Understanding American Politics

Fill-in-the-blank practice flashcards for Chapter 1 notes on American Government and Politics.

__________ is the system for implementing decisions made through the political process.

Government

The Founders of the United States believed that the absence of government would result in __________.

chaos

Two central goals of government stated in the Constitution's preamble are to 'provide for the common defense' and to 'insure __________'.

domestic tranquility

Groups of like-minded people who try to influence the government are known as __________.

factions

__________ divides government power across the judicial, executive, and legislative branches.

Separation of powers

__________ gives each branch of government some power over the others.

Checks and balances

__________ divides power across the local, state, and national levels of government.

Federalism

The self-interested nature of people often leads to an underproduction of __________ in a free market.

public goods

A situation in which group members would benefit by working together, but each individual is better off refusing to cooperate, is called a __________.

collective action problem

The incentive to benefit from others' work without contributing is known as the __________.

free rider problem

Aristotle distinguished three pure types of government based on the number of rulers: monarchy (rule by one), aristocracy (rule by the few), and __________ (rule by the many).

polity

__________ is defined as the process that determines what government does.

Politics

In the United States political process, citizens are allowed to vote at age __________.

eighteen

An economic system based on competition between businesses without government interference is called a __________.

free market

__________ refers to the autonomy of individuals to manage their own financial decisions without government interference.

Economic individualism

In __________ tax policies, taxation is used to attempt to create greater social equality.

redistributive

__________ refers to political conflict in the U.S. between religious 'red state' Americans and more secular 'blue state' Americans.

Culture wars

The idea of a __________ refers to an approach where different racial and ethnic groups leave their native languages, customs, and traditions behind as they assimilate into American culture.

melting pot

A cohesive set of ideas and beliefs used to organize and evaluate the political world is called an __________.

ideology

The political ideology defined by support for lower taxes, a free market, and a more limited government is the __________ ideology.

conservative

The political ideology defined by support for stronger government programs and more market regulation is the __________ ideology.

liberal

__________ prefer very limited government and are conservative on welfare or environmental policy, but very liberal on personal liberty issues.

Libertarians

In the simplest terms, __________ means government by the people.

democracy

Political freedoms such as freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion are protected as __________ in the Bill of Rights.

liberty

In American politics, equality includes equality before the law, political equality, and equality of opportunity, but not __________ equality.

material