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| the struggle over power or influence within organizations or informal groups that can grant or withhold benefits or privileges |
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| an ongoing organization that performs certain functions for society |
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| the institution in which decisions are made that resolve conflicts or allocate benefits and privileges; it is unique because it has the ultimate authority within society |
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| a state of peace and security |
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| the greatest freedom of individuals that is consistent with the freedom of other individuals in the society |
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| the right and power of a government or other entity to enforce its decisions and compel obedience |
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| popular acceptance of the right and power of a government or other entity to exercise authority |
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| a form of government that controls all aspects of the political and social life of a nation |
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| a type of regime in which only the government itself is fully controlled by the ruler; social and economic institutions exist that are not under the government’s control |
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| rule by the “best”; in reality, rule by an upper class |
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| a system of government in which political authority is vested in the people; |
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| a system of government in which political decisions are made by the people directly, rather than by their elected representatives; probably attained most easily in small political communities |
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| a governmental body primarily responsible for the making of laws |
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| a procedure by which voters can propose a law or a constitutional amendment |
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| an electoral device whereby legislative or constitutional measures are referred by the legislature to the voters for approval or disapproval |
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| a procedure allowing the people to vote to dismiss an elected official from state office before his or her term has expired |
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| the idea that governments and laws derive their legitimacy from the consent of the governed |
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| a form of government in which sovereignty rests with the people, as opposed to a king or monarch |
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| the concept that ultimate political authority is based on the will of the people |
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| a republic in which representatives elected by the people make and enforce laws and policies |
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| the right of all adults to vote for their representatives |
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| a form of government in which representatives elected by the people make and enforce laws and policies; may retain the monarchy in a ceremonial role |
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| a basic principle of democracy asserting that the greatest number of citizens in any political unit should select officials and determine policies |
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| the principle that the powers of government should be limited, usually by institutional checks |
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| a political theory holding that in a democracy, the government ought to do what the majority of the people want |
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| a perspective holding that society is ruled by a small number of people who exercise power to further their self-interest |
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| a theory that views politics as a conflict among interest groups; political decision making is characterized by bargaining and compromise |
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| the collection of beliefs and attitudes toward government and the political process held by a community or nation |
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| the process through which individuals learn a set of political attitudes and form opinions about social issues; the family and the educational system are two of the most important forces in the political socialization process |
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| : the values, customs, and language established by the group or groups that traditionally have controlled politics and government in a society |
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| as a political value, the idea that all people are of equal worth |
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| anything that is or may be subject to ownership; as conceived by the political philosopher John Locke, the right to property is a natural right superior to human law (laws made by government) |
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| an economic system characterized by the private ownership of wealth-creating assets and also be free markets and freedom of contract |
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| a comprehensive set of beliefs about the nature of people and about the role of an institution or government |
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| a set of beliefs that includes a limited role for the national government in helping individuals, support for traditional values and lifestyles, and a cautious response to change |
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| a set of beliefs that includes the advocacy of positive government action to improve the welfare of individuals, support for civil rights, and tolerance for political and social change |
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| a political ideology based on strong support for economic and social equality; socialists traditionally envisioned a society in which major businesses were taken over by the government or by employee cooperatives |
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| a political ideology based on skepticism or opposition toward almost all government activities |
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| a revolutionary variant of socialism that favors a partisan (and often totalitarian) dictatorship, government control of all enterprises, and the replacement of free markets by central planning |
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| a twentieth-century ideology- often totalitarian- that exalts the national collective united behind an absolute ruler; fascism rejects liberal individualism, values action over rational deliberation, and glorifies war |
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| a legislature composed of individuals who represent the population |
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| rights held to be inherent in natural law, no dependent on governments; John Locke stated that natural law, being superior to human law, specifies certain rights of “life, liberty, and property”; these rights, altered to become “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” are asserted in the Declaration of Independence |
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| a voluntary agreement among individuals to secure their rights and welfare by creating a government and abiding by its rules |
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| a legislature with only one legislative chaber, as opposed to a bicameral (two-chamber) legislature, such as the U.S. Congress; today, Nebraska is the only state in the Union with a unicameral legislature |
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| a political system in which states or regional governments retain ultimate authority except for those powers they expressly delegate to a central government; a voluntary associate of independent states, in which the member states agree to limited restraints on their freedom of action |
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| a group of people occupying a specific area and organized under one government; may be either a nation or a subunit of a nation |
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| a legislature made up of two parts, called chambers; the U.S. Congress, composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate, is a bicameral legislature |
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| supremacy doctrine (elastic clause) |
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| a doctrine that asserts the priority of national law over state laws; this principle is rooted in Article VI of the Constitution, which provides that the Constitution, the laws passed by the national government under its constitutional powers, and all treaties constitute the supreme law of the land |
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| : the compromise between the New Jersey and Virginia plans that created one chamber of the Congress based on population and one chamber representing each state equally; also called the Connecticut Compromise |
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| the principle of dividing governmental powers among different branches of government |
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| a structure of government proposed by James Madison in which the powers of the government are separated into three braches: executive, legislative, and judicial |
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| a major principle of the American system of government whereby each branch of the government can check the actions of the others |
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| a group of persons called electors selected by the voters in each state and the District of Columbia; this group officially elects the president and vice president of the United States; the number of electors in each state is equal to the number of each state’s representatives in both chambers of Congress; the twenty-third amendment to the constitution grants D.C. as many electors as the state with the smallest population |
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| a system of government in which power is divided between a central government and regional, or subdivisional, governments; each level must have some domain in which its policies are dominant and some genuine political or constitutional guarantee of its authority |
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| the name given to one who was in favor of the adoption of the U.S. Constitution and the creation of a federal union with a strong central government |
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| an individual who opposed the ratification of the new Constitution in 1787; the anti-federalists were opposed to a strong central government |
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| an international agreement between chiefs of state that does not require legislative approval |
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| the power of the Supreme Court or any court to declare unconstitutional federal or state laws and other acts of government |
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| one of the persons represented by a legislator or other elected or appointed official |
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| the division of a legislature into two separate assemblies |
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| the process of establishing the legal rules that govern society |
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| an arrangement in which two or more members of Congress agree in advance to support each other’s bills |
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| the function of members of Congress as elected officials representing the views of their constituents |
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| a legislator who acts according to her or his conscience and the broad interests of the entire society |
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| a legislator who is an agent of the voters who elected him or her and who votes according to the views of constituents regardless of personal beliefs |
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| personal work for constituents by members of Congress |
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| a person who hears and investigates complaints by private individuals against public officials or agencies |
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| the process by which Congress follows up on laws it has enacted to ensure that they are being enforced and administered in the way Congress intended |
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| determining which public-policy questions will be debated or considered |
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| a power specifically granted to the national government by the Constitution; the first seventeen clauses of Article 1, Section 8, specify most of the enumerated powers of Congress |
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| a standing committee of the House of Representatives that provides special rules under which specific bills can be debated, amended, and considered by the House |
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| the use of the Senate’s tradition of unlimited debate as a delaying tactic to block a bill |
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| an intraparty election in which the voters select the candidates who will run on a party’s ticket in the subsequent general election |
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| a person who identifies with a political party |
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| the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives to each state after each census |
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| the redrawing of the boundaries of the congressional districts within each state |
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| a question that may be raised and reviewed in court |
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| the drawing of legislative district boundary lines for the purpose of obtaining partisan or factional advantage; a district is said to be gerrymandered when its shape is manipulated by the dominant party in the state legislature to maximize electoral strength at the expense of the minority party |
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| a policy that enables members of Congress to send material through the mail by substituting their facsimile signature (frank) for postage |
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| a procedure by which a bill in the House of Representatives may be forced (discharged) out of a committee that has refused to report it for consideration by the House; the petition must be signed by an absolute majority (218) of representatives and is used only on rare occasions |
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| a permanent committee in the House or Senate that considers bills within a certain subject area |
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| a temporary legislative committee established for a limited time period and for a special purpose |
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| a legislative committee composed of members from both chambers of Congress |
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| a special joint committee appointed to reconcile differences when bills pass the two chambers of Congress in different forms |
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| a custom followed in both chambers of Congress specifying that the member of the majority party with the longest term of continuous service will be given preference when a committee chairperson (or a holder of some other significant post) is selected |
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| a district that returns a legislator with 55 percent of the vote or more |
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| the presiding officer in the House of Representatives; the Speaker is always a member of the majority party and is the most powerful and influential member of the House |
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