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| Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville |
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| Examined the democratic revolution that he believed had been occuring the pass 700 years; written in 1835 and 1840 |
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| Broadly shared way of thinking about political and economic life that reflects fundamental assumptions about how government should operate |
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| Fundamental assumptions about how the political process should operate that distinguish citizens by region, religion, or other characteristics |
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| More of less consistent set of views as to the policies government ought to pursue |
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| A belief that Americans consider themselves bound by common values and common hopes |
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| Equality of Opportunity v. Equality of Results |
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| The idea that each person is guarenteed the same chance to succeed in life versus everyone actually succeeding the same in the end |
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| Belief that one has an obligation to participate in civil and political affairs |
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| Belief that one can affect government policies |
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| A split in the United States reflecting differences in people's beliefs about private and public morality, and regarding what standards ought to govern individual behavior and social arrangements. Examples: drug use, gay rights, abortion |
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| Belief in the importance of hard work and personal achievement |
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| An awareness of belonging to a particular socioeconomic class whose interests are different from those of others |
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| People who believe that moral rules are derived from the commands of God or the laws of nature; these commands and laws are relatively clear, unchanging, and independent of individual moral presences |
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| Person who believes that moral rules are derived in part from an indiviual's beliefs and the circumstances of modern life |
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| A demographic group of religous Americans who vote based on moral responsibilities, usually very right winged Republicans. Examples: prayer in school, anti-gay |
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| Suspicion of government actions or motives; belief that government will not protect the rights and liberties of the people and want to keep government under control |
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| Citizen's belief that he or she can understand and influence political affairs |
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| Confidence in a citizen's own ability or abilities to understand and take part in political affairs |
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| Belief that the system will respond to a citizen's demands |
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| The distribution of the population's beliefs about politics and policy issues |
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| A generic name used to represent the idea of the "common man" who speaks in the interest of the community as a normal citizen |
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| Refers to Americans who have moved out of poverty but are not yet affluent and who cherish traditional middle class values |
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| The group of quiet honest hard working middle class people who do their job, respect their country and support the government. Used by Nixon in 1968 and 1972 |
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| A measure of one's social standing obtained by combing factors such as education, income, and occupation |
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| The moral teachings of religous institutions on religous, social, and economic issues |
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| The difference between the political opinions or political behavior of men and women |
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| Differences of political attitude; Division in society |
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| People who wish to maximize personal liberty on both economic and social issues; they prefer a small, weak government that has little control over either the economy or the personal lives of citizens |
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| A political ideology that tends to favor defense spending and school prayer and disapprove of social programs, abortion, affirmative actions and a large, active government |
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| Liberal on both economic policy and personal conduct |
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| Conservative on both economic and political issues |
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| One who favors a free market economy and no governmental interference in personal liberties |
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| One who is liberal on economic issues and conservative on personal conduct issues |
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| Persons with a disproportionate share of political power and/or money |
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| Class made of elites that sprang from the middle class, more democratic, educated, and use traditions more then regular middle class |
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| A standard of right or proper conduct that helps determine the range of acceptable social behavior and policy options |
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| The citizens who are eligible to vote after meeting a minimum age requirement. In the U.S. a citizen must be at least 18 in order to vote |
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| People who are registered to vote. While almost all American citizens are theoetically eligible to vote, only those who have completed a registration form by the required date may do so |
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| A bill passed by Congress in 1993 to make it easier for Americans to register to vote. The law, which went into effect in 1995, requires states to allow voter registration by mail when one applies for a driver's license and at state offices that serve the disabled poor |
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| A requirement that citizens pass a literacy test in order to register to vote. It was established by many states to prevent former slaves from voting. Illiterate whites were allowed to vote a grand father clause added to the law saying that a person could even though they did not requirements if ancestors voted before them |
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| A requirement that citizens pay a tax in order to register to vote. It was adopted by many states to prevent former slaves (most were very poor) from voting. It is now unconstitutional |
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| A clause added to registration laws allowing people who did not meet voter registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors voted before 1867. This was to help poor and whites who were illiterate to vote. The Supreme Court established this was unconstitutional in 1915 |
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| The practice of keeping African Americans from voting in primary elections through arbitrary implementation of registration requirements and intimadation. Such practices were declared unconstitutional in 1944 |
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| Ratified in 1870; prohibits each government in the U.S. from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's race, color, or previous condition of servitude |
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| Voting Rights Act of 1965 |
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| Echos the 15th amendment, outlawed discriminatory practices that were responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans |
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| A government printed ballot of uniform size and shape to be cast in secret that was adopted by many states around 1890 in order to reduce the voting fraud associated with party printed ballots cast in public |
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| Ratified in 1920; prohibits any U.S. citizen to be denied the right to vote based on sex |
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| Ratified in 1971; limits the voting age to no less than 18 |
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| Individuals usually outside of the government who actively promote a political party, philosophy, or issue they care about |
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