government
the means by which a society organizes itself and how it allocates authority in order to accomplish collective goals and provide benefits that the society as a whole needs.
education, health care, and an infrastructure for transportation.
The type of benefits provided differ according to the country and their specific type of governmental system, but governments commonly provide such things as ...
politics
refers to the process of gaining and exercising control within a government for the purpose of setting and achieving particular goals, especially those related to the division of resources within a nation.
economic systems; certain types of political thought or governmental organization are closely related to or develop with certain types of economic systems.
Sometimes governmental systems are confused with ... why
Adam smith
who believed "people should be allowed to operate as they wish and keep the proceeds of their work.
adam smith
Scottish philosopher who was born nineteen years after Locke's death,
individualism
capitalism relies on...
socialist
In ... societies, the means of generating wealth, such as factories, large farms, and banks, are owned by the government and not by private individuals.
Oligarchy
In many socialist countries the government is an ...: only members of a certain political party or ruling elite can participate in government.
private goods
food, clothing, and housing are provided in ample supply by private businesses that earn a profit in return. These goods and services are known as ...
Public goods
goods or services that are available to all without charge
toll goods
Private schooling is a type of good called a .... they are available to many people, and many people can make use of them, but only if they can pay the price.
common goods
goods that all people may use free of charge but that are of limited supply,
civic engagement
the participation that connects citizens to government,
Republic or Representative Democracy
The government of the United States can best be described as a ....
political power
influence over institutions, leaders, and policies
democracy
a government in which political power rests in the hands of the people.
representative democracy
In a ..., however, the citizens do not govern directly. Instead, they elect representatives to make decisions and pass laws on behalf of all the people.
majority rule
the opinions of the majority of the people have more influence with government than those of the minority.
protection of minority rights
people cannot be deprived of certain rights even if an overwhelming number of people think that they should be.
direct democracy
people participate directly in making government decisions.
referendum
proposed law
monarchy
one ruler, usually a hereditary ruler, holds political power.
Totalitarianism
the government is more important than the citizens, and it controls all aspects of citizens' lives.
elite theory
Many Americans fear that a set of elite citizens is really in charge of government in the United States and that others have no influence. This belief is called the ... of government.
pluralist theory
that political power rests with competing interest groups who share influence in government.
great number of access points to government.
Pluralist theorists assume that citizens who want to get involved in the system do so because of the ...
help the poor
Giving the elite what they want may interfere with plans to ....
a compromise
what is a tradeoff
freedom of speech
Many of the tradeoffs made by government are about ...
supremacy of the central government , state governments should be more powerful.
tradeoffs have been made between those who favor the ...and those who believe that ...
conflict
Tradeoffs also occur as a result of ... between groups representing the competing interests of citizens.
social capital
the collective value of all 'social networks'
Civic engagement
...can increase the power of ordinary people to influence government actions.
ideology
established beliefs and ideals that help shape political policy
partisanship
the tendency to identify with and to support (often blindly) a particular political party,
intense preferences
based on strong feelings regarding an issue that someone adheres to over time.
latent
... preferences are not deeply held and do not remain the same over time. They
wealthy, politically powerful people control government, and government has no interest in meeting the needs of ordinary people
the elite theory of government maintains that
Partisanship
supporting the actions of the democratic party simply because one identifies oneself as a member of that party is an example of
Direct Democracy
in which form of government does a small group of elite people hold political power
government policy is formed as a result of the competition between groups with different goals and interests
according to the pluralist theory of government