AP Gov. Ch. 2
Initiative
A citizen's group gathers enough signatures on a petition to force a popular vote on a statewide lottery proposal. What would this proposal represent?
Responsiveness
A decision-making principle, necessitated by representative government, that implies that elected representatives should do what the majority of people wants
Majoritarian groups are based off of majority rule and pluralist models are based off of interest groups.
A difference between majoritarian groups and pluralist groups.
Demagogue
A politician who appeals to and often deceives the masses by manipulating their emotions and prejudices
Democratization
A process of transition as a country attempts to move from an authoritarian form of government to a democratic one
Oligarchy
A system of government in which power is concentrated in the hands of a few individuals.
Autocracy
A system of government in which the power to govern is concentrated in the hands of one individual.
Democracy
A system of government in which, in theory, the people rule, either directly or indirectly
Representative Democracy
A system of government where citizens elect public officials to govern on their behalf
Participatory Democracy
A system of government where rank-and-file citizens rule themselves rather than electing representatives to govern on their behalf
Procedural Democratic Theory
A view of democracy as being embodied in a decision-making process that involves universal participation, political equality, majority rule, and responsiveness
Referendum
A vote on a policy issue
Pluralist Model of Democracy
An interpretation of democracy in which government by the people is taken to mean government by people operating through competing interest groups
Interest Group
An organized group of individuals that seeks to influence public policy
Political Equality
Equality in political decision making: one vote per person, with all votes counted equally
Institutional Mechanisms
Establishing procedures and organizations that allow public opinion to be translated into government policy
Recall
Forcing a special election for an up or down vote on a sitting governor or state judge
Plurality Rule
If participants divide over more than two alternatives and none receives a simple majority, the principle usually defaults to _________________, under which the group does what most participants want.
We don't have adequate mechanisms for popular participation
Many observers of American politics contend that the majoritarian model is not a good description of our system because why?
The people
The Greek word demos, which is the root of the term democracy, means what?
# of citizens
The ancient Greeks classified governments as autocracies, oligarchies, or democracies based on the _______________________.
Minority Rights
The benefits of government that cannot be denied to any citizens by majority decisions
Majoritarian Model of Democracy
The classical theory of democracy in which government by the people is interpreted as government by the majority of the people
Universal Participation
The concept that everyone in a democracy should participate in governmental decision making
Majority Rule
The principle- basic to procedural democratic theory- that the decision of a group must reflect the preference of more than half of those participating
Elite Theory
The view that a small group of people actually makes most of the important government decisions
Substantive Democratic Theory
The view that democracy is embodied in the substance of government policies rather in policymaking procedure
Democratization
Turning a non-democratic government into a democracy.
Universal Participation, Political Equality, Majority Rule, and Government responsiveness to public opinion
What are the 4 principles of procedural democracy?
Interest groups and good organizations
What does pluralist democracy tend to favor in the U.S.?
Direct Democracy
What is are New England town meetings an example of?
The decision making process
What is the procedural view of democracy most concerned with?
Initiative
When a policy question is put on the ballot by citizens