Ch.1 American Gov and Politics Today
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VioletViolence on January 22, 2011
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71 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Politics | struggle over power of influence within organizations or informal groups that can grant or withhold benefits or privileges; process of resolving conflicts or deciding |
| Where politics exist | wherever there is community enforced by formal/informal rules |
| Government | preeminent institution within society controlled by political activity; ultimate authority in resolving conflicts and how benefits/privileges are allocated |
| Institution | organization that performs certain functions within society |
| Order | state of peace and security; purpose of gov to protect members of society from violence and criminal activity |
| Liberty | greatest freedom of the individual that is consistent w/ freedom to other individuals in society |
| Authority | right + power to enforce its decisions |
| Legitimacy | popular acceptance of right + power of a gov or other entity to exercise authority |
| Types of Government | Totalitarian, Authoritarianism, Aristocracy, Theocracy, Oligarchy, Democracy |
| Totalitarian regime | gov controls all aspects of political and social life of society |
| Authoritarianism | gov fully controlled by a ruler; social and economic institutions exist that are not under gov control |
| Aristocracy | "Rule by best"; rule by wealthy members of ancient families; rule by upper class |
| Theocracy | "Rule by God"; self-appointed religious leaders; Ex. Iran |
| Oligarchy | "Rule by few" |
| Democracy | "Rule by the people"; gov in which political authority is vested in people |
| Direct Democracy | gov in which political decisions are made by the people directly rather than elected representatives; Example: Athenian gov in Greece allowed citizens to debate and vote directly on laws |
| Legislature | most important feature of Athenian gov; gov body responsible for lawmaking; composed of all Athenian citizens |
| Representative Democracy | modern adaptation of direct democracy; supplemented by initiative or referendum |
| Initiative | voters can propose laws or Constitutional amendments |
| Referendum | electoral device whereby legislative or constitutional measures are referred by the legislature to the voters for approval/disapproval |
| Recall | procedure that allows people to vote and remove an official from state and office |
| Consent of the people | laws/gov derives legitimacy from governed |
| Dangers of Direct Democracy | people may be too uneducated to govern themselves; majority might completely suppress minority creating a "mob rule" |
| Republic | crafted by US Constitution; gives sovereign power to people |
| Popular Sovereignty | ultimate political authority based on will of people |
| Democratic Republic | people hold ultimate power over gov through election process but all national policy is made by elected officials |
| Representative Democracy | gov in which representatives elected by people make and enforce laws and politics but monarchy is maintained in ceremonial role; Ex. Britain |
| American Revolution | 1775 |
| French Revolution | 1789 |
| Aspiration behind American and French Revolution | Democracy |
| Somalia | since 1991 has not had a central gov |
| March and April 2003 | US and British troops overthrow Saddam Hussein in Iraq |
| human rights organization Freedom House determined 42 countries or 34% of the worlds population were not free | 2009 |
| free white males that owned property suffrage | 1790s |
| Women received right to vote | 1920 |
| African American suffrage | late 1960s |
| universal suffrage | right to vote for representatives given to all adults |
| majority | over 50% |
| majority rule | basic principle of democracy asserting that the greatest number of citizens in any political unit should select officials and determine policies |
| limited gov | powers of gov limited either through written document or widely shared beliefs |
| Majoritarianism | political theory holding that in a democracy the gov ought to do what the majority of the people want but many people in America are not interested in politics and not well informed |
| Elite theory | society ran by a small number of people who exercise power to further there own self-interest; country select few making America a "sham democracy" |
| Pluralism | a struggle among groups to gain benefits for there members; group conflicts settled by compromise and accommodation |
| Problems with pluralism | poor rarely represented; groups may become so powerful that all policies become compromises to satisfy largest group |
| Political culture | patterned set of ideas, values, and ways of thinking about gov and politics and characterized its people |
| Political socialization | process by which political beliefs and values are transmitted to new immigrants and to our children |
| 2 Most important sources of political socialization | family and educational systems |
| Dominant culture | refers to values, customs, and language established by the groups that traditionally have controlled politics and gov in society |
| US dominant culture | Western European civilizations whose bias favors individualism, private property, ans Judeo-Christian ethics |
| Civil liberties | rights including the freedom of speech and religion that are protected for all individuals in a society |
| bill of rights | first ten amendments of the constitution |
| 1941 | Japanese attack pearl harbor |
| 2001 | Terrorist attacks on Pentagon and World Trade Center |
| equality | idea that all people are of equal worth |
| egalitarianism | belief in universal equality |
| property | anything that is or may be subject to ownership; inclusive of personal possessions and wealth creating assets |
| political ideology | comprehensive set of beliefs about politics |
| 2 Ideologies most commonly associated with American politics | Conservatism and liberalism |
| Conservatism | set of beliefs that includes advocacy of a limited role for the national gov in helping indivs; supports traditional values, life styles, and cautious response to change |
| Liberalism | advocacy of gov action to improve welfare of indivs; support civil rights and tolerance for political and social change; gov should take positive action like to reduce poverty |
| Socialism | based on strong support of economic and social equality; egalitarian society; major businesses taken over by gov |
| Libertarianism | based on total skepticism for most gov activities; strongly supports laissez faire, property rights, and opposes regulation of economy by redistribution of wealth and gov atempts to regulate personal behavior and promote moral values |
| Laissez faire | "let it be" |
| How much power the gov should have over economy (Socialism) | active control of major sectors |
| How much power the gov should have over economy (Liberalism) | positive gov action in economy |
| How much power the gov should have over economy (Conservatism) | positive gov action to support capitalism |
| How much power the gov should have over economy (libertarianism) | no economy regulation |
| What gov should promote (socialism) | community and economic equality |
| What gov should promote (liberalism) | economic security, equal opportunity and social liberty |
| What gov should promote (conservatism) | economic liberty, morality, and social order |
| What gov should promote (libertarianism) | total economic and social liberty |
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