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Political Institutions (UK (Today the two major political parties are…

- - - - There was a long line of hereditary military leaders and when this was happening the king's authority was supported by a strong military and a state-sponsored religion called Zoroastrianism.
        
        Shiism was established as the state religion in the 16th century by Ismail, the founder of the Safavid Empire. Ismail and his qizilbash were supporters of this sect of Islam that had quarreled bitterly with Sunni Muslims for centuries.
        
        Ayatollah Khomeini led Revolution of 1979, an event that transformed the legitimacy of the state, anchoring it once again in principles of Shiism. The most important document that legitimizes the state today is the Constitution of 1979 along with the amendments of 1989.
        
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        Authoritarian leaders played an important role in the 20th century as the Pahlavi shahs and ruled from 1925 to 1979. They attempted to secularize the state, though were undone by a charismatic leader, Ayatollah Khomeini. He personified the union of political and religious interests from ancient days.
- - - - The British ruled indirectly by leaving chiefs and other natives in charge of governments designed to support British economic interests. In order to achieve their goals of economic domination, the British strengthened the authority of the traditional chiefs, making them accountable only to the British. This new pattern resulted in the loosening of the ruler's responsibility to the people.
      - Islamic principles, including the rule of religious law, governed politics, emphasizing authority and policymaking by the elite. All citizens, especially women, were seen as subordinate to the leaders' governance.
  - - - The colonists trained chiefs to operate their governments in order to reach economic goals. Whereas in Britain individual rights and free market capitalism check the government's power, no such checks existed in Nigeria. This practice set in place the expectation that citizens should passively accept the actions of their rulers.
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        Mexico's political history is full of chaos, conflict, bloodshed, and violent resolution to political disagreements.
        
        Mexico has strong colonial structures set up by Spain and from strong-arm tactics by military-political leaders such as Profirio Diaz, Mexico has a tradition of authoritarian rule. Currently the president still holds a great deal of political power, although presidential authority has been questioned during the past few years.
- - - - Perhaps the greatest influence of British interest groups comes through quangos (quasi-autonomous nongovernmental organizations), or policy advisory boards appointed by the govern- ment. Using a neocorporatist model, quangos, together with govern- ment officials develop public policy, working in different policy areas.
      - The British gov- ernment has three branches of government and a bureaucracy. Fur- thermore, the legislature is divided into two houses, a model that the British invented, and is now widely copied. However, their system is parliamentary.
    - - British newspapers reflect social class divisions. They are sharply divided between quality news and comment that ap- peals to the middle and upper classes, and mass circulation tabloids that carry sensational news. Radio and television came to life during the collective consensus era, so originally they were monopolized by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
      - Britain is a unitary state with political authority centralized in Lon- don. Decisions made by the central government – both laws passed by Parliament and regulations prepared by the bureaucrats in Whitehall – are binding on all public agencies.
- - - - Current political parties, elections, and institutions of government are all new, and their functions within the political system are very fluid and likely to change within the next few years. However, the Russian Federation survived its first few rocky years, and many experts believe that at least some aspects of Russian government and politics are set- tling into a pattern.
        
        Even though the Soviet Union was highly centralized, it still main- tained a federal government structure. The Russian Federation has retained this model, and the current regime consists of eighty-nine regions, twenty-one of which are ethnically non-Russian by major- ity. Most of these regions are called “republics,” and because the central government was not strong under Yeltsin, many ruled themselves almost independently.
      - As president, Vladimir Putin has cracked down on regional autonomy, ordering the army to shell even Chechnya into submission. Several measures that Putin imposed were: creation of super districts, removal and appointment of governors, changes in the federation council, and elimination of single-member districts in the Duma
- - - - China’s political regime is best categorized as authoritarian, one in which decisions are made by political elites – those that hold politi- cal power – without much input from citizens. Leaders are recruited through their membership in the Communist Party, but personal re- lationships and informal ties to others are also important in deciding who controls the regime.
        
        A major feature of economic decision-making is now decentralization, or devolution of power to subnational governments. Local governments often defy or ignore the central government by setting their own tax rates or building projects without consulting the central government.
        
        China recruits its leaders through nomenklatura, a system of choosing cadres from lower levels of the party hierarchy for advancement based on their loyalty and contributions to the well- being of the party. However, Chinese leaders communicate with one another through a patron-client network called guanxi.
        
        The combination of guanxi and the economic boom of the past few decades have brought about rampant corruption within the Chinese economic and political system. Bribes are common, and corruption is widely regarded as a major problem.