American Government and Civic Engagement Flashcards
What parts of people’s lives does gov affect
All aspects
Government defined
Describes the means by which a society organizes itself and how it allocates authority in order to accomplish collective goals and provide benefits that the society as a whole needs.
Goals of the government
Among the goals that governments around the world seek to accomplish are economic prosperity, secure national borders, and the safety and well-being of citizens.
Common services provided by the government
education, health care, and an infrastructure for transportation.
politics
refers to the process of gaining and exercising control within a government for the purpose of setting and achieving particular goals, especially those related to the division of resources within a nation.
Why are governmental systems confused with economic systems?
because certain types of political thought or governmental organization are closely related to or develop with certain types of economic systems.
Who said “all people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property.”
John Locke (English political philosopher)
Which Scottish philosopher believed that “all people should be free to acquire property in any way that they wished.”
Adam Smith
Whose ideas formed the fundamentals of capitalism
Adam Smith
Adam Smith’s ideas
Instead of being controlled by government, business, and industry, Smith argued, people should be allowed to operate as they wish and keep the proceeds of their work. Competition would ensure that prices remained low and faulty goods disappeared from the market. In this way, businesses would reap profits, consumers would have their needs satisfied, and society as a whole would prosper.
Who wrote the ‘Wealth of Nations’
Adam Smith
What two forms of government developed together in the US
Representative government and capitalism
What form of government does the US equate democracy with
capitalism
Democratic Government in theory
In theory, a democratic government promotes individualism and the freedom to act as one chooses instead of being controlled, for good or bad, by government.
Socialism
The industries are owned by the government who redistributes the wealth to the people
In many socialist countries the government is an ______
oligarchy
oligarchy
only members of a certain political party or ruling elite can participate in government.
In the US, the government works closely with what economic system
capitalist economic system.
Such goods or services that are available to all without charge are called what?
public goods
goods that all people may use free of charge but that are of limited supply, such as fish in the sea or clean drinking water.
common goods
Is it the government’s job to protect common goods?
yup
politics
the process by which choices are made regarding how resources will be allocated and which economic and social policies government will pursue.
individualism
a social theory favoring freedom of action for individuals over collective or state control.
direct democracy
people participate directly in making government decisions.
monarchy
one ruler, usually a hereditary ruler, holds political power.
totalitarianism
government is more important than the citizens, and it controls all aspects of citizens’ lives.