1. The Political and Legal Environments Facing Business

2. Definition of a Political System
The complete set of institutions, political organizations, and interest groups,
The relationships among institutions, and the political norms and rules that govern their functions
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3. Individualism vs. Collectivism
Individualism: primacy of the rights and role of the individual
• Collectivism: primacy of the rights and role of the community
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4. Political Ideology
The system of ideas that expresses the goals, theories, and aims of a sociopolitical program
Most modern societies are pluralistic—different groups champion competing political ideologies
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

5. Democracy
Wide participation by citizens in the decision-making process
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

6. Totalitarianism Restricts decision making to a few individuals
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7. Political Risk
The risk that political decisions or events in a country negatively affect the profitability or sustainability of an investment
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

8. Definition of a Legal System
The mechanism for creating, interpreting, and enforcing the laws in a specified jurisdiction
Types:
Common law
Civil law
Theocratic law
Customary law
Mixed systems
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9. Intellectual property
Intangible property rights that are a result of intellectual effort
Intellectual property rights refer to the right to control and derive the benefits from writing, inventions, processes and identifiers
Local attitudes play a large role in piracy
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