PSC 101 UPDATED HIGH-YIELD TOPICS
SUMMARY 2026
◉ political participation.
Answer: All the activities used by citizens to influence the selection
of political leaders or the policies they pursue
◉ preferences.
Answer: the outcomes or experiences people want or believe they
need
◉ one-party state.
Answer: a political system in which one party controls the
government and actively seeks to prevent other parties from
contesting for power
◉ Politics.
Answer: Method of maintaining, managing, and gaining control of
government (who gets what, when, and how)
◉ Institutions of Government.
Answer: Formal policymakers within the government, including the
executive, legislature, judiciary and bureaucracy
,◉ federal system.
Answer: A government that divides the powers of government
between the national government and state or provincial
governments
◉ Federalism.
Answer: A system in which power is divided between the national
and state governments
◉ unitary system.
Answer: A government that gives all key powers to the national or
central government
◉ public goods.
Answer: Goods, such as clean air and clean water, that everyone
must share.
◉ collective action problem.
Answer: A situation in which the members of a group would benefit
by working together to produce some outcome, but each individual
is better off refusing to cooperate and reaping benefits from those
who do the work.
,◉ Virginia Plan.
Answer: "Large state" proposal for the new constitution, calling for
proportional representation in both houses of a bicameral Congress.
The plan favored larger states and thus prompted smaller states to
come back with their own plan for apportioning representation.
◉ Electoral College.
Answer: A group of people named by each state legislature to select
the president and vice president
◉ Separation of Powers.
Answer: Constitutional division of powers among the legislative,
executive, and judicial branches, with the legislative branch making
law, the executive applying and enforcing the law, and the judiciary
interpreting the law
◉ reserved powers.
Answer: Powers given to the state government alone
◉ Federalists.
Answer: supporters of the Constitution
◉ private goods.
Answer: goods that are both excludable and rival in consumption
, ◉ free riding.
Answer: enjoying the benefits of some good or action while letting
others bear the costs
◉ Prisoner's Dilemma.
Answer: a particular "game" between two captured prisoners that
illustrates why cooperation is difficult to maintain even when it is
mutually beneficial
◉ Government.
Answer: The institution through which a society makes and enforces
its public policies
◉ coordination problem.
Answer: a situation in which two or more people are all better off if
they coordinate on a common course of action, but there is more
than one possible course of action to take
◉ transaction costs.
Answer: the costs that parties incur in the process of agreeing to and
following through on a bargain
◉ conformity costs.
SUMMARY 2026
◉ political participation.
Answer: All the activities used by citizens to influence the selection
of political leaders or the policies they pursue
◉ preferences.
Answer: the outcomes or experiences people want or believe they
need
◉ one-party state.
Answer: a political system in which one party controls the
government and actively seeks to prevent other parties from
contesting for power
◉ Politics.
Answer: Method of maintaining, managing, and gaining control of
government (who gets what, when, and how)
◉ Institutions of Government.
Answer: Formal policymakers within the government, including the
executive, legislature, judiciary and bureaucracy
,◉ federal system.
Answer: A government that divides the powers of government
between the national government and state or provincial
governments
◉ Federalism.
Answer: A system in which power is divided between the national
and state governments
◉ unitary system.
Answer: A government that gives all key powers to the national or
central government
◉ public goods.
Answer: Goods, such as clean air and clean water, that everyone
must share.
◉ collective action problem.
Answer: A situation in which the members of a group would benefit
by working together to produce some outcome, but each individual
is better off refusing to cooperate and reaping benefits from those
who do the work.
,◉ Virginia Plan.
Answer: "Large state" proposal for the new constitution, calling for
proportional representation in both houses of a bicameral Congress.
The plan favored larger states and thus prompted smaller states to
come back with their own plan for apportioning representation.
◉ Electoral College.
Answer: A group of people named by each state legislature to select
the president and vice president
◉ Separation of Powers.
Answer: Constitutional division of powers among the legislative,
executive, and judicial branches, with the legislative branch making
law, the executive applying and enforcing the law, and the judiciary
interpreting the law
◉ reserved powers.
Answer: Powers given to the state government alone
◉ Federalists.
Answer: supporters of the Constitution
◉ private goods.
Answer: goods that are both excludable and rival in consumption
, ◉ free riding.
Answer: enjoying the benefits of some good or action while letting
others bear the costs
◉ Prisoner's Dilemma.
Answer: a particular "game" between two captured prisoners that
illustrates why cooperation is difficult to maintain even when it is
mutually beneficial
◉ Government.
Answer: The institution through which a society makes and enforces
its public policies
◉ coordination problem.
Answer: a situation in which two or more people are all better off if
they coordinate on a common course of action, but there is more
than one possible course of action to take
◉ transaction costs.
Answer: the costs that parties incur in the process of agreeing to and
following through on a bargain
◉ conformity costs.
