Chapter 1: The Logic of American Politics

Agency Loss

The discrepancy between what citizens ideally would like their agents to do and how the agents actually behave.

Agenda Control

The capacity to set the choices available to others.

Agent

Someone who makes and implements decisions on behalf of someone else.

Authority

The right to make and implement a decision.

Bargaining

A form of negotiation in which two or more parties who disagree propose exchanges and concessions to find a course of acceptable collective action.

Cabinet

The formal group of presidential advisers who head the major departments and agencies of the federal government. Cabinet members are chosen by the president and approved by the Senate.

Coalition

An alliance of unlike-minded individuals or groups to achieve some common purpose such as lobbying, legislating, or campaigning for the election of public officials.

Collective Action

An action taken by a group of like-minded individuals to achieve a common goal.

Collective Goods

Goods that are collectively produced and freely available for anyone's consumption.

Command

The authority of one actor to dictate the actions of another.

Compromise

Settlement in which each side concedes some of its preferences in order to secure others.

Conformity Costs

The difference between what a person ideally would prefer and what the group with which the person makes collective decisions actually does. Individuals pay conformity costs whenever collective decisions produce policy outcomes that do not best serve their interests.

Constitution

A document outlining the formal rules and institutions of government and the limits placed on its powers.

Coordination

The act of organizing a group to achieve a common goal. Coordination remains a prerequisite for effective collective action even after

Delegation

The act of one person or body authorizing another person or body to perform an action on its behalf

Direct Democracy

A system of government in which citizens make policy decisions by voting on legislation themselves rather than by delegating that authority to their representatives.

Externalities

Public goods or bads generated as a byproduct of private activity. Air pollution is an example (public bad) because it is, in part, the byproduct of the private activity of driving a car.

Focal Point

Focus identified by participants when coordinating their energies to achieve a common purpose.

Free-rider Problem

A situation in which individuals can receive the benefits from a collective activity whether or not they helped to pay for it, leaving them with no incentive to contribute.

Government

The institutions and procedures through which people are ruled.

Initiative

An approach to direct democracy in which a proposal is placed on an election ballot when the requisite number of registered voters have signed petitions to do so.

Institution

In a democracy, an organization that manages potential conflicts between political rivals, helps them to find mutually acceptable solutions, and makes and enforces the society's collective agreements. Congress, the presidency, and the Supreme Court are all prominent examples.

Majority Rule

The principle that decisions should reflect the preferences of more than half of those voting. Decision making by this principle is one of the fundamental procedures of democracy.

Office

Subdivision of some government departments that confers on its occupants specific authority and responsibilities.

Parliamentary Government

A form of government in which the chief executive is chosen by the majority party or by a coalition of parties in the legislature.

Plurality

A vote in which the winning candidate receives the greatest number of votes (but not necessarily a majority--over 50 percent).

Politician

Elected professional who specializes in providing compelling reasons for people with different values and interests to join in a common action.

Politics

The process by which individuals and groups reach agreement on a common course of action even as they continue to disagree on the goals that action is intended to achieve.

Power

An officeholder's actual influence with other officeholders, and, as a consequence, over the government's actions.

Preferences

Individuals' choices, reflecting economic situation, religious values, ethnic identity, or other valued interests.

Principal

An individual with the authority to make some decision. This authority may be delegated to an agent who is supposed to act on this individual's behalf.

Prisoner's Dilemma

A situation in which two (or more) actors cannot agree to cooperate for fear that the other will find its interest best served by reneging on an agreement.

Private Goods

Benefits and services over which the owner has full control of their use.

Privatize

Prevent a common resource from being over-exploited by tying the benefit of its consumption to its cost

Public Goods

Goods that are collectively produced and freely available for anyone's consumption.

Referendum

An approach to direct democracy in which a state legislature proposes a change to the state's laws or constitution which all the voters subsequently vote on

Representative Government

A political system in which citizens select government officials who, acting as their agents, deliberate and commit the citizenry to a course of collective action

Republic

A form of democracy in which power is vested in elected representatives

Separation of Powers

The distribution of government powers among several political institutions. In the United States, at the national level power is divided between the three branches: Congress, the president, and the Supreme Court

Simple Majority

A majority of fifty percent plus one.

Supermajority

A larger than fifty-one percent majority, required for extraordinary actions such as amending the Constitution or certain congressional actions. For example, in the Senate sixty votes required to stop a filibuster

Tragedy of the Commons

A situation in which group members overexploit a common resource, causing its destruction

Transaction Costs

The costs of doing political business reflected in the time and effort required to compare preferences and negotiate compromises in making collective decisions.

Tyranny

A form of government in which the ruling power exploits its authority and permits little popular control.

Veto

The formal power of the president to reject bills passed by both houses of Congress. It can be overridden by a two-thirds vote in each house.

Regulation

Setting up rules limiting access to a common resource and monitoring and penalizing those who violate them