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| The view that government is controlled by appointed officials, usually unseen. |
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| The view that government is controlled by capitalists. |
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| The view that a few members of the elite upper class, most not in government positions, hold the real power in government. |
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| The ability to influence or control the actions of others. |
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| A government in which all or most citizens participate directly. |
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| The view that government is controlled by many sources - seen and unseen, large and small, inside and outside. |
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| Constitutional authority is shared by three different branches of government. |
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| An organization or group with a distinct political interest. |
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| Those who prefer a powerful national, or 'federal', government. |
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| Those who prefer a weaker national government, with more power delegated to state and local governments. |
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| Constitutional Convention |
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| The 1787 meeting in Philadelphia to draft the nation's constitution. |
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| A 1787 rebellion in which revolutionay war veterans tried to use force to prevent the foreclosures of their farms. The governmental response was weak, but effective enough. |
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| Articles of Confederation |
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| The constitution of the United States of America that was put in place during the Revolutionary War. Governement as a whole had little power, and almost all was given to the states. |
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| Unalienable or inalienable |
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| Nature or God-given - usually applied to the human rights of life, liberty, and property. |
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| Virginia and New Jersey plans |
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| The Virgina plan proposed a strong national government, the New Jersey plan a weak one based on the Articles of Confederation. |
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| The plan to have a popularly elected House based on state population and a state-selected Senate, with two members for each state. |
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| A government in which elected representatives make decisions. |
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| Enumerated Powers, Reserved Powers, and Concurrent Powers |
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| Enumerated powers are given to the national government only - reserved ones to the states only. Concurrent powers, as the name suggests, are shared by national and state governements. |
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| The power of the courts to declare laws unconstitutional. |
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| An order to produce an arrested person before a judge. |
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| A law that makes actions criminal, even if they were legal when they were committed. |
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| A law that declares a person, without a trial, to be guilty of a crime. |
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| The effort to devolve onto the states the national government's functions. |
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| Grants from the national government to a state government, to be used within broad guidelines. |
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| A system in which the states are sovereign and the national government is allowed to do only that which the states permit. |
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| "Necessary and proper" clause |
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| Section of the Constitution allowing Congress to pass all laws "necessary and proper" to its duties. |
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| Doctrine holding that the national government is supreme in its sphre, the states in theirs, and the two should remain separate. |
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| Procedure enabling voters to reject a measure passed by the legislature. |
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| Procedure whereby voters can remove an elected official from office. |
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| State power to enact laws promoting health, safety, and morals. |
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| Federal sharing of a fixed portion of its revenue with the states. |
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| Conditions set by the national government that states must meet to receive certain federal funds. |
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| Terms set by the national government that states must meet. |
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| A coherent way of thinking about how politics and government should be carried out. |
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| A belief that one can affect government policies. |
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| A belief that one has an obligation to participate in civic and political affairs. |
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| Internal efficacy and external efficacy |
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Definition
Internal: a belief that you can take part in politics
External: a belief that the government will respond to the citizenry |
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| An act that conveys a political message. Not necessarily protected speech. |
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| The Supreme Court considers free speech to hold a higher position than, for example, property rights. |
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| Writing that falsely injures another person. Not protected under the 1st Amdendment. |
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| The Nazi Party may march through a largely Jewish neighborhood. |
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| 1896 Supreme Court case which set the standard for 'separate but equal' |
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| Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka |
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Definition
| 1954 Sup. Court case which reversed Plessy v. Ferguson, beginning integration |
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| Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education |
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| 1974 Sup. Court case that approved busing and redrawing district lines to integrate public schools. |
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| 1971 Sup. Court case determining that gender discrimination violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution |
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| 1965 Supreme Court case which found a right to privacy in the Constitution which would ban any state law against selling contraceptives. |
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| State power to effect laws promoting health, safety, and morals. |
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| Citizens who have reached the minimum age requirement to vote. |
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| A requirement that citizens pay a tax in order to register to vote. |
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| A clause in registration laws allowing people who do not meet registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867. |
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| the practice of keeping blacks from voting in the southern states' primaries through arbitrary use of registration requirements and intimidation. |
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| A government-printed ballot of uniform dimensions to be cast in secret. Adopted by many states in the late 19th century to reduce voting fraud. |
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| People who participate in all forms of politics. |
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| People who are registered to vote |
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| A clause in registration laws allowing people who do not meet registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867. |
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| A group that seeks to elect candidates to public office. |
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| Republican party faction of the 1890's to the 1910's, composed of reformers who opposed patronage. |
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| Periods when a major, lasting shift occurs in the popular coalition supporting one or both parties. |
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| Critical or realignment period |
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| Office-bloc or Massachusetts ballot |
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Definition
| A ballot listing all candidates of a given office under the name of that office. |
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| Party column or Indiana ballot |
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| A ballot listing all candidates of a given party together under the name of that party |
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| A meeting of party delegates held every four years. |
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| Delegates who run party affairs between national conventions. |
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| Congressional campaign committee |
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| A party committee in Congress that provides funds to members and would-be members. |
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| A party that values principled stands on issues above all else. |
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| Those who become delegates in national conventions without participating in primaries or caucuses due to political office or party position. |
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| A local or state political party that is largely supported by another organization in the community. |
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| The political support provided to a candidate on the basis of personal popularity and networks. |
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| An electoral system in which the winner is the person who gets the most votes, even if he or she does not receive a majority. |
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| A meeting of party members to select delegates backing one or another primary candidate. |
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| The person already holding an elective office. |
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| The alleged tendency of candidates to win more votes in an election because of the presence at the top of the ticket of a better-known candidate, such as the president. |
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| Political Action Commitee. A commitee set up by a corporation, labor union, or interest group that raises and spends campaign money from voluntary donations. |
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| An increase in the votes congressional candidates usually get when they first run for reelection. |
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| Position issues and valence issues |
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Definition
| Position issues are issues about which the public is divided and rival candidates or political parties adopt different policy positions, while valence issues are issues about which the public is united and hence each party offers the same position. |
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| What kinds of elections and primaries are there? |
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Definition
There are:
General elections, in which the candidate to hold office is chosen
Primary elections, to choose candidates for office.
Closed primaries, in chich voting is limited to already registered party members.
Open primaries, in which voters may choose in which party to vote as they enter the polling place.
Blanket primaries, in which each voter may vote for candidates from both parties.
Runoff primaries, which are held when no candidate wins a majority of votes in the first primary. |
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| Funds obtained by political parties that are spent on party activities. |
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| Organizations that raise and spend money to advance political causes, under section 527 of the IRC. |
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| An FCC rule that if a broadcaster sells times to one candidate, it must sell equal time to other candidates. |
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| Informations leaked to the media to test public reaction to a possible story. |
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| Words that imply a value judgement, used to persuade a reader without having made a serious argument. |
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| Media stories about events that are not usuallly made public |
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| The tendency of the national media to be suspicious of officials and eager to reveal unflattering stories about him. |
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| A public official's statement to a reporter that is given on condition that the official NOT be NAMED. |
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| A lawmaking body made up of two chambers or parts. |
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| An attempt to defeat a bill in the Senate by talking indefinitely, thus preventing the Senate from taking action to the bill. |
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| Marginal districts and safe districts |
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| In safe districts, incumbents win by 55 percent or more. In marginal ones, candidates elected to the House of Representatives win in close elections. |
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| A senator or representative who helps the party leader stay informed about what party members are thinking. |
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| A vote in which a majority of Democratic legislators oppose a majority of Republican legislators. |
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| An association of Congress members created to advance a political ideology or a regional, ethnic, or economic interest. |
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| Standing, select, joint, and conference committees |
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Definition
Standing: Permanently established legislative committees that consider and are responsible for legislation within a certain subject area.
Select: appointed for a limited time and purpose
Joint: on which both senators and representatives serve
Conference: appointed to resulve differences in the Senate and House versions of the same bill. |
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| A congressional process by which a speaker may send a bill to a second committee after the first is finished acting. |
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