AP Government Vocab #1

Authority

Authority

The power to give orders or make decision.

Democracy

A system of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy represents and responds to the public’s preferences

Direct or Participatory Democracy

A form of government in which policies and laws are decided by a majority of all those eligible rather than by a body of elected representatives

Elite

A powerful upper-class person that is believed to hold power and make policies regardless of the formal governmental organization

G.D.P.

The sum total of the value of all the goods and services produced in year in a nation

Government

The institutions through which public policies are made for a society

Indirect Democracy

When citizens elect representatives to make laws for them, also known as representative

Legitimacy

The right and acceptance of an authority, usually a governing law or a regime

Liberty

Freedom from arbitrary and unreasonable restraint upon an individual

Majority Rule

A fundamental principle of traditional democratic theory. In a democracy, choosing among alternatives requires that the majority’s desire be respected

Monarchy

Political system in which supreme authority is vested in the monarch, an individual ruler who functions as head of state

Natural Law

System of right or justice held to be common to all humans and derived from nature rather than the rules of society

Oligarchy

A small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution

Pluralism

A theory of American democracy emphasizing that the policymaking process is very open to the participation of all groups with shared interests, with no single group usually dominating. Pluralists tend to believe that as a result, public interest generally prevails.

Policy Agenda

A set of issues, problems, or subjects that get attention from people involved in policymaking like government officials and politicians

Politics

The process determining the leaders we select and the policies they pursue. Politics produces authoritative decisions about public issues

Popular Sovereignty

The principle that the leaders of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of all political legitimacy

Power

Authority held in a nation’s government

Single-Issue Groups

Groups that have a narrow interest on which their members tend to take an uncompromising stance

Representative Democracy

When citizens elect representatives to make laws for them, also known as indirect

Social Contract

An implicit agreement among the members of a society to cooperate for social benefits, for example by sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection

Social Contract Theory

The idea that society exists because of an implicitly agreed-to set of standards that provide moral and political rules of behavior

Totalitarianism

a form of government that attempts to assert total control over the lives of its citizens. It is characterized by strong central rule that attempts to control and direct all aspects of individual life through coercion and repression. It does not permit individual freedom

Hyperpluralism

A theory of American democracy arguing that a wide variety of interest groups have become empowered with the ability to veto policy change, thereby leading to regular gridlock in Washington

Political Issue

An issue that arises when people disagree about a problem and how to fix it