What is Government? Flashcards
What is the definition of government?
The institution that makes and enforces public policies.
The government is a political association that does two things:
Makes rules and determines who will get society’s values.
Regulates the use of legitimate force in the society.
What is American Cultural ideal?
The individual is paramount (supreme) and the government is secondary.
What is the role of the government?
To serve the people.
What is America’s Core Political Ideals?
Liberty, Individualism, Equality, and Self-Government.
Politics is the means by which..?
Society settles it’s conflicts and allocates (distributes) the resulting benefits and costs.
What can people with power do?
They can influence political developments.
What are the 3 forms of Power?
Coercion(force), Persuasion, and rewards.
The United States has rules to determine who get what, when, and how: 3 of them…
Democracy, Constitutionalism, and Free Market.
What is a Democracy?
A government by the people.
What is Constitutionalism?
The basic principles of a nation, state, or social group that determines the power and duties of the government and guarantee certain rights to the people in it.
What is a Free Market?
An economic system in which prices are determined by unrestricted competition between privately owned businesses.
What is Political Efficacy?
Your belief in your ability to produce the desired effect on the political process.
What is Internal Efficacy?
My belief in my ability to participate in politics.
What is External Efficacy?
My belief in the system, how responsive the system is (does my vote count).
