Ap Comparative Uk Vocab

Constitutional Courts The highest judicial body in a political system that decides whether laws and policies violate the constitution •Major Branch of government in liberal democracies •Increased power in the last half century to protect human rights after the technically legal rise to power of authoritarian leaders in WWII •Long-term positions/usually not elected directly  not easily influenced by politicians and provides stability during political turnovers •Prevents power abuse and corruption

Constitutional Courts

Judicial Review The mechanism by which the court can review laws and policies and overturn those that are seen as violations of the constitution

Concrete Review:

Abstract Review:

The court rules on the basis of cases brought before it

The court decides legal questions not arising from actual cases or laws

e.g. – USA, Germany*, Japan, South Africa*, Hungary*

e.g. – France, Germany*, Lebanon, South Africa*, Hungary*

*Some state’s constitutional courts have the power of both concrete and abstract review

Constitutional Courts

Examples =D 

The United States Supreme Court and other Federal Courts:   

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Concrete Review Weakest of 3 branches Expansion of power in last half century b/c of more unclear regulatory policies being passed and expansion of the rules of standing, allowing groups and individuals to challenge laws

Britain  



No judicial review, can only say whether policy violates common law or an act of Parliament Traditionally in the House of Lords, law lords, highest court for appeal of civil and criminal cases, but has weakened in attempts in constitutional reform by Blair As an EU member, must follow the European Court of Justice’s decisions

Corporatism A method of cooptation whereby authoritarian systems create or sanction a limited number of organizations to represent the interests of the public and restrict those not set up or approved by the state •Cooptation – the process by which individuals are brought into a beneficial relationship with the state, making them dependent on the state for certain rewards •Many independent, competing organizations are replaced with state-approved, state-funded groups that represent and are given a monopoly over a sector of society •Results in the state, society, and the market being a single body, with each group acting in its own specific and limited role •Opposite from pluralist systems, where bussiness, labor, and political parties stand apart from and in opposition to one another

Corporatism

Examples =D 

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Fascist Italy, Germany, Spain, and Portugal up until the 1970s had element of corporatism while under authoritarian rule. Spain: a single political party organized most business and labor interests together into a limited number of syndicates that represented both owners and workers in different sectors of the economy. Communist Cuba: all labor is organized under a single union directly controlled by the state, independent unions are illegal

Coup d’ etat

A move by which military forces take control of the government by force; a forceful extra constitutional action resulting in the removal of the existing government •Usually results in authoritarian military rule, the military sees itself as the only organized source •Common where state’s government struggles with legitimacy and stability and high levels of public unrest or violence •Military Rule: Have a high capacity for the use of violence in ruling. Use surveillance and force to eliminate opponents and restrict civil liberties •Usually lacks specific ideology and do not have traditional legitimacy •Bureaucratic authoritarianism – a system in which the state bureaucrat and the military share a belief that a technocratic leadership, focused on rational, objective, technical expertise, can solve the problems of the country, as opposed to emotional or irrational ideologically based party politics

Coup d’ etat

Examples =D • Common in Africa and Latin America in the last century • Mexico: The Revolution of 1910 • Open elections were held in 1911 after Diaz was forced into exile as there was increasing opposition to dictatorship • The new President, Madero, was assassinated in a 1913 coup d’ etat and political order collapsed

Direct Democracy Democracy that allows the public to participate directly in government decision-making •Athenian Democracy - The roots of democracy, in ancient Greece, government of public rule where the people were the state [excluding women, children, and slaves] •Worked well in small communities •Influenced the rise of the indirect democracies, representative rule, of today

Electoral systems A set of rules that decide how motes are cast, counted, and translated into seats in a legislature •First past the post, district represented by a single person usually giving rise to a 2 party system, ballots cast for individuals [US, UK, France, Australia, India] •Proportional Representation, multi-member districts, multi party systems, ballots cast for parties [majority of democracies] •Mixed system, combines PR and FPTP, a single ballot with 2 choices of selecting a political party and an individual for their district [Germany, Hungary, Mexico, Russia, Japan] •Balance of the 2 systems vaires by country, Germany’s legislature splits equally between PR and FPTP selected voters, Japan has 60% FPTP and 40% PR