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Gov Chapter 1 Terms
Introducing Government In America
Question | Answer |
---|---|
government | the institutions and processes through which public policies are made for a society |
public goods | goods, such as clean air and clean water, that everyone must share |
politics | according to harold lasswell, "who gets what, when, and how." politics produces authoritative decisions about public issues |
political participation | all the activities use by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue. the most common but not the only means of political participation in a democracy is voting. other means include protest and civil disobedience. |
single issue groups | groups that have a narrow interest, tend to dislike compromise and often draw membership from people new to politics. these features distinguis them from traditional interest groups. |
policymaking system | the process by which political problems are communicated by the voters and acted upon by government policymakers. the policymaking system begins with people's needs and expectations for govermental action. |
linkage institutions | the channels or access points through which issues and people's policy preferences get on the government's policy agenda. in the US, elections, political parties, interest groups and the mass media are the three linkage institutions. |
policy agenda | according to john kingdon, "the list of subjects or problems to which government officials, and people outside of government closely asssociated with those officials, are paying some serious attention at any given time." |
political issue | an issue that arises when people disagree about a problem and a public policy choice |
policymaking institutions | the branches of gov charged with taking action on political issues. the us const. established 3 policymaking institutions: congress, president, and courts. today, the power of the beaurcracy is so great that most consider it a fourth institution |
public policy | a choice that government makes in response to a political issue. a policy is a course of action taken with reguards 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 he majority's desire be respected. |
minority rights | a principle of traditional democratic theory that guarantess rights to those who do not belong to majorities and allows that they might join majorities through persuasions and reasoned argument. |
representation | a basic principle of traditional democratic theory that describes the relationship between the few leaders and many followers |
pluralist theory | a theory of government and politics emphasizing that politics is mainly a competition among groups, each oen presisng for its own preferred plicies. |
elite and class theory | a theory of gov and politics contending that societies are divided along class lines and that an upper-class elite with rule, regardless of the formal niceties of governmental organization |
hyperplurarlism | a theory of gov and politics contending that groups are so strong that government is weakened. hyperpluralism is an extreme, exaggerated or perverted form of pluarlism. |
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 government. one of the primary reasons for the comparatively small scope of American government in the prominence of this belief in American political thought and practice |