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| The process through which individuals and groups reach agreement on a course of common, or collective action - even as they disagree on the intended goals of that action. |
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| Bargaining and Compromise |
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| The processes by which politics is enacted. |
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| Individuals' choices, reflecting economic situation, religious values, ethnic identity, or other valued interests. |
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| In a democracy, an organization that manages potential conflicts between political rivals, helps them to find mutually acceptable solutions, and makes and enforces the society's collective agreements. Among the prominent federal political institutions in the United States are Congress, the presidency, and the Supreme Court. |
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| A document outlining the formal rules and institutions of government and the limits placed on its powers. |
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| The institutions and procedures through which people are ruled. |
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| Subdivisions of some government departments that confers on its occupants specific authority and responsibilities. |
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| The right to make and implement a decision. |
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| An officeholder's actual influence with other officeholders, and, as a consequence, over the government's actions. |
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| An action taken by a group of like-minded individuals to achieve a common goal. |
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| The act of organizing a group to acheive a common goal. Coordination remains a prerequisite for effective collective action even after the disincentives to individual participation have been solved. |
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| A situation in which two (or more) actors cannot agree to cooperate for fear that the other will find its interest best served by reneging an agreement. |
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| Focus identified by participants when coordinating their energies to acheive a common purpose. |
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| Issues for which mutual gains through cooperation are not possible. |
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| A situation in which individuals can receive the benefits from a collective activity whether or not they helped to pay for it, leaving them with no incentive to contribute. |
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| A situation in which group members over exploit a common resource, causing its destruction. |
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| Prevent a common resource from being over exploited by tying the benefit of its consumption to its cost. |
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| The costs of doing political business reflected in the time and effort required to compare preferences and negotiate compromises in making collective decisions. |
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| The difference between what a person ideally would prefer and what the group with which that person makes collective decisions actually does. Individuals pay conformity costs whenever collective decisions produce policy out comes that do not best serve their interests. |
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| The authority of one actor to dictate the actions of another. |
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| The capacity to set choices on behalf of someone else. |
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| The principle that decisions should reflect the preferences of more than half of those voting. Decision making by majority rule is one of the fundamental procedures of democracy. |
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| A vote in which the winning candidate receives the greatest number of votes (but not necessarily a majority-over 50%) |
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| A majority larger than a simple 51% majority, which is required for extraordinary legislative actions such as amending the Constitution or certain congressional procedures. For example in the Senate, 60% is required to stop a filibuster. |
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| The act of one person or body authorizing another person or body to perform action on its behalf.For example, Congress often delegates authority to the president or administrative agencies to decide the details of policy. |
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| An individual, with the authority to make some decision. This authority may be delegated to an agent who is supposed to act on the principal's behalf. |
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| Someone who makes and implements decisions on behalf of someone else. |
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| The discrepancy between what citizens ideally would like their agents to do and how the agents actually behave. |
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| Representative Government |
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| A political system in which citizens select government officials who, acting as their agents, deliberate and commit the citizenry to a course of collective action. |
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| A system of government in which citizens make policy decisions by voting on legislation themselves rather than delegating their power to their representatives. |
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| A form of democracy in which power is vested in elected representatives. |
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| A form of government in which the chief executive is chosen by the majority party or by a coalition of parties in the legislator. |
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| The formal group of presidential advisers who head the major departments and agencies of the federal government. Cabinet members are chosen by the president and approved by the Senate. |
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| The distribution of government powers among several political institutions. In the United States, at the national level, power is divided between three branches: Congress, the president, and the Supreme Court. |
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| Elected professionals who specialize in providing compelling reasons for people with different values and interests to join in a common action. |
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| An alliance of unlike-minded individuals or groups to achieve some common purpose such as lobbying, legislating, or campaigning for the election of public officials. |
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| Benefits and services over which the owner has full control of their use. |
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| Goods that are collectively produced and freely available for anyone's consumption. |
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| Public goods or bads generated as a byproduct of private activity. For example, air pollution is an externality (public bad) because it is, in part, the byproduct of the private activity of owning a car. |
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| Goods that are collectively produced and freely available for anyone's consumption. |
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