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Power and Citizenship Flashcards

0
Q

ability to get other people to do what you want them to do

A

Power

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1
Q

What is politics?

A

A peaceful means for determining who gets what in society

Harold Lasswell defined as; “Who gets what, when, and how”

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2
Q

Politics is the process through which we try to arrange our collective lives in some kind of social order so that we can:

A
  • live without crashing into each other
  • provide ourselves with goods and services we couldn’t obtain alone
  • maximize behaviors and values we think are important
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3
Q

If we could always get our way in politics, what would happen?

A

Politics would disappear.

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4
Q

Thomas Hobbes said what about a world without politics?

A

It’s “A war of all against all”

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5
Q

Our capacity to what saves us from this fate?

A

Our capacity to be political (persuade, compromise, cooperate, bribe, deceive) saves us from constant war.

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6
Q

A system or organization for exercising authority over a body of people

A

Government

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7
Q

Power that citizens view as legitimate, power to which we have implicitly consented

A

Authority

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8
Q

What happens when governments cease to be regarded as legitimate?

A

The result may be revolution or civil war

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9
Q

We can think of institutions as the what to the political struggle?

A

The “where”

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10
Q

__________ are organizations where governmental power is exercised

  • not only the rules, but also the _____________ we choose influence which people most easily and most often get their own way
A

Institutions

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11
Q

_______ is concerned specifically with production and distribution of society’s wealth

A

Economics

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12
Q

In a _________________ all means used to produce material resources are privately owned

A

Capitalist Economy

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13
Q

In a _________ decisions about production and distribution are left to free-market process

A

Capitalist economy

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14
Q

_________ rely on the process of supple and demand to decide quantity to produce and price

A

Capitalist economies

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15
Q

In capitalist countries, what don’t the people want?

A

The government to interfere into the economy

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16
Q

“Let the people do as they wish”

A

Laissez-Faire capitalism

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17
Q

What kind of capitalism does the US have?

A

Regulated

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18
Q

________ allows government to step in and regulate economy

to guarantee individual rights and to provide procedural guarantees that the rules will work smoothly and fairly.

A

Regulated capitalist economies

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19
Q

In a ______________ government may act to ensure safety of consumer republic and of working people, prevent monopolies, or provide goods and services people have no incentive to provide themselves.

A

Regulated capitalist economies

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20
Q

In a Socialist Economy:

A

economic decisions are made by politicians based on their judgement of what society needs

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21
Q

In a socialist economy:

A

politicians decide what the distribution ought to be and create economic policy to bring about outcome

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22
Q

In a socialist economy:

A

They don’t emphasize procedural guarantees of fair rules and process, but substantive guarantees of what THEY believe to be fair outcomes

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23
Q

What are the basic values of a socialist system?

A

It is unjust for some people to own more property than others, the state or society should own the property

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24
What happens to societies that try out socialist systems?
They tend to become repressive.
25
What is a Social Democracy?
Hybrid economic system, middleground between socialist and capitalist systems that is primarily capitalist, in that they believe most property can be privately held.
26
What do proponents of social democracy argue?
That the values of equality promoted by socialism are attractive and can be brought about by democratic reform
27
What do proponents of social democracy attempt to do?
Attempts to strike a balance between providing substantive guarantees of fair outcomes and procedural guarantees of fair rules
28
Political system in which government has power to impose particular social order-deciding how individuals ought to behave
Authoritarian
29
Political system in which individuals exercise personal power over most of their own behavior
Nonauthoritarian
30
Authoritarian Systems:
- gives ultimate power to the state | - people can't effectively claim rights against the state, have to submit (be subjects)
31
What kind of forms can authoritarian systems take?
- dictatorship or monarchy - theocracy - fascism (state itself) - oligarchy (ruling class)
32
What is totalitarianism?
when a system combines an authoritarian system with a socialist economy
33
What are elements of authoritarian capitalism?
Considerable economic freedom, stringent social regulations
34
What happens in Democratic and Nonauthoritarian systems?
ultimate power rests with individuals to make decisions concerning their lives
35
extreme form of democracy; would do away with government laws altogether
Anarchy
36
Isn't external to the people, in fundamental sense; government IS the people - tries to maximize freedom for individuals who live under them - majority rule, due process, etc.
Democracy
37
What is popular sovereignty?
- Principle stating there is no power higher than the people | - no government is considered legitimate unless the governed consent to it
38
Elite Democracy:
adherents of this view propose that democracy is a system of choosing among competing leaders - holds that political decisions made by elite in business, military, media, and education - elections are symbolic
39
Pluralist Democracy:
Adherents argue importance of group membership that participate in government decision making on members behalf
40
Participatory Democracy:
adherents claim more than consent and majority rule in making governmental decisions - direct democratic participation
41
Advanced Industrial Democracies:
combine personal freedom with free-market regulated economy
42
Communist Democracy:
Radical democracy and communally owned property. Has never existed.
43
Role of the people in Authoritarian Systems and Democratic Systems:
People are subjects in authoritarian systems, people are citizens in democratic systems.
44
True or False: Just because a system is called a democracy is no guarantee that all or even most of its citizens possess the statues of citizen
True
45
What is the foundation of government, and what leads them to being governed?
Reason: The foundation of government is REASON, not faith, and reason leads people to consent to being governed because they are better off that way
46
What is a social contract?
Locke: The rights and freedoms people have before government exists. When people decide they are better off WITH government, they give up some of these rights in exchange for protection.
47
What happens if a social contract is broken?
People are free to form new governments
48
Democracy in America consists of:
Limited participation to limit the impact of self-interested citizenry
49
Republic:
employs representation and can work in a large state
50
Republican Virtue:
virtuous citizen could be trusted with most serious political decisions, would be willing to sacrifice his own advancement for the sake of the whole
51
First competing view of citizenship, echoing Madison:
Sees human nature as self-interested and holds that individual participation in government should be limited
52
Second competing view of citizenship, echoing JFK:
Puts faith in citizen's ability to act virtuously -more prominent in times of war and tragedy
53
Who is a citizen of the United States?
Native-born and naturalized citizens.
54
What do Americans believe?
- a common culture based on shared values | - fundamental attitudes and beliefs about how the world works, how it should work.
55
What is political culture?
- orientation or disposition of a nation | - shared values and beliefs about nature of political world
56
Values:
ideas or principles that most people agree are important
57
What are normative statements?
aren't true or false, but depend for their worth on the arguments made to back them up.
58
In American political culture:
Our expectation of government focus on rules and processes rather than some results
59
What is individualism?
- A belief in the primacy of the individual citizen. | - Individuals, not government or society, are seen as responsible for their own well-being
60
Freedom:
freedom for the individual from restraint by the state
61
Equality:
Government should guarantee equality of treatment, of access, and of opportunity; equality before the law, political restraint.
62
Ideologies:
set of beliefs and opinions about politics, economy, and society
63
True or False: sharing a political culture doesn't me we don't have ideological differences
True
64
Two main Ideological camps:
liberals (democrat), conservative (republican) -no matter the ideological camp; we are still procedural and individualistic
65
Economic liberal:
- willing to allow government to make substantive decisions about the economy, but individualistic - love for their country is tempered by view that government should be held to same strict procedural standard to which individuals are held
66
Economic conservative:
reluctant to allow government interference into people's private lives, but government should limit involvement in economy as well
67
Libertarians:
extreme economic conservative view, believes that minimal government action in any sphere is acceptable
68
Social liberals:
- Happy to see government action to realize a substantive vision of what society should be like - progressive - government is valued for how well it realizes this vision of substantive fairness.
69
Communitarian:
- Most extreme social liberal - strong commitment to community based on radical equality of all peope - holds that individuals should be expected to make some sacrifices for the betterment of society
70
Social conservative:
- Primary concern is with their vision of moral tone of life | - emphasis on fundamentalist religious values and traditional family values, rejection of diversity
71
Citizenship in politics:
The gap between the ideal and the practice of American democracy

American National Government (2 decks)

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