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Unit 1: Foundations of Democracy
Government: The institutions and processes through which public policies are made for a society.
Politics: The process by which we select our governmental leaders and what policies these leaders produce; politics produces authoritative decisions about public issues.
Collective goods: Goods and services, such as clean air and clean water, that by their nature cannot be denied to anyone.
Political participation: All the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue. Voting is the most common means of political participation in a democracy. Other means include protest, civil disobedience, and contacting public officials.
Policymaking: The process by which policy comes into being and evolves over time. Policymaking includes people's interests, problems, and concerns that create political issues for government policymakers. These issues shape policy, which in turn impacts people, thereby generating more interests, problems, and concerns.
Linkage institutions: The political channels through which people's concerns become political issues on the policy agenda. In the United States, linkage institutions include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.
Public policy: A choice that government makes in response to a political issue. A policy is a course of action taken with regard to some problem.
Democracy: A system of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy represents and responds to the public's preferences.
Majority Rule: A fundamental principle of traditional democratic theory. In a democracy, choosing among alternatives requires that the majority's desire be respected.
Minority Rights: A principle of traditional democratic theory that guarantees rights to those who do not belong to majorities.
Representation: A basic principle of traditional democratic theory that describes the relationship between the few leaders and the many followers.
Pluralism: A theory of American democracy emphasizing that the policymaking process is very open to participation of all groups with shared interests, with no single group dominating. Pluralist believe that public interest generally prevails.
Elitism: A theory of American democracy contending that an upper-class elite holds the power and makes policy, regardless of the formal governmental organization.
Hyperpluralism: A theory of American democracy contending that groups are so strong that government, which gives in to the many different groups, is thereby weakened.
Policy gridlock: A condition that occurs when interests conflict and no coalition is strong enough to form a majority and establish policy, so nothing gets done.
Political culture: An overall set of values widely shared within a society.
Liberty: one of the most important ideal of American political culture.
Individualism: The belief that people should be left on their own by the government.
Laissez-Faire: Promotes free markets and limited government.
Populism: A political philosophy supporting the rights of average citizens in their struggle against privileged elites.
Egalitarianism: Involves equality of opportunity and respect in the absence of monarchy and aristocracy.
Constitution: A nation’s basic law. It creates political institutions, assigns or divides powers in government, and often provides certain guarantees to citizens.
Declaration of Independence: The document approved by representatives of the American colonies in 1776 that stated their grievances against the British monarch and declared their independence.
John Locke:
His writings influenced the Declaration of Independence.
Believed in natural rights, consent of the governed, and limited government
Natural Rights: Rights inherent in human beings, not dependent on governments, which include life, liberty, and property. The concept of natural rights was central to English philosopher John Locke’s theories about government and was widely accepted among America’s founders.
Consent of the Governed: The idea that government derives its authority by sanction of the people.
Limited Government: The idea that certain restrictions should be placed on government to protect the natural rights of citizens.
Social Contract: An agreement between the people and their government, signifying their consent to be governed.
Articles of Confederation: The first constitution of the United States, adopted in 1777 and enacted in 1781. The articles established a national legislature, the Continental Congress, but most authority rested with the state legislatures.
Confederacy: A system of government in which the national government is weak, and most or all power is in the hands of the country’s components.
Shay’s Rebellion: A series of attacks on courthouses by a small band of farmers led by Revolutionary War Captain Daniel Shays to block foreclosure proceedings.
Constitutional Convention: A meeting in Philadelphia in 1787 that produced a new constitution.
Factions: Groups such as parties or interest groups, which according to James Madison arose from unequal distribution of property or wealth and had the potential to cause instability in government.
New Jersey Plan: A constitutional proposal that would have given each state one vote in a new congress.
Virginia Plan: A constitutional proposal that gave each state representation in Congress based on the state’s share of the U.S. population.
Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise): The compromise reached at the Constitutional Convention that established two houses of Congress: the House of Representatives, in which representation is based on a state’s share of the U.S. population; and the Senate, in which each state has two representatives.
Bicameral Legislature: A legislature divided into two houses. The U.S. Congress and all state legislatures except Nebraska’s are bicameral.
writ of habeas corpus: A court order requiring jailers to explain to a judge why they are holding a prisoner in custody.
Separation of Powers: A feature of the Constitution that requires each of the three branches of government—executive, legislative, and judicial—to be relatively independent of the others so that one branch cannot control the others. Power is shared among these three institutions.
Checks and Balances: Features of the Constitution that limit government’s power by requiring that power be balanced among the different governmental institutions. These institutions continually constrain one another’s activities.
Republic: A form of government in which the people select representatives to govern them and make laws.
Federalists: Supporters of the U.S. Constitution at the time the states were contemplating its adoption.
Anti-Federalists: Opponents of the U.S. Constitution at the time when the states were contemplating its adoption.
Ratify: to approve or sanction authoritatively
Federalists Papers: A set of 85 essays supporting the Constitution written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay.
Bill of Rights: The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, drafted in response to some of the Anti-Federalist concerns. These amendments define such basic liberties as freedom of religion, speech, press, and guarantee defendants’ rights.
Amendment Process:
An amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate or by a national constitutional convention called by Congress at the request of two-thirds of the state legislatures.
An amendment may be ratified by a vote of three-fourths of the state legislatures or by special state conventions called in three-fourths of the states.
Marbury v Madison: The 1803 case in which Chief Justice John Marshall and his associates first asserted the right of the Supreme Court to determine the meaning of the U.S. Constitution. The decision established the Court’s power of judicial review over acts of Congress.
Judicial Review: The power of the courts to determine whether acts of Congress and, by implication, the executive are in accord with the U.S. Constitution. Judicial review was established by John Marshall and his associates in Marbury v. Madison.
Federalism: A way of organizing a nation so that two or more levels of government have formal authority over the same area and people. It is a system of shared power between units of government.
Unitary Government: A way of organizing a nation so that all power resides in the central government.
Supremacy Clause: The clause in Article VI of the Constitution that makes the Constitution, national laws, and treaties supreme over state laws as long as the national government is acting within its constitutional limits.
10th amendment: