Shared Flashcard Set

Details

PSC 102 Final Exam
American Goverment
51
Political Studies
Undergraduate 1
01/07/2013

Additional Political Studies Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
New Deal
Definition
The New Deal was a series of economic programs enacted in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They involved presidential executive orders or laws passed by Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Term
De jure (in Classical Latin de iure)
Definition
is an expression that means "concerning law"
Term
De facto
Definition
means "concerning fact". The terms de jure and de facto are used instead of "in law" and "in practice", respectively, when one is describing political or legal situations
Term
Clear and present danger
Definition
a doctrine adopted by the Supreme Court of the United States to determine under what circumstances limits can be placed on First Amendment freedoms of speech, press or assembly
Term
Public opinion
Definition
the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs.
Term
The term interest group
Definition
refers to virtually any voluntary association that seeks to publicly promote and create advantages for its cause. It applies to a vast array of diverse organizations. This includes corporations, charitable organizations, civil rights groups, neighborhood associations, professional and trade association
Term
Examples of direct lobbying include:
Definition
Meeting with legislators or their staff to discuss specific legislation.
Drafting or negotiating the terms of a bill.
Discussing potential contents of legislation with legislators or staff.
Meeting with officials of the executive branch to influence testimony on a legislative proposal.
Urging a Presidential or gubernatorial veto
Term
One of the most commonly used indirect lobbying techniques
Definition
is constituent lobbying, whereby members of an organization write, phone, and e-mail legislators to communicate their concerns. When done correctly, this type of grassroots
Term
Mass Media
Definition
Almost everyone gets his or her information about world, national, and local affairs from the mass media. This fact gives both print and broadcast journalism important functions that include influencing public opinion, determining the political agenda, providing a link between the government and the people, acting as a government watchdog, and affecting socialization
Term
Functions of Political Parties
Definition
perform an important task in government. They bring people together to achieve control of the government, develop policies favorable to their interests or the groups that support them, and organize and persuade voters to elect their candidates to office. Although very much involved in the operation of government at all levels, political parties are not the government itself, and the Constitution makes no mention of them.
Term
Political action committee
Definition
is a type of organization that campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives or legislation.[1] At the federal level, an organization becomes a PAC when it receives or spends more than $1,000 for the purpose of influencing a federal election, according to the Federal Election Campaign Act.[2] At the state level, an organization becomes a PAC according to the state's election laws.
Term
open primary
Definition
a primary in which any registered voter can vote (but must vote for candidates of only one party)
Term
closed primary
Definition
a primary election in which you can only vote for the party of which you are a declared member
Term
Australian ballot, also called secret ballot
Definition
the system of voting in which voters mark their choices in privacy on uniform ballots printed and distributed by the government or designate their choices by some other secret means
Term
Labor Interest Groups
Definition
represent unions, which work to increase wages and improve working conditions for both skilled and unskilled workers. Individual workers have very little power, but banded together, they can wield significant influence. Labor unions have been a significant part of American economic and political life since the late nineteenth century. At the peak of the unions’ influence, roughly one-third of American workers belonged to labor unions
Term
Article VI, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, known as the Supremacy Clause
Definition
establishes the U.S. Constitution, Federal Statutes, and U.S. Treaties as "the supreme law of the land." The text decrees these to be the highest form of law in the U.S. legal system, and mandates that all state judges must follow federal law when a conflict arises between federal law and either the state constitution or state law of any state.
Term
The 14th amendment gave birth to the incorporation theory
Definition
which incorporates the limits of the federal government to the states. Before then the states could restrict rights with police power.
Term
Generational Effect
Definition
A long lasting effect of the events of a paticular time on political opinions of those who came of a political age at that time.
Term
su·per·del·e·gate
Definition
An elected official or political party leader who attends a presidential nominating convention and who may or may not have made a commitment to vote for a candidate.
Term
The purpose of Goverment
Definition
To maintain Liberty-the greatest freedom of the individual that is consistent with the freedoms of others.Also to maintain Order- a state of peace and security.
Term
social contract
Definition
An agreement among the members of an organized society or between the governed and the government defining and limiting the rights and duties of each
Term
Articles of Confederation
Definition
was an agreement among the 13 founding states that established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution.
Term
Madisonian model
Definition
is a structure of government in which the powers of the government are separated into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.[1] This came about because the delegates saw the need to structure the government in such a way to prevent the imposition of tyranny by either majority or by a minority
Term
Electoral College
Definition
is the institution that officially elects the President and Vice President of the United States every four years. The President and Vice President are not elected directly by the voters. Instead, they are elected indirectly by "electors" who are elected by popular vote on a state-by-state basis.
Term
Unitary (e.g., China, France, Japan, United Kingdom)
Definition
the central government holds all the power. Lower-level governments, if they exist at all, do nothing but implement the policies of the national governmen
Term
Federal (e.g., United States, Germany, Australia, Canada)
Definition
this system has a mix of national and state or local governments. The federal government usually trumps local governments in matters of defense and foreign policy, but local governments have a great deal of say over most other policy areas. Sometimes local governments administer national policies, which means that, in practice, the “national” policy varies a great deal from place to place
Term
Confederate (e.g., Confederate States of America, Belgium)
Definition
The vast majority of political power rests with the local governments; the central federal government has very little power. Local governments have a great deal of freedom to act as they wish, but this freedom often leads to conflicts between states and the federal government. In some cases, a confederacy is little more than an alliance between independent states.
Term
Federalists
Definition
Those who supported ratification of the Constitution and creation of a federal goverment with a strong central union.
Term
Anti- Federalists
Definition
Those who opposed ratifacation of the Constitution and opposed creation of a Federal goverment with a strong central union.
Term
The Great Compromise
Definition
A way to compromise on legislative representation. Creates a Bicameral(two house) legislature.
House of Representatives whereby representatives are elected based on state population.
Senate whereby each state gets two representatives.
Term
Examples of Direct Democracy
Definition
Town meeting,or Petition..

Initiative-where voters can propose a law or constitutional ammendment.
Referendum-where the legislature refers measures to the voters for their opinion.
Recall- allows citizens to dismiss a state official before his term is up.
Term
Dual federalism
Definition
is a theory about the proper relationship between government and the states, portraying the states as powerful components of the federal government — nearly equal to the national government
Term
Cooperative federalism
Definition
was coined in the 1930s and acknowledges a need for cooperation between state and federal governments.
Term
Prior restraint
Definition
is censorship imposed, usually by a government, on expression before the expression actually takes place.
Term
Actual malice
Definition
a condition required to establish libel against public officials or public figures and is defined as "knowledge that the information was false" or that it was published "with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not." Reckless disregard does not encompass mere neglect in following professional standards of fact checking. The publisher must entertain actual doubt as to the statement's truth
Term
Examples of Cooperative federalism:
Definition
Federal grants-in-aid programs and other block grants; State aid in conducting, financing, and regulating elections; and State aid in helping handle federal criminals.
Term
The ENUMERATED, or EXPRESS, powers of Congress
Definition
are those powers (listed or mentioned) in so many words in the Constitution as grants of authorities to Congress.
Term
IMPLIED POWERS of Congress
Definition
Are not listed or mentioned in the Constitution;

But are deemed by Congress and the U.S. Courts to be
REASONABLY IMPLIED from the enumerated, or expressly
delegated, powers of Congress.
Term
Inherent powers
Definition
make up the sphere of political authority allocated to the states by the
U.S. Constitution.
Term
CONCURRENT POWERS
Definition
constitute the sphere of authority shared by the states and the national government under the U.S. Constitution
Term
Police powers are granted to states in the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,
Definition
which reserves to the states the rights and powers "not delegated to the United States," which include protection of the welfare, safety, health and even morals of the public. Police powers denotes the basis for many regulatory subjects, such as licensing, inspection, zoning, safety regulations, and working conditions as well as law enforcement. Police powers may be used, for example to detain people or search things like vehicle.
Term
prohibited powers
Definition
powers denied to both national and state governments
Term
divided government
Definition
describes a situation in which one party controls the White House and another party controls one or both houses of the United States Congress
Term
political parties
Definition
are organized at the local (usually county), state, and national levels. Party leaders and activists are involved in choosing people to run for office, managing and financing campaigns, and developing positions and policies that appeal to party constituents. The national party organizations play key roles in presidential elections.
Term
Democratic Republicans
Definition
of or relating to a major American political party of the early 19th century favoring a strict interpretation of the Constitution to restrict the powers of the federal government and emphasizing states' rights
Term
Public Office Requirement
Definition
AGE RESIDENCY/CITIZENSHIP
President of United States 35 14 yrs. Resident in Nation,
Natural Born Citizen

United States Senator 30 Inhabitant of State,
9 yrs. Citizen

Representative in Congress 25 Inhabitant of State,
7 yrs. Citizen

Governor 30 7 yrs. Inhabitant of State,
Citizenship Required

Lt. Governor 30 7 yrs. Inhabitant of State,
Citizenship Required

Attorney General 30 7 yrs. Inhabitant of State,
(Must be Member of Bar of Supreme Court) Citizenship Required
Term
Political socialization
Definition
a lifelong process by which people form their ideas about politics and acquire political values. The family, educational system, peer groups, and the mass media all play a role. While family and school are important early in life, what our peers think and what we read in the newspaper and see on television have more influence on our political attitudes as adults.
Term
party-column ballot"
Definition
A ballot that has all candidates for a certain party under the name for this party is considered a "party-column ballot". It tends to encourage "straight ticket" voting.
Term
office-block ballot
Definition
a ballot on which the candidates are listed alphabetically, with or without their party designations, in columns under the office for which they were nominated.
Term
Name forms of Goverment and define
Clue:A.T.T.A.D
Definition
A:Aristocracy-where the power of government is held by an upper class.
T:Theocracy-Rule by God everything is rooted in rekigion/No separation of church and state.
T:Totalitarian Government-Where a single ruler or group controls all aspects of political social and economic life in a country.
A:Authoritarian Government-Where the ruler or group controls only the government and not social or economic life.
D:Democracy-A system of government in which political authority is vested in the people.
Term
Our Economic system defined
Definition
Capitalism is an economic system that is based on private ownership of the means of production and the creation of goods and services for profit
Supporting users have an ad free experience!