Chapter 1

Question 1

Government

Answer 1

the institutions and processes through which public policies are made for a society

Question 2

Public Goods

Answer 2

Goods, such as clean air and clean water, that everyone must share

Question 3

Politics

Answer 3

the process by which we select our governmental leaders and what policies these leaders pursue. Politics produces authoritative decisions about public issues.

Question 4

Political Participation

Answer 4

All the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue. The most common, but not the only means of political participation in a democracy is voting. Other means include protest and civil disobedience

Question 5

Single-Issue Groups

Answer 5

Groups that have a narrow interest, tend to dislike compromise, and often draw membership from people new to politics. These features distinguish them from traditional interest groups.

Question 6

Policymkaing System

Answer 6

a set of institutions and activities that link together people, politics, and policy

Question 7

Linkage Institutions

Answer 7

the channels or access points through which issues and the policy preferences of people get on the policy agenda of the government. In the United States, elections, political parties, interest groups, and the mass media are the three main linkage institutions

Question 8

Policy Agenda

Answer 8

the issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actually involved in politics at any given point in time

Question 9

Political Issue

Answer 9

an issue that arises when people disagree about a problem a public policy choice

Question 10

Policymaking Institutions

Answer 10

the branches of government charged with taking actin on political issues. The U.S. Constitution established three policymaking institutions - the Congress, the presidency, and the courts. Today, the power of the bureaucracy is so great that most political scientists consider it a fourth policymaking institution

Question 11

Public Policy

Answer 11

a choice that government makes in response to a political issue. A policy is a course of action taken with regard to some problem

Question 12

Democracy

Answer 12

a system of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy represents and responds to the preferences of the public

Question 13

Majority rule

Answer 13

a fundamental principle of traditional democratic theory. In a democracy, choosing among alternatives requires that the desire of majority be respected

Question 14

Minority Rights

Answer 14

a principle of traditional democratic theory that guarantees rights to those who do not belong to majorities and allows that they might join majorities through persuasion and reasoned argument

Question 15

Representations

Answer 15

a basic principle of traditional democratic theory that describes the relationship between the few leaders and the many followers

Question 16

Pluralist Theory

Answer 16

a theory of government and politics emphasizing that politics is mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies

Question 17

Elite and Class Theory

Answer 17

a theory of government and politics contending that societies and divided along class lines and that an upper-class elite will rule, regardless of the formal niceties of governmental organization

Question 18

Hyperpluralism

Answer 18

a theory of government politics contending that groups are so strong that government is weakened. Hyperpluralism is an extreme, exaggerated, or perverted form of pluralism

Question 19

Policy Gridlock

Answer 19

a condition that occurs when no coalition is strong enough to form a majority and establish policy. The result is that nothing may get done

Question 20

Gross Domestic Product

Answer 20

the sum total of the value of all the goods and services produced in a nation

Question 21

Individualism

Answer 21

the belief that individuals would be left on their own by the government. One of the primary reasons for the comparatively smalls cope of American government is the prominence of the belief in American political thought and practice