SCLEJ: Separation of powers, Checks, Legislature, Executive, Judiciary
Separation of Powers
Three branches, each checking the others — no one holds all power
Legislature makes laws, Executive enforces them, Judiciary interprets them. Each branch checks the others. The framers feared concentrated power after British rule.
S
Separation of powers
C
Checks and balances
L
Legislature — makes laws
E
Executive — enforces laws
J
Judiciary — interprets laws
Federalism
Federal = shared power: nation + states. Expressed / Reserved / Concurrent.
Federalism
Power divided between national and state governments
Expressed powers (federal only): coin money, declare war. Reserved powers (states only): education, marriage laws. Concurrent powers (both): taxing, law enforcement.
Expressed
Federal government only
Reserved
State governments only
Concurrent
Both federal and state
Democracy Types
Direct democracy = everyone votes. Representative = elect others to vote.
Democracy Types
Two models of democratic governance
Direct: citizens vote on every law (ancient Athens, ballot initiatives). Representative: citizens elect officials who vote on their behalf (US Congress, UK Parliament). Most modern democracies are representative.
Government Structure Spectrum
Unitary → Federal → Confederal: most centralized to most decentralized
Government Structure Spectrum
Three ways to distribute power between central and regional governments
Unitary: central government holds most power (UK, France). Federal: shared between national and regional (USA, Germany). Confederal: regional governments hold most power (EU, old Articles of Confederation).
Checks and Balances
Checks and balances: each branch can limit the others — prevents tyranny
Checks and Balances
How the three branches constrain each other
Congress passes laws, President signs or vetoes, Supreme Court can strike down. President nominates judges, Senate confirms. Congress can override vetoes (2/3 majority), impeach president and judges.
Parliamentary vs Presidential
Parliamentary vs Presidential: Parliament fuses executive and legislative. Presidential separates them.
Parliamentary vs Presidential
Two dominant models of democratic government
Presidential (USA, Mexico, Brazil): executive (president) separately elected, fixed terms, independent of legislature. Parliamentary (UK, Canada, Australia): executive (prime minister) drawn from legislature, survives only with legislative confidence. Parliamentary systems: faster policy-making but less stability.
Bicameral vs Unicameral
Bicameral legislature: two chambers (Senate + House). Unicameral: one chamber. Most democracies are bicameral.
Bicameral vs Unicameral
Why some countries have two legislative chambers and others have one
Bicameral: US (Senate + House), UK (Lords + Commons), Australia (Senate + House). Upper chamber often represents states/regions; lower chamber represents population. Unicameral: smaller countries — New Zealand, Denmark, Israel. Argument for bicameral: checks and balance within legislature.
Functions of Political Parties
Political parties: organize elections, form governments, connect citizens to government
Functions of Political Parties
What political parties actually do in a democracy
Recruit and nominate candidates. Organize electoral campaigns. Develop and promote policy platforms. Coordinate government action. Mobilize voters. Link citizens to government. In parliamentary systems: the majority party forms the government. In presidential systems: parties share power with the executive.
Civil Liberties vs Civil Rights
Civil liberties: freedoms FROM government (speech, religion). Civil rights: equal treatment BY government.
Civil Liberties vs Civil Rights
Two types of constitutional protections — often confused
Civil liberties: protections against government interference — 1st Amendment freedoms (speech, religion, press, assembly), 4th Amendment (unreasonable search), 5th Amendment (self-incrimination). Civil rights: positive rights to equal treatment — 14th Amendment equal protection, Voting Rights Act, Civil Rights Act.
Judicial Review
Judicial review: courts can strike down laws violating the constitution — not all democracies have it
Judicial Review
The power that makes courts equal partners in government
US: strong judicial review — Supreme Court can invalidate any federal or state law. UK: parliamentary sovereignty — courts cannot strike down Acts of Parliament. France: Constitutional Council reviews laws before enactment. Germany: Federal Constitutional Court similar to US model. Countermajoritarian: unelected judges override elected majorities.
Interest Groups
Interest groups: organized groups that lobby government to advance members' interests — not political parties
Interest Groups
How organized interests influence government beyond elections
Types: economic (business associations, labor unions), ideological (ACLU, NRA), public interest (Sierra Club), governmental (associations of mayors). Methods: direct lobbying, campaign contributions (PACs), grassroots mobilization, litigation, media campaigns. Revolving door: movement between government positions and lobbying jobs.
The Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy: implements laws, has expertise, provides continuity. Criticized for red tape and unaccountability.
The Bureaucracy
The permanent administrative apparatus of government
Executive branch agencies that implement legislation. Characteristics (Weber): hierarchy, specialization, written rules, merit-based hiring. Principal-agent problem: bureaucrats (agents) may pursue own interests rather than elected officials' (principals). Controls: legislative oversight, presidential appointments, budget power, judicial review.
Types of Federalism
DUCO — Dual, Unitary-like, Cooperative, New federalism
How power is distributed between national and state governments over time
Federalism has evolved from strict separation to shared functions — and back toward states
Dual federalism (layer cake): national and state strictly separate, each supreme in own sphere — pre-New Deal. Cooperative federalism (marble cake): shared functions post-New Deal through Great Society. New federalism: Reagan era push to return power to states via block grants. Fiscal federalism: federal funding with strings shapes state policy.
Categorical grants
Specific purpose — maximum federal control
Block grants
Broad purpose — more state discretion, Reagan preferred
Unfunded mandates
Federal requirements without funding — controversial
Three major electoral systems and their effect on party competition
Electoral systems shape how many parties exist and how well votes translate to representation
First-Past-The-Post (plurality): winner takes all — tends toward two-party system (Duverger's Law). Used in US and UK. Proportional Representation: seats reflect vote share — encourages multi-party systems. Used in most of Europe. Ranked Choice Voting: rank candidates, eliminate lowest, redistribute — reduces spoiler effect. Used in Australia, some US states.
FPTP
Duverger's Law — two-party system, strategic voting
Four key frameworks for understanding how bureaucracies work and fail
Bureaucracy is essential for modern government but prone to capture and principal-agent problems
Weber's ideal: hierarchy, rules, specialization, merit hiring, impartiality. Agency capture: regulated industries dominate their regulators via revolving door and information asymmetry. Principal-agent problem: bureaucrats (agents) may not follow elected officials' (principals) wishes. Street-level bureaucrats (Lipsky): front-line workers make real policy through discretion.
Weber
Hierarchy plus merit plus rules — rational ideal bureaucracy
Capture
Regulated industry controls regulator — finance, energy common
Principal-agent
Congress to President to Agency — information lost each step
Monarchy vs Republic
Monarch = ceremonial head, Republic = elected head of state
Constitutional monarchy vs republic — different heads of state, both can be democratic
Most democracies are either constitutional monarchies or republics — both can be parliamentary or presidential
Constitutional monarchy: hereditary monarch as ceremonial head of state; parliament governs. Examples: UK, Sweden, Japan. Republic: elected head of state. Presidential republic (US): president is head of state AND government. Parliamentary republic (Germany): largely ceremonial president, PM governs. Semi-presidential (France): powerful president plus prime minister.
Head of state
Monarch or president — ceremonial or powerful
Head of government
Prime Minister (parliamentary) or President (presidential)
UK model
Monarch reigns but does not rule — PM governs
🎓 Common Exam Questions
Q: What are the key differences between presidential and parliamentary systems?
A: Presidential system: executive and legislative separately elected, president has fixed term (cannot be removed for political reasons, only impeachment), president is head of state and government, separation of powers creates checks and balances, divided government is possible. Parliamentary system: prime minister and cabinet drawn from legislature and dependent on its confidence (vote of no confidence removes government), fusion of powers produces legislative supremacy, government and parliamentary majority are always aligned, more adaptable but potentially less stable due to coalition fragility.
Q: What is federalism and why does it matter for governance?
A: Federalism constitutionally divides sovereignty between national and subnational governments — both have independent authority. US federalism: national government has enumerated powers; states have reserved powers via the 10th Amendment. Advantages: policy experimentation through states as laboratories, accommodation of regional diversity, multiple access points for citizens, distributes power preventing tyranny. Disadvantages: race to the bottom as states compete by lowering standards, coordination failures across jurisdictions, inconsistent policy, can entrench local discrimination. Fiscal federalism: federal grants shape state policy through attached conditions.
Q: How do different types of political regimes differ from each other?
A: Democracy: competitive elections, civil liberties, rule of law, civilian control of military, accountability mechanisms. Liberal democracy adds protection of individual rights from majorities. Social democracy combines democracy with welfare state. Authoritarianism: non-democratic selection of rulers, suppressed opposition, limited civil liberties. Varieties include military junta, one-party state, and competitive authoritarianism or hybrid regime like Russia and Turkey that holds elections but manipulates them. Totalitarianism seeks to control all aspects of life — the most extreme form. Democratization transitions from authoritarianism and is often fragile and prone to backsliding.
Q: What is bureaucracy and what are the main theories of bureaucratic behavior?
A: Bureaucracy is hierarchical administrative organization necessary for implementing complex modern government policies. Weber's ideal type: hierarchy, written rules, specialization, merit hiring, impartiality, rational-legal authority. Theories of behavior: public interest model (bureaucrats serve the public good). Budget maximization model (Niskanen): bureaucrats maximize agency budgets. Capture theory: agencies serve regulated industries. Principal-agent model: bureaucrats have own interests and informational advantages over elected overseers. Street-level bureaucracy (Lipsky): front-line workers exercise enormous discretion and in practice make real policy through their decisions.
Q: What is the role of constitutions and constitutional design in governance?
A: Constitutions establish fundamental rules of government: selection of officials, their powers, rights protections, and amendment procedures. Written constitutions are codified, more rigid, and typically feature strong judicial review. Unwritten constitutions like the UK's rely on conventions, statutes, and common law — more flexible with parliamentary supremacy. Federal constitutions divide power between levels; unitary constitutions concentrate power nationally. Presidential versus parliamentary design shapes executive-legislative relationships profoundly. Rights bills enumerate protections. Amendment procedures ranging from simple majority to supermajority plus ratification affect constitutional stability and adaptation over time.