Federal Government - Unit 1 Chapter 1: Introduction

Government

the system for implementing decisions made through the political process

Factions

Groups of like-minded people who try to influence the government. The American government is set up to avoid domination by any of these groups.

Seperation of Powers

The division of government power across the judicial, executive, and legislative branches.

Checks and Balances

a system in which each branch of government is able to check, or restrain, the power of the others

Federalism

the division of power across the local, state, and national governments

Public goods

Services or actions (such as protecting the environment) that, once provided to one person, become available to everyone. Government is typically needed to provide public goods because they will be under-provided by the free market.

Collective action problems

Situations in which the members of a group would benefit by working together to produce some outcome, but each individual is better off refusing to cooperate and reaping benefits from those who do the work.