Founding and the Constitution Flashcards
What is public good?
benefit that no member of a group can be prevented from enjoying once it is provided
what is free riding?
enjoying a public good without working for it
what is an autocracy?
political authority held by a single person
what is an oligarchy?
when a small group controls most of the governing decisions
what is a representative democracy?
many participate through representatives and the general population has influence over choice of leaders
what are constitutional governments?
governments that are limited in what they control and how they go about controlling it.
what are authoritarian governments?
religious organization/ military may help keep the government in check, but the law imposes very few limits
what are totalitarian governments?
governments that lack legal limits and also seek to eliminate organized social groups and institutions that might threaten their authority
what is the bourgeoisie?
french word meaning “free residents of the city,” would become to be thought of as the middle class. they tried to change governmental institutions, especially parliaments, into ones they could participate in.
what is politics?
the process of determining public outcomes.
“who gets it, when and how”
what is descriptive representation?
the idea that citizens are confident in government decisions if they’re made by people like themselves
what is agency representation?
the idea that citizens are able to choose representatives that promote their interests and get rid of the ones who fail to do so
what is governance?
making authoritative decisions
what is representation?
giving citizens a vote in those decisions through their elected representatives
what is the principal-agent relationship?
citizens delegate authority to their politicians, and the politicians vote for what the citizens want, but also have the opportunity to pursue their own ideas and self interests
what is condorcet’s paradox?
the idea that 3 individuals with equally strong preferences about policies could not achieve a collective choice that would satisfy all of them. Put forward by Marquis de _________.
what are the steps for using data when making sense of the american government?
- Identify the purpose of the graph/ chart
- Evaluate the Argument (range of y-axis, type of graph, etc.)
- Consider the Source
what is collective action?
efforts of a group to reach and implement decisions
what is coordination?
2 groups have a similar goal, but they don’t agree on how to execute it.
what is the prisoners dilemma?
what is in your own best interest vs what is in the group’s best interest? comes from cops interrogating subjects
What is the Tragedy of the Commons?
when someone takes more than they give from a common resource and it gets depleted
What are transaction costs?
time spent trying to solve a problem
what are conformity costs?
what you give up to go along with the group
what is a home rule system?
power given by a state to a locality to enact legislation and manage its affairs locally
