Ap Government Ch1

Political Participation

Citizen activities used to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue. (Ex. voting, protest, civil disobedience)

Government

Institutions & processes through which public policies are created for society

Public goods

Services shared by everyone and cannot be denied to anyone (ex. highways, public parks, clean water)

Politics

The process by which we select our government leaders and what policies they pursue. (Politics produces authoritative decisions about public issues)

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 (Ex. issues shape policy, people gain more interests, problems and concerns, which create issues etc.)

Linkage Institutions

The political channels through which people’s concerns become political issues on the policy agenda. (Ex in US: Elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media)

Policy agenda

Issues that attract attention of public officials and people involved in politics

Political issue

An issue resulting of people disagreeing about a problem or public policy and how to fix it.

Policymaking institutions

Branches of gov that take action of political issues U.S. Constitution established 3 PI’s: Congress, the presidency, and the courts. Bureaucracy has so much influence, hence political scientists consider it a fourth branch of PI.

Public policy

A decision that Gov’t makes (decisions) affecting the entire population (such as Laws/Decisions, Regulations, Mandates, Executive Orders)

Democracy

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

Majority rule

The will of over half of the voters should be respected in choosing amongst alternatives (Traditional Democratic theory)

Minority rule

Guarantees rights to minorities and allows that they can join majorities through persuasion and reasoned argument ( Traditional democratic theory) Ex. Freedom of speech and assembly

Representation

Describes the relationship between the few leaders and the many followersP

Pluralist theory

A theory of gov 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 gov and politics contending that “societies are divided along class lines and that an upperclass elite will rule, regardless of the formal niceties of governmental organization”

Hyperpluraism

A theory of gov and politics contending that “groups are so strong that gov is weakened. It’s extreme form of pluralism”

Policy gridlock

When no coalition is strong enough to form a majority and establish policy. The result is that nothing may get done.I

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

Liberalism

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

Conservatism

a political philosophy based tradition and social stability, and favoring obedience to political authority and organized religion

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.