UNIT 1: Political Systems, Regimes, and Governments
How is an illiberal democracy different from a democracy?
Illiberal democracies and hybrid regimes that hold elections with little competition toward the ruling party and that tend to have diminished civil liberties.
What is the term limit for Mexico's president?
One six-year term.
What is civil society?
voluntary associations independent from the state, including local religious and neighborhood organizations, news media, business and professional associations, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
What election system in the United Kingdom’s House of Commons diminish the representations of minor parties?
Single-member district plurality system
Name one economic indicators
GDP, GDP per capita, Interest rates, inflation rate, Consumer Price Index (CPI)…
Compare an empirical statement with a normative statement.
Empirical data is fact-based information from observation or experimentation*
Normative statement is a value or opinion statement that cannot be proven or disproven. For example a normative statement about Russian politics is that “Vladimir Putin should not have returned to become Russia’s president in 2012.”
What are some advantages and disadvantages of having term limits?
• Advantages of executive term limits are that they
- check executive power by and inhibit the emergence of dictators and personality rule
- help to focus the officeholder on governing rather than winning elections
- provide opportunities for new leaders with new ideas, policies, or goals.
• Disadvantages of executive term limits are
- force good executives to leave office
- allow insufficient time for an office holder to achieve goals; impede policy continuity
- weaken accountability
- create a lame-duck period for the officeholder; prevent the officeholder from building experience as chief executive
- can cause poorly designed policy
What is the third sector?
Non-governmental, “volunteerland,” economy/society compromising of NGO…
Which organization in Iran rules over the election and exclude reform-minded candidates?
Guardian Council
List at least 3 goals of neoliberalism
Limit subsidies, reduce deficit spending, limit protectionism, open markets to foreign trade, abolish fixed exchange rates, back deregulation, privatize property, privatize business…
List the Federal and Unitary States.
Federal States: Mexico, Nigeria, and Russia
Unitary States: China, UK, and Iran
How can the President be removed from office in Nigeria?
Impeachment by legislature
Briefly describe one cleavage that one of the AP 6 Course Countries is experiencing
UK - Ethnicity
Nigeria - Christian Vs. Islam
China - Minority Ethnic Groups
What is the name of the organization in Nigeria regulates elections? Hint: INEC
Independent National Electoral Commission
What is the purpose of the World Trade Organization?
Ensure that the foreign trade happens without any conflicts
List at least 4 Sources of Legitimacy.
Sources of legitimacy include nationalism, tradition, governmental effectiveness, economic growth, popular elections, ideology, religious heritage and organizations, and the dominant political party’s endorsement.
Compare institutional relations among parliamentary, presidential, and semi-presidential systems.
Parliamentary systems
- national legislature has combined lawmaking and executive functions
- the power to select and remove a prime minister who acts as head of government
Presidential systems
- separate election processes are used in the selection of the president and the national legislature
- president serves as head of state and head of government who oversees the bureaucratic implementation of executive regulations and laws written by the legislature
Semi-presidential systems
- separate election processes are used in the selection of the president and the national legislature
- president serves as head of state and selects the head of government, with the legislature’s approval, to shape policies and implement the legislature’s laws.
China’s political culture is shaped by?
Confucianism, paternalism, communism, socialist values
The ___________ in Iran protested against corruption in 2009 election.
The Green Movement
When does economic liberalization happens?
When the government reduces their intervention, privatizing industries, opening the market to foreign direct investment
How have Mexico and Nigeria transitioned from an authoritarian past to a democratic present?
Both Mexico and Nigeria:
- Created independent election commissions that attempt to reduce voter fraud and manipulation and enhance electoral competition
- Have multiple parties that compete in election
- Guaranteed voting rights for citizens 18 and older.
- Have many media outlets that are allowed to criticize government officials
What is the difference between a unicameral and bicameral legislature? Please provide relevant examples.
Unicameral legislative structure that consists of one chamber of representatives
Example: Iran and China
Bicameral legislative structure that consists of two chambers of representatives
Example: Mexico, Nigeria, UK, and Russia
Define what governmental malfeasance is
Intentional wrongdoing by a public official
The Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies have 500 seats. If the Left party has won 20 percent of the vote in the party-list voting from the citizens, they will earn ____ seats from the proportional representation.
40. (Only 200 seats are selected by the proportional representation)
When was the Mexico’s oil boom?
1977-1981