Chapter 1: introducing Government in America Flashcards
Confederate
State governments have power and give power to central
Ex. 13 states under articles of confederation
Federal
Power is divided and shared between the national and state governments
Ex. United States
Authoritarian
Government has the most power and citizens have few rights
Citizens have no influence in government Leaders above rule of law and abuse power- for life Power of gov. is unlimited Censored media Command economy
Command economy
Gov. Controls and owns all businesses
Citizens can’t choose jobs or own property as much
Dictatorship
One single individual retains all the power
Use of force
Ex. Nazi Germany
Monarchy
A gov. with supreme power logged in the hands of a king, queen, or emperor
Divine right
Ex. Saudi Arabia
Oligarchy
Small group controls gov.
Ex. China
Democracy
A system of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy represents and responds to the public’s preferences
Democracies have Market economies
Market economy (capitalism, free market)
Businesses runner and owned by citizens and gov.
Gov. doesn’t interfere
Direct democracy
Citizens themselves vote on laws and create policy
Ex. Small towns in New England
Referendum
Citizens vote on legislation that is directly placed on ballots
Representative democracy
Citizens elect officials to make laws and these representatives are accountable to the constituents
Presidential democracy
Citizens elect both legislation and executive
Ex. U.S.
Parliamentary democracy
Citizens elect the legislature/parliament who in turn elect the executive/prime minister
Ex. Britain
Legislative branch
Makes laws
Congress
Legislative body made of the senate and House of Representatives
Bicameral- 2 chambers
Senate
There are two elected senators per state
totaling 100 senators
House of Representatives
There are 435 elected representatives
divided among the 50 states in proportion to their total population. There are additional non-voting delegates who represent the District of Columbia and the territories.
Maryland general assembly
Legislative state gov.
State senate and house of delegates
Makes state policies
Bicameral
City council
Local gov. Legislature
Local policy
Unicameral
Executive branch
Enforces laws
National- president
State- governor
Local- mayor
Judicial branch
Interprets laws
National - Supreme Court and Federal court
State - MD court of appeals
Local- circuit court and district court
Government
Institutions that make authoritative public policies and decisions for society as a whole
(Congress, presidency, Supreme Court, bureaucracy)
Unitary
National government has power and states get power from central
Ex. Colonies under Britain
Functions of the national government
Maintaining the national defense- armed forces and weapons
Provide public services- public goods
Preserve order- maintain order ex. National guard
Socialize youth- education & instill national values
Collect taxes- collected from national, state, and local gov. to pay of public services
Public goods
Goods that can be shared by anyone and denied to no one (others like college education and medical care can be restricted)
Politics
The process by which we select our government leaders and what policies these leaders peruse. Politics produces authoritative decisions about public issues.
Political participation
All the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue
American has one of the lowest rates in the world so voters are a distorted sample of the total population
Political parties
A group of people with common interests who organized to win elections and gain political control
Party platform
A party’s opinion on various public policy issues drafted prior to the party convention by a committee of members chosen in proportion to each candidate’s strength
Single issue group
Groups that have a common narrow interest, tend to dislike compromise and often draw new people into politics
Members are often so concerned with the issue they base their votes on that issue only
Interest group
Group of people with common interests to try to influence governmental policy
Policy making system
reveals the way government response to the priorities of its people People linkage institutions policy agenda policymaking institution policy Starts over
Policy making-
People
Interest problems and concerns arise as impacts of public policy
Policy agenda
The issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actually involved in politics at any given point in time
Usually when you vote you look for a candidate with a similar agenda government agenda changes regularly based on issues that are higher
bad news usually draws more media attention
Political issue
An issue that arises and people disagree about a problem and how to fix it
Linkage institutions
Transmit Americans preferences to the policy makers in government ex. parties, elections, interest groups, media
Policymaking institutions
The branches of government charge with taking action on political issues
US Constitution established three policymaking institutions Congress presidency and courts
today the bureaucracy is so large it is sometimes considered a fourth
Public policy
A choice the government makes in response to a political issue a policy is a course of action taken with regard to some problem
Congressional statute- policy
Law passed by Congress
Ex. No child left behind
Presidential action- policy
Decision by presidents
Ex. Invasion of Iran
Court decisions- policy
Opinion by Supreme Court your other court
Ex. Right to own a gun
Budgetary choices- policy
Legislative enactment of taxes and expenditures
Regulation- policy
Agency adoption of regulation
ex. FDA approved a new drug
Policy impacts
The effects of policy has on people and problems impacts our analyze to see how well a policy has met its goal and at what cost
has to be…
effective -get good reactions
has a goal- policy analyst ask how it achieves the goal
translates peoples desires into affect of public policy
U.S. Founders view of democracy
Weren’t fond of democracy because they believed people weren’t educated enough to make correct decisions
Traditional democratic theory
Equality in voting- representative
effective participation- equal opportunity to express preferences
enlightened understanding- free speech and press
citizens control agenda and media- not one group has more influence
inclusion of all citizens- minority/majority
Voting equality
15th amendment- vote regardless of race
19th amendment- regardless of gender
23rd amendment- 3 electoral votes to Washington D.C.
24th amendment- eliminate pole taxes
26th amendment- lowers voting age from 21 to 18
Majority rule
The fundamental principle of traditional Democratic theory in a democracy, when choosing among alternatives, it requires the majorities desire to be respected
Minority rights
A principle of traditional Democratic theory that guarantees rights to those who do not belong to majorities and allows that they may join majorities through persuasion and reasoned argument
Plurality
When there are multiple alternatives, that do not have a majority, the decision is based on the choice with the most number of votes
Representation
Describes the relationship between few leaders and many followers
Desires of the people should be replicated in government three choices of elected officials
closer relationship is more ideal
17th amendment
Senate shall be composed of two Senators from each state, elected by the people thereof
Pluralism theory
A serious government and politics emphasizing that policy politics is mainly a competition among groups each one pressing for its own -preferred politics
- Interest groups control public policy
- compete for control
- no group dominates
- powers dispersed with multiple access points to the government
- “nation of joiners”
Elite and class theory
A series of government and politics contending that societies are divided along class lines and that an upper class elite will rule regardless of the formal niceties of government organization
- Socioeconomic status- SES
- upper class elite rules- 1% of US
- 47% of Congress are millionaires
Hyperpluralism
A theory of government and politics contending that groups are so strong that government is weekend (an extreme form of pluralism)
- politicians try to placate every group
- Too many government institutions that make coordinating policy difficult
- Interests rarely translated it to public-policy effectively
Gridlock
A condition that occurs with no collation is strong enough to form a majority and establish policy the result is that nothing may get done
Challenges of democracy
Increased technical expertise
Limited participation
escalating campaign costs
diverse political interests
Challenges of democracy- technical expertise
Experts with technical knowledge overshadow general population with more knowledge making informed decisions becomes more difficult
Challenges of democracy- limited participation
Americans do not take advantage of opportunities to shape the government and the youth don’t participate
Challenges of democracy- escalating campaign costs
Candidates more dependents of money to run campaigns
political action committees (PAG’s) for funding represent specific economic interests and Congress listens to them
Challenges of democracy- diverse political interests
Political system is so open that interests gain access to policymakers a few policymakers can determine public policy
Political culture
And overall set of values widely shared within a society
Base of american political culture
Depends on people and routed orientations that motivate people to demand rights and freedom
America so diverse founded on creed, not coming to heritage, organized around and ideology with a set of dogmas about the nature of good society
American political culture
Liberty Egalitarianism Individualism laissez-fair populism
Liberty
Freedom of speech and religion- “unalienable rights”
Egalitarianism
All men created equal
equality of opportunity and respect
while Americans never had equal conditions, everyone should have the chance to succeed in life
Individualism
The belief that people can and should get ahead on their own
at the beginning the front tier allow them to escape the government fostering the individuality
Laissez-faire
Economic policies that promote free markets and limited government compared to other advanced nations
America has a small government
for democracy taxes are low
government has less impact (no airline, telephone, housing)
Populism
A political philosophy supporting the rights of the average citizens in their struggle against privileged elites
ordinary people vs. big interest is a common stance for politicians
Culture war
Sharp polarization of two rival groups with different political cultures divide America
some believe this is the issue and others believe it’s not
Youth Apathy
Young people feel apathetic for governments and not involved although prominent in communities and volunteerism
pay less attention to public affairs and are less likely to be well-informed about politics and government
Causes of youth apathy
Public affairs are less visible now than in the past
- less shared national experiences like 9/11
- views for presidential debates has dropped
- new technology has allowed for more political information, however there are so many channels it’s easy to avoid learning more about politics
Political knowledge
Foster civic virtue’s
help citizens identify what benefits them
promotes active participation in politics
Gap between elderly and youth
The elderly are more informed than the youth and participate more
those who participate in politics are more likely to benefit from the government and because elderly people vote more policies often reflect their interests
elitism
the advocacy or existence of an elite as a dominating element in a system or society.
