Practice Flashcards
Flip to reveal answersWhat is a political system?
Track your progress — Sign up free to save your progress and get smart review reminders based on spaced repetition.
All 11 Flashcards — Political systems
Sign up free to track progress and get spaced-repetition review schedules.
Question
What is a political system?
Answer
The way a country organises power and makes decisions.
Question
What is a democracy?
Answer
A system where the people freely choose those in power, power is checked, and the people can remove them.
Question
What is authoritarianism?
Answer
A system where power is held by a few, with no real checks and elections absent or fake.
Question
What is a hybrid regime?
Answer
A system that holds elections but is not truly free or fair — part democratic, part authoritarian.
Question
What is the key marker of a democracy?
Answer
Whether the rulers are freely chosen and checked — and whether the people can remove them.
Question
What is a unitary state?
Answer
One where power is held mainly by the central government.
Question
What is a federal state?
Answer
One where power is shared between the central government and regional governments.
Question
What is democratic backsliding?
Answer
The slow weakening of democracy from within — courts packed, media muzzled, elections tilted — while votes still happen.
Question
Why does backsliding matter globally?
Answer
It shifts a state from the democratic camp toward the authoritarian one, changing how it behaves and who it allies with.
Question
Does a state's system shape its global behaviour?
Answer
It matters for rights, openness and alliances — but states still act on their interests whatever their system.
Question
Democracy vs authoritarianism in one line?
Answer
Democracy = power freely chosen and checked; authoritarianism = power concentrated and unchecked.
Read the notes
Full study notes for Political systems
Topic 1.2 hub
Systems and interactions
More from Topic 1.2
All flashcards in this topic
Global Politics exam skills
Paper structures & tips
Track your progress with spaced repetition
Sign up free — Aimnova tells you exactly which cards to review and when, so you remember everything before your IB exam.
Start Free