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