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SUSS POL 101 STUDY UNIT 3 POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS AND REGIME TYPES…
SUSS POL 101
STUDY UNIT 3 POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS AND REGIME TYPES
Identify the role of the judiciary as well as the debate surrounding judicial review.
The judicial branch
the role of the judiciary is to
interpret and apply the relevant laws
and rules to a given situation
Law tradition
In terms of how courts can conduct a trial and come to a verdict in different ways
Common law tradition
– interpret existing precedents from previous court rulings; trials are conducted in an adversarial manner
Civil law tradition
– the precise application of an extremely detailed legal code to the case at hand; the conduct of trials is more inquisitional.
Judicial Review
in some political systems, the judiciary is granted substantial power to
exercise judicial review
Judicial review means that the judiciary
has the right
not only to
interpret what a particular rule means
but also to
assess the constitutional legitimacy of any law
enacted by the legislation or any policy action implemented by the executive or the administration (civil service).
The judiciary can uphold the authority of the government regarding the policy, or it can rule that the government’s actions violate fundamental laws, especially the constitution.
To Note
One of the main issues explored in Political Science with regards to the judiciary is the
independence of the judiciary
If judicial review cannot happen independently, then parliamentary supremacy (popularly elected officials should be final arbiters of law) is what rules the day
Explain the differences between unitary and federal states and explain why federalism is adopted within some states.
Federal and Unitary States
In
unitary states
, there is
one central government
and no division/sharing of power
regional governments exist in a strict hierarchical relationship and can be abolished with ordinary legislation
In
federal states
or federations,
sovereignty
and political decision making are
constitutionally shared
between a central government and
the governments of internal
states or provinces.
As an
essential point to take note
of, this
division of powers is constitutionally guaranteed
, with neither the central government nor the provincial or state governments able to interfere in the constitutionally allocated domains of the counterpart
Reasons for federalism
include:
desire to maintain autonomy,
regional representation in large countries,
decentralisation,
multinationalism,
and checks and balances
Strength and weakness of federalism
Weakness
May be less effective in dealing with security threats.
How citizens are treated
depends on where they live.
The central government experiences
greater difficulty
in launching
national initiatives
.
Complicates accountability:
who is
responsible
? (Central government or federal leadership.
Can entrench
divisions between provinces
.
May permit
discrimination,
i.e. majorities within a province to exploit a minority
Decision-making is slow
and complicated
Basing representation in the upper chamber on states violates the principle of one person, one vote.
Strength
A
practical
arrangement for large countries
Provides
checks and balances
Allows for the recognition of
diversity.
Reduces the overload
of one central government over a large state
Provides competition
between provinces and allows citizens to move between them.
Offers opportunities for
policies experiments.
Allows small units to cooperate
in achieving the economic and military advantages of size
Bring government closer to the people.
Discuss the roles of executives and legislatures within different structural arrangements, including parliamentary and presidential systems as well as the different ways legislatures can be arranged.
Systems of Government
The Parliamentary System
Key features include
Election of the legislature is also the election of the executive (Prime Minister and Cabinet).
There is a
fusion of executive and legislative
functions and structures. In other words, the executive is drawn directly from and supported by a majority of legislators in the legislative assembly.
Executive can
stay in their position as long they continue to receive support
from the majority of representatives in the legislature.
• Executive
can be ejected
if a major piece of legislation is voted down or the majority of legislators pass a no-confidence motion
Executive
can dissolve the legislature
and call for a new election.
Minority
one in which the prime minister and the cabinet must rely on the support of other non-coalition parties in the legislature as a result of the ruling party controlling only a minority of the legislative seats
Coalition
agreements by two parties or more to hold governing cabinet seats
Coalition governments are common in states that have multiple significant political parties and that employ proportional representation electoral systems.
Majority
one in which the prime minister and the cabinet receive majority support in the legislature as a result of their party controlling the majority of the legislative seats (i.e. more than 50%)
Pros and con
Pros
Less deadlock
More accountable
as the ruling party takes the blame for failures
Unpopular PMs can be replaced more quickly (E.g. Japan from 2006 to 2017 had 7 Prime Ministers )
Cons
Less checks and balance
s, i.e. “steamrolling” of executive using legislative influence
Does not encourage compromise
Minority/coalition governments are unstable
The Presidential System
Key features include
Separation of executive and legislative structures.
executive (President) and legislature are selected in separate elections, often at staggered intervals
the most fundamental feature of the separation of executive and legislative structures is the fact that the
presidency and the legislature
(whether unicameral or bicameral)
can be controlled by different parties
.
Laws can be subject to a back-and-forth process with president able to veto certain legislation and the legislature
able to override the veto with a supermajority.
Due to fixed terms, the president cannot dissolve legislature and legislature can usually not remove president (except
through extraordinary impeachment process)
Pros and con
Pros
Checks and balances between exec. and leg co.
Much consideration and amendment of legislation before it can be passed
Chief Exec/ Presidents are directly elected and thus are more representative
Fixed-term means more policy
innovation
Con
Deadlock between executive and legislature
Less accountability as laws/policies are the responsibility of both branches (i.e. exec and leg co can blame each other)
Ineffective legislature/unpopular
the president cannot be easily removed
Legislatures
Legislatures are the
political structure
in which
policy
issues are discussed and
assessed and
public policies are
enacted
by a set of elected or appointed legislators.
not every legislature has the same amount of power relative to the executive
Roles of legislatures
legislatures generally have three roles
Enactment of Legislation
The
primary function
of the legislature is to
approve legislation
(laws or policy), usually through a majority vote in a state’s legislative assemblies.
Before enacting legislation, the members of the assembly may evaluate and debate the merits of the bill
A bill
A bill is a
potential new law or policy that is yet to be enacted
by the legislature.
If the bill is met with much criticism, it could be amended through the legislative process or derailed altogether.
Oversight of the Executive and Administration
(Civil Service)
Responsible for overseeing and scrutinising the actions of the executive, sometimes through questioning in the legislative assembly and sometimes through other institutionalised mechanisms.
checks and balance to the executive
Representation of
the Citizenry
Play a central role in representing the opinions and interests of the citizenry.
Questionable representation
The concept of representation is not straightforward as it can includes:
Those in the legislator’s constituency
Those who voted for the legislator
The group who is most dominant in the legislator’s constituency
The political party to which the legislator owes loyalty
The country as a whole
The legislator’s own conscience
Two types
There is one very visible difference in the structural arrangements of various legislatures—the number of houses (often called chambers)
Unicameral
Refers to a one-chamber/house legislature
Smaller states, With no class interest.
Bicameral
Bicameral = Two legislative houses (Upper House & Lower House_
Bigger states which protects class interest (i.e. UK, US)
The Selection of the Legislature
legislatures often employ open (usually multi-party) elections/voting to select candidates for the country’s legislature.
Electoral systems
are simply rules for converting votes into seats.
i.e. how does 66% of votes get translated into 89% of seats in the Parliament?
proportional representation (PR)
Seats are awarded to parties in direct correspondence to the percentage of the popular vote the party receives in an election.
In a perfectly proportional system, if a party wins 30% of votes, it should translate into 30% of seats in the Parliament
The guiding principle of
PR is to represent parties rather than territory
. parties should be awarded seats in direct proportion to their share of the vote.
Pros and Cons
Pro - Ensures that parties receive an equal amount of representation in the legislature to their level of popular support in an election. Given that PR often allows more political parties to gain seats in parliament,
it is known to be more representative
Cons - Not able to adequately connect an individual representative to a designated constituency. Thus weakening the representation of individual citizens and communities.
Cons - With many parties having different political visions, finding majority support to pass laws becomes challenging.
thus, coalition governments (where 2 or more political parties have to come together to form government) are the norm (Eg: Christian Democrats-Social Democrats led government in Germany)
mixed systems
Mixed systems are those in which voters (who usually only get 1 vote), now get 2 votes
Voters are given a ballot list that allows them to vote for:
An individual candidate under a party list
A political party
Different countries adopt this hybrid method differently
Mixed Member Plurality system like Germany and New Zealand which combines FPTP (candidate) and PR (party) à citizens vote for both party and individual candidates; parties awarded extra seats to make up discrepancy between popular vote and number of individual candidates who won seats
a single-member majority (majoritarian/two-round system)
most well known in France as well as in some of its former colonies, although it is also widely used in the presidential elections in many countries, notably in Latin America
-
If no candidate wins a majority on the first ballot, the leading candidates (usually the top two) face a second round, run-off election
to ensure that one candidate receives more than 50% of the vote (usually known as 50+1%).
This ensures that atleast 1 candiadte receives more than 50% of the vote and secures the legislative seat
Pros and Con
Pros - it is impossible for a candidate to be elected as a constituency's representative with a small share of the popular vote
Smaller parties will have very little opportunity to have representation in legislation.
single member plurality
(first-past-the-post)
most commonly used by countries of the British Commonwealth
To Note
This system
works exceptionally well to reward larger, cohesive political parties
who are able to campaign in all the districts across the whole country à this helps them win a parliamentary majority first for that party (if the political party is smaller, less powerful, unable to compete in all the districts, then securing a parliamentary majority is more difficult)
As usually larger, cohesive political parties form government, the outcome is often accountable governments (where there is only 1 political party that is responsible to the electorate, which can reward or punish the political party in the next election, depending on their performance)
Pros and con
Pro - Ability to tie representatives more directly to constituency
Con - System leads to 'wasted' votes (manufactured majority, unlike PR System) and may misrepresent certain parties in the legislature. I.e. 66% of votes in singapore GE translates to aproximately 90% of parliamentary seats
Process
the country or region is divided into electoral districts of roughly equal number of citizens.
Each of these districts, sometimes called constituencies or ridings, receives one seat in the legislature.
During election time, multiple candidates, usually under a party banner, compete for this single seat.
The winner of the seat is simply determined by the candidate who has received the most number, or in other words a simple plurality of votes (simple majority; need not be 50% or 50+1%).
One modified version of the first-past-the-post system is Singapore’s Group Representation Constituency (GRC) system in which a four, five, or six member team, also under a party banner, compete for the four, five, or six seats available on a winner-take-all basis.
Executive branch
The executive is the branch of the political system composed of a
leader
or a group of leaders who are responsible for
defining and managing
the
implementation
of
public policy
Roles
There are four main roles of the executive that can be generalised across states
Symbolic and
Ceremonial
functions as the
unifying symbol
for the entire society
Presence is usually necessary for many of the society’s rituals or ceremonies (e.g. National Day)
Supervision of the Administration / Civil Service.
ministers set broad
guidelines for policy
implementation for their respective ministries.
Leadership
Takes the
lead in policy formation
and in
drafting legislation
and attempts to galvanise the people around these goals
particularly important during a period of crisis
, given their ability to formulate policy decisions relatively quickly and coherently.
Supervision of the Military and Foreign Affairs
responsibility for the state’s relations
with other states and frequently either the chief executive or a designated minister will attend state-to-state discussions or international summits.
Types of executive branch
In most states across the globe, executives are generally arranged in one of two ways.
Dual
Fused
Fused executive function
In this scenario, the
head of state and head of government are effectively the same individuals
who is thus responsible for both political and ceremonial executive functions.
examples include: United States, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines
Dual executive function
In the dual form, certain roles of the executive are divided between the head of state and the head of government.
head of state
will generally be responsible for the s
ymbolic and ceremonial
functions of the state,
head of government
will generally be responsible for the
political elements
of the executive including policy formulation, leading and supervising the civil service, and international negotiations.
dual executives are
frequently found within constitutional monarchies.
republics have also adopted a dual executive
for the purposes of separating the symbolic from the more political executive roles.
Constitutional monarchies
A constitutional monarchy is a state in which a
hereditary royalty, symbolises the state’s sovereignty
and performs the symbolic and ceremonial state functions while the
head of government
(usually the prime minister) is responsible for actual
political leadership
Constitutional monarchies generally evolved from absolute monarchies
Absolute monarchies
states in which all political decision-making authority rests with the monarch
I.e. brunei and saudi
Republic
A republic is a state in which
sovereignty rests purely with the citizens
of that state and not with a monarch.
examples include singapore (i.e. a president presides over state ceremony)
Singapore presidency
The Singapore presidency is a unique institution.
Though the role is primarily ceremonial,
the president wields some political power
including having veto power over the use of the state’s monetary reserves.
Discuss the various ways that the concept of democracy has been utilised in political theory and political practice.
Regime
Democracy
- Democracy is government
by the people
in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.
While many
liberals stress the “by the people”
element (electoral legitimacy and a participatory political process), many
socialists (and others) stress the “for the people”
element (socio-economic justice, provision of material benefits)
Analysing Democracy
it has become common in the current era for analysts of democracy to
evaluate a regime’s democratic credentials based on both sets of criteria
whether a
regime is chosen by
and remains fundamentally
accountable to the people
that have selected it,
and whether it
governs for the wider interests of the citizens
as opposed to the narrower interests of protecting the political and/or economic dominance of those belonging to the regime.
Regime types
Hybrid regime
A hybrid regime is a mixed regime that
has key features of both liberal democracy and authoritarianism
, i.e. competitive elections with lack of civil/political rights.
Features
Some features (though they differ across cases) include:
harassment of opposition
lack of transparency
weak legislatures
co-optation of judiciary
media controlled through advertising budgets/restrictive press laws
Authoritarian
A political system generally characterised by
strong emphasis on order and stability
and by
little or no commitment to equality or democratic participation
and by a the political behaviour of the population is severely constrained.
Run by an elite group of individuals who steer the direction of the state and the society without the existence of substantial mechanisms for input or opposition by citizens (i.e. not by the people not for the people)
civil rights and civil liberties
that define the liberal democratic regime are
poorly protected
or entirely absent.
Forms of authoritarian regime
Though all authoritarian states share these general features, there are several nuanced forms that authoritarian regimes can take
One-Party Rule
Rule by a single legal party that
operates in a nonconstitutional manner
due to its firm grip on most of the state’s institutions
Presidents (autogolpe)
Though originally claiming the presidency through legitimate means, the president and their allies, particularly in the coercive apparatus,
dissolve the legislature and void the constitution
, acting above and beyond the original powers granted to them. Otherwise known as an autogolpe or self-coup.
Absolute Monarchs
A ruling king emerges from the royal family, with other family members in key political and military posts.
Armed Forces (junta)
Government by the military, often ruling through a junta comprising the leader of each branch of the armed forces. Follows a military take-over of the government, otherwise known as a coup d’état.
Despots (Autocracy)
A single individual, owing allegiance to no institution, rules through fear and rewards, relying on a personal security force to maintain power.
Theocracy
A rare form of rule in which religious leaders rule directly.
General features
lack of democratic
participation/citizen representation
Poor protection/absence of civil liberties
that define the liberal democratic regime
lack of avenues to question institutions or political decisions
lack of press freedom
non-constitutional nature of many authoritarian regimes i.e.
judiciary and legislature are not independent
of the political elites who are in control of the executive
Military/police (
coercive apparatus
) defends regime’s opponents
Elite power retained through patron-client relations in which certain rewards are provided in exchange for political loyalty
Liberal democracy
liberal democracy is a
political system
that not only is an
electoral democracy
(periodic elections, mandate) but also
ensures extensive political rights
(e.g. parties promoting genuine alternatives, opposition)
and civil liberties
(e.g. freedom of expression, religion and the media).
• Most political scientists see liberal democracy as the
truest form of democracy
Key features
Political liberty
Elections with
universal suffrage
Protection of
political rights
based on a constitution (ensuring that there is opposition to provide a variety of political options to reflect people’s desires)
Civil liberties
ensuring that individual
freedom is protected
as well as ensuring that
information flows freely
so that citizens can make informed decisions
Liberal democracies thus
are fundamentally constitution regimes
. Indeed, without this constitutional protection through an independent judiciary, it is easy for a government to restrict the opposition to its rule for its own benefit.
Economic Liberties
Often incline towards capitalist market with minimal government intervention and an emphasis on market freedom
Totalitarian
Totalitarian regime is a political regime that
demands complete obedience
to its extensive rules regarding not only politics buy also nearly all aspects of life, including culture, economics, religion, and morality. It might prescribe and proscribe the behaviour and thoughts of its population
in every domain of existence
Difference between Authoritarian and Totalitarian
the difference between authoritarian states and totalitarian states is their
degree of control over ordinary life
Authoritarian
Public sphere:
ordinary person’s participation in
politics is heavily discouraged and potentially punished
and the government may interfere in the dissemination of information regarding political matters,
Private sphere
: there is still
a firm boundary between the public and private realm.
In the private realm, one can still choose the job they would like to have, watch the entertainment programmes they would like to see on television, and discuss what they would like in the boundaries of their own house
Totalitarian
Public and the private sphere: no boundary
between the public and private realm
Social engineering
: the
elite group
or party in control of the state apparatus
involve themselves in almost every facet of an individual’s life
in order to
completely reorder society
according to its ideological prerogatives
Total control
: to ensure that every citizen subscribes to the political ideology of this elite group
social institutions
such as the media, education, and culture
are extensively used for political socialisation
Secret police and spies
are employed by the state to
ensure the ideological purity of the citizenry
and those who are found to be in opposition to the regime are met with the force of the law.
i.e. north korea
Social democracy
Social democracy is a
political system
that mirrors most aspect of liberal democracy with the exception of its emphasis on
economic equality.
Social democracy encourages fiscal policies and even monetary policies in order to regulate market forces and
limit inequality
.
Compare and contrast the differences between constitutionalism and nonconstitutionalism as well as liberal democratic and non-democratic regime types.
Constitutionalism
What is a Constitution
Sets out the formal structure of the state,
specifying the powers and institutions
of central government, and its relationship with other levels.
In addition, constitutions
express the rights of citizens
and in doing so create limits on government.
there are
two main forms
that constitutions can take
Uncodified Constitution
What this entails is that the legal division of powers as well as citizens’ rights and responsibilities are
spread out over a range of documents
and maintain its
standing as a result of tradition and legal precedent
Codified constitutions
Codified constitutions, such as Singapore’s, stipulates legal allocation of powers, rights, and responsibilities
in a single supreme document.
Such codification is
more common globally as it is typically found in states that have gone through a process of decolonisation
and political independence as well as those which have experience revolutionary regime change.
Constitutional vs non constitutional regime
Constitutional Regime
no individual or political body is above or outside the jurisdiction of the state’s laws;
all
citizens
are equal
when it comes
to
the application of law (
rule of law).
Non-constitutional
Fairness/equality under the law does not necessarily apply
Leaders can act with impunity
because they have “captured” state institutions through patronage
Another possibility is that the monopoly on the legitimate use of force has been lost and there is a
dispute about who the legitimate authority is.
In such a case,
authority depends not on the constitution but on who has coercive power over key institutions.