Chapter 1 Vocab- Introducing Govt. in America

Question 0

Public Goods

Answer 0

Services that can be shared by everyone and cannot be denied to anyone

Question 1

Government

Answer 1

Institutions that make authoritative decisions for any given society

Question 2

Politics

Answer 2

Determines whom we select as our governmental leaders and what policies these leaders pursue

Question 3

Political Participation

Answer 3

The ways in which people get involved in politics

Question 4

Single-Issue Groups

Answer 4

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 5

Policymaking System

Answer 5

Reveals the way our government responds to the priorities of its people

Question 6

Linkage Institutions

Answer 6

Transmit the preferences of Americans to the policymakers in government

Question 7

Policy Agenda

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Political Issue

Answer 8

The result of people disagreeing about a problem or about the public policy needed to fix it

Question 9

Policymaking Institutions

Answer 9

The Congress, the presidency, and the courts.

Question 10

Public Policy

Answer 10

Every decision that the government makes

Question 11

Democracy

Answer 11

Means of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy reflects citizens’ preferences

Question 12

Majority Rule

Answer 12

The will of over half the voters should be followed

Question 13

Minority Rights

Answer 13

Basic principles in which the majority cannot infringe upon

Question 14

Representation

Answer 14

Describes the relationship between the few leaders and the many followers

Question 15

Pluralist Theory

Answer 15

Groups with shared interests influence public policy by pressing their concerns through organized efforts

Question 16

Elite and Class Theory

Answer 16

Contends that our society is divided along class lines and that in upper-class elite pulls the strings of government

Question 17

Hyperpluralism

Answer 17

States that many groups are so strong that government is unable to act

Question 18

Policy Gridlock

Answer 18

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 19

Gross Domestic Product

Answer 19

The total value of all goods and services produced annually by the United States

Question 20

Individualism

Answer 20

The believe that people can and should get ahead on their own