AP Comp Gov - Mexico Short Answer

Mexico Short Answer

1. The office of executive consists of a head of government and a head of state.

1. The head of government is head of the executive branch of that country, and generally runs the government, enforces laws, and creates laws. The head of state is mostly a figurehead and carries out ceremonial functions.
2. In Great Britain, the Prime Minister is the head of government. In Mexico, the head of state is the President.
3. In Great Britain, the Prime Minister is in the legislature; in Mexico, the President is separate. Mexico has a multiparty system in which the candidate who receives the most votes is elected president for one six-year term, regardless of whether it’s an absolute majority or not. In Britain, elections are called before 5 years and citizens vote for the party rather than the candidate. Britain uses the first past the post voting method, meaning that the winner with the most votes is elected. In Mexico, the President is the most powerful part of the government and can directly introduce legislation in Congress, veto legislation initiated by Congress, declare war and peace, etc. In Great Britain, the PM is the highest political authority and has legislative as well as executive powers.

2. Mexico and Great Britain have experienced economic liberalization and democratization.

1. Economic liberalization is the process of reducing government interference in the economy. Democratization is when a state transforms to a more democratic state by developing the characteristics of democracy: free and fair elections, basic rights for citizens, political freedom, often a capitalist economy, etc.
2. In Mexico, an example of economic liberalization is the privatization of banks. In Great Britain, an example of this is the transition from Thatcher’s time, when the government controlled a large part of the economy, to the late 1990s when it sold off many business that were previously owned by the government.
3. In Mexico, electoral reform, the fall of the PRI and subsequent development of a true multiparty system, and the establishment of an electoral tribunal have all contributed to making Mexico more democratic. Things such as the Keynesian welfare state and joining the European Union have led to Great Britain’s democratization.
4. Economic liberalization in Mexico, in the case of NAFTA, widened the gap between the poor and rich because many small farmers went out of business due to the low price of US corn.

6. The patron-client system that exists in Mexico is an informal network of political loyalty in which patrons essentially bribe the clients into supporting them politically. Patrons receive votes from the clients, and the clients may receive certain benefits when that leader is elected—for example, the patron may promise a union or an interest group benefits. This has led to behind-the-scenes conflict resolution, distribution of political rewards, and the President’s cabinet to be filled by supporters of camarillas he/she wants to appease.

7.

1. There is a multiparty system in Mexico, with the main parties being the PRI, the PAN, and the PRD. There is direct election of government officials—proportional and first past the post. The main parties have evolved from the PRI’s prolonged rule, some splitting off and some developing as opposition.
2. Because there are multiple parties represented in Congress, it may take longer to pass laws or parties may team up against other parties to get what they want passed.
3. Most importantly, the other major parties have been better represented in elections and congress due to the fall of the PRI and the establishment of electoral reform.

8.

1. The lower house of Congress is the Chamber of Deputies; there are 300 seats directly elected by plurality from single-member districts, and 200 “party deputies” assigned through proportional representation. The Senate (upper house) is composed of 128 senators—2 for each of the 31 districts, and 3 for the federal district. The party with the most votes gets 2 seats, and the party finishing second gets one seat. One benefit is that there is greater representation for the parties due to the electoral process; however, it may be harder to get things done due to the large number of opinions represented in Congress.
2. There are about 750 members in the House of Lords, most of which are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the PM or are hereditary peers. The House of Commons consists of 646 MPs that are democratically elected by voters and represent different constituencies. The political party that wins the most seats in the House of Commons is the governing party and its leader becomes the PM. The FPTP system questions the whole issue of “democratic elections” in that the majoritywill of the people within one constituency may be reflected in the electoral outcome, but more people may vote against a candidate than for them. However, FPTP is simple and effective, the majority of people get what they want and it’s a much easier process than proportional.

AP Comp Gov - Intro to Comp Guided Reading

Introduction to Comparative Politics: Guided Reading

Comparing Political Systems – Chapter 2:

1. There are three concepts which your textbook will refer to throughout the chapters. Explain what is meant by a political system, a government structure, and a governments’ function.

• Political system: set of institutions and agencies concerned with formulating and implementing the collective goals of a society or of groups within it.
• Government structure: perform functions, which in turn enable the government to formulate, implement, and enforce its policies (parliaments, bureaucracies, administrative agencies, and courts)
• Government’s function: services the government provides their citizens with (establishing and operating school systems, maintaining public order, fighting wars, etc)

2. For any policy to be made and implemented “process functions” must be completed. Explain what interest articulation, interest aggregation, policymaking, and policy implementation and adjudication are and how they differ.

• Interest articulation: groups in government decide what they want
• Interest aggregation: these groups bring up the request to be discussed
• Policymaking: the government decides what action to take based on the request
• Policy implementation: the government makes a policy and votes on it
• Adjudication: a way to fix or revoke the law if it’s challenged or violated.

3. Explain the concept of “system functions” and how this process takes place.

• System functions: socialization, recruitment, and communication. Not directly involved in making and implementing public policy, but are of fundamental importance to the political system. They are referred to as system functions because they determine whether or not the system will be maintained or changed.
• Political socialization: involved families, school, communications media, churches, and all the various political structures that develop, reinforce, and transform attitudes of political significance in the society.
• Political recruitment: selection of people for political activity and government offices.
• Political communication: flow of information through the society and through the various structures that make up the political system.

Political Culture and Political Socialization – Chapter 3:

4. Define political culture. Explain the three levels of political culture (system level, process level, and policy level) and why they are significant in helping determine the nature of the state that exists within a particular country.

• Political culture: public attitudes toward politics and their role within the political system
• System level: involves the citizens’ and leaders’ views of the values and organizations that comprise the political system.
• Process level: includes expectations of how politics should function, and individuals’ relationship to the political process
• Policy level: citizens’ and leaders’ policy expectations from the government
• They all shape the country’s government and policies because power is derived from the people.

5. Define political socialization. Explain the major agents of political socialization and why each one is significant to the political process.

• Political socialization: the way in which political values are formed and the political culture is transmitted from one generation to the next.
• Family: family locates the individual in a vast social world, establishing ethnic, linguistic, class, and religious ties, affirming cultural values, and directing occupational and economic aspirations. Family has the most direct affect because they generally raise their children to believe they things they do, so that belief is entrenched in the child.
• School: provide children and adolescents with knowledge about the political world and their role in it and with more concrete info on political institutions and relationships. Also transmit the values and attitudes of the society.
• Religious institutions: carry cultural and moral values which often have political implications.
• Peer groups: social units that shape political attitudes. People often agree with their peers on political issues or may be made to agree by extended contact with them.
• Social class and gender: often significant social divisions based on class or occupation. Affects the mindset of the individual and therefore their political opinion
• Mass media: provides the public with information and opinions. Can have a significant emotional affect on large audiences, and various ways of presenting information can have a large impact on the opinions of the audience.
• Interest groups: groups, especially trade unions, have important consequences for politics. Their goal is to change public opinion and affect government, as their members believe in their cause fully.
• Political parties: generally, political parties have a set of beliefs that the majority of its members believe. Often members of a party will go with that party’s belief on a topic if they agree with others rather than figuring out their own stance on it.
• Direct contact with governmental structures: the wide scope of governmental activities brings citizens into frequent contact with various bureaucratic agencies. These personal experiences are powerful agents of socialization, strengthening or undercutting the images presented by other agents. Citizens who face a different reality than they were taught are likely to change their early learned views.

Interest Articulation – Chapter 4:

6. Explain the difference between interest groups, anomic groups, nonassociational groups, institutional groups, and associational groups. Give an example of each.

• Interest groups: social or political groups that represent the interests of their constituents. They have an enduring organizational base, professional staffs, and often participate within the political process, serving on government advisory bodies and testifying at parliamentary hearings.
• Example: The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) (Fannie Mae), expand the secondary mortgage market by securitizing mortgages in the form of mortgage-backed securities, allowing lenders to reinvest their assets into more lending and in effect increasing the number of lenders in the mortgage market by reducing the reliance on thrifts.
• Anomic groups: spontaneous groups that form suddenly when many individuals respond similarly to frustration, disappointment, or other strong emotions. They rise and subside quickly.
• Example: 1992 rioting in resident of minority neighborhoods of LA following the acquittal of police officers accused of excessive violence in the beating of an African American suspect.
• Nonassociational groups: based on common interests and identities of ethnicity, region, religion, occupation, or perhaps kinship. They’re rarely well organized, and their activity is episodic. Often have no sense of themselves as being members of a group, but are regarded by others as if they were a formal group.
• Examples: Consumers, Soccer Moms & NASCAR Dads, University students
• Institutional groups: formal and have other political or social functions in addition to interest articulation. Either as corporate bodies or as smaller groups within these bodies (legislative blocks, officer cliques, groups in the clergy, or ideological cliques in bureaucracies), such groups express their own interests or represent the interest of other groups in the society. The influence of institutional interest groups is usually derived from the strength of their primary organizational base (size of their membership, income, etc).
• Example: In the US, the military-industrial complex consists of the combination of personnel in the Defense Department and defense industries who join in support of military expenditures.
• Associational Groups: formed explicitly to represent the interests of a particular group. They have orderly procedures for formulating interests and demans, and they usually employ full-time professional staff. Often very active in representing the interests of their members in the policy process. These are organized for political activity although they also may engage in other activity.
• Examples: trade unions, chambers of commerce and manufacturers’ associations, ethnic associations, and religious associations.

7. Define the term “civil society”.

• A society in which people are involved in social and political interactions free of state control or regulation.

8. Interest groups are controlled in various ways throughout the world. Explain the three different types of interest group systems (pluralist, democratic corporatist, and controlled). Give an example of how each type works and the benefits and disadvantages of each system.

• Pluralist: characterized by several features that involve both how interests are organized and how they participate in the political process: multiple groups may represent a single societal interest, group membership is voluntary and limited, groups often have a loose or decentralized organizational structure, there is a clear separation between interest groups and the government.
• Example: the US, Canada, New Zealand.
• Benefits: Competition encourages self-improvement
• Disadvantages: Not as much collective power
• Democratic corporatist: much more organization representation of interests—a single peak association normally represents each societal interest, membership in the peak association is often compulsory and nearly universal, peak associations are centrally organized and direct the actions of their members, groups are often systematically involved in making and implementing policy.
• Example: Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden
• Benefits: More organized, helps with inflation
• Disadvantages: Less freedom—members must join unions
• Controlled: there is a single group for each social sector, membership is often compulsory, each group is normally hierarchically organized, groups are controlled by the government or its agents in order to mobilize support for government policy.
• Example: traditional Communist systems in which the dominating party organizations penetrate all levels of society and exercise close control over all the associational groups that are permitted to exist. Unions and youth associations.
• Benefits: Very organized…?
• Disadvantages: Controlled strictly by the government, little freedom

9. Explain the difference between legitimate access channels and coercive access channels. Give several example of how each works and why people may choose to use one type over the other.

• Legitimate Access Channels: used by the legitimate structures of the government, which designate the resources to be used in policymaking. In a democratic political system, an appropriate resource may be votes in the national assembly. Also, the mass media and other legal forms of channels for representing opinions in a nonviolent way.
• Examples: contacting local representatives, referendums, etc
• Why choose: It’s legal and above-board. Classy.
• Coercive Access Channels: Various groups may attempt to control legislative votes by influencing the parties that win elections, or the voters who choose them, or through bargaining, persuasion, or promises of support to incumbents. Rely more on collective violence of people, usually means skipping the steps used in traditional government.
• Examples riots, like the 1992 Riots in LA
• Why choose: sometimes easier

Interest Aggregation and Political Parties – Chapter 5:

10. Explain the difference between a single-member district plurality rule and proportional representation. Which method do you prefer? Why?

• Single Member District Plurality Rule: the legislative election rules divide the country into many election district, and the candidate who has more votes than any other win the election in the district.
• Proportional Representation: The country is divided into a few, large district, and competing parties offer lists of candidates. The number of legislative representatives a party wins depends on the overall proportion of the votes it receives. The seats are split up into percentage vote (if a group wins 4% of a vote they get 4% of the seats).
• I wouldn’t say I have enough experience to determine which is better, but because we use single member district plurality election rule, I’ll say I like that one better because it seems less complicated and easier to get things done with.

11. Explain the different types of competitive party systems. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each type. Give an example of each.

• Majoritarian Two Party System: dominated by two parties (like in the US), or they have two substantial parties and election laws that usually create legislative majorities for one of them (like in Britain).
• Advantages: power doesn’t switch around a ton, and everyone generally knows what each party wants.
• Disadvantages: minorities that don’t fall into either category are not represented
• Majority Coalition System: parties establish open pre-electoral coalitions so voters know which parties will attempt to work together to form a government. Purely multiparty systems have combinations of parties, voter support, and election laws that virtually ensure that no single party wins a legislative majority. (Germany and France)
• Advantages: nearly all people have at least some say
• Disadvantages: if the majority is uneducated or extremist it may harm the country
• Consensual party system: parties commanding most of the legislative seats are not too far apart on policies and have a reasonable amount of trust in each other and in the political system. (Britain)
• Advantages: don’t differ too much and generally agree on how the country should be run
• Disadvantages: any other group removed wouldn’t have much power
• Conflictual party system: the legislature is dominated by parties that are far apart on issues or are highly antagonistic toward each other and the political system (Russian party system)
• Advantages: constant debate may provide for the best system (if compromises are made)
• Disadvantages: disagreement can lead to bad decisions or violence

12. Explain the different types of authoritarian party systems (exclusive governing parties and inclusive governing parties). Give an example of each. Explain how authoritarian party systems deal with the issue of interest aggregation.

• Exclusive Governing Parties: Insists on control over political resources by party leadership. It recognizes no legitimate interest aggregation by groups within the party nor does it permit any free activity by social groups, citizens, or other government agencies.
• Example: Communist Party (USSR)
• Inclusive Governing Parties: recognizes and attempts to coordinate various social groups in the society. It accepts and aggregates certain autonomous interests, while repressing other and forbidding any serious challenges to its own control.
• Example: PRI in Mexico before its recent transition.
• Authoritarian party systems deal with interest aggregation by deliberately attempting to develop policy proposals and mobilize support for them within the ranks of the party or interactions with business groups, landowners, and institutional groups in the bureaucracy or military. The citizens have no real opportunity shape aggregation by choosing between party alternatives.

AP Comp Gov - European Union

European Union

Supranational organization

• Multi-national political communities wherein power is transferred or delegated to an authority by governments of member states.
• EU is the only entity which provides for international popular elections

Common market

• Guarantees the free movement of goods, capital, services, and people
• Trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with common policies on product regulation, and freedom of movement of the factors of production (capital and labour) and of enterprise and services

European Monetary Union

• Agreement among the participating member states of the EU to adopt a single hard currency and monetary system

Treaty of Rome

• formed the European Economic Community, which removed internal tariffs and created new ones that applied to all of them

Maastricht Treaty

• 1991: Maastricht Treaty (created the EU)
• introduced new forms of cooperation between the Member State governments – defense, environment, tourism, monetary policy
• created new structure with three “pillars” (spheres of authority)

“three pillars”

• Trade and economic matters (single currency, European Central Bank)
• Justice and home affairs (immigration, asylum)
• Foreign and security policy (most visionary and controversial area)

Free movement

• Fundamental right guaranteed to EU citizens.
• Abolition of border controls
• Requires strengthened management of the union’s external borders as well as regulated entry and residence of non-EU nationals, including through a common asylum and immigration policy

Integration

• Process of political, legal, and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe.

Lisbon Treaty

• Designed to meet the challenges of the arrival of new members from central and eastern Europe
• Signed by EU leaders in 2004 and sent to all member states for ratification
• Rejected by French and Dutch voters
• Reform treaty negotiated during 200
• Had to be ratified by all 27 member states before coming into force
• The last country to ratify to treaty was the Czech republic
• Treaty became law in 2009
• Main provisions
• Giving the European Parliament greater legislative and budgetary powers
• Granting national parliaments a role in ensuring that the EU complies with the principle of subsidiary
• Increasing the number of areas covered by qualified majority voting in the council
• A clearer presentation of the breakdown of powers and responsibilities between the Union and its member countries
• A legally binding Charter of Fundamental Rights guaranteeing the freedoms and rights of European citizens
• Election of a president of the European Council for a tern of two and a half years, renewable once
• A new post of High Representative for the Union in Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to increase the impact, coherence and visibility of the EU’s external action

Explain the balancing act between Britain and the EU

• UK opted out of introducing the Euro
• Britain will play a strong and positive role with the EU, while staying accountable to British people
• Work with the EU on trade, single market, economic growth, and delivering real benefits for Britain and British people
• EU Bill: legislation that will ensure that in the future, Parliament and Brisith people will have their say on any proposed transfer of powers from the UK to the EU

Conflict of sovereignty – Democratic Deficit

• Conflicts of sovereignty
• Monetary policies
• European Monetary Union
• Single Market
• Environmental regulation
• Expanding membership
• Trade policy (CAP)
• Human rights
• Common foreign and security policy
• Border control (immigration and asylum)
• Democratic Deficit:
• Depends on how viewed
• Ideally democratic Nation-State: EU has a democratic deficit
• WTO, World Ban, UN: EU has a democratic surplus
• Biggest democratic difficulties for the EU:
• low popular interest in the EU
• low turnout in elections to the European Parliament
• divide between politicians and general population on European integration
• Complicated and technocratic nature of EU decision0making process
• Activism of the EU Court of Justice

History of the EU – common market, European Community, European Union, Maastricht Treaty (1991), three pillars, membership process

• History
• Began in an effort to revitalize Europe after WWII ended
• Initial goals were economic
• Evolution:
• European Coal and Steel Community
• The European Economic Community (EEC)
• Treaty of Rome (1956): formed the European Economic Community, which removed internal tariffs and created new ones that applied to all of them
• The European Community
• Continued to develop the Common Market
• The European Union
• common market: free movement of goods, capital, services, and people
• 1991: Maastricht Treaty (created the EU)
• introduced new forms of cooperation between the Member State governments – defense, environment, tourism, monetary policy
• created new structure with three “pillars” (spheres of authority)
• Three pillars:
• Trade and economic matters (single currency, European Central Bank)
• Justice and home affairs (immigration, asylum)
• Foreign and security policy (most visionary and controversial area)
• EU Enlargement
• Country must have an functioning and stable democratic regime
• Market-oriented capitalist economy
• Acceptance of the 80,000 pages of laws and regulations already on the EU’s books

How many members? Who were the latest members to join? Who wants to join?

• 27 countries
• Romania and Bulgaria were the latest members to join
• 4 official candidate countries: Croatia, Iceland, Macedonia, and Turkey
• Potential candidates: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia

Organization of the EU – the Commission, the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament, the European Court of Justice – know specific structure and powers

• European Parliament: elected by the peoples of the Member States
• MEP’s are directly elected every 5 years
• Serves 3 function:
• Create and adopt European laws
• Adopt the EU budget and share budgetary authority with the Council
• Political supervision over all institutions. Supervision of the Commission and approve of Commissioners.
• One of the weakest institutions in the EU
• Legislative process:
• 1. Council and commission must consult with the parliament in two stages. When the commission proposes a new initiative, the parliament must give its opinion on it that the council must take into account when making its decision
• 2. Once this happens, the parliament must be consulted again, at which point one of three things can occur:
• a) if the parliament agrees/takes no action within 3 months, the bill is adopted
• b) if the Parliament proposes amendments, they must be considered by the commission within a month
• c) if the parliament rejects the council’s position outright, the council can only adopt it if it does so unanimously
• Council of the Union: composed of the governments of the Member states
• EU’s main decision making body
• Member states make turn holding the Council Presidency for a six-month period
• Attended by one minister from each EU country
• The Union’s legislative body in co-decision with parliament
• Shares budgetary authority with Parliament
• Police and Judicial Cooperation
• Demonstrates the continued power of the states
• Council has to pass legislation for it to become law
• Uses qualified majority voting, roughly based on population
• European Commission (executive branch)
• Union’s executive body – responsible for implementing EU legislation
• Upholds the general interests of the EU
• Can propose legislation to Parliament and the Council
• The Commission answers to the Parliament
• The entire Commission has to resign if the Parliament passes a motion of censure against it
• Ensures the law is adhered to with the aid of the Court of Justice
• Negotiates International Agreements
• 20 members who serve renewable 5-year terms
• most European institution
• Court of Justice: compliance with the law
• Made up of one judge from each EU country
• Appointed by joint agreement of the governments of the member states for a renewable term of six years
• The Court’s role is to ensure that EU law is complied with, and that the Treaties are correctly interpreted and applied
• Located in Luxembourg
• Court of Auditors: sound and lawful management of the EU budget

Active Policymaking – a single internal market, union of monetary policy (Euro and central bank), agricultural policy (farm subsidies), environment – know specific examples of countries viewpoints!

• Creating and maintaining a single internal market
• Trucking goods, professional licenses
• Free movement of goods, services, people, and capital
• Formal completed by Jan 1, 1993
• Passport and customs checks were abolished at most of the internal borders
• Union of monetary policy
• Euro, interest rates
• UK does NOT mandate the Euro
• Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)
• Exchange rate stability
• Interest rates, the budget deficit, the inflation rate, and the debt-to-GDP ratio
• When the euro was launched in 1999, the European Central Bank took over full responsibility for monetary policy throughout the euro area
• European Central Bank
• Sits atop of system of European central banks
• Responsible for monetary policy
• Manages the euro
• Complete autonomy in monetary sphere
• Indirectly decides on economic policy
• Creates issues of sovereignty
• Common Agricultural Policy
• Farm subsidies (trying to modernize inefficient farms)

Future Cooperation and Policy – common defense, terrorism, home affairs (immigration)

• Common defense
• Troop commitment and deployment up to the member states
• Terrorism
• Cooperation amongst police forces
• Britain, Ireland, Denmark rarely participate
• Justice and home affairs
• Free movement of EU citizens

AP Comp Gov - European Union Discussion/Debate

1. EU Enlargement:

What is the process for accepting new countries into the EU? Should EU enlargement continue?

• Country signs an association agreement to help prepare the country for candidacy and eventual membership
• Most countries don’t meet the criteria to even begin negotiations before they apply, so they need many years to prepare for the process.
• When a country formally applies for membership, the Council asks the Commission to prepare an opinion on the country’s readiness to begin negotiations
• Council can either accept or reject the Commission’s opinion
• If the council agrees to open negotiations the screening process begins.
• The Commission and candidate country examine its laws and those of the EU and determine what differences exist.
• The Council then recommends opening negotiations on “chapters” of law that it feels there are sufficient common ground to have constructive negotiations
• Usually the member state convinces the EU that its laws and administrative capacity are sufficient to execute European law, which can be implemented as seen fit by the member states.
• A chapter is said to be closed when both sides have agreed it has been implemented sufficiently
• Once the negotiations are complete, a treaty of accession is signed and then ratified by all of the member states of the Union, as well as the institutions of the Union, and the candidate country.
• Once this is done it will join the union.

Should Turkey (a Muslim country) become a member of the EU? What are the advantages and disadvantages of both?

• Advantages:

o Geopolitical

§ Turkey is a major regional power

§ Strategically located between Europe and the Middle East, and Europe and Central Asia

§ Represents a bulwark against instability in both of these volatile parts of the world, and is a potential bridge between Christian Europe and the Islamic world

§ Cultural ties through academia, business, and the Turkish Diaspora (estimated population of Turkish people in the world migrated outside of Turkey and any other Turkish homeland) are further evidence that Turkey’s place is in Europe

o Economic

§ Per capita income has doubled since 2003

§ Youthful population, which provides an excellent market for EU goods

§ Potential source of labor, which is important because EU birth rates are falling

§ Attracts large amounts of foreign direct investment (9 billion euros in 2007)

§ Good car and appliance manufacturing industry

o Energy

§ Alternative route for Russian energy to transit into the EU with plans underway to make the Nabucco pipeline operational by 2013

· Nabucco pipeline: proposed natural gas pipeline from Turkey to Austria, diversifying natural gas suppliers and delivery routes for Europe.

· Attempts to lessen European dependence on Russian energy.

§ Could also potentially be a transit route for energy supplies from the central Asia and the Middle East

o Defense

§ Has been a staunch ally of Europe and defender of European interests since the Cold War

§ Troops served alongside EU troops most recently in Afghanistan and the DR of Congo.

§ Will be an important ally in dealing with Iran on it’s nuclear threat and with Iraq on its transition to a peaceful, democratic state

§ By including Turkey in the EU, cooperation on defense and security matters will strength.

o Reforms

§ Has been an associate member of the EU since 1963 and applied formally to join in 1987

§ Turkey has introduced many reforms to prepare for EU membership

· Abolished capital punishment

· Reformed its police by cracking down on torture and giving rights to its minority Kurdish population

§ Moving closer to a European-style democracy

§ If it’s refused, these reforms may be taken back.

• Disadvantages:

o Too Big

§ Over 70 million people

§ Only Germany would have a bigger population (82 million)

§ Turkey would probably become the biggest member state of the EU

§ Lisbon treaty gives even greater say in EU decision-making to countries with higher populations through the weighted voting system in the Council of Ministers—Turkey would have a huge say over matters affecting European citizens daily lives.

o Too Poor

§ 2005: populated = 15% of EU’s population, but GDP was just 2% of EUs GDP

§ Such an underdeveloped country would put enormous strain on the EU budget, most notably the Common Agricultural Policy

o Too Muslim

§ 98% Muslim

§ Struggles between secular forces and more religious forces in recent years through the ruling AKP party’s insistence on lifting a ban on women wearing the hijab in university

§ Powerful Muslim country at the helm of the EU influencing debate on a range of moral and social issues would be unfavorable.

o Geography

§ Predominantly part of the Asian continent and borders Iran, Iraq, and Syria, who the EU presents as considerable security risks

o Politics

§ Always been turbulent; several coups staged by the military over the years

§ Current political ruling class has brought greater stability than past regimes, but still brought their own brand of instability

· AKP party has come close to being dissolved and have chosen to take on controversial issues (ex: lifting the ban on women wearing the hijab in university and imposing a law to outlaw speaking about the Armenian genocide)

· Ratcheted up the war with the Krudish militant group, the PKK

§ EU Commission’s progress reports have consistently shown problems in the Turkish reform process with judicial reform and rights of Turkey’s Kurdish population among the major problem areas.

2. Competition with the United States:

• The EU does not have a fully integrated foreign policy, so relations can be more complicated where the EU does not have a common agreed position (ex: Iraq War)

How much does the European Union work with the US, and how much does it directly compete with the US? Should the US feel threatened by increased cooperation among European countries on issues such as the economy, defense, and human rights?

• Mainly concerned with trade policy
• A growth of the EU’s economic power has led to a number of trade conflicts between the two powers
• Arms embargo against China
• Somewhat a cause of conflict: some countries (especially France) want to lift the ban and improve trade relations, but the US strongly opposes this
• Defense of Europe is assigned to NATO and Europeans are more averse to using military force (and paying for it) than the US.
• Frustrates the US—sees Europe as failing to support its side of the NATO operation in Afghanistan
• Disagree on genetically modified food—EU has been under domestic pressure to restrict the growth and import of genetically modified foods until their safety is proven. The US is under pressure from its agricultural business to force the EU to accept imports.
• Disagreement on death penalty
• US strongly opposed to the International Criminal Court
• Arab-Israeli conflict: EU usually more critical of Israel and the US more supportive

3. British integration into the EU: should Britain adopt a more integral role in the EU (ie by accepting the euro) or remain in a semi-detached state? Explain reasons why.

• Britain will be a positive participant in the EU
• Britain will play a strong and positive role with the EU, but stay accountable to British people for what it does on their behalf in the EU
• Top priority: boost economic growth
• Means promoting the single market and developing trade links
• Environmental problems (low carbon, etc)
• EU Bill: ensures that in the future, Parliament and British people will have their say on any proposed transfer of powers from the UK to the EU.

Germany and the European Union:

• strongly supports European integration
• works toward peace and international security
• Turkey: Germany opposes full membership of Turkey to the EU.
• “Turkey could be in deep, deep trouble when it comes to its aspirations to join the European Union” regarding its refusal to open up its ports to EU member Cyprus (Chancellor Angela Merkel)
• Britain:
• Germany wants a global tax on bank transactions and radical shift in the rules governing the single currency by insisting struggling eurozone countries should be allowed to restructure their debt
• 9-point plan rewriting the euro regime to include legally enshrined budget deficit ceilings in all 16 member countries
• these demands could require the EU’s Lisbon Treaty to be renegotiated, presenting David Cameron with a dilemma over whether this would trigger an EY referndum in Britain

AP Comp Gov - China History

CHINA

Zhogguo: Middle Kingdom

Population:

• 90% HAN (ethnic group), but many different types of ethnic group

Mandarin vs. Cantonese:

• Mandarin is the official language in Mainland China and Taiwan
• Cantonese is mainly spoken in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces.
• Written characters are essentially the same, but the pronuncian is completely different.

Historical Influences Before 1949:

• Dynastic rule
• The mandate of heaven
• A strong merit-based bureaucracy
• Confucianism
• The dynastic cycle
• 1. The New Dynasty: restores peace, redistributes land to the peasants, appoints loyal officers, repairs defensive walls, build roads, canals, and irrigation projects.
• 2. After several generations, the new dynasty becomes and aging dynasty
• 3. Aging dynasty: corrupt officials, losing control of provinces, imposing heavy tax burden, allowing defensive walls to decay.
• 4. Aging dynasty loses the Mandate of Heaven
• 5: Problems symbolic of lost Mandate: peasant rebellions, floods, famine, earthquakes, armed bandits in provinces, invasions.
• 6. New dynasty claims the Mandate of Heaven.
• Impact of dynastic rule
• Political culture inherited from centuries of dynastic rule centers around:
• Confucian values
• Order, harmony, strong sense of hierarchy – “superior” and “subservient” positions.
• Scholarship as a way to establish superiority
• Strong sense of cultural identity and a relatively high degree of cultural homogeneity
• Ethnocentrism
• Control by imperialistic nations
• “spheres of influence”
• resentment of the “foreign devils” that they eventually rebelled against
• resistance to imperialism impact:
• nationalism
• nationalism secured by the revolution of 1911 and the hatred of the “foreign devils” has led China to be cautious and suspicious in her dealings with capitalist countries today.
• Revolutionary upheavals
• 1911 revolution
• period of warlordism (1916-1927)
• Nationalist China under Chiang Khai-shek
• Kuomintage Party ruled until the invasion of the Japanese
• Three themes dominated this revolutionary era
• Nationalism
• Establishing a new political community
• Socioeconomic development

The Long March

• 1934-36 pursuit of Mao’s army across China by Chiang and his supporters
• Mao emerged as a hero of the people, and many of his loyal friends on the march lived on to be prominent leaders of the People’s Republic of China after its founding in 1949.

GMD-CCP Civil War 1946-1949

• GMD: Guomindang (Nationalist Party): Chiang Kai-shek (President)
• CCP: Chinese Communist Party: Mao Zedong

1949—the PRC

• After WWII ended the Japanese leave China
• The forces of Chiang and Mao met in the Civil War and Mao prevailed
• In 1949 Chiang fled to Taiwan, and Mao established the People’s Republic of China under Communist rule.

Taiwan’s Current Situation

• Beijing still views the island as part of its territory
• Taiwan Relations Act: passed in 1979 switched US regonition from ROC to the PRC—President Jimmy Carter
• Weapons must be of a defensive nature
• No embassy—an “institute”
• Today Washington is the leading arms supplier to self-ruled Taiwan
• During his visit to China in November, Obama reiterated that the US believed there was only one China.

The political development of the PRC

• Phases:
• The Soviet Model (1949-1957)
• Land Reform – eliminate landlord class
• Civil Reform
• First National People’s Congress (1954)
• Five-Year Plans
• Nationalize – state owned enterprises
• Collectivize
• Socialism

Hundred Flowers Campaign

• Began to break from the Soviet Model
• 1956: encouraged public dissent and criticism
• Prominent critics (mostly intellectuals and party elites) then removed from power
• replaced with party loyalists, yet unqualified for the positions

The Great Leap Forward (1958-1960)

• A utopian effort to transform China into a radical egalitarian society
• Its emphasis was mainly economic, and it was based on four principles:
• All-around development
• Industry and agriculture
• Mass mobilization
• Backyard furnaces, communes
• Political unanimity and zeal
• Decentralization

Failure of the Great Leap Forward:

• Estimated that between 20-40 million people died between 1959-1962
• Largest famine in world history
• Unrealistic output targets
• Industry
• Agricultural and human disaster

Cultural Revolution (1966-76)

• Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
• Purge of party cadres
• Purge of intellectuals
• Political, social, and economic change
• Mao’s main goal was to purify the party and the country through radical transformation and revolutionary fervor
• Remove all vestiges of the old China and its hierarchical bureaucracy and emphasis on inequality
• Red Guards attacked “intellectuals” to remove “bourgeoisie influences”
• Sent to manual labor camps, forced to make public criticisms, many executed

The Little Red Book

• Mao’s Cult of Personality
• “Learn from the masses, and then teach them.”

Maoism

• Mao Zedong was strongly influenced by Karl Marx and Lenin, but his version of communism was distinctly suited for China.
• He believed in the strength of the peasant, and centered his philosophy around these central values:
• Collectivism
• Struggle and activism
• Mass line
• Egalitarianism
• Self-reliance

Diplomatic Achievements

• 1971, PRC became the representative of China in UN (replaced ROC)
• 1972, President Nixon visited Beijing

Mao and Zhou Died in 1976

• Turning point in China’s postwar era
• “Gang of Four” were arrested
• End of the Cultural Revolution

Deng Xioping’s Modernizations (1978-1997)

• Mao died in 1976, leaving his followers divided into factions
• Radicals
• The Military
• The Moderates
• The Gang of Four and Madame Mao (Jiang Qing)
• 1978, the new leader emerged – Deng Xiaoping
• New policies
• “Open door” trade policy
• reform in education cultivated foreign relations

Deng Xiaoping Theory

• The result of his leadership was a dramatic turnaround of the Chinese economy through a combination of socialist planning and the capitalist free market
• He encouraged the creation of a market economy and capitalist-like enterprises, and by the early 1990s his reforms had helped lift an estimated 170 million peasants out of extreme poverty
• He refused to lessen the power of the Communist Party over the lives of ordinary Chinese citizens.

Deng Xiaoping Reforms

• Abolished Mao’s rural agricultural communes and allowed peasants to cultuvate family plots
• Grain harvests quickly increased
• City dwellers were allowed to start small-scale businesses
• Ordinary Chinese were allowed to buy consumer goods
• Actively courted international investors
• Imposed tough population controls that included forced abortions to limit families to one or two children
• Remade education in China
• Charged the Cultural Revolution had produced “an entire generation of mental cripples” by shutting gown schools and sucking the student population into the Red Guards
• Deng allowed students to go abroad for college sparking a craze for learning English
• Negotiated an agreement with the British government to return Hong Kong to Chinese control in 1997

Free Market = Free Expression?

• Throughout Deng’s economic reforms, however, he kept an iron fist ready to crush any threats to the nation’s Communist dictatorship
• In Deng’s final five years, virtually all of China’s dissidents were imprisoned or exiled abroad
• Also supported the use of tanks and guns to end the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, where hundreds of students and bystanders were believed to have been killed

“Socialist Market Economy”

• Break the monopoly of state ownership
• 3 million private enterprises employ 43 million people
• 24 million individual businesses employ 48 million people
• foreign-invested enterprises employ 9 million
• reforms of the state-owned enterprises
• transformation into joint-stock companies

Tian’anmen 1989

• CCP General Secretary Shao Ziyang (elite reformist) was removed from all positions
• Deng Xiaoping retired from day-to-day policy

Political Authoritarianism

§ Jiang Zemin

o Falun Gong

o Reunification with Taiwan

o Continued economic growth

§ Hu Jintao – 2002

o 2003 SARS crisis

o Tibet protests

o Olympics 2008