single doctrine or style
- court of common pleas
- A court in some states of the United States having general jurisdiction.
- precedent
- A judicial decision that may be used as a standard in subsequent similar cases
- common law
- The system of laws originated and developed in England and based on court decisions, on the doctrines implicit in those decisions, and on customs and usages rather than on codified written laws.
- courts of last resort
- like a supreme court, final court of jurisdiction
- stare decisis
- The policy of courts to abide by or adhere to principles established by decisions in earlier cases.
- judicial restraint
- judges should be reluctant to declare legislative enactments unconstitutional unless the conflict between the enactment and the Constitution is obvious.
- judicial activism
- an interpretation of the U.S. constitution holding that the spirit of the times and the needs of the nation can legitimately influence judicial decisions
- strict constructionism
- Strict constructionism is a philosophy of judicial interpretation and legal philosophy that limits judicial interpretation to the meanings of the actual words and phrases used in law, and not on other sources or inferences.
- code napoleon
- The first modern organized body of law governing France
- appellate jurisdiction
- the power of a court to review and potentially modify the decisions made by another court or tribunal.
- single party state
- a single political party dominates the government and no opposition parties are allowed.
- basic law
- The term Basic Law is used in some places as an alternate to "constitution"
- Willy Brandt
- German political leader. He served as chancellor of West Germany (1969–1974) and won the 1971 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to reduce tension between the East and the West.
- amendability
- ability to be changed or added upon
- rational choice
- "rationality" of one form or another is used either to decide which course of action would be the best to take
- federal state
- A federal state is one that brings together a number of different political communities with a common government
- unitary state
- A unitary state is a state or country that is governed constitutionally as one single unit, with one constitutionally created legislature.
- constitutionalism
- Government in which power is distributed and limited by a system of laws that must be obeyed by the rulers
- magna carta
- A document or piece of legislation that serves as a guarantee of basic rights.
- smpd
- single member pluarilty district
- proportional representation
- Representation of all parties in a legislature in proportion to their popular vote.
- plurality
- In a contest of more than two choices, the number of votes cast for the winning choice if this number is not more than one half of the total votes cast.
- majority
- The greater number or part; a number more than half of the total.
- participation
- The act of taking part or sharing in something
- knesset
- The unicameral parliament of Israel.
- single issue party
- Of, relating to, or concerned with a single public issue, especially a controversial one,
- Whigs
- Conservatives (cattle or horse thief)
- Torries
- Liberals (Papus outlaw)
- Salisbury
- A municipal borough of southern England
- David Truman
- was an political scientist and educator who spent much of his career at Columbia University
- FEC
- Federal Election Commission
- Nader
- Activist/Political Figure
- ML King Jr.
- Freedom fighter
- Chavez
- a union organizer and social activist of the 1960s
- gerrymandering
- To divide (a geographic area) into voting districts so as to give unfair advantage to one party in elections.
- referenda
- The submission of a proposed public measure or actual statute to a direct popular vote.
- faction
- A group of persons forming a cohesive, usually contentious minority within a larger group
- lobby
- A group of persons engaged in trying to influence legislators or other public officials in favor of a specific
- european court of justice
- judicial branch of the European Union (EU). Located in Luxembourg, it was founded in 1958
- social movements
- a group of people with a common ideology who try together to achieve certain general goals
- functions of constitutions
- set of rules by which power is distributed among the members
- Purpose of elections
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1.) Allow the masses to have a choice in leaders and policies.
2.) They allow the state to mobilize the population and build support through participation.
3.)Creating a presumption of democratic commitment in the international community - British Parliamentary System
- (Voters)--Elect-->(House of commons)--provide majority support for--->(Prime minister and cabinet)--direct-->(Central Govt agencies)
- American presidential system
- (Voters)--Elect-->(Congress/President)--Apoints-->(Agency Heads)--Directs-->(Federal Executive Agencies)
- Differences between presidential and parliamentary systems.
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1.) Policy leadership is in the hands of the president
2.)Responsibility for policies is harder to pin down in presidential systems
3.) comprehensive policies are harder to accomplish
4.) recruitment of members of executives differ from parliament in those systems
5.) Oversight of executive differs president and congress operate independently
6.) symbolic and political aspects are unified in presidential systems and split in parliamentary systems
7.) Constitutional review - Bureaucracy Characteristics
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1.) Members are appointed and promoted on the basis of thier qualifications for the job
2.) Special requirements, training, and experience are set for the position
3.) Procedures are standardized, behavior is micromanaged leaving little room for their discretion or abuse.
4.) clear lines of command are established, ahierarchial chain of command is in place
5.) Administrators are protected from day-to-day political pressure. A tenure system is implemented. - Beurocracies strive for...
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1.) Honest, accurate translation of political leaders decisions into more specifically designed policies
2.) flexibility in dealing with speacial cases at the point of delivery
3.)Non arbitrary
4.) feedback; expert advice, active imagination, assertive inquiry by administrators
5.) efficiency - interest groups
- A group of persons working on behalf of or strongly supporting a particular cause, such as an item of legislation, an industry, or a special segment of society.