Learning Objectives

After reading Chapter 5, you should be able to do the following:

5.1 Delineate the difference between majoritarian and consensual democracies

5.2 Explain the similarities and differences among parliamentarism, presidentialism, and semipresidentialism

5.3 Explicate how accountability, policymaking, and stability vary across political systems

5.4 Understand the importance of the judiciary in upholding state institutions

5.5 Explain the positives and negatives of bureaucracies in politics

5.6 Define federalism and articulate its strengths and weaknesses