Study Of American Politics

Front 1

Actors

Back 1

individuals or groups that seek to obtain goals through political activity and policymaking

Front 2

Interests

Back 2

Economic, social, philosophical or political values. Fuel the actions and efforts in politics

Hint 2

values that people hold

Front 3

Institutions

Back 3

involve the formal and sometimes less formal organizations that exercise political power

Hint 3

Formal: Congress, president, courts, bureaucracy and are formally outlined in Constitution
Informal (linkage institutions): political parties, interest groups, mass media - focus on a goal & represent the citizens

Front 4

Processes

Back 4

the steps that various actions of policy proposals must go through to approach formal public policies

Hint 4

the way policy-making institutions formally consider policy proposals

Front 5

Outcomes

Back 5

in the form of adopted formal policy, or they may be no action and a continuation of the status quo.

Hint 5

actual results of the components

Front 6

Government

Back 6

involves the institutions and processes by which public policies are made for a society.

Hint 6

who gets what, when and how - an authoritative allocation of values in our society

Front 7

Elitism

Back 7

political decisions and power are controlled by a small elite (upper class) or powerful, often rich, individuals

Hint 7

society is divided along class lines based on wealth and tradition -

Front 8

Pluralism

Back 8

policy is the product of group conflict and that the public interest tends to emerge from competing individual and group claims as they bargain and compromise

Hint 8

no single interest can dictate the outcome, people must compromise or form coalitions to attain their goals

Front 9

Hyperpluralism

Back 9

fragmented government, pressures from competing interest groups are so diverse that very little gets done

Hint 9

gridlock in a government

Front 10

Political System

Back 10

a "systematic" view of relationships between individuals, interests, institutions, and policy decisions

Hint 10

explination of politics through:
inputs, processing of input, output and feedback

Front 11

Power

Back 11

the ability to cause others to modify their behavior - usually distributed unevenly among actors and institutions

Hint 11

constant feature of government and politics

Front 12

Political Culture

Back 12

values that serve as the context in which politics takes place and provides a degree of uniformity among political actions and behaviors

Hint 12

underlies the values of Americans and the values they have in the political system

Front 13

Aristocracy

Back 13

a system of government in which control is based on rule of the highest class

Front 14

Capitalism

Back 14

an economic system based on individual and corporate ownership of the means of production and a supply-demand market economy

Front 15

Communism

Back 15

a political, economic, and social theory based on the collective ownership of land capital and in which political power lies in the hands of workers

Hint 15

USSR, China - Cause of Cold War

Front 16

Conservative

Back 16

one who believes in and supports the typically traditional values of conservatism, and who resists change in the status quo

Hint 16

"the far right"
"conservative left"

Front 17

Democracy

Back 17

A system of government placing the ultimate political authority in the people.

Hint 17

Derived from the Greek word demos (the people) and kratos (authority)

Front 18

Direct Democracy

Back 18

A system of government in which the people, rather than the elected representative, directly make political decisions.

Hint 18

System is probably possible only in small political communities

Front 19

Free Market Economy

Back 19

The economic system in which the invisible hand of the market regulates prices, wages, and production

Front 20

Gridlock

Back 20

A situation in which government is incapable of acting on important issues often because of divided government

Hint 20

often result of hyperpluralism

Front 21

Indirect (representative) democracy

Back 21

A system of government that gives citizens the opportunity to vote for representatives who will work on their behalf

Front 22

liberal

Back 22

A person slightly to the left of the center of the political spectrum who believes that change is good.

Hint 22

Today's liberals tend to believe that gov't should preserve individual freedoms and equality and in solving social and economic problems

Front 23

libertarian

Back 23

One who favors a free market economy and no governmental interference in personal liberties

Front 24

Majority rule

Back 24

The central idea of governance in which only policies that have the support of a majority of voters will be made into law

Hint 24

simple majority = 51%
full majority = 66%

Front 25

Minority rights

Back 25

Protections that guarantee that the minority will not be destroyed because they favor policies or actions different from the majority

Hint 25

In the House of Representatives - the Minority leader is second in command

Front 26

monarchy

Back 26

A form of government in which power is vested in a monarch, an hereditary king and/or queen

Front 27

oligarchy

Back 27

A form of government in which the right to participate is limited to those who posses wealth, social status, military position or achievement

Front 28

personal liberty

Back 28

A fundamental characteristic of democracy in the United States that protects individuals from government intrusion or interference

Front 29

political culture

Back 29

Political beliefs and attitudes concerning government and political process held by a group of people, such as a community or nation

Front 30

political ideology

Back 30

The collectively held ideas and beliefs concerning the nature of the ideal political system, economic order, social goals, and moral values

Front 31

popular consent

Back 31

The idea that government must draw its powers from the governed or the people who are sovereign

Front 32

popular sovereignty

Back 32

political authority rests with the people not the government. People have the right to creat, change or revolt against their government.

Hint 32

principle orignated in natural rights philosophy - usually representatives are chosen to exercise political authority

Front 33

republic

Back 33

A government in which the ultimate sovereignty belongs to the people, and the people elect officials to represent them in government decisions

Hint 33

The first Republic = Romans

Front 34

social contract

Back 34

A basic tenet of liberal democracy that people are free and equal by natural right and therefore people give their consent to government

Hint 34

John Lock advocated and reflected in the Declaration of Independence

Front 35

socialism

Back 35

A political philosophy that supports government control of markets and production as well as government determination of peoples' needs for social and economic benefits

Front 36

totalitarianism

Back 36

A philosophy of politics that advocates unlimited power for the government so that is controls all sectors of society