GCE A/L Political Science flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Legitimacy

The justified right to rule, distinguished from mere power or coercion. Weber identifies traditional, charismatic, and legal-rational bases; legal-rational authority rests on impersonal rules and offices rather than personal qualities.

Positive and negative liberty

Negative liberty is the absence of interference by others. Positive liberty is the capacity for self-mastery or collective self-rule, which can justify constraints aimed at realising a person's authentic will.

Veil of ignorance

Rawls's device for choosing principles of justice without knowing one's talents, class, or conception of the good. It yields equal basic liberties and permits inequalities only if they benefit the least advantaged.

Sovereignty

Supreme authority within a territory and independence from external powers. Internally it means the state outranks all rival associations; externally it means formal equality and non-interference among states.

Three faces of power

Dahl's first face is direct decision-making influence. Bachrach and Baratz add non-decision-making that keeps issues off the agenda. Lukes adds shaping preferences so grievances never form.

Constitutional convention

An unwritten but binding rule of political practice, such as ministerial responsibility or royal assent. Conventions are enforced politically and by courts' recognition, not by direct legal sanction.

Parliamentary sovereignty

The legislature may make or unmake any law, and courts cannot invalidate primary legislation. Devolution and treaty membership can limit it politically or practically without formally abolishing it.

Judicial review

A court's power to assess whether legislation or executive action conforms to the constitution or higher law. In systems without entrenched constitutions, review is limited to legality and procedural propriety.

Federalism

A constitutional division of competence between central and regional governments, each exercising final authority in its sphere. A constitutional court or arbiter resolves disputes between levels.

Duverger's law

Plurality elections in single-member districts tend to produce two-party competition. The mechanical effect wastes votes for third parties, and the psychological effect discourages voters from supporting them.

Proportional representation

An electoral family in which seats are allocated roughly in proportion to vote shares, usually in multi-member districts or national lists. Thresholds and district size determine how proportional the outcome is.

Motion of no confidence

A parliamentary vote indicating the chamber no longer supports the executive. Its passage typically forces the government to resign or the head of state to dissolve parliament and call elections.

Catch-all party

A party that dilutes ideological commitments to appeal across social groups, emphasising leadership and broad competence rather than a class or confessional base. It contrasts with mass and cadre parties.

Consociationalism

Lijphart's power-sharing model for divided societies: grand coalition executives, mutual veto, proportional allocation, and segmental autonomy. It aims at stability by recognising rather than suppressing cleavages.

Hybrid regime

A political system combining formal elections and institutions with systematic restrictions on contestation, media pluralism, or civil liberties. It sits between liberal democracy and closed authoritarianism on regime indices.

State capacity

The ability of state institutions to extract revenue, maintain order, and deliver services across the territory. Low capacity undermines both authoritarian control and democratic governance.

Rentier state

A state whose revenue comes mainly from external rents such as oil or minerals rather than domestic taxation. The weak tax bargain reduces pressure for representation and accountability.

Path dependence

The tendency of earlier institutional choices to constrain later options because switching costs rise over time. It explains persistence of arrangements that may no longer be efficient or equitable.

Structural realism

Waltz's claim that anarchy and the distribution of capabilities, not domestic politics, drive state behaviour. States seek security through self-help, balancing, and concern about relative gains.

Constructivism

The approach holding that state interests and identities are socially constructed through interaction and norms, not fixed by material structure. Anarchy's meaning depends on shared understandings among states.

Collective security

An arrangement in which members agree that aggression against one is aggression against all and commit to a common response, typically through a universal organisation such as the United Nations.

Soft power

Nye's concept of achieving aims through attraction rather than coercion or payment, drawing on culture, values, and the perceived legitimacy of policy. It is slow and indirect compared with hard power.

Deterrence credibility

The adversary's belief that a threat will actually be carried out. Credibility depends on capability, demonstrated resolve, and clear communication, and is central to nuclear stability.

Gini coefficient

A measure of inequality from 0 (perfect equality) to 1 (perfect inequality), derived from the Lorenz curve. It summarises the whole distribution but is insensitive to where inequality occurs.

Human Development Index

A composite of life expectancy, education, and gross national income per capita, each equally weighted. It broadens welfare comparison beyond output but ignores distribution and ecological costs.

Developmental state

A state that actively guides industrialisation through credit allocation, industrial policy, and coordination with firms, as in East Asian late industrialisers. It requires insulated, competent bureaucracy.

Washington Consensus

A policy package of fiscal discipline, liberalisation, privatisation, deregulation, and secure property rights promoted by international financial institutions. Critics emphasise sequencing and institutional preconditions.

New Public Management

A reform doctrine applying market and managerial logic to government: performance targets, contracting out, autonomy for agencies, and customer orientation. It can improve efficiency while fragmenting accountability.

Multiple streams framework

Kingdon's model in which problem, policy, and politics streams must converge for an issue to reach the agenda. Policy entrepreneurs exploit windows to couple the streams and push solutions.

Street-level bureaucracy

Lipsky's account of front-line officials who exercise discretion in applying rules to individual cases. Their coping routines and rationing practices effectively reshape policy during implementation.

Principal-agent problem

Arises when an official or agency acting for political principals pursues divergent interests or hides information. Audits, incentives, transparency, and oversight bodies are standard mitigations.

Democratic backsliding

The incremental erosion of democratic quality through court capture, media restriction, and manipulation of electoral rules, typically by elected leaders using legal means rather than overt coups.