Question | Answer |
American core ideals | liberty, equality, self-government, individualism, diversity & unity. |
Civil Liberties | restraining the governments power agianst ind. |
Civil Rights | Rights all indi. share as provided for in the 1st amendment |
Basic Ideas | 1.respect human dignity
2.equality before the law
3.free &open elections
4.decision by the majority rule, respect for minority |
Basic Principles of Dem. | 1.est. by constitution
2.const. is law above all laws
3.govt req. to preserve and protect fundamental human rights
4. govt. must provide "freedom, equality and justice for all. |
Democracy | government by the people |
Representative Democracy | people elect representatives to govern. |
Constitution (a const. est. a government, not other way around!) | basic law, basic institution of govt., defines authority and limitations, supreme law, written by the people |
Constitutional Democracy | those who excersice peower do so as a result of winning free and frequent elections. elections make a democratic. enforceable limits on a power make it constitutional |
Constitutionalism | concept that the constitution is the basic law |
Purposes of Government (in preamble) | 1.est. justice.
2.insure domestic tranquility
3.provide defense
4.promote general welfare
5.LIBERTY. |
Politics | governmental compromise & decision making |
Social Contract | agreement among people to be governed, in return for government protection and services |
to be Governed | regulated, restricted, taxed and punished |
Suffrage | right to vote |
sovereignty | exclusive right to control a government, a country, a people |
Federalism | form of shared power between national (federal) & state government |
Politicians | elected officials |
Incumbent | current holder of office |
Constituents | people served by an elected official, voters |
Government | organization extending to all society |
Self-government | principle that the people are the ultimate source and proper beneficiary of governing authority |
Limited Gov't | government does not have unrestricted authority over people |
Rule of Law | a government of laws, not of men, due process of law. |
power in politics | the ability of individuals or groups to control public policy |
4 major theories of Power | majoritarian, pluralist, elite, bureaucratic rule |
majoritarian | the majority of people actually control govt. decision making |
pluralist | special interest and political parties have power |
elite | government controlled by a small group of wealthy elite |
bureaucratic rule | govt is run by career civil servants in the federal bureaucracy |
Authority | legitimate or accepted power |
Legitimacy | widespread acceptance |
Public policy | final result of govt action |
Political institutions | organization or group that significantly influences public policy, ex: 3 main branches, mass media, political parties, special interest gropes...... |
Ideals | concept/model to be followed, most perfect form, exist in mind as one should be |
Separation of Powers | division of political powers so one branch cannot dominate government |
Checks & Balances | overlapping powers of branches of government to limit power |
Judaical Review | Judicial Branch check and balanced, of reviewing laws passe by congress and the states |
Bicameral/bicameralism | two house of congress |
Bipartisan | two political parties, coopreation between the two major political parties |
Liberty | individuals should be free to act and think as they choose |
Equality | all individuals are equal in their moral worth |
Individualism | people should take the initiative to be self sufficient |
Unity | Americans are one group |
Diversity | individual and group differences should be respected |
Due Process of Law | collective leagal procedures |
Capitalism | economic system based on free enterprise and individuals |
hard money | funds given directly to political candidates to spend as they choose |
soft money | campaign contribution given to political parties in support of. therefore subject to legal limits |
Public Opinion | political attitudes, view and beliefs held openly expressed by ordinary citizens |
Ideology | a consistent pattern of value and beliefs about the political system. generally characterized as liberal and conservative |
Political Culture | peoples predominant values, beliefs, attitudes, ideals and evaluations of the political system. divided into subcultures. traditinalistic, individualistic, and moralistic. |
moralistic | often aligned iwth New England, puritans, government is topromote public good and welfare, public service is a duty of wealth |
individualistic | sees politics as dirty business, politicians only in office for themselves, to gain and give favors. want to be left alone by govnt. |
Political Socialization | process by which political culture is passed on trough generations. we acquire our values through agents of socialization |
agents of scialization | family, school, church, peer/friends, employment, media, political institutions and leaders |