Chapter 1: Introducing Government in America Study Guide - AP Government and Politics

Government

The institutions and processes through which public policies are made for a society.

Public Goods

Goods, such as clean air and clean water, that everyone must share.

Politics

The process by which we select our governmental leaders and what policies these leaders pursue. Politics produces authoritative decisions about public issue.

Political Participation

All the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue. Voting is the most common but not the only means of political participation in a democracy. Other means include protest and civil disobedience.

Single-Issue Groups

Groups that have a narrow interest, tend to dislike compromise, and often draw membership from people new to politics. These features distinguish then from traditional interest groups.

Policymaking System

The process by which policy comes into being and evolves over time. People's interests, problems, and concerns create political issues for government policymakers. These issues shape policy, which in turn impacts people, generating more interests, problems, and concerns.

Linkage Institutions

The political channels through which people's concerns become political issues on the policy agenda. In the United States, linkage institutions include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.

Policy Agenda

The issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actually involved in politics at any given point in time.

Political Issue

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

Policymaking Institutions

The branches of government charges with taking action on political issues. The U. S. Constitution established three policymaking institutions--the Congress, the presidency, and the courts. Today, the power of the bureaucracy is so great that most political scientists consider it a fourth policymaking institutions.

Public Policy

A choice that government makes in response to a political issue. A policy is a course of action taken with regard to some problem.

Policy Impacts

The effects that a policy has on people and on society's problems.

Democracy

A system of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy represents and responds to the public's preference.

Majority Rule

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

Minority Rule

A principal of traditional democratic theory that guarantees rights to those who do not belong to majorities and allows that they might join majorities through persuasion and reasoned argument.

Representation

A basic principal of traditional democratic theory that describes the relationship between the few leaders and the many followers.

Pluralist Theory

A theory of government and politics emphasizing that politics is mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies.

Elite and Class Theory

A theory of government and politics contending that societies are divided along class lines and that an upperclass elite will rule, regardless of the formal niceties 0f governmental organization.

Hyperpluralism

A theory of government and politics contending that groups are so strong that government is weakened. Hyperpluralism is an extreme, exaggerated, or perverted form, of pluralism.

Policy Gridlock

A condition that occurs when no coalition is strong enough to form a majority and establish policy. The result is that nothing may get done.

Political Culture

Gross Domestic Product

The sum total of the value of all the foods and services produced in a nation.

Individualism

The belief that individuals should be left on their own by the government. One of the primary reasons for the comparatively small scope of American government is the prominence of this belief in American political thought and practice.

Define the term "government"

The institutions that make authoritative decisions for any given society.

What are 2 fundamental questions about governing that serve as themes throughout the textbook?

1. How should we govern?

2. What should government do?

List the 5 functions that all national governments perform

1. Maintain a national defense

2. Provide public services

3. Preserve order

4. Socialize the young

5. Collect taxes

Define the term "politics"

Determines whom we select as our governmental leaders and what policies these leaders pursue

Give examples of the "who", "what", "when", and "how" of politics

1. Who: Voters, candidates, groups, and parties

2. What: Benefits like medical care or burdens like taxes

3. When:

4. How: Voting, supporting, compromising, lobbying, ect...

Draw a diagram of how a policy system works

https://docs.google.com/a/scarboroughschools.org/document/d/1FDy-RbgxFqumXB9dsELFb31pnGyOMBb_OKC0HuOOk0A/edit?usp=sharing

List the 4 key linkage institutions in a democratic society

1. Parties

2. Interest groups

3. Media

4. Elections

Define the term "policy agenda"

Consists of the issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actively involved in politics at any given time

How does a government's policy agenda change?

Generally due to a crisis situation or other bad news of that scale (jobs are scarce...). Sometimes due to good news, but rarely.

List the 4 major policymaking institutions in the United States

1. U. S. Constitution

2. Congress

3. President

4. Courts

Define the term "policy impacts"

The effects that a policy has on people and on society's problems.

Define the term "democracy" as used in this text

Democracy is the modernized version of communism (?)

List the 5 cornerstones of an ideal democracy

1. Equality in voting

2. Effective participation

3. Enlightened understanding

4. Citizen control of the agenda

5. Inclusion

Explain the principals of majority rule and minority rights

Majority rules: When picking between several possibilities, the one that is chosen by the most people is the one that goes

Minority rights: Rights the minority has that the majority rule can't take away

Complete the following table comparing pluralist, elite and class, and hyperpluralist theories according to who holds the power and how the policy is made

Pluralist

Elite and Class

Hyperpluralist

Pluralist: Who holds power - Groups with shared interests. How policy is made - A complex process of bargaining and compromise

Elite and Class: Who holds power - Corporate giants. How policy is made - they are the policymakers

Hyperpluralist: Who holds power - Many groups overpowering government. How policy is made - taking the policy to court, passed Congress

List the major challenges facing American democracy

1. Increased technical expertise

2. Limited participation in government

3. Escalating campaign costs

4. Diverse political interests

What is "political culture" and why is it crucial to understanding American government?

List and give an example of the 5 elements of the American creed according to Seymour Martin Lipset

List 3 ways in which America might be experiencing a crisis of cultural values

Make a list of items that illustrate the scope of American government

What is gross domestic product and how does the term illustrate the scope of American government?