Chapter 20: American Democracy, Then and Now

Political culture

The people's collective beliefs and attitudes about government and political processes

Bloc

Part of the Old System, which were organized interests representing business, farming, labor, ethnic, and professional groups

Domestic issues

Issues concerning internal affairs, for example race, healthcare, taxes, etc.

Foreign issues

Issues concerning international relations, for example global trade, wars, countering terrorism, etc

The Old System

Characterized by small agendas and small leadership circle with very centralized powers

The New System

Characterized by large agendas, multiplication of interest groups, and decentralized powers

Elite democracy

A belief that certain groups hold disproportionate power in a political system

Pluralist democracy

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

Popular sovreignty

A government in which the people rule by their own consent.

Dual Federalism

A system of government in which both the states and the national government remain supreme within their own spheres, each responsible for some policiescooperative federalism

Cooperative federalism

A system of government in which powers and policy assignments are shared between states and the national government.

Participatory democracy

A system of democracy in which all members of a group or community participate collectively in making major decisions

Direct democracy

A  government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly through a system of representation

Representative democracy

A type of democracy founded on the principle of elected officials representing a group of people

Republic

A government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law

Checks and balances

A system that allows each branch of a government to amend or veto acts of another branch so as to prevent any one branch from exerting too much power