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.
