Unit 1, Chapter 1 AP Gov

Political

Was the fundamental government finance problem political or mathematical?

Bureaucratic view: Appointed bureaucrats

Weber view?

Entrepreneurial politics

a policy in which almost everybody benefits and a small group pays

Majoritarian politics

a policy in which almost everybody benefits and almost everyone pays

Client politics

a policy in which one small group benefits and almost everybody pays

Interest group politics

a policy in which one small group benefits and another small group pays

Benefit

a satisfaction that people believe they will enjoy if a policy is adapted

Policy entrepreneurs

Activists in or out of government who pill together a political majority on behalf of unorganized interests

Pluralist view: No single group should dominate

Truman view?

Mills (power elite) view

American democracy is dominated by a few top leaders, many of them wealthy or privately powerful, who do not hold elective office

Political dropouts

Are more Americans being closer to being "political dropouts" than being "engaged citizens"?

3 governmental institutions with an important influence on agenda setting

Courts, The Bureaucracy, and the Senate

1/7

How much did the state governments pay in the monies requisitioned by the federal government?

$300 billion

How much money would the federal government being paying each year to get rid of their $20 trillion debt?

Creedal passion view: Want to bring religion into government

Huntington view?

Pork barrel legislation

Legislation that gives tangible benefits to constituents in several districts or states in the hope of winning their votes in return

A class view: that emphasizes the power of the "rich"

Marx view?

Power elite view: Dominated by a few top leaders

Mills view?

Wealthy capitalist, a group of business/military/labor unions, appointed bureaucrats, representative of a large group, and morally impassioned elites

What are the 5 views about how political power is distributed?

Wealthy capitalists and other economic elites determine most policies, a group of business, military, labor union, and elected officials controls most decisions, appointed bureaucrats run everything, representatives of a large number of interest groups are in charge, morally impassioned elites drive political change

What are the five views on how political power is distributed in America?

"few and defined" power

What did James Madison argue that the federal government needed?

1. Shared political values 2. The weight of custom traditions 3. The impact of events 4. Changes in the way political elites think and talk about politics

What four things effect the political agenda?

the Senate, the Bureaucracy, and the Courts

What governmental institutes influence the agenda?

Superfunds

What is a good illustration of entrepreneurial politics?

Shares political values, the impact of events, tradition, and changes in the way political elites think

What is the 4 things that impact the political agenda?

There must be an opportunity for leadership competition

What must happen for a representative democracy to work?

2 questions fundamental to understanding any political system

Who governs and to what ends?

Cost

a burden that people believe they must bear if a policy is adopted

Issue

a conflict, real or apparent, between the interests, ideas, or beliefs of different citizens

participatory (or direct) democracy:

a government in which all or most citizens participate directly

representative democracy

a government in which leader make decisions by winning a competitive struggle for the popular vote

Log-rolling

a legislator supports a proposal favored by another in return for support of his or hers

Weber (bureaucratic) view

appointed officials run everything despite the efforts of elected officials and the public to control them. The modern state, in order to become successful puts its affairs in the hands of appointed bureaucrats whose competence is essential to the management of complex affairs.

Marx (class) view

governments were dominated by business owners ( the bourgeoisie) until a revolution replaced them with rule by laborers

"free-rider" problem

interest groups are not so important in majoritarian politics is that citizens rarely will have much more incentive to join an interest group if the policy that such a group supports will benefit everybody, whether or not they are members of the group.

Political Agenda

issues that people believe require governmental action

Most people holding national office share which 5 demographic characteristics

middle class, middle aged, white, Protestant, and men

Elite

persons who possess a disproportionate share of some valued resource, like money, prestige, or expertise

Legitimacy

political authority conferred by law or by a state or national constitution

Truman (pluralist) view

political resources have become so widely distributed that no single elite, no social class, no bureaucratic arrangement can control them. This pluralist view is a view that competition among all affected interests shapes public policy. Political resources are broadly shared in part because there are so many governmental institutions that no single group can dominate most of the political process.

Power

the ability of one person to get another person to act in accordance with the first person's intentions

Politics

the activity by which an issue is agitated or settled

Huntington (creedal passion) view

the most important policy decisions and political changes are influenced by morally impassioned elites who are motivated less by economic self interest than they are by an almost religious zeal to bring government institutions and polices in line with democratic ideals. A view that morally impassioned elites to drive important political changes

Authority

the right to use power