-
Politics
The process of deciding who benefits in society and who does not
-
Efficacy
Citizens' belief that they have the ability to achieve something desirable and that the government listens to people like them
-
Civic Engagement
Individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern
-
Political Engagement
Citizen actions that are intended to solve public problems through public means
-
Government
The institution that creates and implements policies and laws that guide the conduct of the nation and its citizens
-
Citizens
Members of the polit who, through birth or naturalization, enjoy the rights, privileges, and responsibilities attatched to the membership in a given nation
-
Naturalization
The process of becoming a citizen by means other than birth, as in the case of immigrants
-
Legitimacy
A quality conferred on government by citizens who believe that its exercise of power is right and proper
-
Public Goods
Goods who benefits cannot be limited and that are available to all
-
Monarchy
Government in which a member of a royal family, usually a king or a queen, has absolute authority over a territory and its government
-
Oligarchy
Government in which an elite few hold power
-
Democracy
Government in which supreme power of governance lies in the hands of its citizens
-
Totalitarianism
System of government in which the government essentially controls every aspect of people's lives
-
Authoritarianism
System of government in which the government holds strong powers but is checked by some forces
-
Constitutionalism
Government that is structured by law, and in which the power of government is limited
-
Limited Government
Governemtnthat is restricted in what it can do so that the rights of the people are protected
-
Divine Right of Kings
The assertion that monarchies, as a manifestation of God's will, could rule absolutely without regard to the will or well-being of their subjects
-
Social Contract
An agreement between people and their leaders in which the people agree to give up some liberties so that their other liberties are protected
-
Natural Law
The assertion that standards that goven human behavior are derived from the nature of humans themselves and can be universally applied
-
Thomas Hobbs (1588-1697)
- British Philosopher
- Author of Leviathan (1651)
- Believed in the righteousness of absolute monarchies
- Strong naturally pray upon weak
- Without absolute control anarchy prevails
-
John Locke (1632-1704)
- Two Treatises on Civil Government (1689)
- -rejected the notion that the rational for the divine right of kings is based on scripture. By providing the theotretical basis for dicarding the idea of a monarch's divine right to rude.
- Treatise
- -Individuals possess certain unalienable rights which he ID as life, liberty, and property.
- When people sign into a social contract they are going in with the notion that government will protect their natural rights. If not, citizens can rebel.
-
Popular Sovereignty
The theory that government is created by the people and depends on the prople for the authority to rule
-
Social Contract Theory
The idea that individuals possess free will, and every individual is equally endowed with the God given right of self-determination and the ability to condesnt to be governed
-
Direct Democracy
A structure of government in which citizens discuss and decide policy through majority rule
-
Indirect/Representative Democracy
A system in which citizens elect representatives who decide policies on behalf of their consttuents
-
Political Culture
The people's collective beliefs and attitudes about government and political process
-
Liberty
The most essential quality of American Democracy; it is both the freedom from governmental interfearence in citizens' lived and the freedom to pursue happiness
-
Capitalism
An economic system in which the means of producing wealth are privately owned and operated to produce profits
-
Property
Anyhing that can be owned
-
Consent of Governed
The idea that, in a democracy, the government's power derives from the consent of the people
-
Majority Rule
The idea that, in a democracy, only policies with 50 percent plus one vote are enacted, and only candidates that win 50 percent plus one vote are elected
-
Political Ideology
Integrated system of idea or beliefs about political values in general and the role of government in particular
-
Liberalism
An ideology the advocates change in the social, political, and economic realms to better protect the well-being of individuals and to produce equality within society
-
Conservatism
An ideology that emphasized preserving tradition and relying on community andfmaily as mechanisms of continuity in society
-
Socialism
An ideology that advocates economic equality, theoretically achieved by having the government or workers own the means of production
-
Libertarianism
An ideology whose advocates believe that government should take a "hands off" approach in most matters
-
Neoconservatism
An ideology that advocates military over diplomatic solutions in foreign policy and is less converned with restraning government activity in domestic politics than traditional conservatives
|
|