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AP Government Unit 1
Exam Review
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Political Spectrum | Divides political ideas into political left vs. political right |
| Left | Democratic-Liberal/Progressive |
| Right | Republican-Conservative |
| Liberal Economic Policy | Tend to be more supportive of government regulation of the economy |
| Conservative Economic Policy | Tend to want less government regulation of the economy |
| Libertarian | little or no gov’t regulation of the economy-except the protection of private property and voluntary trade |
| Liberal Social Policy | tend to support an extended area of personal privacy-protected against gov’t intervention |
| Conservative Social Policy | tend to support a more narrow area of personal privacy (except for religious and educational freedom) |
| Libertarians | very wide area of personal freedom only wanting gov’t intervention to protect private property and individual liberty |
| Representative Democracy | when people elect government officials to make government decisions for them. AKA a Democratic Republic-or “Republican form of gov’t” |
| Participatory Democracy | Emphasizes broad individual participation in politics and civil society. |
| Direct Democracy | people make government decisions for themselves |
| Linkage Institutions | mechanisms that facilitate Representative Democracy *Some help the government to determine the public’s opinions on various issues; Others allow the public to learn about issues and government actions on issues |
| Popular Sovereignty | legitimate political power is given to the government by the people. |
| Natural Rights | Rights people are born with-”God given” “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” |
| Social Contract Theory | idea that people formed governments voluntarily-in order to protect certain rights-they give up some of their freedom to a government that will protect those rights. |
| Articles of Confederation | Outlined the first form of US government prior to the Constitution -most power was held by the states and it created a weak central government-only created a 1 house Congress-states had equal representation |
| Pluralist Democracy | recognizes group-based activism by nongovernmental interests attempting to have an impact on policy making |