Political Institutions AP Comparative Government

Political Institutions Political institutions are structures of a political system that carry out the work of governing Just because countries have the same types of institutions does not mean that those institutions have the same powers

Levels of Government Unitary Government Confederal system A unitary system of government is one that concentrates all policymaking powers in one central geographic place Confederal system A confederal system spreads the power among many sub-units and has a weak central government Federal system A federal system divides the power between the central government and regional bodies have significant powers such a taxation, lawmaking, and keeping order

Supranational Organizations Supranational organizations are not bound by national boundaries These organizations reflect a trend toward integration, a process that encourages states to pool their sovereignty in order to gain political, economic, and social clout Examples of these organizations include NATO, the E.U., NAFTA, and OPEC These organizations reflect the concept of globalization, or the integration of social, environmental, economic, and cultural activities of nations Economic globalization has intensified international trade, tying markets, producers, and labor together while also integrating capital and financial markets.

Challenges to the Nation-State The use of supranational organizations, who at times dictate rules and laws to nations, may be changing the role of nation-states In the E.U. member states are subject to the rules and laws of the E.U. reducing their sovereignty

Centripetal v Centrifugal Centripetal forces tend to unify nations while centrifugal forces tend to fragment them Centripetal forces bind together the people of a state giving them strength, One of the most power centripetal forces is nationalism, or the ability to identify oneself based upon nationhood Centrifugal forces destabilize the government and encourage the country to fall apart These tend to take hold in countries that are not well-organized or that is not well governed Separatist movements tend to take place in which groups who self identify as being separate from the government fight for independence

Devolution Devolution is the tendency to decentralize decision-making to regional governments Devolution is a centrifugal force that can take place for a number of reasons Ethnic Force An ethnic group shares a well-developed sense of belonging to the same culture This identity is based upon language, religion, and custom Ethnonationalism is the tendency for an ethnic group to see itself as a distinct nation with a right to autonomy or independence The concentration of ethnicities help to lead these movements

Devolution Economic forces Spatial forces Economic inequalities may destabilize a nation-state, particularly if the inequalities are regional Spatial forces Distance and remoteness promote devolution, especially if water, desert, or mountains separate the areas from the center of power and neighbor nations that may support separatist objectives

Linkage institutions Linkage institutions are organizations that are intermediaries between the people and the government These organizations include political parties, interest groups, and the media Political parties operate in countries and have varying roles depending on the system of the country. Generally they: Help bring different people and ideas together to establish the means by which the majority can rule Provide labels for candidates that help citizens vote Hold politicians accountable to the electorate

Interest Groups Interest groups are organizations of like-minded people whose main political goal is to influence and shape public policy Parties and interest groups are different because: Parties run candidates for office while interest groups only support candidates Parties have a broad spectrum of interests while interest groups generally have a single focus Interest groups in authoritarian regimes are sometimes referred to as transmission belts Meaning they convey the desires of the party elite to the people

Interest groups In the west interest groups are autonomous They generally work outside the formal constraints of government to try and impose change on the system In between the two systems is corporatism Corporatism is when the government approves a groups monopoly of a certain sector of the economy State corporatism is where the state determines which groups are brought in Societal corporatism (neocorporatism) is where interest groups take the lead and dominate the state