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| the concept that society must ensure that people are equal, and governments must design policies to redistribute wealth and status so that economic and social equality is actually achieved |
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| the legitimate use of force to control human behavior; also, the organization or agency authorized to exercise that force |
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| a political entity's externally recognized right to exercise final authority over its affairs |
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| a form of rule in which the central government plays a strong role in regulating existing private industry and directing the economy |
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| the belief that states should leave individuals free to follow their individual pursuits |
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| a socialist form of government that guarantees civil liberties; citizens determine the extent of government activity through free elections and competitive political parties |
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| benefits and services, such as parks and sanitation, that benefit all citizens but are not likely to be produced voluntarily by individuals |
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| a political ideology that is opposed to all government action except as necessary to protect life and property |
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| an economic doctrine that opposes any form of government intervention in business |
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| the authority of a government to maintain order and safeguard citizens' health, morals, safety, and welfare |
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| those who are willing to use government to promote order but not equality |
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| those who are willing to use government to promote equality but not order |
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| a system of government in which the power to govern is concentrated in the hands of one individual |
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| a system of government in which power is concentrated in the hands of a few people |
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| procedural democratic theory |
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| a view of democracy as being embodied in a decision-making process that involves universal participation, political equality, majority rule, and responsiveness |
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| a system of government where rank-and-file citizens rule themselves rather than electing representatives to govern on their behalf |
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| a decision-making principle that implies that elected representatives shouls do what the majority of people wants |
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| substantive democratic theory |
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| the view that democracy is embodied in the substance of government policies rather than in the policy making procedure |
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| the benefits of government that cannot be denied to any citizens by majority decisions |
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| majoritarian model of democracy |
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| the classical theory of democracy in which government by the people is interpreted as government by the majority of the people |
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| pluralist model of democracy |
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| an interpretation of democracy in which government by the people is taken to mean government by people operating through competing interest groups |
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| the view that a small group of people actually makes most of the important government decisions |
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| the belief that the people agree to set up rulers for certain purposes and thus have the right to resist or remove rulers who act against those purposes |
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| a loose association of independent states that agree to cooperate on specified matters |
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| a set of proposals for a new government, submitted to the Constitutional Convention of 1787; included separation of the government into three branches, division of the legislature into two houses, and proportional representation in the legislature |
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| submitted by the head of the New Jersey delegation to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, a set of nine resolutions that would have, in effect, preserved the Articles of Confederation by amending them rather than replacing them |
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| submitted by the Connecticut delegation to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, a plan calling for a bicameral legislature in which the House of Representatives would be apportioned according to population and the states would be equally represented in the Senate |
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| a majority greater than the minimum of 50 percent plus one |
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| a form of government in which power resides in the people and is exercised by their elected representatives |
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| the division of power between a central government and the regional governments |
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| the powers explicitly granted to Congress by the Constitution |
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| necessary and proper clause |
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| the last clause in Section 8 of Article 1 of the Constitution, which gives Congress the means to execute its enumerated power |
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| those powers that Congress needs to execute its enumerated powers |
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| the clause in Article 6 of the Constitution that asserts that national laws take precedence over state and local laws when they conflict |
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| a view that holds that the Constitution is a compact among sovereign states, so that the powers of the national government and the states are clearly differentiated |
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| a view that holds that the Constitution is an agreement among the people who are citizens of both state and nation, so there is much overlap between state powers and national powers |
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| the last clause in Section 8 of Article 1 of the Constitution, which gives Congress the means to execute its enumerated powers |
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| money provided by one level of government to another to be spent for a given purpose |
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| grants-in-aid targeted for a specific purpose by either formula or project |
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| categorical grants distributed according to a particular set of rules, called a formula, that specify who is eligible for the grants and how much the eligible applicant will receive |
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| categorical grants awarded on the basis of competitive applications submitted by prospective recipients to perform a specific task or function |
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| grants-in-aid awarded for general purposes, allowing the recipient great discretion in spending the grant money |
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| the power of Congress to enact laws by which the national government assumes total or partial responsibility for a state government function |
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| the right to enact and enforce legislation locally |
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| a distribution of opinions that shows two responses being chosen about as frequently as each other |
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| the complex process by which people acquire their political values |
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| leaders who follow news in specific policy areas |
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| two-step flow of communication |
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| the process in which a few policy elites gather information then inform their more numerous followers, mobilizing them to apply pressure to government |
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| election coverage by the mass media that focuses on which candidate is ahead rather than on national issues |
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| the belief that television is to blame for the low level of citizens' knowledge about public affairs |
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| journalism that scrutinizes public and business institutions and publicizes perceived misconduct |
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| a philosophy of political reform based on the goodness and wisdom of the individual citizen as opposed to special interests and political institutions |
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| an election on a policy issue |
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| a procedure by which voters can propose an issue to be decided by the legislature of by the people in a referendum; it requires gathering a specific number of signatures and submitting a petition to a designated agency |
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| standard socioeconomic model |
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| a relationship between socioeconomic status and conventional political involvement: people with higher status and more education are more likely to participate than those with lower status |
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| an organization that sponsors candidates for political office under the organization's name |
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| an election that produces a sharp change in the existing pattern of party loyalties among groups of voters |
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| a lessening of the importance of party loyalties in voting decisions |
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| the system by which one office is won by the single candidate who collects the most votes |
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| proportional representation |
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| the system by which legislative seats are awarded to a party in proportion to the vote that party wins in an election |
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| a committee of a political party composed of party chairpersons and party officials from every state |
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| a meeting to select party leaders and decide committee assignments |
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| congressional campaign committee |
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| an organization maintained by a political party to raise funds to supports its own candidates in congressional elections |
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| a centralized party organization that dominates local politics by controlling elections |
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| a primary election in which voters must declare their party affiliation before they are given the primary ballot containing that party's potential nominees |
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| a primary election in which voters need not declare their party affiliation and can choose one party's primary ballot to take into the voting booth |
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| a primary election that allows individual state parties to decide whether they permit independents to vote in their primaries and for which offices |
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| a primary election that entitles independent voters to vote in a party's primary |
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| states' practice of moving delegate selection primaries and caucuses earlier in the calendar year to gain media and candidate attention |
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| in voting, a single party's candidates for all the offices |
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| in voting, candidates from different parties for different offices |
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| first-past-the-post elections |
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| a British term for elections conducted in single-member districts that award victory to the candidate with the most votes |
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| an election that lacks an incumbent |
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| Federal Election Commission |
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| a bipartisan federal agency of six members that oversees the financing of national election campaigns |
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| financial contributions given directly to a candidate running for congressional office or the presidency |
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| financial contributions to party committees for capital and operational expenses |
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| committees named after Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code; they enjoy tax-exempt status in election campaigns if they are unaffiliated with political parties and take positions on issues, not specific candidates |
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| Declaration of Independence |
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Definition
-all men are created equal
-all men are endowed by their "creator" with certain inalienable rights
-the purpose of government is to secure those rights
-the power of government is based on the consent of the governed
-if government does not uphold these rights, people can rebel and create a new government |
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| instrumental self-interest |
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| action taken to help produce a result that one favors |
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| cost-benefit self interest |
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| individuals have goals that they want to achieve, but only limited resources |
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| the paradox of collective action |
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Definition
| even when one individual has an interest in an outcome of an election, it is not in that individual's self-interest in cost-benefit terms to pursue that instrumental interest through politics |
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-socializing the citizens
-reporting the news
-interpreting the news
-influencing public opinions
-setting the agenda |
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| organizations, however loosely organized, which exist for a period of time, during which they have run candidates for public office, earned the support of a significant following in the electorate for those candidates, and which must be taken into account by other similar competing organizations |
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