Chapter 1 Flashcards
What do Americans believe government to be?
Americans sometimes believe that the government is an institution that does things TO them and from which need protection.
- Yet many individuals who complain about what the government does TO them also want the government to DO a great deal FOR them.
- Americans grant government power but they often are suspicious of politicians.
What is government?
Government is the term generally used to describe the formal institutions through which a land and its people are ruled.
What challenges do government face?
Government faces the challenge of helping and protecting its citizens through the key American political values of liberty, equality, and democracy.
-These practices cause conflict and that’s when politics come into view.
What does Politics refer to?
Politics refers to conflicts and struggles over the leadership structure and politics of government.
-Politics refers to conflicts over the character, membership and policies of an org. to which people belong to.
What did the government recently do in 2008-2009 recession?
The federal government stepped in to shore up the financial system to oversee the restructuring of the ailing auto companies and to inject hundreds of billions of dollars into the faltering economy. Also helping citizens with government assistance.
What does the national government oversee?
It oversees the nation’s economy and is the nation’s largest employer, providing citizens with a host of services, it controls the world’s most formidable military and it regulates a wide range of social and commercial activities.
What has happened to public trust?
Public trust in government has DECLINED and Americans are now more likely to feel that they can do little to influence the government actions.
- Minorities such as African Americans and Latinos express much more confidence in the federal government than whites.
- Politically engaged citizens and public confidence are vital for a healthy democracy.
- After 9/11 public trust went up.
- War in Iraq and ongoing concern about war had increased Americans distrust in government.
What fueled public discontent?
Intense partisan conflict over governments role.
What can long-term distrust in government do?
Long-term distrust in government can result in public refusal to pay taxes adequate to support such widely approved public activities.
- Low-levels of confidence may also make it difficult for government to attract talented and effective workers to public service.
- Distrust will ultimately harm the U.S. capacity to defend its national interest in the world of economy and jeopardize its national security.
What can a weak government do to assist citizens?
They can do little for citizens who need help in bad periods of sharp economic or technological change.
What is Political Efficacy?
Political Efficacy is the belief that ordinary citizens can affect what government does, that they can make government listen to the,.
- The feeling that you can’t affect government decisions can lead to a self-perpetuating cycle of apathy, declining political participation and withdrawal from political life.
- NOT every effort of a citizen to influence government will succeed but without any such efforts, government decisions will be made by a smaller and smaller circle of powerful people/
- The loss of popular influence over government actions undermine they key feature of American democracy - government by the people.
What is citizenship?
Citizenship is membership in one’s community.
- It means involvement in public discussion, debate, and activity designed to improve the welfare of the community.
- OUR idea of citizenship means enlightened political engagement.
- To be engaged, citizens require resources, especially political knowledge and info.
What does it mean to be a KNOWLEDGEABLE CITIZEN?
Knowledgeable citizens are more attentive and engaged in politics because they understand how and why politics is relevant to their lives.
- Without political knowledge, no citizen can be aware of their interests or their stake in a political dispute.
- Americans complain about government unresponsiveness but lack the information they need to present their problems to the appropriate government officials.
- Citizens need political knowledge to ascertain what they cannot or should not ask of politicians and the govnt.
Is government needed?
A govnt is needed to provide services and public goods that all citizens need but are not likely to be able to provide adequately for themselves.
-Might include defense against foreign aggression maintenance over public order, enforcement of contractual obligations and property rights and a guarantee of some measure of social justice.
What is Autocracy?
Autocracy is a single individual (such as king, a dictator)
What is an Oligarchy?
Where a small group (landowners, military officers, wealthy merchants) controls most of the governing decisions.
What is Democracy?
Democracy is if more people participate and have some influence over decision making.
What are Constitutional Governments?
governments limited to what they are permitted to control (substantive limits) and how they go about it (procedural limits). Also known as LIBERAL GOVERNMENT.
EX: USA
What is Authoritarianism?
When the govnt is kept in check by other political institutions that are unable to control and must come to terms with autonomous territories, organized religion, organized business groups or organized labor unions. The law imposes few real limits.
EX: Latin America, Asia, Africa
What is Totalitarianism?
Govnts not only are free of legal limits but seek to eliminate organized social groups that might challenge or limit their authority. They typically attempt to dominate and control every aspect or political, economic, and social life.
EX: Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Prewar Japan/Italy, North Korea.
