Module 1

Question 1

Government is a noun

Answer 1

Governments are institution and procedures that make and implement authoritative decisions for a state.

Question 2

Politics is a verb/action

Answer 2

the methods and processes of making rules and deciding who gets power

Question 3

What is a State?

Answer 3

A state is a body of people, living in a defined space, with the power to make and enforce laws, and with an organization to do this. Must be recognized as legitimate from at least one other state.

Question 4

Definition of Power

Answer 4

Ability of an actor to influence policy or control the actions of others.

Question 5

Definition of Authority

Answer 5

Power that people consider legitimate, that they have consented or agreed to.

Question 6

What does political culture give us?

Answer 6

Political culture gives us a common set of assumptions about the world and a common political language within which we can agree or disagree.

Question 7

Definition of Legitimacy

Answer 7

A society’s belief that its ruler or government has the right to rule.

Question 8

Definition of Sovereignty

Answer 8

The supreme and ultimate power or authority within a territory.

Question 9

4 main roles of government:

Answer 9

1. make laws
2. protect the state
3. keeps order in the state
4. providing services for citizens

Question 10

Basic characteristics of government:

Answer 10

PALS

Power, Authority, Legitimacy, and Sovereignty

Question 11

Define political narrative:

Answer 11

A story that is used to persuade other about the nature of power, who should have, and how it should be used.

Question 12

What is an Authoritarian government?

Answer 12

Rulers have all the power and individuals don’t have any power. People are called subjects.

Question 13

What is a Non-authoritarian government?

Answer 13

Political systems in which the rules regulate people’s behaviors in some respects, but citizens retain some power or rights.

Question 14

What is democracy?

Answer 14

A type of non-authoritarian gov wherein citizens have considerable power to make rules that govern them.

Question 15

What is socialism?

Answer 15

An economic system in which the government decides what to produce and who should get the products.

Question 16

What is capitalism?

Answer 16

An economic system that relies on the market to decide who gets what goods.

Question 17

What is democratic socialism?

Answer 17

A mixed economy in which the democratic process is used to achieve socialism.

Question 18

What is regulated capitalism?

Answer 18

A market system in which the government intervenes to protect rights.

Question 19

What is Laissez-faire capitalism?

Answer 19

A form of capitalism wherein there are no restrictions on the market at all.

Question 20

4 main political economic systems:

Answer 20

1. Capitalist democracy
2. Authoritarian capitalism
3. Totalitarianism
4. Marxist Utopia

Question 21

What is political culture?

Answer 21

Political culture is a set of shared ideas, values, and beliefs that define the role and limitations of government and people’s relationship to that government.

Question 22

What is considered American political culture?

Answer 22

• Limited government
• individualism
• freedom, equality, representative democracy

Question 23

4 political ideologies of Americans:

Answer 23

1. Economic Conservative (free actions, free economy)
2. Social Conservative (controlled actions, free economy)
3. Social Liberals (controlled actions and economy)
4. Economic Liberals (free actions, controlled economy)

Question 24

Why is “good loserism” important in a democracy?

Answer 24

Democracies depend on some people winning and others losing—and the survival of democracies depends on the losers consenting to their loss, having confidence that a loss today does not mean a loss forever and that another chance to win is around the corner.

Question 25

define market:

Answer 25

The collective decisions of multiple individuals about what to buy or sell, creating different levels of supply and demand.

Question 26

Why was the invention of the printing press politically important?

Answer 26

Following the development of the printing press in 1439, more people gained literacy. Information could be mediated independently of those in power, and competing narratives could grab a foothold.

Question 27

What is classical liberalism?

Answer 27

An Enlightenment philosophy emphasizing individual freedom and self rule.

Question 28

What is the social contract?

Answer 28

Power is derived from the consent of the governed. If a government fails to uphold its responsibilities to the people, citizen have the right to rebel and create a new government.

Question 29

What is Hashtag activism?

Answer 29

It is the forming of social movements through viral calls to act politically

Question 30

What is an information bubble?

Answer 30

A closed cycle in which all the information we get reinforces the information we already have, solidifying our beliefs without outside reality checks.