Direct vs. Representative Democracy

direct democracy - a form of democracy in which people decide policy initiatives directly

representative democracy -  a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people

federalist - an advocate or supporter of federalism. (advocated adopting the constituion)

antifederalist -  a person who opposed the adoption of the United States Constitution

confederation - an organization that consists of a number of parties or groups united in an alliance or league.

federal system - A system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and constituent political units

Enumerated powers - 

1. The enumerated powers are a list of items found in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution that set forth the authoritative capacity of Congress.
2. Implied powers - In the case of the United States government, implied powers are thepowers exercised by Congress which are not explicitly given by the Constitution itself but necessary and proper to execute the powers which are.
3.  
4.  

1. The Supremacy Clause is the provision in Article Six, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution that establishes the U.S. Constitution, federal statutes, and U.S. treaties as "the supreme law of the land".

    
2.  

1. Article IV, Section 1 of the United States Constitution, known as the "Full Faith and Credit Clause", addresses the duties that states within the United States have to respect the "public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state."

    
2.  

1. Any prisoner, or another person acting on his or her behalf, may petition the court, or a judge, for a writ of habeas corpus. One reason for the writ to be sought by a person other than the prisoner is that the detainee might be held incommunicado.

    
2.  

1. Fiscal federalism is the model of spending, taxing, and providing grants in the federal government system. The national government's primary means of influencing state governments is giving money to states in the form of grants-in-aid.

    
2.  

 categorial grants - grants, issued by the United States Congress, which may be spent only for narrowly-defined purposes

block grants - a  grant from a central government that a local authority can allocate to a wide range of services.

mandates 

funded VS unfunded

Unfunded mandate - An unfunded mandate is a statute or regulation that requires a state or local government to perform certain actions, with no money provided for fulfilling the requirements. Public individuals or organizations can also be required to fulfill public mandates

Funded mandates - Funded mandate is when the federal government gives smaller states finance to fund whatever it has mandated them to do. 

In social studies, a political ideology is a certain ethical set of ideals, principles, doctrines, myths, or symbols of a social movement, institution, class, or large group that explains how society should work, and offers some political and cultural blueprint for a certain social order.

Liberal - Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally they support ideas such asfree and fair elections, civil rights, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, free trade, and private property

Conservative - holding to traditional attitudes and values and cautious about change or innovation, typically in relation to politics or religion.

retrospective voting - Voting for or against a candidate or party in office because one likes or dislikes how things have gone in the recent past (looking back)

prospective voting - Voting for a candidate because one favors his or her ideas for addressing issues after the election (forward looking)

1. A linkage institution is a structure within a society that connects the people to the government or centralized authority. These institutions include: elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.

 Closed primary - A type of direct primary limited to registered party members, who must declare their party affiliation in order to vote

Open primary - a primary election in which voters are not required to declare party affiliation.

initiative - the right of citizens outside the legislature to originate legislation

referendum - a general vote by the electorate on a single political question that

has been referred to them for a direct decision.

proportional representation

 party realignment - when the minority party becomes stronger than the majority party, usually as the result of a minority party candidate winning a critical election. Party dealignment occurs when no single political party is dominant.

dealignment - a trend or process whereby a large portion of the electorate abandons its previous partisan affiliation, without developing a new one to replace it

reapportionemnt - the process by which congressional districts are redrawn and seats are redistributed among states in the house. reapportionment occurs every ten years, when census data reportsshifts in the population of districts. each district must have an equal number of residents. states may lose or gain seats during reapportionment, but the total House membership remains 435

redistricting - The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census, to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population

filibuster - an action such as a prolonged speech that obstructs progress in a legislative assembly while not technically contravening the required procedures.

cloture -  a procedure for ending a debate and taking a vote.

standing - a permanent committee that meets regularly.

select - a small legislative committee appointed for a

special purpose.

joint - a committee made up of members of both chambers of a bicameral legislature.

conference -  a committee of the Congress appointed by the House of Representatives and Senate to resolve disagreements on a particular bill. 

discretionary - a spending category through which governments can spend through an appropriations bill. This spending is optional as part of fiscal policy, in contrast to entitlement programs for which funding is mandatory.

uncontrollable - A frequently used term for federal expenditures that are mandatory under existing law and therefore cannot be controlled by the President or Congress without a change in the existing law

cabinet - a body of advisers to the president, composed of the heads of the executive departments of the government

executive office - the immediate staff of the current President of the United States and multiple levels of support staff reporting to the President

veto - a constitutional right to reject a decision or proposal made by a law-making body

pocket veto - an indirect veto of a legislative bill by the president or a governor by retaining the bill unsigned until it is too late for it to be dealt with during the legislative session

executive agreements - an international agreement, usually regarding routine administrative matters not warranting a formal treaty, made by the executive branch of the US government without ratification by the Senate.

treaties - a formally concluded and ratified agreement between countries.

establishment clause - the clause in the First Amendment of the US Constitution that prohibits the establishment of religion by Congress.

free exercise clause - reserves the right of American citizens to accept any religious belief and engage in religious rituals

libel - a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation; a written defamation

slander - the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation.

prior restraint

1. The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution each contain a Due Process Clause. Due process deals with the administration of justice and thus the Due Process Clause acts as a safeguard from arbitrary denial of life, liberty, or property by the Government outside the sanction of law.

suspect clasifications

strict scrutiny tests - the most stringent standard of judicial review used by United States courts

medium scrutiny tests - he second level of deciding issues using judicial review

a question regarded by the courts as being a matter to be determined by another department of government rather than of law and therefore one with which they will not deal, as the recognition of the state.