PS120: Study Guide for Midterm #1

PS120: Study Guide for Midterm #1 This study guide lists the most important concepts, terms, people, etc., that you should know for the first midterm. If you are familiar with these materials, you should have no problems with the exam. It is important that you are able to identify each term and concept, describe its significance, and be able to link different items meaningfully to each other. If you have any questions, please get in touch with your section TA or ask questions during the review session. Finally, note that a few terms are from my upcoming lectures on Germany. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Accountability Advantages and disadvantages of the UK's political system Advantages and disadvantages of Germany’s political system Alternative für Deutschland (AfD, “Alternative for Germany”) Basic Law (Germany) Battle of Britain Bicameral system Brexit (i.e., British exit from European Union) Bundesrat and Bundestag Cabinet (UK, Germany) Central bank Challenge/crisis of reunification (Germany) Challenges to the modern state Chancellor (Germany) Christian-Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) Civil society Clarity of responsibility Codetermination Codified vs. uncodified constitutions Collectivist consensus Common law Communism Comparative Politics Conservatism Constitutional Court (in general, as well as specifically in Germany) Controlling (in the context of research design) Correlation (between variables) vs. causation Correlation, negative and positive (de)centralization Deduction Definition of and different types of variables Democracy Devolution Direct and indirect democracy Electoral systems (UK, Germany) Enabling Act (Germany) 1 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Endogeneity Ethnic identity Ethnolinguistic fractionalization Fascism Falsifiability Federal President (Germany) Federalism Free Democratic Party (Germany) “Fused” legislature and executive Gastarbeiter (guest workers) (Germany) German foreign policy Good Friday Agreement Green Party (Germany) House of Commons House of Lords Hypothesis Hypothesis testing Induction Inflation and deflation Input legitimacy Institutions, both formal and informal Judicial review Laissez-faire economy Law-making in parliamentary systems Left Party (Germany) Legacy of WWII Level of analysis Liberal democracy Liberalism (classical) Lijphart’s majoritarian and consensus models of democracy Majority/plurality electoral systems (especially SMPS) Mill’s methods of agreement and difference Mixed member proportional electoral system (aka personalized proportional representation) Nation Nation-state National identity Nationalism New Labour and the “Third Way” Northern Ireland protocol Occupation of Germany (post-WWII) Output legitimacy Parliamentarism (aka parliamentary system) Parliamentary sovereignty 2 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Party discipline Party system change in Germany Political ideology Political party Political attitudes (reactionary, radical, liberal, conservative) Political responsibility (collective and individual) Political system Polity, politics, policy Populism Presidentialism (aka presidential system) Proportional representation electoral system (especially list-PR) Public good Regime vs. government Responsibilities and powers of the UK Prime Minister Rule of law Scholz, Olaf Scientific method Scottish National Party Selection bias Social democracy Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) Social market economy Socialism Sources of legitimacy Sources of the UK constitution Sovereignty Spurious correlation Starmer, Keir State State autonomy vs. state capacity State formation theories (incl. state-building and war) Steinmeier, Frank-Walter “The opposition” in the UK Territorial integrity Thatcher, Margaret Theory Unit of analysis Unitary state United Kingdom Independence Party (Constructive) vote of (no-)confidence Weaknesses of Weimar Republic Welfare state (UK) What does it mean when a government is “responsible to” parliament? 3