Political Science Terms and Concepts, Quizzes of Political Science

Download Political Science Terms and Concepts and more Quizzes Political Science in PDF only on Docsity! TERM 1 Politics DEFINITION 1 The pursuit of exercise and power TERM 2 Actor DEFINITION 2 Individuals, groups, or institutions TERM 3 Power DEFINITION 3 The capacity of one actor to get another actor to do what they want, and power allows the transfer of the cost of a benefit to others TERM 4 Government DEFINITION 4 Institutions that authorize the allocation of values TERM 5 Opportunity Costs DEFINITION 5 What is spent on one thing is not available to spend on something else TERM 6 Public Policy DEFINITION 6 What government does or does not do TERM 7 Federalism DEFINITION 7 A system of government in which the central government shares power with state governments TERM 8 Empirical DEFINITION 8 What is provable TERM 9 Normative DEFINITION 9 What ought to be TERM 10 Faction DEFINITION 10 Political parties, special interest groups TERM 21 Tragedy of the Commons DEFINITION 21 The depletion of a shared resource by individuals, acting independently and rationally according to each one's self- interest, despite their understanding that depleting the common resource is contrary to the group's long-term best interests TERM 22 Generalized Reciprocity DEFINITION 22 The willingness of an individual to come to the aid of someone in need, with the understanding that the needy individual will return the favor in the future TERM 23 Social Capital DEFINITION 23 In sociology, social capital is the expected collective or economic benefits derived from the preferential treatment and cooperation between individuals and groups TERM 24 Voter Suppression DEFINITION 24 The process of establishing rules and regulations which attempt to deny a citizen their right to vote TERM 25 "Paradox of collective action" DEFINITION 25 The value of voting benefits in relation to voting costs TERM 26 Law of Collective Action DEFINITION 26 The perception that an individual is less likely to input; if the output is collective TERM 27 Socioeconomic Status DEFINITION 27 The social and economic status of an individual relative to others TERM 28 Political Efficacy DEFINITION 28 The capacity to produce a political effect TERM 29 Voter Apathy DEFINITION 29 To ignore the obligation of citizenship at the expense of individualism, which is particularly harmful to citizens at the lower part of the socioeconomic spectrum, who rely on government for protection against the vagaries of capitalism and the free market TERM 30 Direct Democracy DEFINITION 30 Citizens (select) deliberate and decide by vote the issues of a small geographic community TERM 31 Rational Party Model DEFINITION 31 The major goal of the party is to get elected by figuring out where the majority of voters are and positioning the party there. The party can choose between being a trustee, which is making the choice of ideology, or being a delegate model, which is to learn what the majority wants TERM 32 Arrow's Paradox DEFINITION 32 When voters have a free choice with perfect information and a majority cannot be achieved TERM 33 Hidden Election DEFINITION 33 The campaign for the cash of wealthy donors, who determine who the credible candidates will be