Upgrade to remove ads
Only $35.99/year

Government in America: Chapter One Key Terms

Terms in this set (16)

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 pursue. Also: The process by which we elect leaders to represent us in the "how."
Political Participation
All the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue; examples include voting, protest, and civil disobedience.
Single-Issue Group
Groups that have a narrow interest, tend to dislike compromise, and often draw membership from people new to politics. Link to: cohesiveness, free-rider problem.
Policymaking System
The process by which policy comes into being and evolves. People's interests, problems, and concerns create political issues for government policymakers. These issues shape policy, which in turn impacts people, generating more interests, problems, and concerns.
Linkage Institutions
the political channels through which people's concerns become political issues on the policy agenda; examples include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.
Policy Agenda
The issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actually involved in politics at any given time. Link to: gatekeeper role of media; electronic throne.
Policymaking Institutions
The branches of government charged with taking actions on political issues; examples include Congress, the Presidency, the Courts, and the Bureaucracy.
Democracy
A system of selection policymakers and of organizing government so that policy represents and responds to the public's preferences. Link to: republic; oligarchy.
Majority Rule
A fundamental principal of traditional democratic theory. In a democracy, choosing among alternatives require that the majority's desire be respected. Link to: minority rights.
Minority Rights
A principal of traditional democratic theory that guarantees rights to those who do not belong to majorities but allows for their participation. Link to: majority rule.
Pluralist Theory
A theory of government and politics emphasizing that politics is mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies.
Elite and Class Theory
A theory of government and politics contending that societies are divided along class lines and that the upper-class elite will rule; or perhaps should rule. Link to: oligarchy.
Hyperpluralism
A cynical theory of government and politics contending that groups are so strong that government is weakened; pluralism gone bad. Link to: policy gridlock.
Policy Gridlock
A condition that occurs when no coalition is strong enough to form a majority and establish policy. The result is that nothing may get done. Link to hyperpluralism.
Sets with similar terms