Social Problems - Chapter 11

Capitalism

An economic system in which natural resources and the means of producing goods and services are privately owned.

Government

A formal organization that directs the political life of a society.

Socialism

An economic system in which natural resources and the means of producing goods and services are collectively owned.

Political economy

The closely linked economic and political life of a nation or world region.

Democracy

A political system in which power is exercised by the people as a whole.

Authoritarianism

A political system that denies popular participation in government.

Monarchy

A political system in which a single family rules from generation to generation.

Corporations

Businesses with legal existence, including rights and liabilities, separate from that of their members.

Monopoly

The domination of an entire market by a single company.

Oligopoly

The domination of the market by a few companies.

Conglomerate

A giant corporation composed of many smaller companies.

Interlocking directorates

Social networks made up of people who serve as directors of several companies at the same time.

Special interest groups

Political alliances of people interested in the same economic or social issue.

Lobbying

The efforts of special interest groups and their representatives to influence government officials.

Political action committees

Organizations formed by special interest groups to spend and raise money in support of political goals.

Gender gap

The tendency for women and men to hold different opinions about certain issues and to support different candidates.

Welfare state

A range of government policies and programs that transfer wealth from the rich to the poor and provide benefits to needy members of society.

Karl Marx

Created socialism.

1890

Year the Sherman Trust Act was passed by Congress.

2002

Year the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act was enacted.

1870

Year the Fifteenth Amendment, allowing African American men to vote, was ratified.

1920

Year the Nineteenth Amendment, granting women the right to vote, was ratified.

1971

Year the Twenty-Sixth Amendment lowered the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen.

2016

Year Virginia reinstated voting rights for felons.