AP Government Ch1

political issue

A _________ arises when people disagree about a problem or about a public policy choice.

linkage institutions

In a democratic society, parties, elections, interest groups, and the media are key _________ between the preferences of citizens and the government's policy agenda.

public policy

The end product of government and politics is _________.

Policymakers

What stands at the core of the political system, working within the three policymaking institutions established by the U.S. Constitution: the Congress, the presidency, and the courts?

policy agenda

When people confront government officials with problems they expect them to solve, they are trying to influence the government's ________.

Policy impacts

_________ are the effects policy has on people and on society's problems.

Traditional democratic theory

______________ rests upon several principles that specify how a democratic government makes its decisions.

Public Policy

a choice that government makes in response to some issue on its agenda.

Democracy

a means of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy represents and responds to the public's preferences.

Elite and Class Theory

argues that society is divided along class lines and that an upper-class elite rules on the basis of its wealth.

Pluralist theory

argues that there are many centers of influence in which groups compete with one another for control over public policy through bargaining and compromise.

Hyperpluralism

argues that too many strong influential groups cripple the government's ability to make coherent policy by dividing government and its authority.

Single Issue groups

groups so concerned with one matter that their members cast their votes on the basis of that issue only.

Policymaking system

institutions of government designed to respond to each other and to the priorities of the people by governmental action.

Policymaking institutions

institutions such as Congress, the presidency, and the courts established by the Constitution to make policy.

Linkage institutions

institutions such as parties, elections, interest groups, and the media, which provide a linkage between the preferences of citizens and the government's policy agenda.

Government

institutions that make public policy for a society.

Minority Rights

protecting the rights and freedoms of the minority in choosing among policy alternatives.

Policy agenda

the list of subjects or problems to which people inside and outside government are paying serious attention at any given time.

policy making system

the process by which policy comes into being and evolves over time.

Representation

the relationship between the leaders and the followers.

Politics

determines whom we select as our government leaders and what policies they pursue; in other words, who gets what, when, and how.

Gross domestic product

the total value of all goods and services produced annually by the United States.

Public Goods

things that everyone can share.

Political Issue

this arises when people disagree about a problem or about public policy choices made to combat a problem.

Political Participation

this arises when people disagree about a problem or about public policy choices made to combat a problem.

Majority rule

weighing the desires of the majority in choosing among policy alternatives.

Policy gridlock

where each interest uses its influence to thwart policies it opposes so that no coalition forms a majority to establish policy.