Chapter 11 - Terms

Question 1

politics

Answer 1

the exercise of power and attempts to maintain or to change power relations

Question 2

power

Answer 2

the ability to carry out one’s will, even over the resistance of others

Question 3

micropolitics

Answer 3

the exercise of power in everyday life, such as deciding who is going to do the housework or use the remote control

Question 4

macropolitics

Answer 4

the exercise of large-scale power, the government being the most common example

Question 5

authority

Answer 5

power that people consider legitimate, as rightly exercised over them; also called legitimate power

Question 6

coercion

Answer 6

power that people do not accept as rightly exercised over them; also called illegitimate power

Question 7

state

Answer 7

a political entity that claims monopoly on the use of violence in some particular territory; commonly known as a country

Question 8

revolution

Answer 8

armed resistance designed to overthrow and replace a government

Question 9

traditional authority

Answer 9

authority based on custom

Question 10

rational–legal authority

Answer 10

authority based on law or written rules and regulations; also called bureaucratic authority

Question 11

charismatic authority

Answer 11

authority based on an individual’s outstanding traits, which attract followers

Question 12

routinization of charisma

Answer 12

the transfer of authority from a charismatic figure to either a traditional or a rational–legal form of authority

Question 13

city-state

Answer 13

an independent city whose power radiates outward, bringing the adjacent area under its rule

Question 14

monarchy

Answer 14

a form of government headed by a king or queen

Question 15

democracy

Answer 15

a government whose authority comes from the people; the term, based on two Greek words, translates literally as “power to the people”

Question 16

direct democracy

Answer 16

a form of democracy in which the eligible voters meet together to discuss issues and make their decisions

Question 17

representative democracy

Answer 17

a form of democracy in which voters elect representatives to meet together to discuss issues and make decisions on their behalf

Question 18

citizenship

Answer 18

the concept that birth (and residence or naturalization) in a country imparts basic rights

Question 19

universal citizenship

Answer 19

the idea that everyone has the same basic rights by virtue of being born in a country (or by immigrating and becoming a naturalized citizen)

Question 20

dictatorship

Answer 20

a form of government in which an individual has seized power

Question 21

oligarchy

Answer 21

a form of government in which a small group of individuals holds power; the rule of the many by the few

Question 22

totalitarianism

Answer 22

a form of government that exerts almost total control over people

Question 23

proportional representation

Answer 23

an electoral system in which seats in a legislature are divided according to the proportion of votes that each political party receives

Question 24

noncentrist party

Answer 24

a political party that represents less popular ideas

Question 25

centrist party

Answer 25

a political party that represents the center of political opinion

Question 26

coalition government

Answer 26

a government in which a country’s largest party does not have enough votes to rule, and to do so aligns itself with one or more smaller parties

Question 27

voter apathy

Answer 27

indifference and inaction on the part of individuals or groups with respect to the political process

Question 28

special-interest group

Answer 28

a group of people who support a particular issue and who can be mobilized for political action

Question 29

lobbyists

Answer 29

people who influence legislation on behalf of their clients

Question 30

political action committee (PAC)

Answer 30

an organization formed by one or more special-interest groups to solicit and spend funds for the purpose of influencing legislation

Question 31

anarchy

Answer 31

a condition of lawlessness or political disorder caused by the absence or collapse of governmental authority

Question 32

pluralism

Answer 32

the diffusion of power among many interest groups that prevents any single group from gaining control of the government

Question 33

checks and balances

Answer 33

the separation of powers among the three branches of U.S. government—legislative, executive, and judicial—so that each is able to nullify the actions of the other two, thus preventing any single branch from dominating the government

Question 34

power elite

Answer 34

C. Wright Mills’ term for the top people in U.S. corporations, military, and politics who make the nation’s major decisions

Question 35

ruling class

Answer 35

another term for the power elite

Question 36

war

Answer 36

armed conflict between nations or politically distinct groups

Question 37

dehumanization

Answer 37

the act or process of reducing people to objects that do not deserve the respect or other treatment ordinarily given humans; enables and encourages abuse and klling

Question 38

terrorism

Answer 38

the use of violence or the threat of violence to produce fear in order to attain political objectives

Question 39

nationalism

Answer 39

strongly identifying with a nation (a people) accompanied by desiring that nation to be dominant