democratization
This type of transition to democracy is led by ordinary citizens through protests, revolutions, or social pressure — rather than initiated by political elites.
“What is a bottom-up transition to democracy?”
This system requires the government to maintain legislative confidence to stay in power.
What is a parliamentary system?
Winner-takes-all elections are also known as this.
What is first-past-the-post or plurality?
Modern authoritarian leaders who manipulate media rather than relying solely on fear are called this.
What is a spin dictator?
Governments formed through negotiation and coalition-building are typical under this system.
What is parliamentary government?
This country experienced a bottom-up transition in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall.
What is East Germany?
In this system, the president and legislature are elected independently, creating a separation of powers.
What is a presidential system?
This type of electoral system allocates seats roughly in proportion to vote share.
What is proportional representation (PR)?
This Venezuelan leader rose democratically in 1999 and later centralized power.
Who is Hugo Chávez?
Coalitions are more common in countries with this electoral system.
What is proportional representation (PR)?
The theory that predicts people will act if the benefits of change outweigh the costs.
What is collective action theory?
France and Ukraine have this hybrid executive system with both a president and a PM accountable to parliament.
What is a semi-presidential system?
Duverger’s Law predicts that this type of system tends to produce two major parties.
What is a plurality system?
This 2025 Venezuelan opposition leader was forced into hiding after challenging Maduro.
Who is Maria Corina Machado?
A coalition made up of parties holding a legislative majority is called this.
What is a majority coalition?
The phenomenon when many people join protests after a few begin.
: What is a revolutionary cascade?
This occurs when a parliamentary government can be removed through a no-confidence vote.
What is legislative responsibility?
These are the minimum percentage of votes a party needs to gain seats in PR systems.
What is the electoral threshold?
Elections under spin dictatorships are used for legitimacy, co-opting opposition, and this purpose.
What is gathering information?
Parliamentary systems with proportional representation tend to be inclusive but this.
What is less stable?
People hiding their true beliefs out of fear of punishment is called this.
What is preference falsification?
This Swiss executive structure makes classification difficult because it’s collective and collegial.
What is the Federal Council?
The political theory that parties move toward the center to win a majority is called this.
What is Downs’ Median Voter Theorem?
Fear-based dictators like Stalin used elections primarily for this.
What is intimidation?
Presidential systems with plurality voting tend to produce this type of party dominance.
What is two-party dominance?