Politics and Political Institutions: Understanding Power, Authority, and Decision Making

1. Chapter 19 Politics and Political InstitutionsKey Terms

2. PowerThe ability to control the behavior of others, even against their will. • AuthorityPower whose exercise is governed by the norms and statuses of organizations.

3. Political institutionA set of norms and statuses pertaining to the exercise of power and authority. • StateThe set of political institutions operating in a particular society.

4. LegitimacyThe ability of a society to engender and maintain the belief that the existing political institutions are the most appropriate for that society. • Traditional authorityAuthority that is hereditary and is legitimated by traditional values, particularly people’s idea of the sacred.

5. Charismatic authorityAuthority that comes to an individual through a personal calling, often claimed to be inspired by supernatural powers, and is legitimated by people’s belief that the leader does indeed have Godgiven powers. • Legal authorityAuthority that is legitimated by people’s belief in the supremacy of the law; obedience is owed not to a person but to a set of impersonal principles.

6. NationalismThe belief of a people that they have the right and the duty to constitute themselves as a nation-state. • Nation-stateThe largest territory within which a society’s political institutions can operate without having to face challenges to their sovereignty.

7. CitizenshipThe status of membership in a nation-state. • DemagogueA leader who uses personal charisma and political symbols to manipulate public opinion.

8. Political partyAn organization of people who join together to gain legitimate control of state authority. • OligarchyRule by a few people who stay in office indefinitely rather than for limited terms.

9. Totalitarian regimeA regime that accepts no limits to its power and seeks to exert its rule at all levels of society. • DemocracyA political system in which all citizens have the right to participate in public decision making.

10. Power elite modelA theory stating that political decisions are controlled by an elite of rich and powerful individuals even in societies with democratic political institutions. • Pluralist modelA theory stating that no single group controls political decisions; instead, a plurality of interest groups influence those decisions through a process of coalition building and bargaining.

11. Interest groupAn organization that attempts to influence elected and appointed officials regarding a specific issue or set of issues. • LobbyingThe process whereby interest groups seek to persuade legislators to vote in their favor on particular bills.