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AP Gov Ch. 1 Into Gov...

Terms in this set (21)

Government
The institutions that make authoritative decisions for any given society
Public goods
Services shared by everyone and cannot be denied to anyone. (ex: highways, public parks, clean water)
Politics
The process by which we select our governmental leaders and what policies they pursue. (Politics produces authoritative decisions about public issues)
Political participation
Citizen activities used to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue. (Ex: voting, protest, civil disobedience)
Single issue groups
Groups that vote on a single issue. Typically having a narrow interest, tend to dislike compromise, and draw membership from people new to politics.
Policymaking system
The process by which policy comes into being and evolves over time. People's interests, problems and concerns create political issues for gov policymakers. (Ex cycle: Issues shape policy, policy impacts people, people gain more interests, problems and concerns, which create issues etc. etc.)
Linkage institutions
The political channels through which people's concerns become political issues on the policy agenda. (Ex in US: Elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.)
Policy agenda
Issues that attract attention of public officials and people involved in politics.
Political issue
An issue resulting of people disagreeing about a problem or public policy and how to fix it.
Policymaking institutions
Branches of gov that take action of political issues. U.S. Constitution established 3 PI's: Congress, the presidency, and the courts. Bureaucracy has so much influence, hence political scientists consider it a fourth branch of PI.
Public policy
A decision that gov makes in response to a political issue. Policy = 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
The will of over half of the voters should be respected in choosing amongst alternatives. (Traditional democratic theory)
Minority rights
Guarantees rights to minorities and allows that they can join majorities through persuasion and reasoned argument. (Traditional democratic theory) Ex: Freedom of speech and assembly.
Representation
Describes the relationship between the few leaders and the many followers.
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