Question | Answer |
case study | A method of research consisting of a
detailed, long-term investigation of a single social unit. |
concept | A generalized idea about people, objects, or processes that are related to one another; an abstract
way of classifying things that are similar. |
cross-section | A survey of a broad spectrum of a population at a specific point in time. |
ethical neutrality | An attitude of the scientific method in the social sciences, requiring that scientists not pass
moral judgment on their findings. |
experiment | A method of research in which the researcher controls and manipulates variables in one
group to test the effects of an independent variable on a
dependent variable. |
hypothesis | A tentative statement, in clearly defined terms, predicting a relationship between variables. |
longitudinal | A survey that continues over a long period,engaging in contrasts and comparisons. |
objectivity | A principle of the scientific method, especially in the social sciences, requiring researchers to
divest themselves of personal attitudes, desires, beliefs,
values, and tendencies when confronting their data. |
participant observation | A method of research in which researchers try to take part in the lives of the members of the group under analysis, sometimes without
revealing their purposes. |
population | In the social sciences, a statistical concept referring to the totality of phenomena under investigation
(e.g., all college students enrolled in four-year
private universities). |
research | An aspect of scientific methodology that bolsters and complements theories. In the social sciences, four fundamental formats are used: the sample
survey, the case study, the experiment, and participant
observation. |
sample survey | A method of research consisting of an attempt to determine the occurrence of a particular act
or opinion in a particular sample of people. |
theory | A set of concepts arranged so as to explain and/or predict possible and probable relationships. |
variables | Factors whose relationships researchers try to uncover; characteristics that differ (vary) in each
individual case. |
adaptation | A process that intervenes to ensure that organisms achieve an adjustment to their environment
that is beneficial. |
Australopithecus | A prehuman who lived from about
4.5 million to 1 million years ago. Some researchers maintain that this type of prehuman is not a direct ancestor of modern humans but rather is a contemporary of an upright-walking, meat-eating, large-brained species tha |
chromosomes | Carriers of genes, or the hereditary blueprints of organisms. Each human inherits a set of 23 chromosomes from each parent. |
Cro-Magnon | The closest predecessors or perhaps contemporaries of modern humans, who lived about 35,000 years ago. They were expert toolmakers and artists, and they lived in tribes that displayed evidence of rules and kinship systems. |
directional selection | Change in gene frequencies is
promoted because an adaptation to a new environment is needed. |
DNA | Deoxyribonucleic acid. A complex biochemical
substance that is the basic building block of life. It determines
the inheritance of specific traits.
estrus Period of sexual receptivity and ability to conceive. |
evolution | A theory that explains change in living organisms and variation within species. Evolution functions according to processes of natural selection, mutation, genetic drift, gene flow, and speciation. |
gene flow | The movement of genes from one gene pool
to another. It results in new combinations of genes in
the offspring. |
gene frequency | The proportion in which the various
genes occur in an inbreeding population. |
gene pool | All of the genetic material available to a population to be inherited by the next generation |
genes | Hereditary units that transmit an individual's traits. They are contained in the chromosomes and made up of DNA. |
genetic drift | The fluctuations in frequencies of specific traits in a small, isolated population, so that visible differences between an isolated population and the population from which it broke away become obvious. |
genetics | The science of heredity. |
hominids | Prehuman creatures who walked on two feet. |
Homo erectus | The upright hominid thought to be a
direct ancestor of modern humans. |
Homo sapiens | A species whose fossils date back
75,000 years (or perhaps 195,000 years) and includes Neanderthals. The species label for modern humans is Homo sapiens sapiens, whose fossils date back 30,000
years and include Cro-Magnon. |
mutation | A permanent change in genetic material. |
natural selection | A process of evolution in which random traits are tested for their survival value; the successful
traits are passed on, while organisms possessing less successful traits eventually become extinct. |
Neanderthal | A subspecies of Homo sapiens (but some
consider them hominids) whose fossil remains date
from 70,000 to 35,000 years ago. They are known to
have buried their dead. |
phenotype | The physical, or outward, appearance of an organism. |
primates | An order of mammals to which monkeys,
apes, and humans belong. |
Ramapithecus | A hominoid having hominid-like features, dated between 14 and 8 million years ago. |
stabilizing selection | When natural selection promotes
the status quo rather than change, because change would be detrimental to the organism's adaptation to its environment. |
achieved status | A position attained through individual
effort or merit. |
aggregate | A number of people who are in the same place at the same time, but who do not interact with one another. |
ascribed status | An inherited position—one that is not
attained through individual effort or merit. |
bureaucracy | The hierarchical system of administration prevailing within a formal organization. The hierarchy
depends on job specialization, a set of rules and standards to promote uniformity, and an attitude of impersonal impartiality. |
category | (referring to people) A number of people who have some characteristics in common but who do not interact with one another. |
competition | A social process (form of interaction)
that occurs when two or more individuals try to obtain
possession of the same scarce object or intangible value
using rules and limits. |
conflict | A social process (interaction) consisting of a
hostile struggle in which two or more persons engage
for an object or value that each prizes, possibly to the
point of destruction. |
cooperation | A basic social process (interaction) involving
two or more individuals or groups working jointly in a common enterprise for a shared goal. |
dyad | The smallest type of group, consisting of two members. |
exchange | A social process (interaction) consisting of a transaction in which one of two individuals—or
groups or societies—does something for the other with the expectation of receiving something of equal
value in return. |
formal organizations | Large-scale associations of people
in which most of the activities of complex societies
are handled. They are highly organized groups displaying
a formal structure, a body of officers, the expectation
of permanence, and a hierarchical organization of |
Gemeinschaft | A small, homogeneous, communal,
and traditional society. Relationships among members
are personal, informal, and face-to-face, and behavior
is dictated by tradition. |
Gesellschaft | A large, heterogeneous society, typified
by the modern industrial state. Relationships among
members tend to be impersonal, formal, contractual,
functional, and specialized. Also called an associational
society. |
group | A number of people who engage in symbolic
interaction; who are mutually aware of and influence one
another; who recognize their membership in the group
and are in turn recognized as members by the group;
who are aware of the roles, duties, obligations |
in-group | Group to which the individual belongs and which confers on the individual a social identity. |
organization | A formal process that deliberately brings into existence a group of people to perform tasks directed at achieving a specific goal. It allows people who are unacquainted with each other to cooperate
effectively on complex projects. |
out-group | Group to which others belong, excluding the individual defining group membership. |
primary group | A relatively small group of people
who live physically near one another and who interact
intensely. Characteristics include stability, relatively long duration, informal and spontaneous interaction, and individual, personal, and total types of dealings. |
reference group | A group providing individuals with
standards against which to measure themselves. |
role | The carrying out of a status. A way of behaving that befits a status and is transmittable as well as fairly predictable. |
secondary group | A group that is in general larger and of shorter duration than a primary group. Interaction among members is formal, role-based, utilitarian, specialized, and temporary. |
social organization | The network of patterned human
behavior that is the product of interaction and, at the
same time, guides interaction. |
social processes | Key patterns of interaction common to all human societies (cooperation, competition, exchange, and conflict). |
social structure | The content of the social system,
consisting of statuses, roles, groups, norms, and institutions. |
social system | A conceptual model of social relationships in which each part is interdependent and interconnected to every other part. |
society | The largest social group. An interrelated network of social relationships that exists within the boundaries of the largest social system |
status | A ranked position in a social group. Statuses are rated according to their importance in a social group. |
symbolic interaction | Communication through speech,
gestures, writing, or even music. |
total institution | An extreme type of coercive organization that isolates individuals from the rest of society, providing an all-encompassing social environment in which special norms and distinctive physical features
prevail, with the goal of changing the individual’s att |
triad | A group consisting of three individuals. A more stable social unit than a dyad. |
developmental theories | A school of thought in modern
psychology whose chief exponent was Jean Piaget.
Developmentalists hold that personality development
proceeds in stages that are dependent on physical maturation
(sensory-motor, preoperational, and concrete and formal-ope |
ego (Freud) | A part of the personality that functions
on a conscious level. It attempts to force the id to satisfy
its instinctual needs in socially acceptable ways. |
generalized other (Mead) | The individual's perception
or awareness of social norms; learning to take the
role of all others with whom one interacts or of society
as a whole. |
id (Freud) | The representative of the libido in the personality,
existing on an unconscious level and making up the primitive, irrational part of the personality. |
instincts | Genetically transmitted, universal, complex patterns of behavior. |
libido (Freud) | The instinctual drive toward pleasure,
which is the motivating energy behind human behavior |
looking-glass self (Cooley) | The process of personality
formation in which an individual's self-image emerges as a result of perceiving the observed attitudes of others. |
midlife crisis | What many people in middle adulthood
experience when they reflect on their personal and occupational roles and find them wanting. |
mind (Mead) | The abstract whole of a person's ideas. |
personality | A complex and dynamic system that
includes all of an individual's behavioral and emotional
traits, attitudes, values, beliefs, habits, goals, and so on. |
psychoanalytic theory | A theory of personality developed
by Sigmund Freud. It assumes the existence of unconscious as well as conscious processes within each individual. |
psychosexual stages (Freud) | The manner in which
individuals attempt to gratify the force of the libido at
different periods of physical maturation. The phases are oral, anal, phallic (or Oedipal), latent, and genital. |
resocialization | A process in which the individual's
existing self-concept and identity are erased in favor of a new personality or are altered to fit new roles. |
self (Mead) | The individual's self-conception or self-awareness. |
significant others (Mead) | Important people in an individual's
life whose roles are initially imitated. |
socialization | The learning process by which a biological
organism learns to become a human being, acquires
a personality with self and identity, and absorbs the
culture of its society. |
superego (Freud) | A final element of personality, existing largely on an unconscious level and functioning to impose inhibition and morality on the id. |
symbolic interactionism | A school of thought founded
by George Herbert Mead whose theories center around
the interrelationship of mind, self, and society and include the belief that society and the individual give rise to each other through symbolic interaction. |
total institution | An organization or a place of residence in which inmates live isolated from others and where their freedom is restricted in the attempt to resocialize them with new identities and behavior patterns. |
anomie | Durkheim’s term for a condition of normless-ness. Merton used anomie to explain deviance, which
he thought occurred when cultural goals cannot be achieved through legal institutional means. |
bipolar disorder | A psychosis characterized by extreme
swings in emotion from deep depression to a high degree of excitement. |
cultural transmission (or differential association) | The-
ory of deviance (Sutherland, Miller) based on the
proposition that all human behavior, including deviant
behavior, is learned through symbolic interaction, especially in primary groups. |
deviance | Norm-violating behavior beyond the society’s limits of tolerance. |
differential association | The-
ory of deviance (Sutherland, Miller) based on the
proposition that all human behavior, including deviant
behavior, is learned through symbolic interaction, especially in primary groups. |
ectomorph | In Sheldon’s typology (biological theory
of deviance), a thin and delicate body type whose personality tends to be introspective, sensitive, nervous, and artistic. |
electroconvulsive shock therapy | A treatment of severe
mental disorders (particularly depression) through the
application of severe electric shock. It is a painful pro-
cedure and is sometimes abused. |
endomorph | In Sheldon’s typology, a round and soft
body type whose personality is social, easygoing, and
self-indulgent. |
index crimes | The eight crimes whose rates are reported
annually by the FBI: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated
assault, burglary, arson, larceny, and auto theft. |
labeling | A sociological theory of deviance that explains
deviant behavior as a reaction to the group’s expectations of someone who has once been decreed as deviant. |
mesomorph | In Sheldon’s typology, a muscular and
agile body type with a restless, energetic, and insensitive personality. |
neurosis | A mild personality disorder; an inefficient,
partly disruptive way of dealing with personal prob-
lems, but seldom troublesome enough to require insti-
tutionalization. Neuroses include amnesia, phobias,
obsessive ideas or repetitive actions, and repre |
paranoia | A psychosis characterized by the feeling of
being persecuted or of being an important personage
(delusions of grandeur). |
personality disorders | Mental disorders that lie
somewhere between the neuroses and the psychoses in severity. They include sociopathy, sexual deviance, and addiction. |
psychosis | A serious mental disorder in which there is loss of contact with reality. Requires institutionalization when individuals become incapable of functioning in society. Psychoses include schizophrenia, paranoia, and bipolar disorder. |
psychosomatic disorders | Physical ailments developed
as a result of emotional tension or anxiety. |
psychotherapy | A treatment for psychoses and mental
disturbances that includes analysis, group therapy, family
therapy, and others, centering around verbal exchanges. |
schizophrenia | A label for a psychosis that varies in
severity from inability to relate to others to total with-drawal from reality. |
sociopath | A person suffering from a personality
disturbance in which antisocial behavior does not
elicit remorse. |
authority | Social power exercised with the consent of
others. Parents, teachers, and the government represent
different levels of authority. |
closed, or caste, stratification system | A system in which
class, status, and power are ascribed, mobility is highly
restricted, and the social system is rigid. |
conflict theory of stratification | A theory of stratification
according to which the natural conditions of society
are constant change and conflict resulting from
class struggles. Inequality is the product of such conflict,
as one group is victorious over others and asserts
itself ove |
estate system of stratification | The prevailing system of
feudal Europe, consisting of three estates of functional
importance to the society. The estates were hierarchically
arranged and permitted a limited amount of social
mobility |
functionalist theory of stratification | A theory in which
social inequality is viewed as inevitable because society
must use rewards to ensure that essential tasks are performed.
The natural conditions of society are thought to be order and stability (equilibrium). |
life chances | The opportunity of each individual to fulfill
his or her potential as a human being. Life chances
differ according to social class. |
open, or class, society | A society in which the stratification
system allows for social mobility and in which a
person’s status is achieved rather than being ascribed
on the basis of birth. Open systems are characteristic of
industrial societies. |
power | A dimension of stratification consisting of the
ability of one person or group to control the actions of
others with or without the latter’s consent. |
social class | A dimension of stratification consisting of
an aggregate of persons in a society who stand in a similar
position with regard to some form of power, privilege,
or prestige. |
social mobility | An individual’s ability to change his or
her social class membership by moving up (or down)
the stratification system. Upward or downward mobility
is vertical, whereas mobility that results in a change
of status without a consequent change of class is |
social status | A dimension of stratification consisting
of an individual’s ranked position within the social system,
the rank being determined mainly by the individual’s
occupational role. |
social stratification (ranking) | A process existing in all
but the simplest societies whereby members rank one
another and themselves hierarchically with respect to
the amount of desirables (wealth, prestige, power) they
possess. |
stratification system | The overlapping manner in which
members of society are ranked according to classes, status
groups, and hierarchies of power. Analyzed on a
continuum from closed to open. |
structural mobility | Upward mobility caused by industrial
and technological change that pushes skilled workers
into higher-status occupations. |
accommodation | A situation in which a minority is
conscious of the norms and values of the majority,
accepts and adapts to them, but chooses to retain its
own, thus failing to participate in the host culture. |
acculturation | The process of adopting the culture,
including the language and customs, of the host country |
amalgamation | The result of intermarriage between
distinct racial, ethnic, and cultural groups, resulting in
the erasure of differences between majority and
minority groups. |
anglo-conformity | The attitude, once held by the
majority group, that the institutions, language, and
cultural patterns of England should be maintained and
that WASP values be superimposed on immigrants. |
assimilation | A process in which a minority group is
absorbed into, or becomes part of, the dominant group
in a society. |
attitudinal discrimination | Negative behavior against
a particular group—or individual members of that group—^prompted by personal prejudice. |
cultural pluralism | An ideal condition in which the
cultural distinctiveness of each ethnic, racial, and religious
minority group would be maintained, while
individual members would still owe allegiance to the society in general. |
discrimination | Actions taken as a result of prejudicial feelings. |
ethnicity | A group’s distinctive social, rather than biological, traits. |
ethnic minority | A group that differs culturally from
the dominant group. |
ethnocentrism | Belief in the superiority of one’s own
group. |
institutional discrimination | A system of inequalities
existing in a society apart from individual prejudice.
Prejudice exists on a societal level; in effect, it is a norm
of the society. |
melting pot theory | The belief that it is possible and
desirable to culturally and biologically fuse all the various
racial and ethnic groups in society. |
minority group | Any group in society that is kept from
attaining the rewards of society on the basis of culture,
race, religion, sex, or age. A category of people who
possess imperfect access to positions of equal power,
prestige, and privilege in the society. |
prejudice | Prejudgment of an individual or group
based on stereotypes and hearsay rather than on fact or evidence, and the inability or unwillingness to change that judgment even when confronted with evidence to the contrary |
race | An arbitrary manner of subdividing the species
Homo sapiens sapiens based on differences in the frequency
with which some genes occur among populations. |
racial minority | A group within a society that differs
biologically from the dominant group in such features
as skin color, hair texture, eye slant, and head shape and dimensions. |
racism | An ideology, prevalent in the past but now discounted, that some racial groups are inferior to others, that they display not only physical but also behavioral
differences, and that both are inherited and undesirable. |
segregation | An attempt to isolate a minority from the majority. |
activity theory | In the study of the elderly, the theory
that the key to successful aging is to replace former roles with new ones. |
ageism | An ideology that asserts the superiority of
the young over the old. Used to justify discrimination
against the elderly in political, economic, and social areas. |
anatomical differences | The differences in physical
structure and appearance between the two sexes. The
most important anatomical difference lies in the distinct
reproductive systems of males and females. |
cognitive development theory | A theory that includes
the idea that children learn gender roles according
to which stage of cognitive development they have
reached. Cognitive development is the way information
is processed by individuals at different stages of physical
maturation. |
conflict theory | A theory that assumes that power and
privilege are based on the resources an individual possesses |
disengagement theory | A theory of aging that posits
that the elderly withdraw from their former social and
occupational roles so that these may be filled by the young. This should occur by mutual consent. |
exchange theory | In the study of the elderly, the theory that the disadvantaged position of the elderly in American
society is due to their lack of the social and material
resources that would make them valuable in interactions with the young. |
expressive role | Emphasizes nurturing, emotion, and
peacemaking. |
feminist theory | A theory that has borrowed much of
the framework of conflict theory, especially the fact that women are underrepresented in positions of power in the society at large, a reflection of the lack of power
women have within the family |
gender roles | Traditionally, the instrumental role is assigned to males and the expressive role is assigned to females. |
hormones | Chemicals that are secreted into the bloodstream
by glands located in the body, whose functions are to stimulate some chemical processes and inhibit others. |
instrumental role | Stresses rationality, competitiveness,
aggression, and goal-orientation. |
interactionist theory | In the study of the elderly, a theory that focuses on the shared meanings that the elderly hold in common |
male or female | Biological terms, descriptive of biological facts. They refer to a sex status, ascribed and not
subject to change except in extraordinary circumstances. |
masculine and feminine | Reflect social conditions,
describing how males and females are expected to behave
in a given society and how they come to feel about
themselves. They are gender roles, achieved and, thus,
subject to change according to place and time. |
modernization theory | In the study of the elderly, the
theory that the status of older people declines as the society in which they live becomes more modern andindustrial. |
secondary sex characteristics | Include height, weight, distribution of body fat and hair, and musculature. |
sex chromosomes | Contain the genes that determine
heredity in all living creatures. |
social learning theory | A theory based on the behaviorist
notion that learning consists of observation, imitation,
and reinforcement. |
structural functionalist theory | One of the most dominant theories in sociology, which assumes that those elements are retained in a social system that aid in the
survival of that system. |
authoritarianism | A type of autocracy (see below) in
which power is held by an absolute monarch, dictator, or
small elite. Power is limited to the political sphere. |
autocracy | An ideology directly opposed to democracy, in which government rests in the hands of one individual or group who holds supreme power over the people. |
charismatic authority | According to Max Weber, a type
of authority based on the leadership of a person with
charisma. A charismatic leader is thought to possess special
gifts of a magnetic, fascinating, and extraordinary nature. |
communism | A political and economic ideology whose ultimate goal is total government control of the economy
and total income redistribution, leading to the creation of a classless society |
democracy | An ideology, philosophy, theory, and
political system assuming the basic value of the individual,
as well as his or her rationality, morality, equality, and possession of specific rights. |
democratic capitalism | A blend of political and economic
ideology whose tenets include the private ownership
of property, the profit motive, a free market
economy, and competition. The function of government
in this system is to ensure that the economic game is played fairl |
democratic socialism | A blend of political and economic ideology whose chief assumption is that participation in political decision making should be extended
to economic decision making. The function of the government
in this system is to control and guide the economy for th |
fascism | A totalitarian ideology of the right that became prominent in various nations beginning in Italy under Benito Mussolini. |
government | A pivotal institution arising out of the need to maintain order, control, organize, protect, and
defend the people of a society. Government is the acting arm of the state; it includes a political process in which a body of representatives is endowed with |
ideology | A system of ideas, values, beliefs, and attitudes
that a society or groups within a society share and accept as true. |
legal-rational authority | According to Weber, a type of
authority accepted by members of society because it is based on rational methods and laws and is exerted for their benefit. |
nation | A culture group residing within the territory of a political state. |
nationalism | The ideology behind the nation-state. A set of beliefs about the superiority of one’s own nation and a defense of its interest above all others. |
Nazism | The German version of fascism that flourished under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. |
politics | The people and processes that make up and direct the government of the state, its policies, and its actions. |
power | The probability that one individual in a social
relationship will carry out his or her own will despite resistance.
The ability of one person or group to direct the behavior of another person or group in a desired direction, under the ultimate, though n |
rule of law | A constitutional principle holding that
those in public authority derive, maintain, and exercise their powers on the basis of specific laws, and not on the basis of their personal power. |
state | The abstract embodiment, or the symbol, of the political institution or government. |
totalitarianism | A type of autocracy of the left or of the right, characterized by a totalist ideology, a single party, a government-controlled secret police, and a monopoly over mass communications, weapons, and the economy by the ruling elite. |
traditional authority | According to Weber, authority
that is based on reverence for tradition. |
capital | All material objects made by humans. One of
the factors of production. |
capitalism | An economic system in which property
belongs to private individuals; production is engaged
in for a profit motive; and prices, wages, and profits
are regulated by supply and demand, as well as
competition. The welfare of the individual is the chief
c |
factors of production | Labor, land, capital, entrepreneurship,
time and technology, or the basic elements
that are combined in the production of goods and
services. |
finance capitalism | Capitalism associated with a later
stage of industrialism in which business organizations
are characterized by (1) dominance of investment
banks and insurance companies, (2) large aggregates of
capital, (3) ownership separate from management, (4)
app |
industrial capitalism | Capitalism associated with an
early stage of industriaUsm in which business organizations
were concerned mainly with manufacturing, mining,
and transportation. |
labor | A human resource. One of the factors of production. |
land | Natural material things such as land, minerals,
water. Another of the factors of production. |
monopoly | A situation in which one firm produces the
entire market supply of a specific product. |
multinational corporations | Corporations that extend
production to foreign nations at great profit to themselves
(because labor is cheap and markets are
expanded) but at the risk of being perceived as threats
to the hosts. |
oligopoly | A condition of high industrial concentration
in which a small number of corporations dominate an
entire industry, effectively preventing price competition. |
opportunity cost | The sacrifice involved in making an
economic choice. |
production-possibility limits | The optimum amount of
production that a society can attain. Each society faces
a production-possibility frontier beyond which it cannot
produce. |
resources | Everything that is needed for the production of goods and services |
budget surplus | A surplus that occurs when the government’s
revenues are greater than its expenditures. |
central authorities | All public agencies, generally
referred to as “the government.” |
circular flow | Movement from product markets to
resource markets and back again, which is interrupted
by withdrawals and injections. |
deficit spending | Spending that occurs when the government’s
expenditures are greater than its revenues. |
discount rate | The interest rate charged by the Federal
Reserve Bank for lending money to member banks. |
discretionary spending | The portion of the federal
budget that consists of current spending, rather than
carryovers from previous years |
disposable income | National income less taxes and
plus welfare payments. What people really have to
spend or to save. |
equilibrium | The price and quantity at which both
buyers and sellers are compatible—the quantity supplied
equals the price buyers are willing to pay. |
factor or resource markets | Markets in which households
sell the factors of production that they control. |
firms | Units that decide how to use labor, land, and
capital and which goods and services to produce. |
fiscal policy | The use of public expenditures and taxation
powers by the government to change the outcomes
of the economy |
full employment | A low rate of unemployment,
between 4 and 5 percent. |
gross domestic product (GDP) | The total output of
goods and services produced within the confines of the
United States, by American or foreign-supplied
resources, as well as all income earned |
gross national product (GNP) per capita | The total
output or dollar value of the economy divided by the
total population. |
household | All the people who live under one roof and
who make financial decisions as a unit. Also called the
consumer. |
incomes policy | An attempt to use wage and price
controls to direct economic outcomes. |
inflation | A situation in which demand cannot be
matched by an increase in supply, resulting in rising prices. |
marginal productivity | The value people’s work adds
to total output. |
market demand | The combined willingness of individuals
and firms to buy a specific number of products at a
specific price. |
market supply | The combined willingness of individuals
or firms to supply specific resources or products at
specific prices |
monetary policy | The use of money and credit to control
economic outcomes. |
multiplier effect | Government spending that produces
more income, results in higher consumption expenditures,
and translates into a higher aggregate demand. |
Phillips curve | A graphic illustration of the conflict
between full employment and price stability: lower
rates of unemployment are usually accompanied by
higher rates of inflation. |
product markets | Markets in which firms sell their
production of goods and services. |
public sector | Economic activity on the part of the
government in the name of the people or for the public
interest |
social indicators | Ways of measuring the level of real
benefits resulting from a specific level of output. |
uncontrollable expenditures | Expenditures from previous
years that are built into the annual federal
budget. |
administrative foreign policy | Decisions made by the
government bureaucracy. |
assured destruction capability | A policy designed to
deter others from attacking the United States because of the knowledge that the United States has the means to
destroy any nation that attacks |
containment | American foreign policy in the period
following World War II, attempting to contain what were perceived as the imperialist goals of the
Soviet Union. |
crisis foreign policy | Urgent decisions made when one
state feels that a situation will mark a turning point in
its relationship with another state. Crisis decisions are a
combination of general and administrative decisions. |
détente | Foreign policy dependent on peaceful negotiations rather than containment. |
diplomacy | The conduct of international relations by negotiation. |
foreign policy | Goals intended to protect and promote
national independence, national honor, national security, and national well-being. |
general foreign policy | Decisions expressed in policy
statements and direct actions. |
Monroe Doctrine | Foreign policy in the guise of a
warning to the European states to stay out of Latin America, which was considered to be in the American sphere of influence |
actual evapotranspiration | |
biodiversity | |
biogeochemical cycle | |