Chapters - 1 & 2 Flashcards
The activity by which an issue is agitated or settled.
Politics
The ability of one person to get another person to act in accordance with the first person’s intentions.
Power
The right to use power.
Authority
A conflict, real or apparent, between the interests, ideas, or beliefs of different citizens.
Issue
Political authority conferred by law or by a state or national constitution
Legitimacy
The rule of many
Democracy
A government in which all or most citizens participate directly.
Direct or participatory democracy
A government in which leaders make decisions by winning a competitive struggle for the popular vote.
Representative government
Persons who possess a disproportionate share of some valued resource
Elite
View that the government is dominated by capialists
Class view
View that the government is dominated by a few top leaders, most of whom are outside of government
Power elite view
View that government is dominated by appointed officials
Bureaucratic view
View that competition among all affected interests shapes public policy
Pluralist view
View that morally impassioned elites dilutive important political changes
Creedal passion view
Issue that people believe require governmental attention
Political agenda
A burden that people believe they must bear if a policy is adopted
Cost
A satisfaction that people believe they will enjoy if a policy is adopted
Benefit
A policy in which almost everyone benefits and almost everyone pays
Majoritarian politics
A policy in which a small group benefits and another small group pays
Interest group politics
A policy in which one small group benefits and almost everyone pays
Client politics
Legislation that gives tangible benefits to constituents in several districts or states in the hope of winning their votes in return
Pork-barrel legislation
A legislator supports a proposal favored by another in return for support of his or hers
Log-rolling
A policy in which almost everybody benefits and a small group pays
Entrepreneurial politics
Activists in or out of government who pull together political majority on behalf of unorganized interests
Policy entrepreneurs
A human right based on nature or God
Unalienable
A weak constitution that governed America during the Revolutionary War
Articles of Confederation
A meeting in Philadelphia in 1787 that produced a new constitution
Constitutional Convention
A 1787 rebellion in which ex-Revolutionary War soldiers attempted to prevent foreclosure a of farms as a result of high interest rates and taxes
Shay’s Rebellion
Proposal to create a strong national government
Virginia plan
Proposal to create a weak national government
New Jersey Plan
Plan to have a popularly elected House based on state population and a state-selected Senate, with two members for each state
Great Compromise
A government in which elected representatives make the decisions
Republic
The power of the courts to declare laws unconstitutional
Judicial review
Government authority shared by national and local governments
Federalism
Powers given to the national government alone
Enumerated powers
Powers given I the state government alone
Reserved powers
Powers shared by the national and state governments
Concurrent powers
Authority shared by three branches of government
Checks and balances
Constitutional authority is shared by three different branches of government
Separation of powers
A group with a distinct political interest
Faction
Those who favor a stronger national government
Federalists
Those who favor a weaker national government
Antifederalists
An alliance of groups
Coalition
First ten amendments to the Constitution
Bill of Rights
An order to produce an arrested person before a judge
Habeas corpus
A law that declares a person, without a trial, to be guilty of a crime
Bill of attainer
A law that makes an act criminal although it was legal when it was committed
Ex post facto law
A new provision in the constitution that has to be ratified by he states
Amendment
An executive’s ability to block a particular provision in a bill passed by the legislature
Line-item veto
