Help
Options
Didn't know it?
click below
click below
Knew it?
click below
click below
Don't Know
Remaining cards (0)
Know
retry
shuffle
restart
0:00
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Normal Size Small Size show me how
US Govt and Pol
Fall '08
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Deciding who gets what, when, and how | politics |
| the study of politics: who governs, for what ends, and by what means | political science |
| organization extending to the whole society that can legitimately use force to carry out its decisions | government |
| widespread acceptance of something as necessary, rightful, and legally binding. | legitimacy |
| idea that government originates as an implied contract amoung intervals who agree to obey laws in exchange for protection of their rights. | social contract |
| Goods and services that cannot readily be provided by markets, either because they are too expensive for a single individual to buy or because if one person bought them, everyone else would use them without paying. | public goods |
| free competition for voluntary exchange among individuals, firms, and corporations. | free market |
| measure of economic performance in terms of the nation’s total production of goods and services for a single year, valued in terms of market prices. | Gross domestic product (GDP) |
| costs imposed on people who are not direct participants in an activity. | externalities |
| government transfers of income from taxpayers to persons regarded as deserving. | income transfers |
| governing system in when the people govern themselves, from the Greek term meaning “rule by the many.” | democracy |
| individual dignity, equality before the law, widespread participation in public decisions, and public decisions by majority rule, with one person having one vote. | democratic ideals |
| potential for conflict between individual freedom and majority rule. | paradox of democracy |
| principle that government power over the individual is limited, that there are some personal liberties that even a majority cannot regulate, and that government itself is restrained by law. | limited government |
| rule by an elite that exercises unlimited power over individuals in all aspects of life. | totalitarianism |
| monopoly of political power by an individual or small group that otherwise allows people to go about their private lives as the wish. | authoritarianism |
| governing system in which every person participates actively in every public decision, rather than delegating decision making to representatives. | direct democracy |
| governing system in which public decision makings delegated to representatives of the people chosen by popular vote in free, open, and periodic elections. | representative democracy |
| political system in which power is concentrated in the hands of relatively small group of individuals or institutions. | elitism |
| theory that democracy can be achieved through competition among multiple organized groups and that individuals can participate in politics through group memberships and elections. | pluralism |
| widely shared views about who should govern, for what ends, and by what means. | political culture |
| shared ideas about what is good and desirable | values |
| shared ideas about what is true | beliefs |
| variations on the prevailing values and beliefs in a society | subcultures |
| political philosophy asserting the worth and dignity of the individual and emphasizing the rational ability of human beings to determine their own destinies | classical liberalism |
| economic system asserting the individual’s right to own private property and to buy, sell, rent, and trade that property in a free market | capitalism |
| belief that the law should apply equally to all and that every person’s vote counts equally | political equality |
| equal sharing of income and material good regardless of one’s efforts in life | equality of results |
| extent to which people move upward or downward in income and status over a lifetime or generations | social mobility |
| extent to which people move upward or downward in income and status over a lifetime or generations | class conflict |
| awareness of one’s class position and feeling of political solidarity with others within the same class in opposition to other classes | class consciousness |
| evidence of U.S. citizenship, allowing people to travel abroad and reenter the United States | passport |
| a document or stamp on a passport allowing a person to visit a foreign country | visa |
| in politics, a reference to opposition to religious practices and symbols in public life | secular |
| consistent and integrated system of ideas, values, and beliefs | ideology |
| belief in the value of free markets, limited government, and individual self-reliance in economic affairs, combined with a belief in the value of tradition, law, and morality in social affairs | conservatism |
| belief in the value of strong government to provide economic security and protection for civil rights, combined with a belief in personal freedom from government intervention in social conduct | liberalism |
| opposing government intervention in both economic and social affairs, and favoring minimal government in all sectors of society | libertarian |
| a reference to the liberal, progressive, and/or socialist side of the political spectrum | left |
| reference to the conservative, traditional, anticommunist side of the political spectrum | right |
| advocacy of immediate and drastic changes in society, including the complete restructuring of institutions, values, and beliefs. Radicals may exist on either the extreme left or extreme right | radicalism |
| rejection of democratic politics and the assertion of supremacy of the “people” over laws, institutions, and individual rights. | extremism |
| political ideology in which the state and/or race is assumed to be supreme over individuals | fasnism |
| the theories of Karl Marx, among them that capitalists oppress workers and that worldwide revolution and the emergence of a classless society are inevitable | marxism |
| the theories of Vladimir Lenin, among them that advanced capitalist countries turned toward war and colonialism to make their own workers relatively prosperous. | leninism |
| system of government in which a single totalitarian party controls all means of production and distribution of goods and services | communism |
| system of government involving collective or government ownership of economic enterprise, with the goal being equality of results, not merely equality of opportunity | socialism |
| the collapse of communism and the worldwide movement toward free markets and political democracy | end of history |
| repression of attitudes, speech, and writings that are deemed racist, sexist, homophobic (anti-homosexual), or otherwise “insensitive.” | politically correct (PC) |
| a government of laws, not people, operating on the principle that governmental power must be limited and government officials should be restrained in their exercise of power over individuals | constitutionalism |
| the legal structure of a political system, establishing governmental bodies, granting their powers, determining how their members are selected, and prescribing the rules by which they make their decisions. Considered basic of fundamental, a constitution c | constitution |
| Government by representatives of the people rather than directly by the people themselves | republicanism |
| believe that shared cultural, historical, linguistic, and social characteristics of a people justify the creation of a government encompassing all of them and that the resulting nation-state should be independent and legally equal to all other nation-stat | nationalism |
| compulsory payments to the government | taxes |
| tax imposed on imported products (also called a customs duty) | tariff |
| unified trade area in which all goods and services can be sold or exchanged free from customs or tariffs | common market |
| proposed laws or constitutional amendments submitted to the voters for their direct approval or rejection, found in state constitutions, but not in the U.S. constitution | referenda |
| constitutional division of powers among the three branches of the national government- legislative, executive, and judicial | separation of powers |
| constitutional provisions giving each branch of the national government certain checks over the actions of other branches | checks and balances |
| power of the U.S. Supreme Court and federal judiciary to declare laws of Congress and the states and actions of the president unconstitutional and therefore legally invalid | judicial review |
| power of a legislature to approve or reject decisions made by other bodies. State legislators or state conventions must have the power to ratify constitutional amendments submitted by Congress. The U.S. Senate has the power to ratify treaties made by the | ratification |
| Written guarantees of basic individual liberties; the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution | bill of rights |
| Powers specifically mentioned in the Constitution as belonging to the national government | enumerated powers |
| formal change in a bill, law, or constitution | amendment |
| proposed amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing that equal rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged on account of sex. Passed by Congress in 1972, the amendment failed to win ratification by three of the necessary three-fourths of the stat | equal rights amendment (ERA) |
| the power of federal courts to declare laws of Congress and actions of the president unconstitutional | judicial review |
Created by:
af_becton
Popular Science sets