Introduction To Comparative Government PDF

INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE GOVERNMEN T GOV 103 DR. HAILU  CHAPTER 4 STATES AND IDENTITY IDENTITY POLITICS Indi v iduals defi ne thems elv es bas ed o n catego ries such as: G ender Religion Natio n E thni city Race However, s...

INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE GOVERNMEN T GOV 103 DR. HAILU  CHAPTER 4 STATES AND IDENTITY IDENTITY POLITICS Indi v iduals defi ne thems elv es bas ed o n catego ries such as: G ender Religion Natio n E thni city Race However, some of these categories are politically silent/not sensitive in some places and times, while others are not  ETHNICITY m o r ize Me this! Ethnic Group: Group of people who see themselves as united by one or more cultural attributes or a sense of common history Often seek autonomy within an existing state Usually the group does not see themselves as a nation seeking their own state They don’t wa nt to crea te thei r own s ta te, they wa nt more repres enta ti on  RACE Group of people socially defi ned primarily on the basis of one or more perceived common physical characteristics; color Usually racial groups seek recognition, representation, and improved social status within an existing state  RELIGION & THE STATE Some believe that religion should play a role in politics for Example, Islam. A model of secularism advocating that religion should play no part Laïcité in the public realm Secularist policy where the state is neutral among--but willing to Possitive support--religions that it recognizes as important elements in civil society Accomodation  GENDER Women’s movement the most dramatic social and political revolution of the last generation Feminist movements began to demand Equal political rights Equal economic rights Equal social rights  ORIGIN OF POLITICS 1.Primordialism approach Identity groups have existed since “time immemorial” Identity groups are Identity groups are defi ned unambiguously by “natural” or God such clear criteria as given kinship, language, culture, or phenotype  EXPLAINING IDENTITY. Constructivism/modern theoryPOLITICS of identity: Result of social relations and interactions Id e n titie s are cre ate d th ro u gh a complex process u su ally refe rre d to as so cial co n stru ctio n S o cial co n stru ctio n in vo lves societies collective ly “con stru ct” id e n titie s as a wid e array o f acto rs co n tin u ally discu ss th e q u estion of wh o “we” are. Ex; Assimila tio n S o cial co n stru ctio n is a cu rre n t approach to re defi n e id en tity b ase d o n co mmo n traits. I am an Ame rican in mode rn con text. Mu ltieth n ic an d mu lti immig ran t so cie ty. Ne w so cial co n stru ctio n in volves n ew social iden tities su ch as g e n d e r is n o w re d e fi n e. Man , wo man an d o th e r ( tran sgen d er) S o me d o n o t fi t in to th e o lder racial cate gories in Ame rica. Ex. T h o se wh o claim o th e r as th e ir id e n tity o n o ffi cial govern me n t docu men ts. OLITICAL DEMANDS OF IDENTITY Group Representation and full participation: To take part in national political decisions or to run their country. Ex. Membership to the congress/parliament Political, social and economic needs. Autonomy: parti al self- rul e ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF IDENTITY Recognizing POLITICS groups help Helps to Multicultural Recognition improve the preservation Integration: grants some of distinct socioeconomic Ethnocultural degree of identities matter cultures – governing status of and must be there is autonomy to groups recognized and beauty in particular accommodated diversity! groups. They within political do not have to institutions. fight for independence. ARGUMENTS AGAINST IDENTITY politics/Politics Assimilation: of Inclusion Recognizing Adoption of Recognizing group identity the majority Group rights can lead to population undermine state culture, such national disintegration. as languages, identity and religion shared set of values..  CHAPTER 5 GOVERNING INSTITUTIONS IN Democracies  THE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE LEGISL ATI VE JUDICIARY The chi ef po l i ti cal Bran ch o f Bra nch of po we r i n a state government that go vernmen t th at and i m pl e ments interprets the law makes the l aw i n al l l aws a nd a pplies it to a dem ocracy individua l cas es M u st exi st i n al l mo dern states EXECUTIVE BRANCH CAN BE Hea d of Sta te : offi cia l, s ymbolic repres enta tive of a countr y, a uthoriz ed to s pea k on its beha lf a nd repres ent it, pa rti cula r ly in world a ff a ir Mona rchs Pre si dents H e a d o f G o v e rn m e n t : ke y exe c u t i v e p o w e r i n a s t a t e Pres idents Prime Minis ter s (PMs )  PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM President is the head of government and/or head of state The president and the members of legislatures are elected to public offi ces Presidents and legislators serve fi xed terms The president can be removed from offi ce by members of legislature and or his cabinet members – impeachment  FORMS OF GOVE RNMENT Parliamentarism lead by the prime minister Presidential lead by the president  PARLIAMENTARISM The “purest form of majoritarian government” Separate head of state and head of government The prime minister is elec ted by the parliament to be head o f the exec utive branc h o f go vernment. He/she is Member of the legislature Elected by legislators, not directly by public Vote of no confi dence can force PM to resign  PARLIAMENTARISM Vote of No Confi dence: a vote by parliament to remove a government (the PM and cabinet) from power If no party has majority, must form coalition government PM can dissolve parliament, call for new elections Cabinet serves as check on PM  JUDICIARY In comparative politics, least studied government branch Not democratic branch of government Justices are not elected to the government offi ces justices c o nduc t Judic ial Review: authority o f the judic iary to decide whether a spec ifi c law c o ntradic ts a c o untry’s constitutio n They interpret the constitution  JUDICIARY Common Law : legal system originating in Britain in which judges base decisions not only on the written law but also on past court cases Code Law : legal system originating in ancient Rome and modifi ed by Napoleon in France in which judges may only follow the law as written. For example, US laws.  THE BUREAUCRACY Appointments to public offi ce 2 Based on political patronage Professionalization: Leaders appointed all recruitment based on merit Technical expertise offi cials to su it th e leaders’ Advancement based on in terests performance and personal capability  TWO SYSTEMS OF GOVERNMENTS 2 Unitary Systems Federal Sy stems The central A state’s power is government has sole legally and constitutional constitutionally div ided sovereignty and power among more than one level of gov ernment  CHAPTER 6 INSTITUTIONS OF PARTICIPATION AND Representation in Democracies  PARTICIPATION AND REPRESENTATION Most democratic regimes allow some amount of public participation and representation Authoritarian regimes seek to constrain or co - opt (infl uence) public participation. THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM Formal, legal mechanisms translate v otes into: Control over political offi ces Control ov er shares of political power  THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM First-Past-the-Post (FPTP) or Plurality System: is system in which the candidate with a plurality of votes wins Winner-takes all or zero -sum politics Majority Sy stem: system in which the winner must gain an absolute majority of the votes (50% + 1)  POLITICAL PARTIES Parties are important organizations where political participation takes place People join parties for various reasons. Because they agree with their ideas. To gain direct material benefi ts. Relationship between party and citizens important to party’s institutional strength  POLITICAL PARTIES Can be categori zed based on origins and ideologi es; Liberal conservative socialist/social democratic, communists Christian democratic right-wing extremist ecology movement.  POPULISM Populism: a political “style” or ideology emphasizing a united “people” pitted against corrupt elites, denying divisions among the “people,” and often led by a charismatic leader. Trump campaign in the United States  PARTY SYSTEMS 1 2 3 DOMINANT TWO - MULTIPARTY (S ING LE) PARTY SYSTEM PARTY S YS TE M SYSTEM  CHAPTER 7 CONTENTIOUS POLITICS: Social Movements, Political Violence, and Revolution POLITICAL VIOLENCE Political Violence Can include conflicts among ethnic or identity groups Can build up to ethnic violence and genocide Mostly related to perceptions of threat Security Dilemma Lack of trust increases likelihood of violence POLITICAL VIOLENCE Civ il War: Two or more armed grou ps, at least on e of w h ic h is tied to the most recent regime in po wer, fi gh t f o r c o n trol of the state Terrorism: Political violence by groups or individuals who deliberately target noncombatants to infl uence behavior of targeted publics and governments Distinction between terrorism and other forms of political violence is who is targeted  REVOLUTION Form o f c o n tentious politic s in v o lv in g a mo bilized gro u p deman din g c hange an d the suc c essfu l ov erth row o f a regime (or en tire so c ial order) Political Revolution: fundamental transformation of an existing regime Social Revolution: fundamental transformation of a regime and social structure REVOLUTION Revolutions happen due to The economic structure of the old regime, Psychological motivation to revolt, The resources and organization of revolutionary movements The structure and weakness of the old state Institutions The process of modernization.  CHAPTER 8 AUTHORITARIAN INSTITUTIONS AUTHORITARIAN RULE AROUND THE World Number o f authoritarian regimes peaked in late 1970s (abou t 75% of all c ountries), with rapid dec lin e after the en d o f th e Cold War (to about 40% o f all c ou n tries in 2008) High variation and much diversity Electoral authoritarian regimes more common since the end of Cold War GOVERNING INSTITUTIONS Supreme leader is key Individual who wields executive power with few formal limits in an authoritarian regime Rule through combination of repression, cooptation, and eff orts at legitimation  THE SUPREME LEADER Almo st a ll a ut ho rit a ria n re gime s re co gn ize a su pre me le ade r Relies on c ombina tions of legitima cy, repression, and co - pota tion (tak ing over)  THE SUPREME LEADER Repression creates O ppo s i t i o n bec o m es fear, which then ev en m o re s ec reti v e breeds uncertainty du e to fear o f about how much repres s i o n support the ruler has Leads to spending more resources than is rational to co - opt the opposition LEGISL ATURES AND PARTIES Created to ov erc ome dic tato r’ s dilemma: allo w voic in g o f opposition to gain in f ormation Opponents able to overthrow supreme leader demand institutions to limit leaders’ power Most likely when opposition united and balance of power exists between them and regime  OTHER INSTITUTIONS JUDICIARY BUREAUCRACY So m e regim e s allow Question of auto no m y fo r pro perty institutional strength and civil Weak bureaucracy cas es creates patronage Cas es can he lp opportunities o vercom e dictat o r’s supreme leader can dilem m a use to co - opt possible Po lit ical co ntro l and co rruptio n co m m o opponents  PROBLEM OF SUCCESSION Degree of institutionalization matters greatly Communist regimes chose new leaders from among key contenders within the politburo. Personalist leaders often rule for life (or until they ’re forced from offi ce). Sometimes, a successor isn’t named and crisis can ensue over shares of political power ELECTIONS, PARTIES, AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN AUTHORITARIAN Regimes Leaders can’t rule by repression alone Various methods to build and maintain legitimacy Personality cult in extreme cases of personalist regimes Limited elections and opposition parties  ELECTIONS ONE-PARTY REGIMES ELECTORAL SOMETIMES ALLOW AUTHORITARIAN INTERNAL elections REGIMES Facade (external) of Co mm unis t regimes democratic legitimacy No t co m petitive but Manipulate creat e circulatio n of electoral system to elites insure control Dem o ns trate regime Helps overcome s trength dictator’s dilemma  PARTIES Opposition parties in electoral authoritarian regimes Limited but allowed some voice in limited legislature Basis of resistance that can ultim ately to pple regim e  CIVIL SOCIETY Civil society in authoritarian societies is extremely circumscribed and repressed State corporatism most common Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) often willing to cooperate with regime Consultative authoritarianism