Lecture 5

• Political Science: Session 5 covers constitutions, courts, legislatures, functions, size and structures of legislatures, bicameralism, measuring parliamentary powers, and assignment 3.
• The recap of Session 4 discusses diversity, culture and national culture, culture and politics: different perspectives, measuring culture: dimensions of societal culture, and the relation between dimensions of culture and democracy.
• Political Science: Session 5 also includes a lecture on constitutions, courts, legislatures, and functions, size and structures of legislatures.
• Bicameralism is a topic discussed in Political Science: Session 5.
• Measuring parliamentary powers is a part of Political Science: Session 5.
• Assignment 3 is a part of Political Science: Session 5.
• Political Science: Session 5 includes a lecture on constitutions, which can be codified or uncodified, and can be rigid or flexible.
• A constitution is a document or a set of documents that outlines the powers, institutions, and structure of government, as well as expressing the rights of citizens and the limits on government.
• A codified constitution is one that is set out in a single document.
• An uncodified constitution is one that is spread among a range of documents and is influenced by tradition and practice, for example, Britain.
• Informal institutions and comparative politics: A research agenda
• The Journal of Democracy, 17(1), 5 - 20
• Yale University Press
• Taylor, S.L., Shugart, M.S., Lijphart, A., & Grofman, B. (2014)
• Do Power-Sharing Institutions Work, 29 - 50
• Acta Politica
• Perspectives on politics, 2(04), 725 - 740
• Carey, J.M. (2000)
• A rigid constitution is one that is entrenched, requiring more demanding amendment procedures.
• A different democracy: American government in a 31-country perspective
• Norris, P. (2008)
• Comparative Political Studies, 33(6 - 7), 735 - 761
• Driving democracy
• Maleki, A. & Hendriks, F. (2016)
• Contestation and Participation: Operationalizing and Mapping Democratic Models for 80 Electoral Democracies, 1990 - 2009
• Helmke, G., & Levitsky, S. (2004)
• Parchment, equilibria, and institutions
• A flexible constitution is one that can be amended more easily, often in the same way that ordinary legislation is passed.
• Judiciary: the institution to interpret laws and punish who break them.
• Executive: the institution to put plans, policies, or laws into effect and enforce them.
• Constitutional court: A separate body dealing only with constitutional issues (it is an additional legislative chamber).
• Legislature as Principal: Making governments, scrutiny and control.
• Structure of legislatures: Size, number of chambers, members, term of office, method of (s)election, ….
• Abstract review (European model): Advice (not usually binding) given by a court on the constitutionality of a law or public policy (usually by constitutional court).
• Concrete review (American model): Judgements made on the constitutional validity of law in the context of a specific case (usually by supreme court).
• Three major political institutions: Legislature (s), Executive, Judiciary.
• Bicameralism: Two chambers share legislative power (lower and upper chamber).
• Bicameralism: Two dimensions of bicameralism ( Lijphart , 2012)
• Supreme court: Highest court within a jurisdiction, whose decisions are not subject to review by any other court (it is a judicial body).
• Lower chamber: Assembly size of lower chamber vs population.