politics

Question 1

power

Answer 1

The ability of individuals or the members of a group to achieve aims or further the interests they hold, even when others resist.
Power is a pervasive element in all human relationships.

Question 2

authority

Answer 2

A government’s legitimate use of power.

Question 3

State: three characteristics

Answer 3

1. Sovereignty: the undisputed political rule of a state over a given territorial area
2. citizenship: members of a political community, having both rights and duties associated with that membership
3. nationalism: a set of symbols and beliefs expressing identification with a national community

Question 4

how states develop

Answer 4

-early period were marked by concentration of power in the hands of monarchs. Citizens had no rights
- such systems were overthrown, and rights achieved through revolutions (e.g., France)
- citizenship rights: include three main types of rights
(civil rights, political rights, and social rights)

Question 5

nation-state

Answer 5

A particular type of state, characteristic of the modern world, in which a government has sovereign power within a defined territory and the population comprises citizens who believe themselves to be part of a single nation or people.

Question 6

sovereignty

Answer 6

The undisputed political rule of a state over a given territory.

Question 7

citizens

Answer 7

Members of a political community, having both rights and duties associated with that membership

Question 8

nationalism

Answer 8

A set of symbols and beliefs expressing identification with a national community

Question 9

local nationalisms

Answer 9

The belief that communities that share a cultural identity should have political autonomy, even within smaller units of a nation-state.

in Canada, for instance, nationalist feelings among the French-speaking population in Québec may present a challenge to feelings of “Canadianness”

Question 10

civil liberties

Answer 10

Legal rights held by all citizens in a given national community.

Question 11

political rights

Answer 11

Rights of political participation, such as the right to vote in elections and the right to run for office, held by citizens of a national community.

Question 12

social rights

Answer 12

Rights of social and welfare provision held by all citizens in a national community.

Question 13

welfare state

Answer 13

A political system that provides a wide range of welfare benefits for its citizens.

Question 14

democracy

Answer 14

A political system that allows the citizens to participate in political decision making or to elect representatives to government bodies.

Question 15

how democracies function

Answer 15

• participatory democracy: a system of democracy in which all members of a group participate collectively in major decisions
• constitutional monarchs: kings or queens who are figureheads
• liberal democracies: representative democracies in which elected representatives hold power (Countries in which voters can choose between two or more political parties and in which the majority of the adult population has the right to vote.)

The Spread of Liberal Democracy:

 - ->Communism: a set of political ideas associated with Marx, as developed particularly by Lenin and institutionalized in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and some developing countries (A social system based on everyone owning the means of production and sharing in the wealth it produces.)
 - -> the internet and democratization

-Direct democracy: A form of participatory democracy that allows citizens to vote directly on laws and policies.

Populist Authoritarianism
Populism: : The belief that politics should reflect the needs and interests of ordinary people rather than those of elite individuals or groups.
authoritarianism: A political system in which the governing bodies or leaders use force to maintain control.

Question 16

participatory democracy and its challenges

Answer 16

A system of democracy in which all members of a group or community participate collectively in making major decisions.

because the vast majority of the population has political rights, it is functionally impossible for everyone to participate actively in the making of all the decisions that affect them
direct democracy is a much more realistic approach to engaging citizens in decisions

Question 17

direct democracy

Answer 17

a form of participatory democracy in which citizens vote directly on laws and policies

they do not need to convene in one setting to do so
-ballot, vote in hometowns

Question 18

constitutional monarchs

Answer 18

Kings or queens who are largely figureheads. Real power rests in the hands of other political leaders.
Their real power is severely restricted by the constitutions of their respective countries, which vest authority in elected representatives of the people. For the vast majority of modern states there is no king or queen. Almost every modern state professes adherence to democracy, including constitutional monarchies.

Question 19

liberal democracies

Answer 19

Countries in which voters can choose between two or more political parties and in which the majority of the adult population has the right to vote

The United States, the Western European countries, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand all fall into this category. Some developing countries, such as India, also have liberal democratic systems.

Question 20

communism

Answer 20

governed the former Soviet Union and still exists in some form today in China, Vietnam, Cuba, and North Korea
Karl Marx, who predicted that in the future, capitalism would be replaced by a society in which there were no classes—no divisions between rich and poor—and the economic system would come under communal ownership

however, communism often exists as a system of one-party rule.
Voters are typically given a choice not between different parties but between different candidates of the same party—the Communist Party—and often they are not given a choice between candidates at all. The party controls the economy as well as the political system.

Question 21

populism

Answer 21

the belief that politics should reflect the needs and interests of ordinary people rather than those of elite individuals or groups

Question 22

authoritarianism

Answer 22

a political system in which the governing bodies or leaders use force to maintain control

Question 23

political party

Answer 23

democracy in the U.S.

an organization of individuals with broadly similar political aims, oriented toward achieving legitimate control of government through an electoral process.
two parties tend to dominate the political system (democrats and republicans)

As we saw earlier in this chapter, Democrats tend to be more supportive of raising the minimum wage to help low-wage workers secure an adequate standard of living, while their Republican counterparts worry that raising the minimum wage will be hurtful to business owners, especially small, independent business owners.

Question 24

trends and differentials in voting in the U.S.

Answer 24

voter turnout: decline trend; Voter turnout in the United States is among the world’s lowest
There are significant differences in voter turnout by race and ethnicity, age, educational attainment, and income

• In the 2016: turnout was highest among non-Hispanic White people (65 percent), somewhat lower among Black people, and considerably lower for Hispanics
• Turnout also varied considerably with age, with older citizens voting at much higher rates than younger adults
• Education also influences voting behavior: persons who lacked a high school diploma turned out to vote was lower
• Turnout was less among voters whose family income was lesser
• voter registration is not automatic
• winner-take-all elections discourage the formation of third parties, voters may sometimes feel that they lack viable choices

Question 25

crossnational differences in voter turnout

Answer 25

countries with high rates of literacy, high average incomes, and well-established political freedoms and civil liberties have high rates of voter turnout

Question 26

interest group

Answer 26

a group organized to pursue specific interests in the political arena, operating primarily by lobbying the members of legislative bodies.

Interest groups vary in size; some are national, others statewide. Some are permanently organized; others are short-lived

Interest groups engage in lobbying: the act of presenting arguments to influential officials to convince them to vote in favor of a cause or otherwise lend support to the aims of an interest group.

Question 27

gender gap in political participation

Answer 27

Voting has a special meaning for women given their long struggle to obtain suffrage, or the legal right to vote
In the 2016 election, 54 percent of women voted for Clinton, compared to 42 percent for Trump. The reverse was true for men, with 53 percent voting for Trump and 41 percent for Clinton, suggesting a strong gender gap in the first U.S. election

Question 28

suffrage

Answer 28

a legal right to vote guaranteed by the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; guaranteed to women by the Nineteenth Amendment

Question 29

democratic elitism

Answer 29

a theory of the limits of democracy, which holds that in large-scale societies, democratic participation is is necessarily limited to the regular election of political leaders.
assumption that direct democracy is impossible as a means of regular governance in large-scale societies

running a complex society demands expertise

Question 30

pluralist theories of modern democracies

Answer 30

Theories that emphasize the role of diverse and potentially competing interest groups, none of which dominate the political process.

limit the centralization of power in the hands of government officials.

Question 31

power elite (Mills)

Answer 31

Small networks of individuals who, according to C. Wright Mills, hold concentrated power in modern societies.
Mills argued that during the course of the twentieth century, a process of institutional centralization occurred in the political order, the economy, and the sphere of the military. Not only did each of these spheres become more centralized, according to Mills, but each increasingly merged with the others to form a unified system of power.

Question 32

challenges facing democracy in the U.S.

Answer 32

voter turnout is low, and many people tell pollsters that they don’t trust politicians
- e.g., disillusionment over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economic collapse of 2008,