Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
216 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Government |
institution where the political power is exercised |
|
|
what is most important aspect of government |
political power |
|
|
government consists of |
rulers and ruled (subjects) |
|
|
Why do we need government? |
-to provide social services -to maintain law and order -to defend the nation -to ensure justice |
|
|
Hobbes 1651 Leviathan |
states most iportant service of gov is maintain law and order |
|
|
John Locke |
metions in his social contract that law and order importance |
|
|
Different types of demcracies |
direct democracy indirect democracy |
|
|
direct democracy |
you are representing yourself ex. initiative, referendum, recall |
|
|
indirect democracy |
electing officials to represent the peoples wants |
|
|
Initiative direct democracy |
*can only add laws * ex.) propositions |
|
|
Referendum direct democracy |
act of reffering something to the people for approval or disapproval - you ask question like yes or no to people *can add and abolish laws* |
|
|
Recall direct democracy |
procedure to remove an elected official from office |
|
|
4 advantages of a democracy |
-peaceful transfer of power (has power hierarchy) -freedom of speech, press and express -checks and balances -effective relationships between government and the people |
|
|
effective relationships between governement and the people because |
they are elected by the people |
|
|
transfer of power |
prez VP speaker of house president protempore cabinet |
|
|
3 branches of gov |
judicial executive legislative |
|
|
judicial branch |
interpret the law -judicial review is the most important power |
|
|
executive branch |
enforces law |
|
|
legislative branch |
makes laws |
|
|
conditions for candidate of prez of us |
prez must be at least 35, live in us at least 14 yeas consequtively in us, natural born us citizen |
|
|
checks and balances |
power of prez override judicial review |
|
|
power of prez |
president can veto laws |
|
|
power of congress |
congress can override prezs veto |
|
|
power of judicial |
judicial review- to declare a law unconstitutional |
|
|
judicial review |
to declare a law unconstitutional |
|
|
The declaration of independance 1776 has 3 major points |
1. human rights declaration 2. revolutionary declaration 3. independance declaration |
|
|
human rights declaration of declaration of independance |
life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness (john locke originally said with property) |
|
|
revolutionary declaration of declaration of independance |
universal declaration - social contract (citizens responsibilities ex. jury duty, taxes) |
|
|
independence declaration of declaration of independance |
13 colonies reeived indpendance from Britain |
|
|
2 houses |
house of representatives and senate |
|
|
house of representatives |
has 435 people which is distributied by population per state
|
|
|
senate |
has 100 people which is distributed by 2 per state |
|
|
in case of impeachment |
house charges and must be approved through senate needs 218 votes (1/3) from house and 67 votes from senate (2/3) |
|
|
order of governments from largest to smallest |
federal, state, county, city |
|
|
direct democracy |
democracy w/o representation - only state and local ex. refferendum, recall, and initiative |
|
|
indirect democracy |
deomcracy with representation - no direct democracy at national level - designed for larger nations |
|
|
universal sufferage |
the right to vote |
|
|
peope who dont have the right to vote |
felons children mentally ill non us citizens |
|
|
voting for prez election is |
first tuesday of november |
|
|
most important documentation of human rights |
declaration of independence 1776 |
|
|
second most imporant documentation of human rights |
french declaration of human rights |
|
|
third most important documentation of human rights |
UNs universal declaration of human rights 1948 |
|
|
classification fo human rights |
-civil and political rights -participation in the political process -freedom of speech, press and expression -religious freedom -seperation of church and state - the right to petition the govt - the right to peaceful assembly |
|
|
pariticaption in the political process |
voting, jury duty, legal defense fund, running for office |
|
|
freedom of speeh, press and expression |
has limitations - no slander= offending others -no libel- destroying the name of someone through writing or publishing |
|
|
slander |
offending others |
|
|
libel |
destroying credibility of someone through your words or writing |
|
|
seperation of church and state |
two insititutions are seperate not absoloute seperation us has relative seperation |
|
|
US has __________ of church and state |
relative seperation |
|
|
social and economic rights |
1. social and economic conition = right to certain quality of life 2. right to work 3. right to education |
|
|
homelessness is a violation of |
social and economic rights |
|
|
examples of social and ecnomic rights |
rights based on equality |
|
|
politics |
the process of resolving conflicts and deciding - lasswell descrived it in his classic definition " who gets what, when, and how" |
|
|
" who gets what, when, and how " |
is a definition of politics by Harold Lasswell |
|
|
__________ is the struggle over power or influence within organizations or informal groups that can grant benefits or privileges |
politics |
|
|
examples of politics |
when church decides to hire new minister, in schools, social groups, and any other organized collection of individuals |
|
|
the most imporant organization that is controlled by political activity |
the government |
|
|
institiution |
an ongoing organization that performs certain functions for society and that has a life separate from the lives of the individuals who are part of it at any given moment |
|
|
politics is |
the struggle over power or influence within organization or infformal groups that can grant or withhold benefits or priveleges |
|
|
institution |
an ongoing organization that performs certain functions for society |
|
|
government |
an institution within which decisions are made that resolve conflicts and allocate benefits and privileges |
|
|
________ is the preeminent institution within society because it has the ultimate authority for making these decisions |
government |
|
|
why is government necessary |
maintanance of security or order |
|
|
order |
a state of peace and security. maintaining order by protecting members of society from violence and criminal activity is the oldest purpose of government |
|
|
order is needed for government |
to provide any other benefit |
|
|
47 of worlds countries ( 34%) are |
not free |
|
|
institutions in which the people are not free |
dictatorships= syrias bashar al assad and North Korea kim jon un communisty party of china military may rule: Myanmar |
|
|
in institutions where people are not free |
freedom of speech and the right to a fair trial are typically absent may also suppress freedom of religion - revolution violent or not is ususally the only way to change the government |
|
|
dictatorial governments often |
torture or execute their opponents |
|
|
_______ is often the only way to change the government |
revolution, violent or not |
|
|
liberty |
the greatest freedom of the indidvidual consistent with the freedom of other individuals society. A second major political value, along iwth order |
|
|
authority |
the right and power to enforce its decisions and compel ovvedience |
|
|
when authority is broadly accepted we say that it has |
legitimacy |
|
|
legitimacy |
popular acceptance of the right and power of a government or other entity to exercise authority |
|
|
Totalitarian regime |
a dictator or group of dictators makes all deisions for the society |
|
|
where every aspect of political, social, and economic life is controlled by the government |
totalitarian regime |
|
|
authoritarianism |
only the government itself is fully controlled by the ruler -has social and economic institutions, such as churches, buisnesses, and lavor unions that are not under the governments control |
|
|
aristocracy |
"rule by the best" rule by wealthy members of ancient families |
|
|
theocracy |
"rule by god" rule by self appointed religious leaders |
|
|
oligarchy |
"rule by a few" |
|
|
democracy |
rule by the people |
|
|
__________ is usually considered the purest model for direct deomcracy because the citizens of that community debated and boted on all laws directly, even those put forward by the ruling council of the city |
the Athenian system of government in ancient Greece |
|
|
direct democracy |
systemof government in which political decisions are made by the people directly, rather than by their elected representatives |
|
|
the most important feature of the athenian government was that |
the legislature consisted of all citizens |
|
|
legislature |
a governmental body primarily responsible for the making of laws |
|
|
in modern adaptation of direct democracy, representative democracy ,there is |
initiative, refernedum, and recall |
|
|
initiative |
procedure by which voters can propose a law or a constitutional amendment |
|
|
initiative |
proposal by people |
|
|
referendum |
an electoral device whereby legislative or constitutional measure are referred by the legislature to the voters for approval or disapproval |
|
|
recall |
procedure allowing the people to vote to dismiss an elected official from office before his or her term has expired |
|
|
at times of american and french revolution (1700-1800) |
the idea of government based on the consent of the people gained increasing popularity |
|
|
at the time of the american revolution |
the masses were considered to be too uneducated to governthemselves, too prone to the influence of demagogues (political leaders who manipulate popular prejudices), and too likely to subordinate minority rights to the tyranny of the majority |
|
|
james madison menioned |
the problems inherent in a pure democracy in the constitution - he feared that it would deteriorate into mob rule |
|
|
republic |
government in which sovereign power rests with the people, rather than with a king or a monarch |
|
|
a republic is based on ____________ |
popular sovereignty |
|
|
popular sovereignty |
the concept that ultimate political authority is based on the will of the people |
|
|
democratic republic |
a republic in which representatives elected by the people make and enforce laws and policies |
|
|
represenentative democracy |
form of government in which representative elected by the people make and enforce laws and policies, but in which the monarchy may be ratained in a ceremonial role |
|
|
difference between demecratic republic and representative democracy |
both have representatives but representative deomcracy the monarchy may be retained in a ceremonial role |
|
|
universal sufferage |
the right of all adults to vote for their representatives |
|
|
majority rule |
basic principle of democracy asserting that the greatest number of citizens in any political unit should select official and determine policies |
|
|
free competitive elections |
allow elections for all groups popular or unpopular |
|
|
for all elections to be totally open |
freedom of the press and of speech must be preserved so that opposition candidates can present their criticisms of the government to the people |
|
|
key feature of the western representative democracy is that it is based on the principle of |
limited government |
|
|
limited government |
a government with powers tht are limited either through a written document or through widely share beliefs |
|
|
is dependent on popular soverignty and the powers of the government are also clearly limited, either through a writted document or through widely shared beliefs |
representative deomcracy |
|
|
the constitution |
sets down the fundament structure of the government and the limits to its activities |
|
|
many theories about american deomcracy |
majoritariansim, elite theory, and pluralism |
|
|
advocates of the majoritarianism, elite theory, and pluralism use them to describe |
american democracy either as it actuallly is or as they believe it should be |
|
|
some scholars argue that none of the three theories fully describe the workings of the american democracy |
instead they all serve as a part but we need all three theories to gain a full understanding of american politics |
|
|
majoritarianism |
a political theory holding that in a democracy, the government ought to do what the majority of people want |
|
|
elite theory |
the argument that society is ruled by a small number of people who exercise power to further their self interests |
|
|
movements that advocate simple versions of the elite theory |
tea party movement and occupy wall street |
|
|
occupy wall street members believe that |
the top 1 percent of income earners, especially those who work in the finance industry, have too much power |
|
|
tea party supporters believe that |
the elite is the federal government itself |
|
|
pluralism |
a theory that views politics as a conflict among interes groups. political decision making is characterized by bargaining and compromise |
|
|
pluralism supporters see politics as |
a struggle among groups to gain benefits for their members |
|
|
many political scientists belive that pluralism |
works well as a descriptive theory (how democracy should function) |
|
|
problems with pluralism |
-poor citizens are rarel represented by interest groups -rich citizens may be overrepreseneted -doubts as to whether group decision making always reflects the best interests of the nation -danger that groups may grow so powerful that all policies become compromises crafted to satisfy the interests of the largest groups. - democractic system can be almost paralyzed by the struggle among interest groups |
|
|
writers of us constitution belived that the structures they had created would |
provide for both popular sovereignty and a stable political system and believed that the nation would be sustained by its political culture |
|
|
political culture |
the patterened set of ideas, values, and ways of thinking about government and politics that characterizes a people |
|
|
political socialization |
the processs by which people acquire political beliefs and values |
|
|
two most important sources of political socialization are the |
family and the educational system |
|
|
dominant culture |
the values, customs, and language established by the groups that tradionally have controlled politics and government in a society |
|
|
the most fundamental concepts of the american political culture are those of the |
dominant culture |
|
|
dominant culture in the US has its roots in |
western european civilization which allowed american politics to inherit a bias toward individualism, private property, and judeo christian ethics |
|
|
civil liberties |
those personal freedoms, inclduing freedom of religion and of speech, that are protected for all individuals in a society |
|
|
democracy cannot endure without |
freeddom of speech |
|
|
bill of rights |
the first ten amendments to the U.S. Consititution |
|
|
supreme court has held |
right to privacy can be derived from other rights explicity stated in the bill of rights and government cannot ban abortion or private homoesexual behavior by consenting adults |
|
|
when security of americans are fearful or vulnerable the government |
emphasizes on national security over civil liberties ex. japanese internment camps as a result of pearl harbor |
|
|
equality |
as a political value, the idea that ll people ar of equal worth |
|
|
equality and liberty go hand in hand |
the more equality a nation has the less liberty people have. ex. people can not say whatever they please or do whatever they please to people of race(take away liberty) so that racial groups have equality |
|
|
eglitarianism |
universal equality |
|
|
eglitarian system |
a system in which wealth and power were redistributed more quallly |
|
|
property |
anything that is or may be subject to ownership. as conceived by the political philosopher John Locke, the right to property is a natural right superior to human law (laws made by government). |
|
|
the value of reducing economic inequality is in conflict with the right to |
property b/c reducing economic inequality typically involves the transfer ot property |
|
|
capitalist system is based on |
private property rights |
|
|
captialism |
an economic system characterized by the private ownership of wealth creating assets, free markets, and freedom of contract |
|
|
under capitalism, property consists of |
personal possessions and wealth creating assets such as farms and factories |
|
|
_________ is characterized by considerable freedom to make binding contracts and by relatively unconstrained markets for goods, servieces, and investments. |
capitalism |
|
|
american politics in the twenty first centruy can be described largel yin terms of |
ambivalence about big government |
|
|
government can gain power when taking aggressive force |
yet, lose power when making a whimsy mistake that affects all |
|
|
entitlements |
benefits you are entitled to receive if you meet specific requirements |
|
|
political ideaology |
is a closely linked set of beliefs about politics |
|
|
entitlements are a neccessary part of the social contract |
true |
|
|
political ideaology |
a comprehensive set of beliefs about the nature of people and the role of government |
|
|
almost everyone who has political opinions can be said to have an |
ideology |
|
|
_______________ offer people well organized theories that propose goals for society and the means by which these goals can be achieved. |
political ideologies |
|
|
the two ideologies most commonly referred to in discussions fo american politics are |
conservatism and liberalism |
|
|
conservatism |
a set of beliefs that includes advocacy of a limited role for the national government in helping individuals, support for tradititional values and lifestyels, and a cautious response to change |
|
|
conservatism ideologists tend to favor |
traditional practices and institutions |
|
|
many conservatives view the __________ to be a time when american took a wrong turn |
roosevelt administration (30s) |
|
|
conservative movement |
an american movement launched in the 50s that provides a comprehensive ideological framework for conservative politics |
|
|
conservative values |
-place a high value on the the principle of order. -support for partiotism and traditional ideals -oppose same sex marraige -strongly endorse liberty (or more the freedom from government support of non traditional ideals) -believe that the private sector probably can outperform the government in almost any activity -usually oppose initiative that would increase the role of the government in the economy -low value on equality -typically oppose high levels of antipoverty spending and government expenidtures to stimulate the economy, favoring tax rate cuts instead |
|
|
liberalism |
a set of beliefs that includes advocacy of positive government action to improve the welfare of individuals, suppor for civil rights, and tolerance for political and social change |
|
|
liberals have always been skeptical of |
- the influence of religion in politics - in nineteenth century skeptical of govenment as well |
|
|
during wilson and roosevelts reigns american liberals increasingly sought to |
use the power of government for non traditional ends - including support for organized labor and for the poor -roosevelt introduced social security and unemployment insurance |
|
|
modern liberalism |
60s -civil rights movement -women rights -wom federal health care programs such as medicare and medicaid -reacted more negatively to us participation in the vietnam war, resulting in skepticism about the us of US military forces abroad |
|
|
liberal values |
-high value on social and economic equality -champion the rights of minority group members and favor antipoverty spending -support affordable insurance that all can get -often support government intervention in the economy -believe that captialism works best when the government curbs captialisms excesses through regulation -high value on liberty(live life to one owns values) -support gay rights |
|
|
socialism |
a political ideology based on strong support for economic and social equality. Socialists traditionally envisioned a society in which major buisnesses were taken over by the government or by employee cooperatives |
|
|
socialism |
left side of the spectrum |
|
|
socialists advocate for |
-replacing investor ownership of buisnesses with either government ownership or ownership by employee cooperatives. They believe this would break the power of the very rich and lead to an egalitarian society -limited programs that redistribute income |
|
|
libertarianism |
a political ideology based on skepticism or opposition toward most government activities |
|
|
livertarianism |
right side of the spectrum |
|
|
libertarians values |
- support property rights and oppose regulation of the economy and redistribution of income - support laissez-faire capitalism (let it be) -oppose government attempts to regulate personal behavior and promote moral values |
|
|
libertarians |
advocate the most complete freedom possible in social matters -tend to be economically successful individuals who hold libertarian opinions |
|
|
liberalism |
often described as an ideology that supports "big government" |
|
|
left of the spectrum to right |
socialism->liberalism->conservatism->libertarianism |
|
|
SOCIALISM VIEWS ON how much power should te government have over the economy? and what should the government promote? |
active government control of major economic sectors and economic equality, community |
|
|
LIBERALISM VIEWS ON how much power should te government have over the economy? and what should the government promote? |
positive government action in the economy and economic security, equal opportunity, social liberty |
|
|
CONSERVATISM VIEWS ON how much power should te government have over the economy? and what should the government promote? |
positive government action to support captialism and ecnomic liberty, morality, and social order |
|
|
LIBERTARIANISM VIEWS ON how much power should te government have over the economy? and what should the government promote? |
almost no regulation of the economy and total economic and social liberty |
|
|
four cournered ideological grid |
. |
|
|
two fundamental political values are |
order(security against violence) liberty(greatest freedom of the individual consistent with the freedom of other individuals) |
|
|
for a govenment to be effective it must be |
backed by legitimacy |
|
|
the united states is a |
democratic republic also called a representative democracy |
|
|
3 theories of american democracy include |
majoritarianism elite theory pluralism |
|
|
fundamental american values inclue |
liberty, order, equality, and property |
|
|
value of order competes with |
civil liberties |
|
|
the value of economic equality competes with |
property rights |
|
|
left |
liberal |
|
|
right |
conservative |
|
|
when citizens of a nation do not enjoy liberty, the government frequently will a. abolish the right to a fair trial b. provide government funds to churches c. hold regular elections |
a |
|
|
A democratic republic is based on all of the following principles except a. popular sovereighnty b.majority rule c. unlimited government |
c |
|
|
A word or phrase used to describe our democratic system in terms of competition among groups is a. majoritarianism b. elite theory c. pluralism |
c |
|
|
conflict of liberty vs order |
when security measures are high, certain liberties are stripped |
|
|
liberty vs equality conflict |
promoting equality often requires limiting the right to treat people unequally |
|
|
A major theme of american politics during the twenty first century has been a. arguments over whether all citizens should have the right to vote b. controversies over the proper size of government c. disputes as to whether the government should assume the ownership of major banks |
B |
|
|
Popular american ideologies include a. conservatism, liberalism, and libertarianism b. conservatism, liberalism, and socialism c. communism, liberalism, and libertarinaism |
A |
|
|
the process through which individuals learn a set of political attitudes and form opinions about social issues is called a. political socialization b. public opinion c. social reform d. social democracy
|
A |
|
|
The rights of all adults to vote for their representatives called a. universal suffrage b. democracy c. human rights d. natural rights
|
A |
|
|
The procedure allowing the people to dismiss an elected official from office before his term is expired called: a. recall b. referendum c. restructure d. initiative
|
A |
|
|
A form of government that controls all aspects of the social and political life of the people. a. federalism b. totalitarianism c. democracy d. monarchism
|
B |
|
|
The condition of having no law and no government is referred to a. anarchy b. democracy c. socialism d. democracy
|
A |
|
|
The art or science of government called a. government b. politics c. aristocracy d. socialism
|
B |
|
|
In california we have |
both direct and indirect democracy |
|
|
According to scholars, politics is
who gets what, when and how. the authoritative allocation of values. the balance between greed and corruption and justice and equality. a and b. |
D |
|
|
Harold Lasswell defined politics as “who gets what, when, and how.” This definition implies that 1. both a and b. |
D |
|
|
Government is an institution that makes rules. any club or organization that allocates values found in all organized groups who gets what when and how. |
A |
|
|
It becomes necessary to establish a government when a society reaches a certain level of complexity. the tribal leaders feel it is a good idea. the United Nations authorized it. there is enough money in the treasury to support a permanent bureaucracy. |
A |
|
|
The American and French Revolutions shared a goal of
government with consent of the people. establish a monarchy. recall establishing governments with universal suffrage. |
A |
|
|
A republic is a conservative an indirect democracy a totalitarian state an oligarchy. |
B |
|
|
In the pluralist view, politics is only useful for the wealthy is society the struggle among groups to gain benefits for their members. Insignificant at the lower levels of government. The major problem in modern society. |
B |
|
|
Active government control of the major economic sector is called:
conservatism liberalism socialism Marxism-Leninism |
C |
|
|
Advocacy of positive government action to improve the welfare of individuals is called:
conservatism liberalism communism libertarianism |
B |
|
|
Advocacy of a limited role for the national government in helping individuals is called:
conservatism socialism liberalism communism |
A |
|
|
Placing high value on total equality and security is a characteristic of
conservatism liberalism socialism Marxism-Leninism |
D |
|
|
Divided government is: the separation of power between the executive and the legislature. the ability of the President to veto and Congress to override. when the executive is of one party and the Congress is of other. the separation of powers between state and federal governments |
C |
|
|
why do we need a government? |
- to provide social services (health care, transportation, environmental protection) - law and order -to defend the nation -to insure justice |
|
|
Four advantages of democracy |
-peaceful transfer of power -freedom of speech, press and express -checks and balances (judicial review, veto, impeach) -effective relationships between gov and the people |
|
|
main points of the declaration of independence and who wrote it |
Jefferson 1776 -human rights declaration (basic rights:life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness) -revolutionary declaration (inform rest of world that they have right to change their government) -independence declaration (13 colonies free) |
|
|
purpose of checks and balances and the power of each branch |
checks and balances is to make sure no branch has too much power - judicial has judicial review, can state something unconstitutional -executive has veto, can turn down a law -legislature has impeachment |
|
|
ancient democracy |
direct democracy (Athens) |
|
|
contemporary democracy |
indirect democracy for large nations has universal sufferage |
|
|
name 10 human rights |
right to equality right to marriage and family right of peaceful assembly right to rest and leisure right to work right to education right to adequate living standard freedom from slavery right to fair public hearing freedom of belief and religion |
