Chapter 1 - Introduction Into American Politics Flashcards
Politics
The process of making collective decisions, usually by governments, to allocate public resources and to create and enforce rules for the operation of society
Political system
The way a society organizes and manages its politics across various levels of public authority
Preferences
The outcomes or experiences people want or believe they need
Institutions
Rules or sets of rules or practices that determine how people make collective decisions
Federal system
A political system with multiple levels of government, in which each level has independent authority over some important policy areas
Collective dilemma
A situation in which there is conflict between group goals and individual goals or self-interest
Public good
A benefit provided to a group of people such that each member can enjoy it without necessarily having to pay for it, and one person’s enjoyment of it does not inhibit the enjoyment of it by others.
Private good
A product or benefit provided such that its enjoyment can be limited to specific people, and one individual’s consumption of it precludes others from consuming it.
Free riding
Benefiting from a public good while avoiding the costs of contributing to it
Collective-action problem
A situation in which people would be better off if they all cooperated; however, any individual has an incentive not to cooperate as long as others are cooperating
Prisoner’s dilemma
An interaction between two strategic actors in which neither actor has an incentive to cooperate even though both would be better off if they both cooperated
Coordination problem
A situation in which two or more people are all better off if they coordinate on a common course of action, but there is more than one possible course of action to take
Minimum winning coalition
The smallest-size coalition necessary to achieve a goal
Unstable coalition
An instance in which three or more people must make a collective choice from a set of alternatives, but any voting coalition in favor of an alternative can be divided by consideration of another alternative
Agenda setter
An authority that controls what options are decided on by a group
