Introduction to Comparative Government and Politics Final Exam Study Guide Chapter 10 1 What are the different types of dictatorships How are they classified Monarchy is an autocracy in which the executive comes to and maintains power on the basis of family and kin networks Examples Saudi Arabia Morocco Kuwait Military dictatorship is an autocracy in which the executive relies on the armed forces to come to and stay in power Examples Botswana Syria Cuba Civilian dictatorship All other authoritarian regimes relies on regime parties or personality cults to stay in power Examples Afghanistan Haiti North Korea 2 What type of dictatorship should last the longest The shortest Although monarchies make up the smallest percentage when comparing to the other types dictatorships across the globe they have latest longer then the other type Military dictatorships last the shortest referencing to table 10 1 of the 179 military dictatorships only 89 of those remained military dictatorships over the course of 1946 1996 3 What is selectorate theory What is the main assumption of selectorate theory The selectorate theory characterizes all governments by their location in a two dimensional institutional space One dimension is the size of the selectorate and the second dimension is the size of the winning coalition The selectorate is the set of people who can play a role in selecting the leader the winning coalition includes those people whose support is necessary for the leader to stay in power The selectorate is not always the same as an electorate meaning the people who select a leader do not necessarily have to do so by voting The selectorate can be small or large in dictatorships but it is always large in democracies 4 What is the selectorate Winning coalition Loyalty norm The selectorate S is the set of people who have a legitimate say if they so choose in the selection of the leader Winning coalition W consists of those members of the selectorate whose support is necessary for the leader to remain in power The strength of the loyalty norm is determined by W S the probability that a member of the selectorate will be in the winning coalition Members of the winning coalition are most loyal when W S is small and least loyal when W S is large 5 What influence does the size of W and S have on the production of private or public goods When the W S is small strong loyalty norm the leaders do not need to pay members of W much to keep them loyal therefore leaders have little incentive to produce good public policy aka public goods since it does not help them stay in power When the W S is large weak loyalty norm the leader will want to provide public good over private goods because it will help the leader stay in power Private goods would not be worth much to each individual since private goods must be distributed among so many people 6 What is the link between W and the loyalty norm to government performance When W is small strong loyalty norm leaders will want to provide private goods rather than public goods When W is large weak loyalty norm leaders will want to provide public goods rather than private goods 7 Leaders prefer systems with what W and S Members of the winning coalition prefer systems with what W and S Leaders clearly prefer to set up institutions that encourage a small winning coalition W and a large selectorate S because it helps them stay in power and also enriches themselves at the expense of the citizen Members of the winning coalition like institutions in which W is small but W S is large small W provides them with private goods and a large W S provides large quantities of these goods to counteract the weak loyalty norm In other words leaders prefer to rule over dominant party or personalistic dictatorships members of the winning coalition prefer to live in monarchies or military juntas and everyone else prefers to live in democracies Chapter 12 1 How do we classify presidential parliamentary and semi presidential systems Whether a democracy is parliamentary presidential or semi presidential depends on the relationship between a the government which comprises the political chief executive and the ministers that head the various government departments b the legislature and c the president if there is one Ultimately distinguishing between the three types of democracies requires identifying which actors can remove the government from office o Democracies in which the legislature cannot remove the government are o Democracies in which only the legislature can remove the government are presidential parliamentary 2 What are the differences between the systems Presidential is one in which the government does not depend on a legislative majority to Parliamentary is one in which the government depends only on a legislative majority to Semi presidential the head of state is popularly elected is one in which the government depends on a legislative majority and 3 What is a vote of no confidence What is a constructive vote of no confidence Vote of no confidence o In those democracies that are characterized by legislative responsibility the mechanism that the legislature can initiate to remove a government is called the vote of no confidence Basically a vote of no confidence involves a vote in the legislature on whether the government should remain in office If a majority of legislators vote against the government then the government must resign Constructive vote of no confidence exist exist o Requires that that those who oppose the government also indicate who should replace the government if the incumbent loses a vote of no confidence One of the reasons for adopting a constructive vote of no confidence is that is tends to reduce government instability 4 How are governments formed in parliamentary systems What is an investiture vote What is a formateur When thinking about the government formation process it is important to remember that any proposed government must enjoy the confidence of the legislature both to come to power and to stay in power Investiture vote government can take office is a formal vote in the legislature to determine whether a proposed o If no formal investiture vote is required it must still have the implicit support of a legislative majority at all times This is because of the ability of the legislature to call a vote of no confidence at any time Formateur The formateur is often the Prime Minister designate is the person designated to form the government in a
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