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deciding who gets what, when, and how
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politics
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The study of politics: who governs, for what ends, and by what means
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Political Science
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Organization extending to the whole society that can legitimately use force to carry out its decisions
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Government
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Widespread acceptance of something as necessary, rightful, and legally binding
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Legitimacy
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idea that government orginates as an implied contract among individuals who agree to obey laws in exchange for protection of their rights
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social contract
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goods and services that cannot readily be provided by markets either because they are too expensive for a single individual to buy or because if one person bought them, everyone else would use them without paying
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public goods
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free competition for voluntary exchange among indviduals, firms, and corporations
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free market
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Measure of economic performanc in terms of the nation's total production of goods and services for a single year, valued in terms of market prices.
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gross domestic product (GDP)
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costs imposed on people who are not direct participants in an activity
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externalities
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government transfers of income from taxpayers to persons regarded as deserving
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income transfers
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governing system in which the poeple govern themselves from the Greek term meaning "rule by the many"
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democracy
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individual dignity, equality before the law, widespread participation in public decisions, and public decisions by majority rule, with one person having one vote
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democratic ideals
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potential for conflict between individual freedom and majority rule
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paradox of democracy
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principle that government power over the individual is limited, that there are some personal libertiies that even a majority cannot regulate, and that government itself is restrained by law
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limited government
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rule by an eliete that exercises unlimited power over individuals in all aspects of life
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totalitarianism
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monopoly of political power by an indivual or small group that otherwise allows people to go about their private lives as they wish
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authoritarianism
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government system in which every person participates actively in every public decision, rather than deligating decision making to representatives
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direct democracy
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governing system in which public decision making is delegated to representatives of the people chosen by the popular vote in free, open and periodic elections
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representative democracy
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poplitical system in which power is concentrated in the hands of a relatively small group of indivuals or institutions
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elitism
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theory that democracy can be achieved through competition among multiple organized groups and that individuals can participate in politics through group memberships and elections
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pluralism
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