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| The institutions and processes through which public policies are made for a society. |
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| The process by which we select our governmental leaders and what policies these leaders pursue. It produces authoritative decisions about public issues. |
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| Groups that have narrow interest, tend to dislike compromise, and often draw membership form people new to politics. These features disgusting them from traditional interest groups. |
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| The channels or access points through which issues and people's policy preferences ge on the government's policy agenda. In the United States, elections, political parties, interest, groups, and the mass media are the three main examples. |
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| The issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actually involved in politics at any given point in time. |
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| A choice that govenment makes in response to a political issue. A policy is a course of action taken with regard to some problem. |
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| A system of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy represents and responds to the public's preferences. |
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| A fundamental principle of traditonal democratic theory. In democracy, choosing amount alternatives requires that the majority's desire be respected. |
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| A principle of traditional democratic theory that guarantees rights to those who do not belonf to majorities and allows that they might join majorities through persuasion and reasoned argument. |
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| A basic principle of traditional democratic theory that describes the relationship between the few leaders and the many followers. |
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| A theory of government and politics contending that groups are so strong that government is weakened. An extreme, exaggerated, or perverted form of pluralism. |
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| A condition that occurs when no coalition is strong enough to form a majority and establish policy. The result is that nothing may get done. |
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| An overall set of values widely shared within a society. |
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| A nation's basic law. It creates political institutions, assigns or divides powers in government, and often provides certain guarantees to citizens. Can be either written or unwritten. |
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| Rights inherent in human beings, not dependent on governments, which include, life, liberty, and property. The concept of this was central to English philosopher John Locke's theories about governmental, and was widely accepted among america's Foun. |
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| The idea that certain things are out of bound for government because of the natural rights of citizens. Central to John Locke's philosophy in the seventeenth century, and it contrasted sharply with the prevailing view of the divine. |
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| Articles of Confederation |
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| The first constitution of the United States, adopted by Congress in 1777 and enacted in 1781. The Articles established a national legislator, the Continental Congress, but most authority rested within the state legislators. |
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| A series of attacks on courthouses by a small band of farmers led by revolutionary war Captain Daniel Shays to block foreclosure proceedings. |
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| The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for equal representation of each state in Congress regardless of the state's population. |
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| The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for representation of each state in Congress in proportion to that state's share of the U.S. population. |
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