POL 101 Exam 1

Politics

“who gets what, when, and how”

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A way of determining, without recourse or violence, who gets what power and resources in society, and how they get them

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Because we cannot always get our way, this system exists

Power

The ability to get other people to do what they want them to do

* government jobs
* public policies working in one’s advantage
* tax revenues
* laws that help get one’s way

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Legitimacy, authority, and divine rights of kings

Media

A major political resource that helps people to gain and maintain power through controlling information about politics, affecting our views.

Social Order

The way we organize and live our collective lives

Government

by contrast to politics, it’s a system or organization for exercising authority over a body of people

Authority

Power that is recognized as legitimate, or right

Legitimate

Accepted as “right” or proper

American Government

The Constitution and the institutions set up by the Constitution for the exercise of authority by the American people, over the American people.

Rules

Directives that specify how resources will be distributed or what procedures govern collective activity

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In short, they determine how we try to get the things we want with framework for us to solve without violence or problems.

Norms

Informal, unwritten expectations that guide behavior and support formal rule systems; often most noticeable when broken

Institutions

Organizations in which government power is exercised

Political Narrative

A persuasive story about the nature of power, who should have it, and how it should be used

Gatekeepers

Journalists and the media elite who determine which news stories are covered and which are not

Economics

Production and distribution of a society’s material resources and services

Socialist Economy

An economic system in which the state determines production, distribution, and price decisions, and property is government owned

Substantive Guarantees

Government assurance of particular outcomes or results

Procedural Guarantees

Government assurance that the rules will work smoothly and treat everyone fairly, with no promise of particular outcomes.

Capitalist eeconmony

An economic system in which the market determines production, distribution, and price decisions, and property is privately owned

Laissez-faire captialism

An economic system in which the market makes all decisions and the government plays no role

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In French means “let people do what they wish”

Mixed Economics

Economic systems based on modified forms of capitalism tempered by substantive values

Democratic socialism

A mixed economy that combines socialist ideals with a commitment to democracy and market capitalism, keeping socialism as its goal

Social Democracy

A mixed economy that uses the democratic process to bend capitalism toward socialist goals (like more equality).

Capitalism

A procedural economic system based on the **freedom** working of the market--the process of supply and demand

* Capitalism not regulated becomes very chaotic, making the rich, richer, and poor, poorer.

Regulated Capitalism

A market system in which the government intervenes to protect rights

Authoritarian governments

Systems in which the state holds all power over the social order

These leaders often use punishment to coerce uncooperative subjects into obedience.

Totalitarian

A system in which absolute power is exercised over every aspect of life

Authoritarian Capitalism

A system in which the state allows people economic freedom but maintains stringent social regulations to limit noneconomic behavior

Anarchy

The absence of government and law

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People advocate this because they value the freedom to do whatever they want more than they value the order and security that government proves by forbidding regulating certain kinds of behavior.

Democracy

Government that vests power in the people

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Comes from Greek word *demos* meaning “people”

Popular Sovereignty

The concept that the citizens are the ultimate source of political power

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The central idea here is that no government is considered legitimate unless the governed consent to it, and people are not truly free unless they live under a law of their own making.

Advanced Industrial Democracy

A system in which a democratic government allows citizens a considerable amount of personal freedom and maintains a free-market (though still usually regulated) economy

Communist Democracy

A utopian system in which property is communally owned and all decisions are made democratically

Populism

Social movements based on the ideas that power has even concentrated illegitimately among elites at the people’s expense

Subjects

Individuals who are obliged to submit to a government authority against which they have no rights

Citizens

Members of a political community with both rights and responsibilities

Divine Right of Kings

The principle that earthly rulers receive their authority from God

Classical Liberalism

A political ideology dating from the seventeenth century emphasizing individual rights over the power of the state

Social Contract

The notion that society is based on an agreement between government and the governed in which people agree to give up some rights in exchange for the protection of others

Republic

A government in which decisions are made through representatives of the people

Digital Native

An individual born after the advent of digitall technology who is proficient in and dependent on its use

Mediated Citizens

Those for whom most personal and commercial relationships, access to information about the world and recreational or professional activities, and communication with others passes through third-party channels, which may or may not modify or censor that information

Public-Interested citizenship

A view of citizenship focused on action to realize the common good

Declaration of Independence

Narrative of rights of America: telling a story about how the British violated those rights and was designed to combat the British narrative that America should remain part of its colonial empire

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The political document that dissolved the colonial ties between the United States and Britain

Self-Interested Citizenship

A view of citizenship focused on action to realize an individual citizen’s interest

Hashtag Activism

A form of political engagement that occurs by organizing individuals online around a particular issue

Information Bubble

A closed cycle, sometimes self-created, in which all the information we get reinforces the information we already have, solidifying our beliefs without reference to outside reality checks

Identity Politics

The assertion of power, or discrimination, by a group--or an appeal for support to a group--based on their common perception of who they are

Immigrants

Citizens or subjects of one country who move to another country to live or work

Naturalization

The legal process of acquiring citizenship for someone who has not acquired it by birth

Asylum

Protectin or sanctuary, especially from political persecution

Refugees

Individuals who flee an area or a country because of persecution on the basis of race, nationality, religion, group membership, or political opinion

Nativism

The belief that the needs of citizens ought to be met before those of immigrants.

Political Culture

The broad pattern of ideas, beliefs, and values that a population holds about its citizens and government

Values

The central ideas, principles, or standards that most people agree are important

Normative

A term used to describe beliefs or values about how things should be or what people ought to do rather than what actually is

Procedural guarantees

Government assurance that the rules will work smoothly and treat everyone fairly, with no promise of particular outcomes

Individualism

The belief that what is good for society is based on what is good for individuals

Ideologies

Set of beliefs about politics and society that help people make sense of their world

Conservatives

People who generally favor limited government and are cautious about change

Liberals

People who generally favor government action and view change as progress

Economic conservatives

Those who favor a strictly procedural government roles in the economy and the social order

Libertarians

Those who favor a minimal government role in any sphere

Economic liberals

Those who favor an expanded government role in the economy but a limited role in the social order

Social conservatives

Those wo endorse limited government control of the economy but considerable government intervention to realize a traditional social order; based on religious values and hierarchy rather than equality.

Political correctness

The idea that language shapes behavior and therefore should be regulated to control its social effects

Social liberals

Those who favor greater control of the economy and the social order to bring about greater equality and to regulate the effects of progress

Progressives

A contested concept that social liberals use to refer to a philosophy demanding radical structural change to create more equality

Communitarians

Those who favor a strong, substantive government role in the economy and the social order so that their vision of a community of equals may be realized

Authoritarian populism

A radical right-wing movement that appeals to popular discontent but whose underlying values are not democractic

Slavery

The ownership, for forced labor, of one people by another

Racism

The belief that one race is superior to another

French and Indian War

A war fought between France and England, and allied Native Americans, from 1754 to 1763; resulted in France’s expulsion from the New World

Popular sovereignty

The concept that the citizens are the ultimate source of political power

*Common Sense*

The pamphlet written by Thomas Pain in 1776 that persuaded many Americans to support the revolutionary cause

Constitution

The rules that establish a government

Articles of Confederation

The first constitution of the United States (1777) creating an association of states with weak central government

Confederation

A government in which independent states unite for common purpose but retain their own sovereignty

Popular Tyranny

The unrestrained power of the people

Shay's Rebellion

A grassroots uprising (1787) by armed Massachusetts farmers protesting foreclosures

Constitutional Convention

The assembly of fifty-five delegates in the summer of 1787 to recast te Articles of Confederation; the result was the U.S. Constitution

Federalism

A political system in which power is divided between he central and regional units

Federalists

Supporters of the Constitution who favored a strong central government

Anti-Federalists

Advocatees of states' right who opposed the Constitution

Virginia Plan

A proposal at the Constitutional Convention that congressional representation be based on population, thus favoring the large states

New Jersey Plan

A proposal at the Constitutional Convention that congressional representation be equal, thus favoring the small states

Great Compromise

The constitutional solution to congressional representation: equal votes win the Senate, votes by population in the House

Three-Fifths Compromise

The formula for counting five enslaved people as three people for purposes of representation, which reconciled northern and souther factions at the Constitutional Convention

Ratification

The process through which a proposal is formally approved and adopted by vote

*The Federalist Papers*

A series of essays written to build support for ratification of the Constitution

Factions

Groups of citizens united by some common passion of interest and opposed to the rights of other citizens or to the interests of the whole community

Bill of Rights

A summary of citizens rights guaranteed and protected by a government; added to the Constitution as its first ten amendments in order to achieve ratification

Legislature

The body of government that makes laws

Bicameral legislature

A legislature with two chambers

Republic

A government in which decisions are made through representatives of the people

Unicameral legislature

A legislature with one chamber

Executive

The branch of government responsible for putting laws into effect

Electoral College

An intermediary body that elects the president

Presidential system

Government in which the executive is chosen independently of the legislature and the two branches are separate

Parliamentary system

Government in which the executive is chosen by the legislature from among its members and the two branches are merged

Judicial power

The power to interpret laws and judge whether a law has been broken