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Govt. Exam 1
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Politics | The study of who gets what, when, and how - or how policy decisions are made. |
| Government | The formal vehicle through which policies are made and affairs if the state are conducted. |
| Anarchy | There is no Government (The Non-Government) |
| Totalitarianism | Total and open to all - I've picked myself Examples: Hitler, Stalin, Kim Jong -II |
| Authoritarianism | Someone telling you what to do. Usually restrict themselves to maintaining political power, so control freedom of expression and economic and political decisions. |
| Democracy | I have a vote. The people tell the government how much power it can have. |
| Direct Democracy | A system of government in which members of the polity meet to discuss all policy decisions and then agree to abide by majority rule. |
| Indirect Degeneracy/ Representative Democracy | A system of government that gives citizens the opportunity to vote for the representatives who work on their behalf. |
| Popular sovereignty | The notion that the ultimate authority in society rests with the people. |
| Republic | A government rooted in the consent of the governed; a representative or indirect democracy. |
| Social Contract | An agreement between the people and their government signifying their consent to be governed. |
| Natural Rights | Term coined by John Locke. Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness or property. And Political equality. |
| Political Equality | The principle that all citizens are the same in the eyes of the law. |
| majority vote | decision of most people made by voting a decision that represents the wishes of the largest group as shown by a vote, for example in a board meeting or a shareholders' meeting. |
| Plurality | the excess of votes received by the leading candidate, in an election in which there are three or more candidates, over those received by the next candidate ( distinguished from majority). |
| Separation of Powers | A way of dividing the power of the government among the legislative, executive, ad judicial branches, each staffed separately, with equality and independence of each branch ensured by the Constitution. |
| Checks and Balances | A constitutionally mandated structure that gives each of the three branches of government some degree of oversight and control over the actions of the others. |
| Reasons Colonists Came to America | The US is a place for religious freedom and tolerance. People see the US as a place for job opportunity |
| John Locke | Coined the term Natural Rights - Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and property, and Political Equality. |
| Political Culture | Commonly shared attitudes, beliefs, and core values about how government should operate. |
| Personal Liberty | A key characteristic of U.S. democracy. Initially meaning freedom from governmental interference, today it includes demands for freedom to engage in a variety of practices without governmental interference or discrimination. |
| Diversity | the state or fact of being diverse; difference; unlikeness. variety; multiformity. a point of difference. |
| Presidential Election Timeline | June/July- Pick electors August- Pick nominees November- General Election December- Electoral College votes January- Announce votes |
| General Election | -People vote for electors -Electors fight for the middle (dealigned voters) People vote: plurality Electoral vote: majority |
| Ideology | Integrated set of beliefs about human nature, the role of the government, social inequality, and what should be doe about it. |
| Conservative | -View people as basically bad, People left alone will make bad choices -The government should make the decisions to make people good. -Businesses are good, they should be left alone by the govt. so they can grow and make a profit. |
| Characteristics of winning presidential elections | -Image -Economy -Issues? -Cross-over voters and Centrists |
| Profile of likely voters | Old rich educated female |
| Voting Constituents | Things that make up your voters Getting people to your side |
| Money Constituents | (hard money) Things that finance your campaign -Candidates -Political Parties -Public money |
| Campaign finance regulation | -$2,500/person/election -$5000/person/PAC -$30,800/person/party/year -No more than $117,000 every 2 years |
| Hard Money | Campaign contributions that are regulated or limited by Federal Election Commission |
| Soft Money | Campaign contributions that are NOT regulated or limited by Federal Election Commission |
| Liberal | -People are basically good -In business, people will do whatever to make a profit-they don't care about anything else -They think govt. should control and make regulations for businesses -Govt. should e large because it can do good and we should let i |
| Libertarian | -Don't know if people are basically good or bad -Don't know if business is basically good or bad -People should make their own choices with no help from the govt. -Don't want a big govt. |
| American Dream | An American ideal of a happy, successful life, which often includes wealth, a house, a better life for one's children, and for some, the ability to to grow up to be president. |
| Recession | A decline in the economy that occurs as investment sags, production falls off and unemployment increases. |
| American Dream and Recession | Although the nation has plunged into the deepest recession since the Great Depression, 72% of Americans in a nationwide study said they believed it is possible to start achieve the American Dream. In tough times people want to hold on to their dreams more |
| Political Party | An organized effort by office holders, candidates, activists, and voters to pursue their common interests by gaining and exercising power through the electoral process. |
| Roles and goals of political parties | Inauguration under the constitution on January 20th at noon, the following year from the election. |
| Article II | set up the electoral college |
| 12th Amendment | electors get 2 votes. -1 for President -1 for Vice President |
| 15th Amendment | cannot discriminate against race gave African Americans the right to vote |
| 19th Amendment | gave women the right to vote |
| 23rd Amendment | Gave The District of Colombia 3 electors in the electoral college |
| 24th Amendment | eliminated the poll tax |
| 26th amendment | lowered the voting age to 18 |
| Voting Rights Act of 1965 | forced the southern states to follow the 15 amendment and let African Americans vote |
| Open Primary | You do not have to declare a party when voting |
| Closed Primary | You must declare what party you are to vote |
| Caucuses | little meeting with your neighborhood tell them what you like within specific parties |
| Ideological Third Parties | would rather explain issues and ideas than win elections example: Libertarian Party |
| Splinter Third Parties | (Personality) take people away from other parties or groups example: Reform Party |
| Issue-Oriented Third Parties | Party revolves around one issue they want to fix example: Green Party (environment) |
| Total number of electors in Electoral College | 538 electors |
| Number of electors in Texas in Electoral College | 38 electors |
| Limitations on Third Parties | Electoral laws work better with only two parties. Each state is different so there are 50 different laws that a third party will have to go around. |
| Electoral college Alternatives/Reforms | -Heavily favors two parties. -Whichever candidate gets the most votes in a specific state wins the whole state. -Reforms - Splinter |
| Party Platform | List of ideas and opinions on an idea/issue |
| Demographics of Republican Party | Male, white, 30-65, high income, Protestant |
| Demographics of Democratic Party | female, people of color, under 30 or over 65, lower income, Jewish |
| Demographics of Libertarian Party | young, white, males in west, well educated, not religious, not into orgainizing |
| Neoconservatives | (fiscal) spread democracy everywhere |
| Neoliberals | focus on economy |
| Party Identification/Aligned voters | voters who identify with one party and stick to that party |
| Dealignment | voters who don't identify to just one group |
| Party realignment | make a long term shift to other party |
| Political Party Organization | National Organized Convention: August/Sep 2012 State Organization: June 2012 (Texas) Local Organization Precincts: Jan-June 2012 |
| Negative ads | Advertising on behalf of a candidate that attacks the opponent's character or platform |
| Positive ads | Advertising on behalf of a candidate that stresses the candidate's qualifications, family, and issue positions, with no direct reference to the opponent. |
| Controlling the effects of factions | Balance of powers. The faction cannot control all parts of the govt. For example, if the Senate is mostly Republican, and the House is mostly Democrat, then neither side can override the other. |
Created by:
aubrie.miller21
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