Final Exam Questions - Political Science

CHAPTER 7

What does the word democracy mean?

It comes from the Greek demos: people and kratos: power. It means government or authority of the people.

2. What is democracy as a way of life?

It is a way of life based on respect for human dignity, freedom, and the rights of each and every one.
community members.

3. What is democracy as a form of government?

It is the participation of the people in governmental action through suffrage and the control they exercise over what has been done.
by the state.

4. Where did democracy originate?

In Athens and other Greek cities during the 5th century BC.

5. What are the types of democracy?

Direct or pure democracy

Representative democracy

6. What is direct or pure democracy?

When sovereignty is exercised directly by the people without the need to elect representatives.

7. What is representative democracy?

The people elect their representatives to govern them. The election is carried out by means of suffrage and any
Everyone has the right to choose and to be elected.

8. What are the different systems in representative democracies?

Presidential system

Parliamentary system

Collegiate system

9. What is the presidential system?

The president governs the Nation, supported by ministers or secretaries chosen by him.

10. What is the parliamentary system?

The parliament is the central axis around which governmental action revolves. The powers of the president are limited.

11. What is the collegiate system?

It is a combination of the two previous ones. The executive power is composed of several people elected by the parliament and
that take turns in exercising the presidency.
12. What are the forms of political participation?

Vote

Referendum

Plebiscite

Popular Initiative

Recall

Judges

13. What is the vote?

It is a right and a civic duty inherent to citizenship. It is universal, secret, unique, personal, and non-delegable.

14. What is a referendum?

Grants citizens the right to ratify or reject the decisions of legislative bodies.

15. What is a plebiscite?

The citizenship responds by voting on a query made by the government regarding state matters that are of
fundamental interest. They can be internal issues or of an international order.

What is popular initiative?

It is the proposition to parliament of projects of laws presented directly by citizens.

17. What is recall?

It is the right to remove officials or annul their decisions through popular vote.

18. What are juries?

Citizens serve on juries, which is a way to collaborate with the judicial power.

19. What are the laws of democracy?

Popular sovereignty

Freedom

Equality

20. What is popular sovereignty?

It is the self-government of the people that recognizes that man is an intelligent and free being who can govern himself.
through the organs established by him.

21. What is legal freedom?

It is the right of man to act for himself without anyone being able to force him in another direction, the limits are
given by the laws.

22. What is equality?

All men have the same opportunities before the law.

23. What is another name for legal equality?

Equality of rights.

24. What is the difference between ancient democracy and modern democracy?

Ancient democracy was conceived for times when society had no social classes, while freedom
modern or liberal was designed to adapt its democratic government model to a society divided into classes. In the
In ancient democracy, one governed oneself; in modern democracy, we are governed by the representatives we choose.

25. What is liberal democracy?

It is the relationship between liberalism and democracy, between freedom and equality. Emphasis is placed on society.
like in the individual

26. What is the purpose of liberalism?

The aim is to limit the power of the State, protecting the citizen from the greed of the government.

27. What is the purpose of democracy?

The insertion of popular power into the State.

28. What are the 3 models of liberal democracy?

Democracy as:

As protection

As Development

As balance

29.Define the model of democracy as protection:

It is based on the principle of equality and a competitive market model of man and society to facilitate the
subsistence, produce abundance, promote equality and maintain security.

30. Define the model of democracy as development:

It is the contradictory combination between freedom and equality, the latter understood as the proportion between remuneration.
and work.

31. Define the model of democracy as balance:

This model rests on pluralism, individuals with multiple interests; on elitism, by assigning a main role to
groups of leaders who select themselves; and in a democratic model that maintains the balance between supply
and the demand for political goods. The type of government is representative, elected by universal suffrage and of a certain nature.
business.

32. What are the basic institutions in liberal democracy?

autonomous electoral system Free electoral competition

Pluralistic political party system Electoral change, without violence

Freedom of association, information, and communication General suffrage

What is transition?
It is the interval that extends between one political regime and another.
34. What is a political regime?

It is the set of guidelines that determine the forms and channels of access to the main government positions, the
characteristics of admitted and excluded actors, and the resources and strategies that can be used to gain such access.

35. What are the characteristic features of the transition, according to O’Donnell and Schmitter?

The lack of definition of the political game rules

Open a space for struggle to clarify rules and procedures

During the transition, as long as there are rules and procedures

effective ones are usually in the hands of authoritarian rulers.

The announcement of the initiation of the transition is that authoritarian rulers modify their own rules to guarantee
the rights of individuals and groups.

What is a consolidated democracy?

It is when the regime that has met all the procedural criteria of democracy has accepted the
establishment of political institutions and has adhered to the rules of the game.

37. What are the 3 differentiating factors between an emerging democracy and a consolidated democracy?

The minimum requirements of liberal democracy are met.

All political forces have accepted the establishment of political institutions.

There is a voluntary adherence to the rules of the game.

CHAPTER 8

38. Why is it said that we are part of a political culture?

It is said this way because we are part of a shared socio-political environment, which contributes to providing a certain degree of
consistency in our own attitudes and those of others within our society.

39. How is political culture produced?

With the interaction between members of a specific human group around issues related to power
political.

40. How is Political Culture defined according to Manheim?

It is a fundamental consensus of interests and evaluations regarding a given set of attitude objects. That is to say that the
members of a society accept the established forms of political participation as valid, assuming a
common conduct regarding them.

41. What is a fundamental consensus?

It is when the majority of citizens accept the main lines of the system, but not the specific aspects of it.
where discrepancies can arise, more or less acute and widespread.

42. What is a heterogeneous political culture?

It occurs when it is divided between the groups that impose their model and those that must endure it. A
An example of this occurred in Guatemala in 1993, with the self-coup by President Jorge Serrano Elías.
43. What is the axis of political culture in Latin America?

Political Parties

44. What are the fundamental values of political culture?

Freedom of Expression, Human Rights, Legitimacy of the System, Periodic Elections, etc.

45. What are the cases that may arise in a political culture that is not unanimous?

a) Some people may agree with a greater or lesser amount of political values in combinations
different.

b) Some people may even share all the dominant values but interpret them in a particular way.

c) Some people may reject all or a large part of the consensus values and propose to replace them with
other values.

46. What are the political factors that move the masses?

Emergence of a crisis or deepening of a prolonged crisis. Relief or resolution of a crisis.

What are the 3 individual character elements present in the configuration of political culture?

a) Cognitive orientations b) Affective Orientations c) Evaluative Guidelines

48. What are cognitive orientations?

Precise knowledge or not of political beliefs or values

49. What are affective orientations?

Feelings of attachment, commitments, rejections, and others similar regarding political values.

50. What are evaluative orientations?

Judgments and criteria on the factors that constitute the prevailing political culture.

QUESTIONS - CHAPTER 9

51. What are political parties?

R//Organized groups with a permanent nature, whose purpose is to govern or participate in the government.
through the proposition or designation of individuals to hold public positions.

52. What is the origin of political parties?

Its ancient roots can be found in 17th century England.

53. What is linked to the emergence of political parties?

It is closely linked to the development of parliamentaryism as a form of government.

54. Why do political parties emerge?

Political parties arise as an occasion for the modernization processes of the states.

55. What are the three causes for the formation of political parties?
The crisis of legitimacy, participation, and integration.

56. How do legitimacy crises work?

It assumes the need to collect popular support to justify a dissenting position against the established order.
57. When does the participation crisis appear?
It arises when new social groups make demands that are not sufficiently addressed, leading to
thus the need to create partisan political organizations.

58. How does the integration crisis manifest itself?

It manifests when ethnic minorities settled in a specific territory feel the need to organize.
politically.
59. What is the current function of political parties?
Political parties, some have an exclusive character in an organizing function of society and others as
competitive entities that compete for power through the most varied techniques.

60. What is partitocracy or partycracy?

It is democracy degenerated into the oligarchic power of one or more political parties; the party-state is
the one in which power is monopolized, more or less legitimately, by a party or by a popularity of
allied parties.

61. Which was the first Latin American country to refer to political parties in its constitution?
R//Uruguay in 1917.

What is the conspiracy of silence?

It refers to the lack of mention in most constitutional texts regarding practical reality.
represented by the parties in the political life of the countries in our subcontinent.

63. What is the conspiracy of constitutional manipulation?

It consisted of explicitly referring to the parties, but with a restrictive purpose, imposing conditions.
specific to its operation and, in several cases, establishing explicit prohibitions.

64. What is the legal regime in Guatemala?

R//Electoral Law and Political Parties.

65. What are the three types of political organizations recognized in Guatemala?
Political parties and civic committees for their constitution.

The electoral committees.

Political associations.

66. What are the organs that must function in a political party?
National organs: National Assembly and National Executive Committee.

Departmental organs: Departmental Assembly and Departmental Executive Committee.

Municipal organs: Municipal Assembly and National Executive Committee.

What is the formation of a party?

The social composition of the party depends on the social reality in which it operates and refers to the way
how it gains followers.

68. What is the executive structure of a party?

It is conditioned by the territorial division that prevails in the country and particularly by that which is used for
electoral fines.

69. Due to their social formation, parties can be classified into?

R//Class parties and multi-class parties

70. According to the relationship with social organizations, parties can be classified into?
R//Parties of direct formation and indirect formation.
71. When are the indirect composition matches held?
When the relationship between the party and its members is carried out indirectly through an organization
intermediary.

72. How do directly formed parties work?

R//Parties only accept individual memberships to the party.

73. What is the classification of parties in terms of the number and characteristics of their membership?
R//Parties of cadres (or of structure), mass parties (or of membership) and electoral parties (or parties of
attraction.

74. What are frame or armor matches?

They are based on the characteristics of their members, ensuring that they are individuals known for their work in a
specific field and, preferably, with a medium or higher income level.

75. What are mass or membership parties?

They try to recruit a large number of members, if possible through indirect affiliation. Encouraged by a
specific ideology, they seek to spread it among their followers and for this reason their activity gains greater permanence and does not
limits electoral struggle.

76. What are electoral or attraction parties?

Its structure is oligarchic, its main concern is to attract a large number of voters by
messages that do not reflect a strong ideological commitment and that may be attractive to a good part of the
population.

77. What are the basic documents of the parties?

They try to carry out what is expressed in documents with the nature of manifestos or declarations, which tend to propose
to the electorate the actions that the government must execute

78. What are the basic documents required for the registration as a national political party?

Statement of principles: It should indicate the basic ideas that govern the life of the party and the goals it intends to achieve.

The Action Program: Aims to indicate to voters how the party plans to achieve the objectives that it...
proposes.
The statutes: They are the internal law of the party, regulating its internal activity, its structure, and the procedures for elections.
of its leaders and the selection of the candidates it presents to the public.

79. What is the iron law of oligarchy?

It is the one that produces an inevitable class differentiation between the leaders and the led within the organization.
partisan.

In both autocracy and democracy, a minority will always govern; the basic idea is that every organization is
becomes oligarchic.

80. What is candidate selection?

It is the defining characteristic of every political party. The procedures are diverse and generally assume two phases,
a first, which consists of an interplay of interests and forces that seek to achieve the nomination for members who
they must represent or defend them, then comes a second formal stage in which, through the realization of
conventions, with procedures meticulously regulated by the statutes, the previously made decisions are validated
negotiated within the party.
81. What is the assembly?

It is usually a party meeting made up of delegates, selected according to the statutory rules that it has.
to address certain issues related to the internal life of the parties, such as the approval of statutory changes,
adoption or modification of basic documents or decision on whether or not to form an alliance with another organization.

What is the convention?

It is a party meeting in which the attending delegates must decide on the selection of candidates for positions.
by popular election.

83. What are the forms of union of political parties?

Fusion: It consists of the union of two parties or of a party and a political association to give rise to a new party.
political. It can also consist of absorption.

Front: It is a union of several parties with purposes of non-electoral political struggle, that is, to advocate for the adoption
of certain measures, make political statements regarding national and international events, carry out
demonstrations, etc.

Coalition: It is an alliance between parties whose purpose is strictly electoral, that is, to jointly present.
candidates for the elections.

84. How is the financing of the parties carried out?

The activities of the parties raise the issue of their financing. It is common for these organizations to
they are supported by funds contributed by their own members through fees. However, it can sometimes be done
with a strong contribution aimed at linking the party to certain particular interests that are not always
they coincide with those of the electorate in general.

85. What is the relationship between citizens and the Party?

The voter: It is someone who votes for a certain party at the time of the election, their motivation can be multiple.
Even chance at the moment of voting, but in the end, it does not worry the party, but that the vote has been cast.
in their favor.

The Sympathizer: That not only votes consciously and decisively for the party in question but also defends it.
Explain the reason for your sympathy even if you do not formally belong to it.

Adherent: Someone who is part of the party through indirect affiliation by being a member of a group that belongs to it.
party; their enthusiasm may be greater or lesser, and it is even possible that they vote against, but formally
is inside the party.

Member: who is someone who has directly affiliated, expresses their participatory interest, attends meetings, and develops
tasks that are entrusted to him/her.

Activist: whose participation is intense, promotes the membership of members, makes propaganda, expresses opinions in meetings and
propose actions, etc.

The official: The one who performs specific bureaucratic tasks in the party and, in many cases, receives compensation.
for them, even if it does not have the nature of a salary to avoid establishing an employment relationship, is dedicated full time to
your task in the organization but does not belong to the governing bodies.

Leader: Someone who performs decision-making functions; is part of the party's governing committees or bodies, integrates
commissions for resolving matters or adjudicators of the actions of members and other leaders and seeks how to project
natural the nomination for elected positions.
86. What are party systems?

These relationships result in a specific scheme of action for the parties within the social political framework to which
is called a party system. In contemporary political science, two large groups of systems are usually distinguished.
Partisans, the first ones are called competitive systems and the second ones non-competitive systems.

87. What are Competitive Systems?

As we have already indicated, these systems are identified by the fact that they involve a game in which various...
parties competing for the citizens' votes.

88. Does Gérard Schwartzenberg propose a classification of competitive systems that seems very appropriate to us?

Multiparty Systems: Comprehensive Multiparty System and Moderate Multiparty System

Bipartisan systems: Imperfect bipartisanship and perfect bipartisanship

Dominant party systems: Dominant party and Ultradominant party.

89. Multipartite Systems?

Multipartyism implies the existence of three or more political parties with the capacity to achieve participation.
relatively important within the national representation.

Pure Multipartidism (integral multipartidism): Where several parties with similar strengths compete for the electorate.
As in the Italian case, it produces certain effects that are not always favorable for the stability of a system.

Moderate multiparty system: It occurs in those cases where, although there are numerous political parties, they usually
to integrate into solid coalitions by virtue of which two major blocks are formed that allow for the resolution of some
problems we have mentioned regarding comprehensive multipartyism.
90. Are There Bipartisan Systems?

These systems are produced in countries where, due to their historical experience, numerous interest groups come together.
around two main political currents that are organized as parties and face opposing positions
based on two distinct visions of society (liberals against conservatives, bourgeois against proletarians).

91. Dominant party system?

These systems are characterized by the predominance of one party over the others existing in the country.

92. Ultradominant party system?

It is usually characterized by the existence of a party that regularly manages to obtain an absolute majority of the votes.
These parties often appear in third world countries and constitute large coalitions of identified forces.
for their nationalist fervor.

93. Non-Competitive Systems?

Non-competitive systems are characterized by the formal prohibition of the action of any political group that does not
was that which is accepted by the state. In reality, in non-competitive systems we find the figure of the party
unique. Distinguishing between revolutionary single-party systems and conservative single-party systems. The party
assume in these systems the vanguard role of society, constituted by those more conscious elements whose
The function is to lead the other members of society towards the goals of social equality.