Chapter 1; Political Thinking and Political Culture: Becoming a Responsible Citizen

Question 1

Political Culture

Answer 1

The widely shared and deep-seated beliefs of its people about politics.

Question 2

In contrast to other countries. Where do Americans take their identity from?

Answer 2

Americans are not linked by a shared ancestry but by allegiance to a common set of ideals.

Question 3

Enlightenment Period

Answer 3

Awakening to the idea of individual Progress

Question 4

Cultural Ideals: Individual is _____ and Govt is _____

Answer 4

1. Paramount (Important, Supreme) 2. Secondary

Question 5

What is the role of the Govt? An example?

Answer 5

1. To SERVE the people
2. Declaration of Indepen’s reference to “unalienable rights”

Question 6

Unalienable rights

Answer 6

freedoms that belong to each and every citizen and that cannot be lawfully be denied by govt.

Question 7

American’s core political ideals are 1.____ 2.___ 3.___ 4. ____

Answer 7

1. Liberty 2. Individualism 3. Equality 4. Self-govt

Question 8

Core Political ideals: Liberty
“The Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”

Answer 8

Individuals should be free from arbitrary and oppressive govt so that they can act and think however they want.

Question 9

Observers from Tocqueville have seen fit to note that liberty in America is tied to what?

Answer 9

A desire for economic independence. “is to remain their own masters”

Question 10

Early settlers fled for religious _____ and _____ of speech

Answer 10

freedom and freedom

Question 11

Declaration of Indepen’s proclamation that people are entitled to “_____,____, and the ________”

Answer 11

“life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Question 12

From where did the culture of “rugged individualism” came from? What else came from it?

Answer 12

1. First ordinary settlers who worked hard enough could own property. 2. A sense of Self-reliance

Question 13

Core Political Ideals: Individualism

Answer 13

Commitment to personal initiative and self-sufficiency

Question 14

Core Political idea: Equality. Thomas Jefferson expressed in the Declar of Indepen, “We hold these truths to be self-evident…”

Answer 14

All individuals are equal in their moral worth and thereby entitled to = treatment under the law.

Question 15

Equality has been America’s most___

Answer 15

elusive deal

Question 16

Core Political Ideals: Self-govt
Originated during what period?

Answer 16

1. People are the ultimate source of governing authority and should have a voice in their governing. 2. Colonial Period (remember that old world was an ocean away and European govts had to give some control to the colonists.)

Question 17

America’s cultural beliefs are idealistic because ______

Answer 17

Hold out the promise of a govt of high purpose, widely shared and used for the common good, where individuals are free, self-governing, and = under the law.

Question 18

The Civil War brought an ___ to slavery but ___ to racial oppression. Slavery was followed by the ____ ____ era of legal segregation in the South.

Answer 18

1. end 2. not 3. Jim Crow

Question 19

Nowadays African Americans have ____ rights under the law but are far from equal in their daily lives. For example, black children are ____ likely to live in poverty than white children.

Answer 19

1. equal 2. more

Question 20

In 1882, Congress _____ Chinese ____ on the assumption that the Chinese were an _____ people

Answer 20

1. suspended 2. immigration 3. inferior

Question 21

Calvin Coolidge in 1923 asked Congress for a ____ ban on Chinese ____

Answer 21

1. permanent 2. Immigration

Question 22

California enacted legislation ____ individuals of ____ descent from purchasing property in the state.

Answer 22

1. Prohibiting 2. Japanese

Question 23

Until 1965 was _____ against the Chinese, Japanese, and other Asians eliminated from the U.S _____ laws.

Answer 23

1. discrimination 2. immigration

Question 24

Equality: Ways American’s have battled discrimination:

Answer 24

Abolition, suffrage movements of the 1800s, recent civil rights movements of Black Am, women, Hispanics, LGBTQ, pioneered the idea of free public education system for children.

Question 25

Equality: The US spends ____ heavily on ____ ____ than European countries. Has the world’s most _____ system of higher education. Roughly a third of Americans over the age 25 have a college degree, which is one of the world’s highest levels.

Answer 25

1. more 2. public education 3. elaborate

Question 26

No country holds as many ___ as does the US or has anywhere as many ____ elected officials.

Answer 26

1. elections 2. publicy

Question 27

Few people have ___ their individual rights–from freedom of ___ to fair-trial protections–as relentlessly as have Americans.

Answer 27

1. pursued 2. expression

Question 28

Authoritarian Govt

Answer 28

Openly represses its political opponents, though intimidation and prohibitions on free expression or through brute force. Backed by the police and armed forced, control over media.

Question 29

US three basic systems designed to keep the govt in check.

Answer 29

1. Democracy 2. Constitutionalism 3. free market

Question 30

Democratic System

Answer 30

Majority rule through elections; empowers majorities (majoritarianism), groups (Pluralism), and officials (authority).

Question 31

Constitutional system

Answer 31

Rule of law, including legal protections for individuals.

Question 32

Free market system

Answer 32

The transaction between private parties; empowers business firms (corporate power) and the wealthy (elitism)

Question 33

Democracy is different from Oligarchy. What does it mean?

Answer 33

Control rests with a small group, like top-ranking military officers or a few wealthy families.

Question 34

Democracy is different from Autocracy. What does it mean?

Answer 34

Control rests with a single individual, such as a king or dictator.

Question 35

Majoritiarianism
(like the debates between the Reps nominee and the Demo nominee)

Answer 35

Situations in which political leaders act on behalf of the majority. Ex: competition between the Rep and Demo Parties.

Question 36

The term party (partisan) polarization

Answer 36

Condition i which opinions and actions in response to political issues and situations divide substantially along political party lines.

Question 37

What is Bipartisanship? During what period?

Answer 37

1. cooperation between the parties 2. George W. 1st years in office, Era of Good Feelings, and the end of WWII in 1945 until the late 1960s.

Question 38

Pluralism

Answer 38

Holds that the govt is chiefly responsive to interest groups.

Question 39

Authority

Answer 39

Recognized right of officials to exercise power.

Question 40

Members of ____, ____, and ____, as well as the ____, routinely make authoritative decisions by virtue of the positions they hold.

Answer 40

1. Congress 2. Judges 3. Bureaucrats

Question 41

The Bill of Rights was subsequently added to the Constitution as a further check on govt. These limits reflect the principle of ____

Answer 41

Constitutionalism

Question 42

Constitutionalism

Answer 42

Idea that there are lawful restrictions on the govt’s power. Meaning that officials are obliged to act within the limit of the law which includes the protection of individual rights.

Question 43

Socialism

Answer 43

The govt does not attempt to manage the overall economy but owns a small number of major industries and guarantees every individual a minimal standard of living.

Question 44

The contrast between socialism and communism from a free-market system.

Answer 44

A free-market system operates on private transactions. Individuals depend largely on themselves for economic security.

Question 45

The influence of business firms on public policy (since the late 1800s)

Answer 45

Corporate power

Question 46

Economic power is the foundation of ___

Answer 46

elitism (power exercised by well-positioned and highly influential individuals)

Question 47

A defining characteristic of American politics is the widespread ____ of power.

Answer 47

sharing