Introducing Government In America Flashcards
Public goods
Goods, such as clean air and clean water, that everyone must share.
government
The institutions and processes through which public policies are made for a society.
Politics
The process by which we select our government leaders and what policies these leaders pursue. Politics produces authoritative decisions about public issues.
Political participation
All the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue. Voting is the most common but not the only means of this in a democracy. Other means include protest and civil disobedience.
Single issue group
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.
Policy makeing system
The process by which policy comes into being and evolves over time. People’s interests, problems, and concerns create political issues for government policymakers. These issues shape policy, which in turn impacts people, generating more interests, problems, and concerns.
Linkage institution
The political channels through which people’s concerns become political issues on the policy agenda. In the United States, these include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.
Policy agenda
The issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actually involved in politics at any given point in time.
Political issue
An issue that arises when people disagree about a problem and how to fix it.
Policy makeing institute
The branches of government charged with taking action on political issues. The U.S. Constitution established three of these—the Congress, the presidency, and the courts. Today, the power of the bureaucracy is so great that most political scientists consider it a fourth of this.
Public policy
A choice that government makes in response to a political issue. A course of action taken with regard to some problem.
Democracy
A system of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy represents and responds to the public’s preferences.
Majority rule
A fundamental principle of traditional democratic theory. In a democracy, choosing among alternatives requires that the majority’s desire be respected.
Minority rule
A principle of traditional democratic theory that guarantees rights to those who do not belong to majorities and allows that they might join majorities through persuasion and reasoned argument.
Representation
A basic principle of traditional democratic theory that describes the relationship between the few leaders and the many followers.
Pluralist theory
A theory of government and politics emphasizing that politics is mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies.
Elite and class theory
A theory of government and politics contending that societies are divided along class lines and that an upper-class elite will rule, regardless of the formal niceties of governmental organization.
Hyperpluralism
A theory of government and politics contending that groups are so strong that government is weakened. An extreme, exaggerated, or perverted form of pluralism.
Policy gridlock
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.
Gross domestic product
The sum total of the value of all the goods and services produced in a nation.
Individualism
The belief that individuals should be left on their own by the government.
