Ch 1 Gov Terms

37865534	government	the institutions and processes through which public policies are made for a society.
37865535	public goods	Goods such as highways and public parks that everyone must share.
37865536	politics	The process by which we select our gov. leaders and what policies these leaders pursue . Politics produces authoritative decisions about public issues. Ex. voting, protest, civil disobedience.
37865537	political participation	All the activities used by citizens to influence the selections of political leaders or the policies they pursue.
37865538	single-issue groups	groups that have narrow interest tend to dislike compromise, and often draw membership from people new politics. These features distinguish them from traditional interest groups.
37865539	policy making system	The process by which policy comes into being and evolves over time. People's interests, problems,and concerns create political issues for government policymakers.These issues shape policy, which in turn impacts people, generation more interest,problems, and concerns.
37865540	linkage institutions	The political channels through which people's concerns become political issues on the policy agenda. In the United States, linkage institutions include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.
37865541	policy agenda	The issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actually involved in politics at any given point in time.
37865542	political issue	an issue that arises when people disagree about a problem and how to fix it.
37865543	policy making institutions	the branches of government charged with taking action on political issues. The U.S. constitution is established congress, presidency and the courts as policy making institutions. bureaucracy is so great that political scientist consider it a fourth policy making institution.
37865544	public policy	a choice that government makes in response to a political issue. A policy is a course of action taken with regard to some problem.
37865545	democracy	a system of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy rapresents and responds to the public's preferences.
37865546	majority rule	A fundamental principle of traditional democratic theory. In a democracy, choosing among alternatives requires that the majority's desire be respected.
37865547	minority rights	A principle of traditional democratic theory that guarantees rights to those who do not belong to majorities and allows that they might join majorities through persuasion and reasoned argument.
37865548	representation	A basic principle of traditional democratic theory that describes the relationship between the few leaders and the many followers.
37865549	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.
37865550	elite and class theory	A theory of government and politics contending that societies are divided along class lines and that an upperclass elite will rule, regardless of the formal niceties of governmental organization.
37865551	hyperpluralism	A theroy of govrment and politics contending that groups are so strong that governent is weakened. Hyperlism is an extreme, exaggerated, or perverted form of pluralism
37865552	policy gridlock	A condition that occurs when no coalition is strong enough to form a majority and establish a policy. The result is thst nothing may get done
37865553	gross domestic product	The sum total of the value of all the goods and services produced in a nation.
37865554	individualism	the belief that individual should be left on their own by the government. One of the primary reasons for the comparatively small scope of American government is the prominence of this belief In American political thought and practice.