Key Terms

authority the entity (person or institution) holding legitimate power in a specific realm bargaining the process of negotiating with the goal of reaching agreement civil liberties human freedoms with which the government may not interfere civil rights opportunities to which all humans are entitled that governments must act to protect collective action problem a collective dilemma in which the group would benefit if its members cooperated, but they have incentives not to do so, and these incentives ultimately harm not only the group but the individuals themselves collective dilemmas problems that arise when multiple individuals interact with one another to make a group decision compromise in bargaining over a single issue, each participant agrees to move in the direction of those they are bargaining with (for example, the car seller lowers the price and the car buyer increases what they are willing to pay) conflict disagreements between individuals, groups, institutions, or states regarding the allocation of resources or the determination of values constitution a collection of the most basic principles of a country (or state) country a populated geographic area with a sovereign government courts an institution for resolving disputes democracy a system of government in which citizens elect their leaders empirical political science the systematic study of political behavior, generally based on developing hypotheses and testing whether these hypotheses are supported based on the evidence executives the persons responsible for leading an institution fact something that is true because it can be verified by evidence government the set of institutions that make and implement decisions for a political collective, most often for a specific geographic area human rights liberties and opportunities that humans have by virtue of their humanity hypothesis a tentative explanation for a reality that can be tested institutions organizations with a set of rules and practices that inform their members about their relationships with one another and how they should interact legislature an institution composed of individuals who have the power to propose, deliberate, adopt, and alter the laws of a state legitimate authority used in ways that are true to the rules nation a population connected by history, culture, and beliefs that generally lives in a specific area normative political science the systematic study of ideal goals, principles, and behaviors in politics; also called political philosophy political ideology a set of beliefs (or a systematic set of concepts) that helps individuals determine how they see the proper roles of citizens and their governments political science the systematic study of political phenomena using empirical or philosophical methods politics “who gets what, where, when, and how”—the process for resolving disputes and allocating scarce resources power the ability to compel someone to do something they would not otherwise choose to do public interest that which benefits a state and those who reside there public opinion in empirical political science, the sum of individual opinions on the question being asked public policy any decision by a government, such as a law, regulation, or ruling, that attempts to guide human behavior reality the world as it is, as verified by observations and measurements rules instructions regarding what behaviors are required, forbidden, or allowed scientific method the processes used to conduct empirical research sovereign the entity (person or institution) that holds supreme authority over a domain state a defined geographic area with unified political authority status quo the existing state of affairs

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