Chatpter 11 Vocab

Question 1

Politics

Answer 1

The exercise of power, leadership, influence, and authority

Question 2

Power

Answer 2

The ability to carry out your will, even over the resistance of others

Question 3

Authority

Answer 3

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

Question 4

Coercion

Answer 4

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

Question 5

State

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Traditional authority

Answer 6

Authority based on custom

Question 7

Rational-legal authority

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Charismatic authority

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Routinization of charisma

Answer 9

The transfer of authority from a charismatic figure to either a traditional or a rational-legal form of authority

Question 10

City-state

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Monarchy

Answer 11

A form of government headed by a king or queen

Question 12

Democracy

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Direct democracy

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Representative democracy

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Citizenship

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Universal citizenship

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Dictatorship

Answer 17

A form of government in which an individual as seized power

Question 18

Oligarchy

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Totalitarianism

Answer 19

A form of government that exerts almost total control over people

Question 20

Voter apathy

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Special-interest group

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Lobbyists

Answer 22

People who influence legislation on behalf of their clients

Question 23

Political action committee (PAC)

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Anarchy

Answer 24

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

Question 25

Pluralism

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Checks and balances

Answer 26

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 27

Power elite

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Ruling class

Answer 28

Another term for power elite

Question 29

Terrorism

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Economy

Answer 30

A system of producing and distributing goods and services

Question 31

Subsistence economy

Answer 31

A type of economy in which human groups live off the land and have little or no surplus

Question 32

Conspicuous consumption

Answer 32

Thorstein Veblen’s term for a change from the thrift, savings and investments of the Protestant ethic to showing off wealth through spending and the display of possessions

Question 33

Capitalism

Answer 33

An economic system built around the private ownership of the means of production, the pursuit of profit, and market competition

Question 34

Laissez-faire capitalism

Answer 34

Literally “hands off” capitalism, meaning that the government doesn’t interfere in the market

Question 35

Socialism

Answer 35

An economic system built around the public ownership of the means of production central planning, and the distribution of goods without a profit motive

Question 36

Market forces

Answer 36

The law of supply and demand

Question 37

Democratic socialism

Answer 37

A hybrid economic system in which the individual ownership of businesses in mixed with the state ownership of industries thought essential to the public welfare, such as the postal service natural resources, the medical delivery system, and mass transportation

Question 38

Convergence theory

Answer 38

The view that as capitalist and socialist economic systems each adopt features of the other, a hybrid (or mixed) economic system will emerge

Question 39

Global superclass

Answer 39

The top members of the capitalist class, who, through their worldwide interconnections, make the major decisions that affect the world