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Chapter 1 and 6
David Paredes
8-11-15
6th

Vocabulary
Chapter Outlines
Test Yourself
Objectives and Questions
Vocabulary
Chapter 1
1. Government
a. The institutions through which public policies are made for a society
2. Collective goods
a. Things that are naturally granted to anyone: clean air and clean water are
examples
3. Politics
a. The process that determines the leaders who create policies for the public
4. Political participation
a. All the activities that citizens partake in that influence who gets the spot. Voting
is the most common way
5. Single-issue groups
a. Groups that have a dogmatic sense of their ideas. They stick to one idea and
defend it
6. Policymaking system
a. Process by which people’s ideas, problems, and concerns become national policy
through the means of policymaking institutions
7. Power
a. The amount of influence an individual has to change the course of events in a
place
8. System of Governments
a. Democracy – individual citizens decide the course of events in a government
b. Republic – individual citizens elect representatives that decide the course of
events in a government
c. Unitary – one central power decide the course of events in a government
d. Oligarchy – a select few decide the course of events in a government
e. Theocracy – the church or religious leader decide the course of events in a
government
f. Aristocracy – the rich decide the course of events in a government
9. Presidential System
a. he President is elected separately from the Parliament (Legislative)
10. Parliamentary System
a. The President is elected by the Parliament (Legislative)
11. Policy Agenda
 a. Problems that capture the attention of people in public offices or politics at a point
of time
12. Political Issue
a. A conundrum that arises when people disagree about a problem and how to solve
it
13. Policymaking institutions
a. These figures create the policies. The Congress, the presidency, and the courts are
the institutions that create these
14. Policy impacts
a. The effects of a policy on people. Impacts are analyzed to see if it has met its goal
and at what cost
15. Democracy
a. A system of selecting and organizing policymakers so that the policies made
embody the people’s ideas and interests
16. Majority Rule
a. When choosing between policies, the majority of the voters would decide what
should be passed
17. Minority Rights
a. Guarantees rights to those who do not belong to majorities (freedom of speech, of
the press, of religion)
18. Representation
a. Few leaders; many followers. These are followers are represented by their chosen
leader
19. Public Policy
a. The government passes a choice (policy) in response to problem
20. Linkage Institutions
a. A medium where the people’s issues is passed onto the policy agenda to become
political issues
21. The –ism’s Theories
a. Pluralism – every group with shared interests may create policies, with no single
group dominating it
b. Elitism – the upper class makes the policies regardless of the type of government
c. Hyperpluralism – the government is weakened because it is strongly influenced
by many different groups
22. Political Spectrum
a. A sort of number line that depicts political ideas on government power. Moving
right or left is the amount of change that an individual wants. Moving right will
depicts an individual who believes that the government should be conservative,
with not much power influencing the people. These include, in the increasing
order
i. Liberal – tend to believe in more government
ii. Conservative – tend to believe in less government
 iii. Libertarian – ultimate individualism: do whatever as long as it does not
harm somebody else
iv. Radical – the “now” people. They want progressive change and they want
it fast
v. Reactionary – opposite of radicals: they believe in immediate,
RETROgressive change
23. Parties
a. These are groups with same ideologies in politics. Their purpose is the same:
make the nation better. However, their methods to fulfill this purpose is starkly
different.
i. Republican – This party believes in the lesser role of government in the
nation. Universal health care insurance funded by the government is one
of their pet peeves. Tax cuts are what they love.
ii. Democrat – This party advocates for a greater role of the government in
the nation. They believe in universal health care so that everyone will
receive the same health benefits. They believe in more government
projects like renovating infrastructure, building bridges, etc. This means
that they also support more taxes to fund all these projects.
24. Realignment
a. Balance of power between political parties changes greatly: one may die down
and another will take it.
25. Dealignment
a. Party members disassociate themselves from Democrats and Republicans in favor
of independent parties.
26. Straight Ticket Voting
a. All votes cast are for candidates from the same party
27. Ticket Splitting
a. Voters vote for candidates from different parties
28. Grass Roots
a. These are not major campaign moves where millions of dollars are spent. These
are usually done in a community, where the locals support the party through
various movements.
29. Policy Gridlock
a. “Political Stalemate” Votes cast for and against a law are evenly distributed
30. Political Culture
a. Set of values widely shared within a society
31. Gross Domestic Product
a. The sum total of the value of all the goods and services produced in a year by a
nation
32. Party Platform
a. This is the foundation of party. The platform, their ideas, values, and beliefs, is
designed to appeal to the public, with hopes of the people receiving their support.
33. Factors of voting
 a. Income – Upper class vote for Republican: Middle and lower classes vote for
Democrat
b. Education - More education equals more voter turnout
c. Gender and Age – Women vote more than men. 18-24 is the lowest voting group
d. Religious/Ethnic - Whites vote more than A-Americans
e. Geography – North-Democrat; South-Republican; Midwest
f. Family – Children tend to vote for the same candidates as parents

34. Expanding suffrage

a. 1865 - 15th Amendment – Voting Rights to all
b. 1964 24th Amendment – banned poll tax
c. 1920 women’s Suffrage – 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote
35. The 4 types of voters
a. Ideologue – 12% of people connect their ideas to party lines
b. Group benefit – 42% of people connect their opinion to their “group.”
c. Nature of times – 24% of people link the economic state to the party’s success; or
the failure
d. No issue - 22% of people could give no reason
36. Ticket Splitting vs. Straight Ticket Voting
a. Straight Ticket Voting is where a voter votes for candidates from the same party
whereas Ticket Splitting is where a voter votes for candidates from different
parties.
37. Presidential vs. Midterm elections
a. In presidential elections, voters pick presidents; in midterm elections, voters either
vote for elongation of the president's term, or a new president

Chapter 6
1. Public opinion
a. Distribution of the population’s beliefs about politics and policy issues
2. Demography
a. The science of population changes
3. Census
a. The Constitution requires that for every ten years, a census should be taken. This
“survey” numerically determines the population. The census is used for
understanding demographic changes
4. Melting pot
a. The diversity of ethnicities, cultures, and beliefs in the U.S. make it a “melting
pot”
5. Minority majority
a. Non-Hispanic whites will become the minority while the current minorities
(African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and Native Americans) become the
majority
6. Reapportionment
a. Every 10 years, the seats of the House of Representatives are reallocated based on
the census
7. Political socialization
a. Process by which individuals acquire political views from family, schools, media,
and others
8. Sample
a. A small proportion of people who are chosen in a survey so as to represent the
whole
9. Random sampling
a. Technique employed by survey researchers. The principle that everyone has an
equal opportunity of being chosen for the sample
10. Sampling error
a. The level of confidence of the statistics of a public opinion poll. The more people
interviewed, the higher the confidence for the poll
11. Random-digit dialing
a. Place phone calls randomly to listed or unlisted numbers to take a survey
12. Exit poll
a. Public opinion surveys that predict electoral winners
13. Political ideology
a. A set of beliefs about politics , public policy, and public purpose, which helps
give meaning to political events
14. Gender gap
a. Women are more likely to support Democrats; Men are more likely to side with
Republicans
15. Protest
a. Achieve political change dramatic and unconventional ways. Ex: boycotts, sit-ins,
groups quit jobs
16. Civil disobedience
a. A form of political participation where people consciously break a law that they
believe is unjust
Outline – Chapter 1
1. Government is the institution where public decisions are made for the society.
Government gives out collective goods, which are the military, schools, highways, and
the military. The government also preserves order and collects taxes to fund collective
goods.
2. Politics: “Who gets what, when, and how.” Ways people get into politics is political
participation: people judge a government’s health by how widespread political
participation. Voting is one way of political participation, and America has one of the
lowest turnouts.
3. The Policymaking system is people have problems, these problems get passed onto
linkage institutions, which then get on the policy agenda. This policy agenda is then
passed onto policymaking institutions (Congress, Executive, and Judicial) which makes
the policies. These policies then impact the people who make it. This is only possible
because America's government is democratic; the policies that are made represent the
public's ideals.
4. Democracy, ideally, is “one person, one vote.” This means everyone has equal
opportunity to participate, freedom of speech and press, and control of the policy agenda.
Majority rules means that policies made should reflect over half of the voters will.
Minority rights is for individuals, everybody experiences the Bill of Rights. Pluralism is
competition among organized groups; they believe that if there is competition, public
interest will become public policy. Elitism is the theory that only a powerful group (upper
class) should control policymaking. Hyperpluralism contends that since there are so many
groups competing for power, the government is weakened and the policymaking system
is slowed. Since there are so many different viewpoints and cultures in America,
sometimes policy gridlock happen, where morning gets done because there is no major
support for an idea.
5. The strength of the government in America is what created the parties. People disagree
whether the government should play an active role in personal lives or if the government
should be kept small and weak. Those who believe that the government should have an
active role contend that what other institution will keep everyone equal and ensure that
everyone receives the same rights? Who else will keep healthcare affordable? Those who
believe that government should be weak argue that there should be no one controlling
what a person does. They believe that “as government expands, liberty contracts.”
Chapter 6
1. The amount of immigration into the country has changed the identity of America over the
past years. As a consequence, the size of minority groups (Hispanic, Asian American,
African American, and Native American) have increased, and by the year 2045, the U.S.
Census Bureau projects that the minorities will become the majority. The American
population has also been aging and moving to California, Texas, and Florida.
2. Where other countries formally teach the youth why their governments are good and
should be followed, America is largely informal in teaching the youth about government.
The family, the media, school, and friends all influence an individual’s political views.
As people age, they become lean toward their own political attitudes.
3. Polls are conducted through random sampling, where randomly chosen people conduct a
survey or poll. 1,000 people would yield statistics that are usually one or three
percentages off from stats if everybody was surveyed. This is called the sampling error.
Generally, if the number of surveyed is increased, the percentage of sampling error is
decreased. The responses from these polls are what measures what the public think about
political matters between elections. Polls also help analysts assess how well-informed
people are about political issues.
4. There are two major political ideologies in America: Conservatism and Liberalism.
Conservatives, people who follow conservatism, believe that government should be weak
and not play large role in people’s lives. They are against universal healthcare and high
taxes. Liberals believe that government should play an active role: it should provide
universal healthcare and with this comes high taxes. Generally, conservatives are the
elderly while liberals are the youth.
5. There are many ways for a citizen to participate in politics. The most widely known and
used is voting. This mean draws the most people. There are also more tangible, more
direct ways to participate. Protesting is one way, where groups use unorthodox ways (like
voting) to get their point across. Civil disobedience is one way to protest: people
consciously break the laws they believe are unjust. Generally, citizens of higher social
economic status participate more in politics.
6. The Republican Party believes that the government’s scope has become too wide. They
believe that the government controls too much of the spending on education, health care,
aid to cities, protecting the government, and fighting crime. They argue that this should
be the individual’s choice. However, many Americans are ideological conservative but
operational
Test Yourself
Chapter 1
1. Which of the following is an example of a collective good?
a. Highway system
2. Government is typically made up of the institutions that make public policy decisions for
a society.
a. True
3. List and explain at least three of the functions that national governments perform,
according to this textbook. To what extent do you think each of these is an important
function? Explain your answer.
a. Governments tax people
b. Governments use military to provide defense
c. Governments has a judicial system to preserve order
i. These three functions are equally important: if one fails then the others
fail. If the military fails, then there will not even be a government to
protect. If the government stops taxing people, there would be no courts
and soldiers.
4. Which of the following is not a form of political participation?
a. Contacting public officials, marching in political protests, and voting are all
forms.
5. Harold Lasswell defined politics as “who gets what, when, and how.” Explain what he
meant by this definition as you apply it to an issue of your choice.
a. For example, abortion is on the policy agenda right now. The “who” is the
Democrats and Republicans. The “what” is what each party’s ideals is: Democrats
are “pro-choice” while Republicans are “pro-life.” The “how” is how people will
vote for each party or how they will show their support for the party.
6. All of the following are considered linkage institutions except
a. Courts
7. How do people affect public policy within the policymaking system? Why is the policy
agenda important to the policymaking system, and how might it help or hinder public
influence over policymaking institutions?
a. People report their problems to linkage institutions, which then get on the policy
agenda. This policy agenda is then passed onto policymaking institutions
(Congress, Executive, and Judicial) which makes the policies. The policy agenda
is the central foundation of the policymaking systems. It is similar to a to-do list,
where a list of problems from the public catches the attention of public officials. It
might help in that it focuses the attention of the government to quickly solve
problems.
8. According to Robert Dahl’s traditional democratic theory, an ideal democratic process
should satisfy all the following criteria except
a. Majority rule
9. The theory of hyperpluralism is based on the assumption that input from interest groups
is good for the political decision-making process.
a. False
10. What are the four continuing challenges to democracy mentioned in this textbook? Of
those, which do you think poses the most significant challenge to America democracy,
and why? How would you attempt to meet this particular challenge?
a. Increased complexity of issues
b. Limited participation in government
c. Escalating campaign costs
d. Diverse political interests
i. The diversity of political interests can bog down the speed of policy
making; sometimes, it can even result in a gridlock. If a population is too
diverse, then there are no major ideas shared by individuals.
11. What are the five central features of American political culture, or the “American creed,”
according to Seymour Martin Lipset? Why is political culture a key factor in holding
American democracy together? Do you think there is a culture war going in the United
States that may serve to polarize Americans? What is the evidence in favor of and against
the existence of a culture war today?
a. Liberty, Egalitarianism, individualism, laissez-faire, and populism
b. Having different cultures and beliefs is what makes a democracy. One group
holding power is an autocracy.
c. Having said that, too many ideas may result in groups fighting for power and
control. The gap between Democrats and Republicans is widening; their ideas are
becoming more distinct and opposite. However, there is evidence that there is not
a culture war going on. Even though abortion might be divisive, more people
accept differing views.
12. The federal government has usually run a budget deficit since 1969, except for during
part of the administration of which president?
a. Bill Clinton
13. What are the primary arguments in favor of and against an active role for government in
today’s society? Use a current policy example to support your answer.
a. If the government is too large, personal liberty is diminished; however, it can
become the great equalizer, where everyone has equal opportunity to succeed.
Obamacare is an example of this: Left wings believe that having a universal
health care system will benefit all by reducing drugs and operations while right
wings argue that having this health care will skyrocket tax rates with no apparent
benefit.