Test 1 - Chapter 1

form of democracy in which political power is exercised directly by citizens

form of democracy in which citizens elect public officials to make political decisions and formulate laws on their behalf

form of government in which power derives from citizens, but public officials make policy and govern according to existing law

·    Legislature (Congress) – makes the laws

·    Executive (the president and the government departments, or bureaucracy) – executes the laws

·    Judiciary (the Supreme Court and the federal courts) interprets the law

government structure in which authority is divided among branches with each holding separate and independent powers and areas of responsibility

government structure that authorizes each branch of government to share powers with the other branches, thereby holding some scrutiny of and control over the other branches

System of Government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between national and state governments.

• horizontally division of power between the national government and the state governments

·    Wanted stronger state government than federal

·    Weaker executive

·    Agrarian nation

·    People would check the government

·    Less equality because he believed certain people should have more power

·    Strong executive

·    Military nation

·    Elites would govern better

·    Individuals who have faith in government to improve people’s lives, believing that private efforts are insufficient.

·    Favor efforts to increase equality, including higher taxes on the wealthy than on the poor and the provision of social benefits, such as healthcare, unemployment insurance, and welfare payments to support the poor.

·    Less government interference

·    Individuals who distrust government, believing that private efforts are more likely to improve people’s lives.

·    Believe that lower taxes will prompt greater economic growth that will ultimately benefit everyone, including the poor.

·    Tradition, ban abortion and same –sex marriage

·    Do not have a clear political ideology

·    Generally believe that government should refrain from acting to regulate either the economy or moral values.

·    Opposing concentrated wealth and adhering to tradition moral values.

·    Set of beliefs holding that people, and not government, are responsible for their own well-being.

·    Economic system in which businesses and key industries are privately owned and in which individuals, acting on their own or with others, are free to create businesses.

·    Economic system in which the government own major industries

·    Regulate privately owned businesses and industries

·    Monitors banks and financial markets

·    Belief in human equality that disdains inherited titles of nobility and even inherited wealth.

intentional actions of government designed to achieve some goal

·    First stage in the policy making process, in which a problem in politics, the economy, or society is recognized as warranting government action.

·    Stage in the policy making process in which a problem gets the attention of policy makers

·    Group of citizens who share a common interest –a political opinion, religious or ideological belief, social goal, or economic characteristic – and try o influence public policy to benefit themselves.

·    Participants in the policy making system who each seek to influence the content and direction of legislation

·    Stage in the policy making process in which those with a stake in the policy area propose and develop solutions to the problem that has been identified

·    Stage in the policy making process in which Congress passes a law that authorizes a specific governmental response to a problem

·    Stage in the policy making process in which the executive branch develops the rules that will put a policy into action

·    Stage in the policy making process in which a policy is evaluated for its effectiveness and efficiency; if changes are needed, the issue is placed back on the policy agenda

·    Small handful of decision makers who hold authority over a large set of issues

·    System of policy making in which competing interests hold authority over issues most important to them

·    System of policy making in which those with a numerical majority hold authority

·    Idea that government should implement laws and policies that reflect the wishes of the public and any changes in those wishes

·    Idea that all individuals are equal I their moral worth and so must be equal in treatment under the law and have equal access to the decision making process

·    System of government in which the power to govern is concentrated in the hands of one individual ruler

·    System of government in which the power to govern is concentrated in the hands of a powerful few, usually wealthy individuals

·    System of government that assigns power to a single person who inherits that position and rules until death

·    Goods or benefits provided by government from which everyone benefits and from which no one can be excluded

·    Goods or benefits provided by government; most of the benefit falls to the individuals or families receiving them

·    Idea of representation that says elected officials should do what they think best, even if the public disagrees, and elections allow the public to render a judgment on their decisions

·    Idea of representation that says elected officials should do what the public wants and not exercise independent judgment

·    Idea that holds people should have equal amounts of influence in the political system

·    Expectation that citizens may not be discriminated against on account of race, gender, or national background, and that every citizen should have an equal chance to succeed in life

·    Expectation that equality is achieved if results are comparable for all citizens regardless of race, gender, or national background, or that such groups are proportionally represented in measures of success in life

·    Voluntary organizations that allow communities to flourish

Idea that a numerical majority of a group should hold the power to make decisions binding on the whole group; a simple majority.

Government by a mob or mass of people with nor formal authority whatsoever.

Political value that cherishes freedom from an arbitrary exercise of power that constricts individual choice

Defined by Madison as any group that places its own interests above the aggregate interests of society.

Concern for one’s own advantage and well-being

Broad coalitions of interests organized to win elections in order to enact a commonly supported set of public policies.

Process by which people make decisions about who gets what, when, and how

set of consistent political beliefs.

set of beliefs in common to a group of people.