APGOV Terms

Political Culture

The widely shared beliefs, values, and norms about how citizens relate to governments and one another.

Social Capital

Democratic and civic habits of discussion, compromise, and respect for differences, which grow out of participation in voluntary organizations.

Natural Rights

The rights of all people to dignity and worth; also called human rights.

Democratic Consensus

Widespread agreement on fundamental principles of deocratic governance and the values that undergird them.

Majority Rule

Governance according to the expressed preferences of the majority.

Popular Sovereignty

A belief that ultimate power resides in the people.

American Dream

The widespread belief that the United States is a land of opportunity and that individual initative and hard work can bring economic success.

Capitalism

An economic system characterized by private property, competitive markets, economic incentives, and limited government inolvement in the production, distribution, and pricing of goods and services.

Suffrage

The right to vote.

Monopoly

Domination of an industry by a single company that fixes prices and discourages competition; also, the company that dominates the industry by these means.

Antitrust Legislation

Federal laws (starting with the Sherman act of 1890) that tried to prevent a monopoly from domination an industry and restraining trade.

Political Ideology

A consisten pattern of beliefs about political values and the role of government.

Liberalism

A belief that government can and should achieve justice and equality of opportunity.

Conservatism

A belief that limited government insures order competitive markets and personal opportunity.

Socialism

An economic and governmental system based on public ownership of the means of production and exchange.

Libertarianism

An ideology that cherishes individual liberty and insists on minimal government, promoting a free market economy, a noninterventionist foreign policy, and an absence of regulation in moral, economic, and social life.

Environmentalism

An ideology that is dominated by concern for the environment but also promotes grassroots democracy, social justice, equal opportunity, nonviolence, respect for diversity, and feminism.