Government Chapter 1 Terms

Fifteenth amendment

African American men have the right to vote

public goods

Ideally, everyone can purchase what they need from private goods, but because this is not the case, especially for people in poverty, the government must provide certain goods to its people. These goods are available to all free of charge. Examples: national security, education, police, fire department, public transportation, mail service, food/housing/healthcare for the poor.

McCullen v. Coakley

The US Supreme Court ruled against a "buffer zone" between protesters and women entering abortion clinics;

capitalism

a type of economic system that relies on individualism

Twenty-Sixth Amendment

lowered the voting age to 18 - argument being that it was unfair for 18 year olds to not have the right to vote for people who had the power to send them to war.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

made it possible for african americans to exercise their right to vote in the South

Fourteenth Amendment

requires that states uphold the first amendment rights

Robert Dahl

Author of the book Who Governs? and is one of the first to advance the pluralist theory. He argued that politicians seeking an "electoral payoff" are attentive to the concerns of politically active citizens and, through them, become acquainted with the needs of ordinary people. They will attempt to give people what they want in exchange for their votes.

minority rights

People cannot be deprived of certain rights even if an overwhelming number of people think that they should be. For example, let's say American society decided that atheists, people who do not believe that God exists, were evil and should be imprisoned or expelled from the country. Even though atheists only account for about 7 percent of the population, they would be protected due to these rights.

toll good

These types of goods are available to many people, and many people can make use of them, but only if they can pay the price. They occupy a middle ground between public and private goods; Examples: private schooling, cable TV, turnpikes.

Nineteenth Amendment

Women have the right to vote

Adam Smith

a Scottish philosopher who was born nineteen years after John Locke's death. He believed that all people should be free to acquire property in any way that they wished. Instead of being controlled by government, business, and industry, he argued, people should be allowed to operate as they wish and keep the proceeds of their work. Competition would ensure that prices remained low and faulty goods disappeared from the market. In this way, businesses would reap profits, consumers would have their needs satisfied, and society as a whole would prosper. He discussed these ideas, which formed the basis for industrial capitalism, in his book The Wealth of Nations, which was published in 1776, the same year that the Declaration of Independence was written

direct democracy

a form of government where people participate directly in making government decisions instead of choosing representatives to do this for them

Common Cause

a non-partisan organization that seeks to hold government accountable for its actions. It calls for campaign finance reform and paper verification of votes registered on electronic voting machines. Voters would then receive proof that the machine recorded their actual vote.

democracy

a political system in which people govern themselves; it promotes individualism and the freedom to act as one chooses.

social capital

the collective value of all 'social networks' [those whom people know] and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other

government

the means by which a society organizes itself and allocates authority in order to accomplish collective goals and provide benefits that the society as a whole needs

first amendment

the right to express their opinions on matters of concern to them; the federal government cannot interfere with this right;

partisanship

the tendency to identify with and to support (often blindly) a particular political party

Ritchie Torres

the youngest member of the New York City Council and the first gay council member to represent the Bronx

socialism

A type of alternative economic system; the means of generating wealth, such as factories, large farms, and banks, are owned by the government and not by private individuals. The government accumulates wealth and then redistributes it to citizens, primarily in the form of social programs that provide such things as free or inexpensive health care, education, and childcare. The government also usually owns and controls utilities such as electricity, transportation systems like airlines and railroads, and telecommunications systems. Many times, the main form of government in control of these economic systems is an oligarchy.

monarchy

Government with one ruler, usually a hereditary ruler, holds political power. Although the power of some leaders is limited by law, and such kings and queens often rule along with an elected legislature that makes laws for the country, this is not always the case. Many southwest Asian kingdoms, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, have absolute leaders whose power is unrestricted

private goods

In the United States, the democratic government works closely together with its capitalist economic system. The interconnectedness of the two affects the way in which goods and services are distributed. The market provides many goods and services needed by Americans. For example, food, clothing, and housing are provided in ample supply by private businesses that earn a profit in return. These goods and services are known as _______?

elite theory

Many Americans fear that a set of elite citizens is really in charge of government in the United States and that others have no influence; C Wright Mills was a large supporter of this theory.

civic engagement

Robert Putnam theorizes that ______ is declining due to these factors: decline in small group membership, including increased participation by women in the workforce, a decrease in the number of marriages and an increase in divorces, and the effect of technological developments, such as the internet, that separate people by allowing them to feel connected to others without having to spend time in their presence

pluralist theory

The belief that political power rests with competing interest groups who share influence in government. Assumes that citizens who want to get involved in the system do so because of the great number of access points to government. That is, the U.S. system, with several levels and branches, has many places where people and groups can engage the government.

totalitarianism

The government is more important than the citizens, and it controls all aspects of citizens' lives. Citizens' rights are limited, and the government does not allow political criticism or opposition. These forms of government are fairly rare. North Korea is one example.

majority rule

The opinions of the majority of the people have more influence with government than those of the minority. If the number of elected representatives who favor a proposed law is greater than those who oppose it, the law will be enacted.

representative democracy

This is the type of government that best describes the United States; The citizens do not govern directly. Instead, they elect representatives to make decisions and pass laws on behalf of all the people. Thus, U.S. citizens vote for members of Congress, the president and vice president, members of state legislatures, governors, mayors, and members of town councils and school boards to act on their behalf.

John Locke

an English political philosopher of the seventeenth century; According to him, all people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property.

ideology

established beliefs and ideals that help shape political policy

common goods

goods that all people may use free of charge but that are of limited supply, such as fish in the sea or clean drinking water. Because everyone can use these goods, they must be protected so a few people do not take everything that is available and leave others with nothing.

politics

refers to the process of gaining and exercising control within a government for the purpose of setting and achieving particular goals, especially those related to the division of resources within a nation; the process by which we decide how resources will be allocated and which policies government will pursue.

oligarchy

only members of a certain political party or ruling elite can participate in government (i.e. China and the Communist Party)

intense preferences

preferences that are based on strong feelings regarding an issue that someone adheres to over time

latent preferences

preferences that are not deeply held and do not remain the same over time. They may not even represent a person's true feelings, since they may be formed on the spot when someone is asked a question about which he or she has no real opinion