Flashcards
Federalism & De-Centralization
Flashcards do conjunto (37)
- 1What are some features of federalism?Federalism in structure (de jure federalism) & federalism in practice (de facto federalism). Federalism has three structural components; geopolitical division, independence & direct governance.
- 2What is a federal state?One in which sovereignty is constitutionally split between at least two territorial levels. Independent governmental units at each level have final authority in at least one policy realm.
- 3What is a unitary state?States that are not federal. Devolution occurs when a unitary state grants powers to subnational governments but retains the right to unilaterally recall or reshape those powers. Regional governments in a unitary state do not have a constitutional right to any of their powers.
- 4What is the difference between congruent & incongruent federalism?Congruent federalism exists when the territorial units of a federal state share a similar demographic makeup with one another & the country as a whole. Incongruent federalism exists when the demographic makeup of territorial units differs among the units & the country as a whole.
- 5What is the difference between symmetric and asymmetric federalism?Symmetric federalism exists when the territorial units of a federal state possess equal powers relative to the central government. Asymmetric federalism exists when some territorial units enjoy more extensive powers than others relative to the central government.
- 6What is decentralization?The extent to which actual policymaking power lies with the central or regional governments. Most political scientists see decentralization as a revenue issue: the greater the share of all tax revenues going to the central government, the less decentralized the state.
- 7What determines the status of a state?Whether a state is federal or unitary is ultimately a constitutional issue. Whether a state is decentralized or not is about where policy is actually made.
- 8What is coming-together federalism?Coming-together federalism is the result of a bargaining process in which previously sovereign polities voluntarily agree to give up part of their sovereignty in order to pool resources and improve their collective security or achieve economic goals.
- 9What is holding-together federalism?Holding-together federalism is the result of a process in which the central government of a polity chooses to decentralize its power to subnational governments in order to diffuse secessionist pressures.
- 10What are some potential advantages of federalism?Closer match between policy & citizen preferences, greater government accountability by bringing the government closer to the people, competition among states creates an incentive for good government, policy experimentation & a system of checks & balances.
- 11What are some potential disadvantages of federalism?Unnecessary duplication & contradictory policies, increases collective action problems in policy formulation, competition leads to downward harmonization, competition amplifies pre-existing inequalities, facilitates blame shifting & credit claiming, thereby reducing government accountability.
- 12What is the difference between a unicameral & a bicameral legislature?In a unicameral legislature, deliberation occurs in a single assembly. In a bicameral legislature, deliberation occurs in two distinct assemblies. About 40% of the world’s countries have a bicameral legislature.
- 13How can bicameral systems be congruent & incongruent?Congruent bicameralism occurs when two legislative chambers have a similar political composition. Incongruent bicameralism occurs when two legislative chambers differ in their political composition.
- 14What does the level of congruence depend on?How the membership of the two chambers is selected, & on whom that membership is supposed to represent. The lower house in a bicameral system is almost always directly elected. There are 4 methods of selecting members of the upper house; heredity, appointment, indirect elections & direct elections.
- 15What is role for the lower & upper chambers?Members of the lower chamber in almost all countries are supposed to represent all citizens equally. The most common role for the upper chamber is to represent the citizens of subnational geographic units, this happens always in federal state & sometimes in unitary states.
- 16When does malapportionment occur?When the distribution of political representation between constituencies is not based on population size. In a malapportioned system, the votes of some citizens weigh more than the votes of others.
- 17How can bicameral systems be symmetric or asymmetric?With symmetric bicameralism, two legislative chambers have equal or near equal constitutional power. With asymmetric bicameralism, two legislative chambers have unequal constitutional power.
- 18Where does bicameralism originate?In the mixed government concept outlined in ancient Greece. Different institutions represent the interests of different social classes. Checks & balances should prevent one social class from dominating the others.
- 19How did bicameralism come to be seen?As a way for federal states to represent their constituent territorial units. The lower chamber would represent the popular dimension of the people’s will. The upper chamber would represent the territorial dimension of the people’s will.
- 20What is the status of the upper legislative chamber nowadays?Some unitary states have retained it but in most cases it's power has been significantly weakened. Members of the upper chamber have characteristics of value that members of the lower chamber may not have; wisdom, age & knowledge. This incongruence is achieved by appointing people to the upper chamber.
- 21What is constitutionalism?The commitment of governments to accept the legitimacy of, & be governed by, a set of authoritative rules & principles laid out in a constitution.
- 22What does a system of constitutional justice comprise?The set of institutions & procedures established to protect constitutional rules & principles. A constitution provides the formal source of state authority; structure, procedure, powers, & duties of governmental institutions & guaranteed rights.
- 23What is the difference between a codified & an uncodified constitution?A codified constitution is written in a single document. An uncodified constitution has several sources, which may be written or unwritten. Only three countries have an uncodified constitution: Israel, New Zealand, United Kingdom.
- 24What is the difference between an entrenched & an unentrenched constitution?An entrenched constitution can only be modified through constitutional amendment. An unentrenched constitution has no amendment procedure & can be modified any time with a legislative majority.
- 25What is constitutional review?The authority of an institution to invalidate acts of government that violate constitutional rules: legislation, administrative decisions & judicial rulings.
- 26How is constitutional review exercised?By constitutional courts that are not part of the regular judicial system. When constitutional review is conducted by ordinary judges, it is referred to as judicial review.
- 27What is meant by the term 'the new constitution'?It describes a situation in which almost all countries now have a higher law constitution.
- 28What is the veto player theory?It helps us to compare political institutions across countries. A veto player is an individual or group of people whose agreement is necessary to change the status quo.
- 29What is the difference between an institutional & a partisan veto player?An institutional veto player is generated by a country’s constitution. A partisan veto player is generated by the way the political game is played.
- 30What can federalism, bicameralism & constitutionalism be conceptualized as?Different types of institutional veto players. All three institutions place hurdles on the ability of political actors to change the status quo.
- 31What does the veto player theory argue?That countries with many veto players who have conflicting preferences will be characterized by: greater political stability, smaller policy shift, less variation in the size of policy shifts & weaker agenda-setting powers because everyone has to agree in order to make a change.
- 32Where can the change only be from?The status quo to another policy in the winset. The winset is the feasible set of alternatives that every single veto player prefers to the status quo.
- 33What is policy shift size and variance in the size of policy shifts?If the winset is small, policy shifts must be small, if the winset is large, policy shifts can be large. If the winset is small, policy shifts are always small, if the winset is large, policy shifts may be large or small.
- 34What is the agenda-setting power?If the winset is small, policy shifts cannot move any farther than any veto player would move it if they were the agenda-setter, if the winset is large, policy shifts can move far from where the other veto players would move it if they were the agenda-setter.
- 35What is the size of the winset determined by?The number of veto players & the ideological distance between them. The winset shrinks as the number of veto players & the ideological distance between them increases.
- 36What can federalism, bicameralism & constitutionalism be reconceptualised in terms of?Veto player theory. Countries with these types of institutions will be characterized by: policy stability, small policy shift, little variation in the size of policy shifts & weak agenda-setting powers.
- 37What are further implications?Policy stability leads to government instability in parliamentary democracies. Policy stability leads to regime instability in presidential democracies. Policy stability encourages judicial & bureaucratic activism.
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- Introduction to Politics Yr 1 (Term 2) FlashCards sobre Federalism & De-Centralization , criado por Miss Rogers em 19-02-2018.
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