Political Science

Absentee Ballot: A Crucial Mechanism for Remote Voting
An absentee ballot is used primarily in political voting, allowing voters to cast their votes without attending the polling place.
Alliance: Definition and Overview
An alliance is a partnership or connection formed for mutual benefit between groups, organizations, or states.
Balance of Power: A System of Distributed Power Among States
The Balance of Power is a system where power is distributed among multiple states to prevent any one state from dominating others. It has historical significance, types, key events, and detailed explanations.
Base and Superstructure: Marxist Theory of Society
In Marxist theory, the base refers to the economic foundation of society, including the forces and relations of production. The superstructure encompasses the cultural, political, and institutional aspects arising from and supporting the base.
Bicameralism: The Practice of Having Two Legislative Chambers
Bicameralism refers to the system of having two separate chambers within a legislative body, which allows for a more balanced and representative form of governance.
Bolshevism: Faction of the Russian Socialist Movement Led by Lenin
An in-depth exploration of Bolshevism, its historical context, key events, significance, and its evolution into the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Citizen Candidate: A Model of Representative Government
An exploration of the citizen candidate model where any citizen can run for political office, its historical context, key events, and implications in political economics.
Civil Society: The Sphere of Social Activity Independent of the State
Civil Society refers to the domain of social activities conducted by organizations and individuals independent of governmental control. This includes NGOs, community groups, advocacy organizations, and informal networks.
Coalition: A Combined Effort for Shared Goals
A comprehensive overview of the concept of Coalitions, their historical context, types, key events, significance, examples, and related terms.
Collective Action: Activities Undertaken by a Group to Achieve Common Goals
An exploration into the dynamics, significance, and challenges of collective action, including historical context, types, key events, detailed explanations, examples, and more.
Collective Choice: The Aggregation of Individual Preferences
An in-depth exploration of the methods and implications of aggregating individual preferences into social choices, with a focus on voting systems and their theoretical underpinnings.
Compellence: Forcing an Adversary to Take Specific Actions
An in-depth exploration of Compellence in international relations, its historical context, types, key events, models, importance, applicability, examples, and related terms.
Confederation: A Looser Union of States with More Autonomy
A confederation is a union of sovereign states, united for purposes of common action often in relation to other states. It involves more autonomy for its member states compared to a federation.
Conservatism: A Political and Social Philosophy
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and resists abrupt change. This article explores its historical context, types, key events, detailed explanations, importance, applicability, and related terms.
Constitutional Democracy: An In-depth Exploration
A comprehensive article on Constitutional Democracy, covering historical context, key events, detailed explanations, importance, and applicability.
Corporatism: Political Economic System of Collective Negotiation
Corporatism is a political economic system in which economic decisions are achieved through negotiation between centralized corporate bodies representing interest groups, focusing on collective negotiations, social justice, and the preservation of private property.
Cronyism: The Appointment of Friends and Associates to Positions of Authority
Cronyism involves the appointment of friends and associates to positions of authority without proper regard to their qualifications. This term encapsulates practices that undermine meritocracy and can lead to the inefficiency and corruption of institutions.
Deliberative Democracy: A Form of Discussion-Driven Decision-Making
Deliberative Democracy is a form of democracy that emphasizes the role of discussion and deliberation in decision-making, ensuring that policies and decisions are made after thorough debate and reasoning.
Democratic Governance: Principles and Practice
An in-depth exploration of systems of governance that are based on democratic principles of inclusion and deliberation, their historical context, types, key events, and significance.
Despotism: Absolute Power in a Cruel and Oppressive Way
Despotism refers to a political system where a single entity rules with absolute power, often in a cruel and oppressive manner. This article explores the historical context, types, key events, explanations, and importance of despotism in shaping societies and governance structures.
Dictatorship: A Form of Government
A comprehensive exploration of dictatorship, a form of government where a single individual holds extraordinary power, often overlapping with authoritarianism.
Direct Action: Methods of Political Activism
A comprehensive look at direct action, including its historical context, types, key events, importance, applicability, examples, and more.
Electorate: Understanding the Constituency of Voters
A comprehensive overview of the electorate, its historical context, types, key events, importance, applicability, and related concepts.
Federal State: A Balanced Power-Sharing System
An in-depth exploration of the Federal State system, where multiple regional governments share power with a central government, including its historical context, types, key events, examples, and more.
Federation: A System of Shared Governance
A federation is a political system in which states or provinces enjoy internal autonomy while being united under a strong central government. It allows for regional self-governance and a cohesive national policy.
Human Development: Enhancing Well-being and Potential
Human development is a broader concept encompassing social, economic, and political development that aims to improve people's well-being and personal potentials.
Independent Expenditures: Political Campaign Communications
An in-depth look at independent expenditures, political campaign communications advocating for the election or defeat of candidates without coordination with any candidate or campaign.
Kleptocracy: Rule by Thieves
A pejorative term for a government engaged in corruption and embezzlement to increase the personal wealth of government officials. Characterized by the misappropriation of public funds for the benefit of the ruling elite.
Leninism: An Adaptation of Marxist Theory by Vladimir Lenin
An in-depth exploration of Leninism, the Marxist adaptation developed by Vladimir Lenin, including its historical context, key principles, impact on global politics, and enduring legacy.
Limited War: Conflict with Constrained Resources and Aims
A comprehensive exploration of limited war, its historical context, key events, strategic considerations, and significance in modern geopolitics.
Lower House: The Junior Chamber of Parliament
The Lower House, also known as the junior chamber, is a component of a bicameral parliament, representing the population proportionately and playing a crucial role in legislation.
Majority Voting: An Electoral System
A comprehensive look at Majority Voting, a system where candidates receiving the most votes win, without cumulative effects. Explore its historical context, types, key events, detailed explanations, and more.
Majority Voting: Voting Method with Majority Rule
A comprehensive overview of Majority Voting, a decision-making method that selects the option with the majority of votes, including historical context, key events, types, mathematical models, and its importance in various fields.
Neocolonialism: The Modern Form of Control
Neocolonialism refers to the use of economic, political, and cultural pressures to control or influence countries, especially former colonies. This modern form of control often leads to significant political and economic ramifications for the influenced nations.
Oligarchy: A Concentrated Power Structure
Oligarchy is a power structure where a small group of individuals holds significant power, which can also manifest in authoritarian forms, often controlling a country or organization.
Paradox of Voting: Voter Turnout and Rational Decision-Making
An observation that the level of voter turnout is inconsistent with rational decision-making on whether or not to vote. This paradox highlights the discrepancy between the low expected benefit of voting and the high cost, yet turnout remains high due to factors like social customs and duties.
Participatory Democracy: Expanding Engagement Beyond Voting
Participatory Democracy emphasizes broader participation in the democratic process beyond just voting. It seeks to involve citizens more directly in decision-making processes and policy formulation.
Political Business Cycle: Economic Fluctuations for Political Gain
The theory that some economic fluctuations are due to governments seeking political advantage by expanding the economy in advance of elections. Governments may also choose to make painful reforms immediately after elections, to give the electorate a chance to forget the pain and start reaping the benefits in time for the next election.
Political Geography: The Study of Spatial Distributions of Political Processes and Structures
An in-depth exploration of Political Geography, covering its historical context, categories, key events, models, diagrams, importance, examples, related terms, comparisons, facts, stories, quotes, expressions, jargon, FAQs, references, and summary.
Political Parties: Organizations Aimed at Gaining Political Power
Political parties are organizations that aim to gain political power by participating in electoral processes and influencing government policy. Unlike interest groups, which seek to influence those in power without holding office, political parties actively seek office to implement their agendas.
Preemption: Acting First to Prevent an Imminent Threat
Comprehensive exploration of preemption, including its historical context, types, key events, mathematical models, and practical examples.
Proportional Representation: An Electoral System Explained
Proportional representation is an electoral system in which parties gain seats in proportion to the number of votes cast for them, promoting fairer representation.
Public Choice: Analysis of Economic Policy Motivations
Public Choice theory emphasizes the motivations of bureaucrats and politicians in the analysis of economic policy, assuming they are economically rational and self-interested.
Public Sphere: A Domain for Forming Public Opinion
The Public Sphere is a domain in social life where public opinion can be formed. This article explores its historical context, importance, categories, examples, and related terms.
Puppet: Controlled by Another Entity
A puppet, much like a pawn, is controlled entirely by another entity, often used in political contexts to describe leaders or organizations that act at the behest of a foreign power.
Republic: A State Governed by the People
A comprehensive guide on the concept of a Republic, its historical context, key events, types, importance, examples, and related terms.
Self-Governance: The Principle of Autonomy and Independence
An in-depth exploration of the principle of self-governance, its historical roots, key events, applications, and significance in various contexts.
Sovereignty: The Authority of a State to Govern Itself
The concept of sovereignty revolves around the authority of a state to govern itself without external interference, encompassing supreme power or authority in political governance.
Strategic Voting: A Critical Examination
An in-depth look into the phenomenon of strategic voting, its types, key events, mathematical models, importance, applicability, and real-world examples.
Super PACs: Independent Expenditure-Only Committees
Super PACs are independent expenditure-only committees that can raise and spend unlimited sums of money but cannot coordinate directly with candidates or political parties.
Third Way: Reconciling Capitalism with Central Planning
An exploration of the Third Way, a socioeconomic model that seeks to blend elements of capitalism and central planning, often seen in the context of a social market economy.
Totalitarianism: A Political System with Absolute Control
Totalitarianism is a political system wherein the state holds total authority over society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life.
Tyranny: A Harsh and Oppressive Form of Rule
A comprehensive exploration of tyranny, a form of rule that is harsh, cruel, and oppressive, often synonymous with dictatorial governance.
Unitary State: A Centralized Government System
A unitary state is a system of governance where the central government holds supreme authority and any administrative divisions (if they exist) exercise only powers that the central government chooses to delegate.
Upper House: Definition and Significance in Legislature
The Upper House is typically the senior chamber in a bicameral legislative system, often endowed with unique powers and responsibilities.
Virtual Representation: Concept of Representation by Elected Officials
Virtual Representation refers to the political concept where elected officials represent all subjects or citizens, even if those individuals did not have the power to elect the officials. This notion highlights the indirect representation of citizens in the legislative process.
Voice: The Expression of Preferences in Decision-Making
Voice involves participation in decision-making through voting, lobbying, complaints procedures, or litigation. It contrasts with 'exit', which involves leaving an unsatisfactory situation instead of attempting to change it.
Voting: A Method of Group Decision-Making
Voting is a fundamental method of group decision-making that involves various mechanisms where participants cast votes to reach a decision. This article explores different voting mechanisms, historical context, key events, formulas, examples, and more.
Voting Booth: A Place Where Votes Are Cast
A comprehensive explanation of the term 'Voting Booth', including its historical context, functionality, and relevance in electoral processes.
Authoritarian Society: A Comprehensive Overview
An examination of the existence of governmental authority over numerous phases of human conduct without the approval of the people.
Gallup Poll: A Public Opinion Poll
Comprehensive explanation of the Gallup Poll, its origins, significance, methodology, application, and historical context.
Imperialism: Policy of Systematic Domination and Exploitation
Imperialism refers to the policy or practice by which a country or empire extends its power and influence over other countries, often through colonization, military force, or other means of domination.
Single Tax Movement: Economic Philosophy and Impact
A comprehensive overview of the Single Tax Movement, its economic and political philosophy, its historical context, influence, and applicability today.
Socialism: Economic System Overview
Socialism is an economic system where the government owns or controls major critical industries, but may allow collective ownership and some private ownership in agriculture, services, and less critical industries.
Arrow's Impossibility Theorem: The Paradox of Voting Systems
Arrow's Impossibility Theorem, a social choice theory paradox, demonstrates the inherent limitations in designing a perfect voting system that meets all fairness criteria.
Egalitarianism: Definition, Key Ideas, and Major Types
Comprehensive exploration of egalitarianism, a philosophical perspective focused on promoting equality across various social dimensions, including gender, religion, economic status, and political beliefs.
Limited Government: Definition and Functionality
A comprehensive overview of limited government, its core principles, historical context, examples, and significance in modern political systems.
Second World Countries: Understanding the Concept and Classification
This comprehensive article delves into the concept and classification of 'Second World' countries, those nations formerly under Soviet influence and those more developed than 'Third World' nations but less than 'First World' ones.
Taxation Without Representation: Meaning, History, and Implications
An in-depth exploration of the concept of 'Taxation Without Representation,' its historical origins, key examples, and its socio-political implications.
Technocracy: Definition, Functioning, and Critical Analysis
Understanding Technocracy: A comprehensive examination of governance by technical experts, its operational principles, and critical perspectives.
Autarky: Definition, Principles, and Real-World Examples
Explore the concept of autarky, an economic system characterized by self-sufficiency and limited trade. Learn about its principles, types, historical and modern-day examples, implications, and related economic terms.

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