Common goods
goods that all people may use but that are of limited supply
Democracy
A form of government in which citizens govern themselves
Direct Democracy
A form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives
Elite Theory
claims political power rests in the hands of a small, elite group of people
Government
The institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies
Ideology
the beliefs and ideals that help shape political opinion and eventually police
intense preference
beliefs and preferences based on strong feelings regarding an issue that someone adheres to over time
latent preference
beliefs and preferences people are not deeply committed to and that change over time
majority rule
A fundamental principle of traditional democratic theory. In a democracy, choosing among alternatives requires that the majority's desire be respected.
minority rights
protections for those who are not part of the majority
Monarchy
A form of government in which power is vested in hereditary kings and queens who govern in the interests of all
Oligarchy
a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution.
Partisanship
strong allegiance to one's own political party, often leading to unwillingness to compromise with members of the opposing party
pluraist theory
Claims power rest in the hands of the group
political power
influence over a government's institutions, leadership, or policies
Politics
the process by which we decide resources will be allocated and which policies a government shall ensue
private goods
goods provided by private businesses that can be used only by those who pay for them
public goods
goods provided by government that anyone can use and that are available to all without charge
Representative Democracy
a form of democracy in which citizens elect officials to govern on their behalf ex United States of America
social capital
connections with others and the willingness to interact and aid them
Toll good
a good that is available to many people but is used only by those who can pay the price to do so
Totalitarianism
A political system in which the government has total control over the lives of individual citizens.
bill of attainder
a legislative action declaring someone guilty without a trial; prohibited under the Constitution
An obvious and important difference between a president and a prime minister is that the prime minister always has:
majority support in Parliament.
The powers that the president shares with the Senate include:
making treaties.
The greatest source of presidential power is:
politics and public opinion.
One source for the expansion of presidential power has been:
his role in foreign affairs.
The first presidents established the legitimacy of the office by:
treading cautiously.
The personal popularity of the president has its greatest effect on:
how Congress treats his legislative proposals.
As a rule, presidential popularity tends to:
decrease the longer a president is in office.
The likelihood of Congress overriding a president's veto is:
extremely low.
The president is limited to two terms in office by the:
Twenty-Second Amendment.
The constitutional duty of the vice-president is to
preside over the Senate.
The objects of impeachment have most frequently been
federal judges
A bureaucracy is a "complex" organization in the sense that:
authority is divided among several managers.
Most federal agencies must share their functions with:
related state agencies.
Political authority over the bureaucracy is:
shared between the presidency and Congress.
During most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, appointments to the civil service were based primarily on:
patronage
The merit system began with the:
Pendleton Act of 1883
Under the power of judicial review, a law of Congress is void if it:
is in conflict with the Constitution.
The power to create the lower federal courts derives from:
the powers of Congress.
Citizen X is suing his neighbor Y for ramming his $9,000 car. This case would be heard in:
a state court.
The largest proportion of cases that reach the Supreme Court do so via:
writ of certiorari.
If Senator X does not like a constitutional decision of the Supreme Court, the most obvious course of action is to:
seek a constitutional amendment.
Slander differs from libel in referring to:
oral statements.
is the total number of Cabinet-level departments:
15
Red tape" is often associated with:
the procedures associated with bureaucracy that often delay the process of working with and getting decisions from bureaucracy.
According to James David Barber, the best possible president has these characteristics:
active-positive
Most important power a president has to influence the judiciary:
appointment of new justices.
The majority of bureaucrats are hired at this level of government:
state and local.
In a bureaucracy based upon patronage, you are most likely to be hired because of your:
personal or political connection to the president or officeholder.
This piece of legislation changed bureaucracy from a patronage-based system to a system based upon merit.
Pendleton Act.
The President can fire any civil servant he wants to fire at will.
FALSE
The military is not a bureaucracy.
FALSE
The number of employees of the federal government has not increased dramatically in the last quarter century.
TRUE
is the total number of Electoral College votes:
538
12th Amendment changed the manner in which
how presidents and vice-presidents are elected, providing for the election of them as a "ticket.
President shares these powers with the Senate:
appointment of ambassadors.
b. appointment of judges.
c. appointment of senior officials.
The president's closest and most trusted advisors are to be found in:
White House Office and E.O.P.
Which one of the following presidential elections was not controversial and did not involve an electoral college dispute:
2012
Electoral votes needed to win the American Presidency
270
The 2000 Presidential Election was resolved by
the Supreme Court
Ross Perot was the most successful "third party" candidate for the presidency in the last half century.
TRUE
If there is a tie in the Electoral College vote, the election of the president is decided by the Senate.
FALSE
This person was not confirmed as a Supreme Court justice:
Robert Bork
Number of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court:
9
This Supreme Court decision established the doctrine of judicial review:
Marbury v. Madison