Shared Flashcard Set

Details

Tara's Politics Class
American Government
870
Political Studies
Undergraduate 1
06/01/2010
Click here to study/print these flashcards.

Create your own flash cards! Sign up here.

Additional Political Studies Flashcards

 

 

Cards

Term
Affirmative Action
 Definition
programs of government, universities, and business, designed to favor minorities and remedy past discriminations.
Term
American Indians
 Definition
Are American Citizens as of 1924.
No requirement to live on a reservation.
Term
Antifederalists
 Definition
those who opposed ratification of the Constitution.
Term
Articles of Confederation
 Definition
The written framework for the government of the original 13 states before the Constitution was adopted
Term
Bakke and Weber
 Definition
●Reverse discrimination
●Bakke in college admissions. Universities have the right to give preference to blacks and other minorities as long as they do not use rigid racial “quotas”
●Weber rejected for a training program that would lead to higher pay. The program had set-a-sides for half black workers.
Term
Bill of Attainder
 Definition
Legislation aimed at a particular individual
Term
Bill of Rights
 Definition
First 10 Amendments of the Constitution
Term
Brown v. The Board of Education
 Definition
This Supreme Court decision ruled that the doctrine of 'separate but equal' was unconstitutional
Term
Cesar Chavez
 Definition
This man led his United Farm Workers (UFW) on a successful five-year strike against grape growers in California.
Term
Charter Colonies
 Definition
Rhode Island and Connecticut
Term
Checks and Balances
 Definition
Power is divided among the three constitutionally equal branches of government in the hope of preventing any single branch from becoming too powerful
Term
Civil Liberties
 Definition
the fundamental rights of a free society that are protected by the Bill of Rights.
Term
Civil Rights Acts of 1964
 Definition
*Prohibits racial or religious discrimination in public accommodations that affect interstate commerce, including hotels, motels, restaurants, cafeterias, lunch counters, gas stations, movie houses, theaters, and sports arenas. *Prohibit discrimination against race, color, sex, religion, or national origin by employers or labor unions.
*Bar voting registrars from adopting different standards for whites and black applicants.
*Permit the attorney general to bring suit to enforce desegregation of public accommodations, and allow individuals to sue for their rights under the act.
*Permit the executive branch of the federal government to halt the flow of funds to public or private programs that practice discrimination. Extend the life of the Civil rights commission
Term
Clear and Present Danger
 Definition
When free speech incites violence
Term
Common Law
 Definition
The cumulative body of law as expressed in judicial decisions and customs rather than by statue.
Term
Concurrent Powers
 Definition
Government and states share the power to exercise independently, such as the power to tax
Term
Cooperative Federalism
 Definition
The various levels of government are seen as related parts of a single governmental system, characterized more by cooperation and shared functions than by conflict and competition
Term
Creative Federalism
 Definition
The relationship between Washington and the states
Term
Criminal Information
 Definition
statement presented to the court by a prosecutor charging a person with a crime.
Term
Democracy
 Definition
Rule by the people
Term
Dred Scott Decision
 Definition
This man was a slave who sued for his freedom, but was prevented from bringing his case before a Supreme Court that ruled that he was not a citizen.
Term
Dual Federalism
 Definition
the federal government and the states were seen as competing power centers
Term
Due Process of Law
 Definition
5th and 14th Amendment, This phrase refers to the legal rights (Constitutionally enshrined) of an individual against the arbitrary power of the state; or illegal searches and seizures
Term
Elastic Clause
 Definition
Make all “necessary and proper laws” to carry out the powers of the Constitution
Term
Electoral College
 Definition
each state having as many electors as it had representatives and senators. The electors were to choose the president and vice president.
Term
Enumerated Powers
 Definition
These powers are specifically granted under the U.S. Constitution
Term
Establishment Clause
 Definition
neither a state nor the federal government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws that aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another
Term
Ex Post Facto Law
 Definition
imposing punishment for an act that was not illegal when committed
Term
Exclusionary Rule
 Definition
*Government can not used illegally seized evidence in court
*The government may use illegally seized evidence in order to discredit statements made by a defendant during cross-examination at trial.
*That if the police were exercising “good faith” when relying on a flawed search warrant, the evidence seized could be used in court.
*That illegally seized evidence may be admitted at a trial if the prosecution can show that the evidence would “inevitably” have been discovered by lawful means.
Term
Executive Branch
 Definition
*President of the United States
*Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces
*Right to make Treaties “with the Advice and Consent” of two-thirds of a quorum of the Senate
*Appoint Ambassadors, appoint Judges and other high officials, subject to Senate approval.
* Summon Congress into special Session
Term
Federal System, Federalism
 Definition
*The constitutional powers and functions of government are shared by the national government and the states, and are the basic structure of the government in the United States
Those who favor federalism argue that it permits more opportunities for political participation.
Term
Federalists
 Definition
Those who supported ratification of the Constitution
Term
First Amendment
 Definition
freedom of religion, speech, press, to assemble, to petition the government for grievances.
Term
Flexible Construction
 Definition
the concept that the Constitution must be interpreted flexibly to meet changing conditions
Term
Free Exercise Clause
 Definition
protects the right of individuals to worship or believe as they wish, or to hold no religious beliefs
Term
Gerrymandering
 Definition
redrawing lines in favor of one party or another, which were used to keep black voters from gaining control.
Term
Gideon v. Wainwright
 Definition
established the right of an indigent defendant to legal counsel or an attorney.
Term
Great Compromise, or Connecticut Compromise
 Definition
*A House of Representatives apportioned by the number of free inhabitants in each state plus three-fifths of the slaves.
*A Senate, or upper house, consisting of two members from each state, elected by the state legislatures.
Term
Implied Powers
 Definition
gives Congress power to make all laws “necessary and proper” to carry out its enumerated powers.
Term
Indictment
 Definition
a grand jury found enough evidence existing to warrant a criminal trial.
Term
Inherent Powers
 Definition
National government has the right to conduct foreign relations
Term
Judicial Review
 Definition
This is the power that the Supreme Court has to rule on the constitutionality of a law.
Term
Judiciary
 Definition
*Power of the United States, shall be vested in the supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts” as Congress may establish.
*Provide for trial by jury.
*Right of Judicial Review of acts of Congress
Term
Legislative Branch
 Definition
The Congress, House and Senate, can
*House has power to Impeach
*Senate shall try impeachment cases
*Power to tax
*Provide for the general welfare of the United States
* Borrow money
*Regulate commerce
*Naturalize citizens
*Coin Money
*Punish Counterfeiters
*Establish Post Office
*Copyrights and Patents
*Create lower courts
*Declare ware
*Maintain armed forces
*Suppress insurrections
*Suppress insurrections
*Repel invasions
*Govern DC
*Make all “necessary and proper laws”
Term
Literacy Tests
 Definition
designed to test a voter’s ability to read and write were rigged to keep black voters from the poles.
Term
Magna Carta
 Definition
the document issued by King John at Runnymede in 1215, in which nobles confirmed that the power of the king was not absolute; the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679 and the bill of Rights 1689.
Term
Marbury v. Madison
 Definition
This Supreme Court case firmly established that the Supreme Court had the power of judicial review
Term
Martin Luther King
 Definition
-        Used Gandhi's theory of nonviolence to further the rights of African Americans
Term
McCullough v. Maryland
 Definition
This court case concerned the right of Congress to incorporate a national bank, and established that Congress had broad implied powers in addition to what was specifically enumerated in the Constitution.
Term
Miranda Warnings
 Definition
suspects in police custody be advised of their rights before they are interrogated
Term
National Government
 Definition
Three branches, legislative, executive and judicial
The following types of power are exercised by the national government:
*Enumerated
*Implied
*Inherent
Term
Natural Rights
 Definition
the belief that all people possess certain basic rights that may not be abridged by government.
Term
New Federalism
 Definition
designed to return federal tax money to state and local government
Term
New Jersey Plan
 Definition
*Continuation of the Articles of Confederation, including one vote fore each state represented in the legislature. Congress would be strengthened so that it could impose taxes and regulate trade, and acts of Congress would become the “supreme law
* An executive of more than one person to be elected by Congress.
*A Supreme Court, to be appointed by the executive
Term
Plessey v. Ferguson
 Definition
The doctrine of 'separate but equal' was affirmed by this Supreme Court decision.
Term
Politics
 Definition
The pursuit and exercise of power
Term
Poll Tax
 Definition
tax on voting used to keep poor voters from participating in elections.
Term
Power
 Definition
The possession of control over others
Term
Proprietary Colonies
 Definition
Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.
Term
Regulatory Federalism
 Definition
the federal government has set requirements for the states through federal laws and regulations dealing with the environment and the broad range of other concerns
Term
Republic
 Definition
A form of democracy where the people choose representatives to make political decisions
Term
Royal Colonies
 Definition
the 13 original colonies, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Massachusetts.
Term
Separation of Powers
 Definition
each of the three branches is constitutionally equal to and independent of the others
Term
Supremacy Clause
 Definition
federal laws are supreme over any conflicting state laws. But the states also exercise control within their borders over a wide range of activities
Term
Supremacy Law
 Definition
the laws of Congress prevail over any conflicting state laws
Term
Thomas Jefferson
 Definition
This founding father wrote the Declaration of Independence
Term
Unicameral Legislature
 Definition
Pennsylvania, a legislative body with only one house, the colonial legislatures had two houses.
Term
Unitary System of Government
 Definition
the nation is divided into administrative units called departments, uniformly administered from Paris
Term
USA Patriot Act
 Definition
expanded the power of the federal law enforcement authorities to move against suspected terrorists.
Term
Virginia Plan
 Definition
*A proposed entirely new national government under a constitution to include two-house legislature, the lower house chosen by the people and the upper house chosen by the lower house. The legislature would have the power to annul any state laws that I
*A “national executive” – the makeup was not specified, so there might have been more than one president under the plan – to be elected by the legislature.
*A national judiciary to be chosen by the legislature.
Term
Constitution
 Definition
The right to privacy is NOT in the constitution.
*The writers drew their inspiration from American sources and from European thinkers.
Term
Current Constitutional Issues
 Definition
The constitutional issues that the United States faces today concern the expansion of the state governments’ control.
Term
Public Opinion
 Definition
The expression of attitudes about government and politics.
* A process of interaction between the people and the government.
*Those opinions held by private persons which governments find it prudent to heed.
*Enough people expressing themselves so strongly for or against something that their views are likely to affect government action.
*Because the people who hold and express opinions are constantly changing, as do the issues an conditions to which the public responds.
Term
Political Socialization
 Definition
Over the years a person acquires a set of political attitudes and forms opinions about political and social issues. Which may be affected by:
*The Family
*College Faculty
*Peer Groups
*Elementary, Jr. and High School
*social Class (Working Class, Middle Class, Upper Class)
*Occupation
*Income Level
*Religion, Sex, Race, Ethnicity
*Geographical Area, Rural vs. City
Term
Reference Groups
 Definition
Groups who serve as guidelines to an individual’s opinion.
*   Primary Groups – Because the influence is direct, groups that people come into face-to-face contact with in everyday life – friends, office associates, or a social club.
*Secondary Groups – Groups that people are more remotely affiliated with – labor unions, fraternal unions, professional or religious groups.
Term
Exit Polls
 Definition
Votes are counted of citizens leaving voting booths, which may be an indicator of the final result.
Term
Universe The group
 Definition
The group of people to be measured, known as the population, is too large to poll on every issue.
Term
Random Sample
 Definition
A group of people, chosen by poll-takers, that is representative of the universe being polled. A random sample is sometimes called a probability sample.
Term
Cluster Sampling
 Definition
Interviewing several people from the same neighborhood. Scientific Polling.
Term
Quota Sample
 Definition
A method of polling in which interviewers are instructed to question members of a particular group in proportion to their percentage in the population as a whole.
Term
Bandwagon Effect
 Definition
Political polls themselves may create the bandwagon effect and influence the outcome of an election.
Term
Political Culture
 Definition
A fundamental believe about how government and politics should be conducted.
Term
Interest Groups
 Definition
Private groups that attempt to influence the government to respond to the shared attitudes of their members.
Term
Lobbying
 Definition
Communication with legislators or other government officials to try to influence their decisions.
Term
Political Action Committees (or PAC)
 Definition
Single issue lobbies which are sometimes independent organizations but are more often the political arms of corporations, labor unions, or interest groups established to contribute to candidates or to work for general political goals.
Term
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974
 Definition
Permitted unions and corporations to establish political committees that could contribute up to $5,000 to each candidate in a primary general election.
Term
Buckley v. Valeo
 Definition
Supreme court ruled it unconstitutional to place limits on funds spent for or against a candidate by committees not formally connected to the candidate’s campaign.
Term
Independent Expenditure
 Definition
Funds spent for or against a candidate by committees not formally connected to the candidate’s campaign.
Term
Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act of 1946
 Definition
*Required individuals and groups to register with the clerk of the House and the secretary of the Senate if they solicit or collect money or anything of value “to be used principally to aid…the passage or defeat of any legislation by the Congress of the Un
*1954 the Supreme Court narrowed the scope of the act by ruling that it applied only to lobbyists who communicated directly with members of Congress and not grass-roots lobbying aimed at the public.
Term
Muckrakers
 Definition
A group of writers, journalists, and critics who expose corporate malfeasance and political corruption.
*Malfeasance- Wrong doing of a public official.
Term
Equal Time
 Definition
Federal Communications Act requires broadcasters to provide equal time to all legally qualified political candidates.
*Candidates must be given equal opportunity, if they can afford it.
***Does not include:
Documentaries, Interviews, News, Television Stations do not have to include "fringe" candidates
Term
Fairness Doctrine
 Definition
A requirement by the Federal Communications Commission, abolished in 1987, that radio and television broadcasters present all sides of important public issues.
Term
Seven Dirty Words
 Definition
Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker, Tits
Term
Prior Restraint
 Definition
The principle, rooted in English common law, that normally there must be no governmental prior restraint of the press - the censoring of news stories before publication.
Term
Shield Law
 Definition
Law designed to protect reporters from revealing their sources.
Term
Libel
 Definition
A published or broadcast report that exposes a person to public contempt or injures the person’s reputations.
A person defamed by a newspaper or other publication may be able to sue and collect damages because the First Amendment does not protect this form of “free speech.”
Term
Spin
 Definition
Deliberate shading of news perception; attempted control of political reactions.
Term
Freedom of Information Act
 Definition
Law that requires federal executive branch and regulatory agencies to make information available to journalists, scholars, and the public unless it falls into one of several confidential categories. Exempt from disclosure are:
*National Security Information
*Personnel Files
*Investigatory Records
*Internal documents of an agency
Term
George Gallup
 Definition
Was an American pioneer of survey sampling techniques and inventor of the Gallup poll, a successful statistical method of survey sampling for measuring public opinion.
Term
Pluralism
 Definition
A system in which many conflicting groups within the community have access to government officials and compete with one another in an effort to influence policy decisions; such as a member of the PTA can favor new school construction ant the same time may
Term
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
 Definition
Commission that regulates broadcasts stations and ensure they operate in “the public interest.”
Term
Political Party
 Definition
A broadly based coalition that attempts to gain control of the government by winning elections in order to exercise power and reward its members.
*Manage the Transfer of Power
*Offer a choice of rival candidates and programs to the voters
*Serve as a bridge between government and people by helping to hold elected officials accountable to the voters.
*Help to recruit candidates for office.
*May serve to reconcile conflicting interests in society.
*Staff the government and help to run it.
*Link various branches and levels of government.
Term
The Voter
 Definition
Men or women whom consider themselves either Democrats or Republicans.
Term
Party Leaders Outside of Government
 Definition
Men or women who frequently control the party machinery and sometimes have important power bases.
Term
Party Activists
 Definition
Men or women who ring doorbells, serve as delegates to county, state, and national conventions and perform the day-to-day, grass-roots work of politics.
Term
Party Leaders in the Government
 Definition
The president, leaders in Congress, and party leaders in the state and local governments.
Term
Republican Party
 Definition
The Republican Party was created in February 1854, when a group of the Whigs, Free-Soilers, and antislavery Democrats gathered in a church at Ripon, Wisconsin, to recommend the creation of a new party to fight further expansion of slavery. The Republican
Term
Grand Old Party (GOP)
 Definition
In 1860 and for 25 years thereafter, Republicans ruled America, thus becoming known as the Grand Old Party or GOP.
Term
National Convention
 Definition
The party nominates the party’s candidates for president and vice president, writes a platform, settles disputes, writes rules, and elects the members of the national committee.
Term
National Chair
 Definition
The head of a national political party, is formally elected by the members of the national committee. In practice he or she is chosen or retained by the party’s presidential nominee at the end of the national convention.
Term
National Committee
 Definition
The governing body of the party. Members of the national committee are chosen in the states and formally elected by the party’s national convention.
Term
Dark Horse
 Definition
A term used to describe a candidate who is thought to have only an outside chance of gaining the nomination. James K Polk was considered a dark horse, and he won the presidency in 1844.
Term
527 Organizations
 Definition
Organizations that are tax-exempt groups created to exploit a loophole in the law regulating campaign finance. Section in IRS Code under which the organization must report their expenditures.
Term
Negative Advertising
 Definition
Political commercials that strongly attack a rival candidate.
Term
Soft Money
 Definition
Unregulated campaign funds from corporations, unions, and wealthy donors, that were not subject to the limits of Federal Law.
Term
Independent Expenditures
 Definition
Funds spent for or against a candidate by committees not formally connected to a candidate and without coordination with the campaign.
Term
Know what “political socialization” means, and the means by which we are “socialized”
 Definition
Over the years a person acquires a set of political attitudes and forms opinions about political and social issues. Which may be affected by:
The Family, college Faculty, Peer Groups, Elementary, Jr. and High School, Social Class, Middle Class, Upper Class), Occupation, Income Level, Religion, Sex, Race, Ethnicity, Geographical Area, Rural vs. City
Term
Know which reference groups – primary and secondary – most affect you and others.
 Definition
Groups who serve as guidelines to an individual’s opinion.
*Primary Groups – Because the influence is direct, groups that people come into face-to-face contact with in everyday life – friends, office associates, or a social club.
*Secondary Groups – Groups that people are more remotely affiliated with – labor unions, fraternal unions, professional or religious groups.
Term
Understand how a good poll is constructed, and how even a good poll may be misleading.
 Definition
How a good poll is constructed
*Mathematical probability.
*Random Sampling - A group of people, chosen by poll-takers, that is representative of the universe being polled. A random sample is sometimes called a probability sample.
*Cluster Sampling - Interviewing several people from the same neighborhood. Scientific Polling. As long as the geographic areas are chosen at random, the clustering will usually not result in an unacceptable margin of error.
*Poll-takers often combine the cluster technique with the selection, in a series of stages or steps, of geographic areas to be polled, with each unit selected becoming successively smaller.
Term
Know the functions of interest groups.
 Definition
Private groups that attempt to influence the government to respond to the shared attitudes of their members. When people organize to express attitudes held in common and to influence the government to respond to those attitudes, they become members of in
Term
Understand the differences and similarities between and interest group, PAC, and political party.
 Definition
·       An interest group is a loosely bound group of people sharing attitudes.
Term
Understand why some segments of the population are underrepresented by interest groups.
 Definition
·       Some ordinary voters feel they have been left out of the political system.
Term
Understand what is meant by “grass-roots pressure”, and how this technique compares with direct lobbying or mass propaganda campaigns.
 Definition
One way interest groups try to influence public opinion is through mass propaganda and mass-publicity.
Term
Know what is meant by “freedom of the press,” and how this freedom is limited.
 Definition
Freedom of the press and freedom of expression are not absolute. Press is considered both print and electronic media and can be sued or prosecuted for the following:
Term
Understand how television has changed the political ball game, and which presidents have adapted best to this technology.
 Definition
·    Broadcast of major events on TV has a strong influence on public opinion.
Term
Know the differences between the equal time and fairness doctrines.
 Definition
Equal Time - Federal Communications Act requires broadcasters to provide equal time to all legally qualified political candidates.
Term
Know how and why the FCC regulates broadcast media differently than print media.
 Definition
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - that regulates broadcasts stations and ensure they operate in “the public interest.”
Term
Understand the many functions of political parties in our system – for good and ill.
 Definition
A broadly based coalition that attempts to gain control of the government by winning elections in order to exercise power and reward its members.
Term
Know which political parties were “first on the scene,” and how they were founded and by whom, and why they would eventually give way to the modern Democratic and Republican parties.
 Definition
o      The Federalist Party, organized by Alexander Hamilton, was the first national political party in the United States.
Term
Understand the fundamental differences between Republican and Democratic parties.
 Definition
Republicans - Republicans view themselves as “insiders who represent the core of American society and are the carriers of its fundamental values.”
Term
Know the difference between a pivotal and swing state.
 Definition
·       A swing state is a state in which no candidate has overwhelming support, meaning that any of the major candidates has a reasonable chance of winning the state's electoral college votes.
Term
Understand how electors may be selected by the state legislatures.
 Definition
State legislatures choose an elector by popular vote, equal to the number of the representatives and senators that the state has in Congress.
Term
Understand how your vote is counted in a U.S. presidential election, and why your vote may be more or less influential depending on where you live.
 Definition
A voter for a slate of electors that is normally pledged to the presidential candidate of the voter’s choice.
Term
Pork-Barrel Legislation
 Definition
Lawmakers push through bills that benefit their home districts, or powerful corporate contributors, with sometimes wasteful or unnecessary public works or other projects.
Term
Senatorial Courtesy
 Definition
Unwritten Custom - Individual senators who belong to the same political party as the president exercise an informal veto power over presidential appointments in their states.
Term
Congress' Non-Legislative Functions
 Definition
*It proposes Amendments to the Constitution.
*It may declare war.
*It can impeach and try the president or other civil officers of the United States, including judges
*It may rule on presidential disability
*It regulates the conduct of its members
*It has power to decide whether a prospective member has been properly elected or should be seated.
*May choose the president in the event of electoral deadlock.
*Approves or rejects treaties and presidential appointments
Term
Trustee
 Definition
A legislator is a trustee for the people, and the belief that legislators should act according to their conscience, clashes with the concept of the representative as instructed delegate.
Term
Instructed Delegate
 Definition
The representative that the idea that legislators should automatically mirror the will of the majority of their constituents.
Term
Speaker of the House
 Definition
The person who leads the majority party in the House of Representatives.
*Presides over the House
*Recognize or Ignore members who wish to speak
*Appoint the czar and the Party's members of the Rules Committee
*Appoints members of special or select committee's that conduct special investigations
*Refers bills to one or more committee's
*Exercises other procedural controls.
Term
The Rules Committee
 Definition
Exercises considerable control over what bills are brought to the floor.
Term
Whip
 Definition
The Speaker of the House has has two chief assistants, the majority leader and the majority whip.
*Majority Leader is the party's floor leader and key strategist.
*The majority whip is responsible for rounding up party members for important votes and counting noses.
*The term whip comes from wipper-in the person assigned in English fox hunts to keep the hounds from straying.
Term
Committee of the Whole
 Definition
A device that allows the House to conduct its business with fewer restrictions on debate and a quorum of only 100 members.
Term
Recorded Vote
 Definition
Members vote electronically and the position of each is noted and published in the Congressional Record.
Term
Union Calendar
 Definition
Bills that directly or indirectly appropriate money or raise revenue are placed on the Union Calendar.
Term
House Calendar
 Definition
Bills that do not appropriate money or raise revenue go on the House Calendar. Most bills go either to the Union Calendar or the House Calendar.
Term
Private Matters Calendar
 Definition
Bills that affect specific individuals and deal with private matters, such as claims against the government, immigration, or land titles, are placed on the Private Calendar and are called on the first and, with the speaker's approval, third Tuesdays of each month.
Term
Corrections Calendar
 Definition
Noncontroversial bills that have been favorably reported by committees, but which may require changes, may be placed by the speaker on the Corrections Calendar and debated on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month.
Term
Discharge Calendar
 Definition
Motions to force a bill out of committee are placed on the Discharge Calendar if they receive the necessary 218 signatures from house members. The procedure is rarely successful.
Term
The Senate
 Definition
Has been called "the most exclusive club in the world," or "the rich man's club". In 2003 there were 40 Millionaires in the Senate.
Term
Filibuster
 Definition
A single senator, or group of senators, may stage a filibuster, which is to talk a bill to death and prevent it from coming to a vote. The word filibuster originally meant a privateer or pirate, and its origin in American politics is not certain. Usually, the filibuster is used to defeat a bill by tying up the Senate so long that the measure will never come to a vote.
Term
Hold
 Definition
And information action - Senators delay or even kill floor action on legislation or other Senate matters simply by asking their party leaders not to schedule them.
Term
Cloture
 Definition
The means by which a filibuster may be ended if three-fifths of the entire senate (60 members) vote cloture. *to cut off debate on changes in Senate rules, a vote of two-thirds of the senators present is still required.
Term
Standing Committees
 Definition
Permanent committees of Congress that consider bills and conduct hearings and investigations.
Term
Special Committees or Select Committees
 Definition
Committees that conduct special investigations.
Term
Joint Committees
 Definition
House and Senate committees dealing with subjects as the economy and taxes.
Term
Conference Committees
 Definition
Temporary committees with the purpose to reconcile House-Senate differences on legislation that has passed through both chambers.
Term
Seniority System
 Definition
The part that controls the House or Senate selects the chairs and party's members of the standing committees for that body. Most committee chairs are achieved in this manner.
Term
Member Goals
 Definition
Reflect the benefits desired by each committee member.
Term
Environmental Constraints
 Definition
Outside influences that affect a committee - primarily the other members of the House, the executive branch, client groups, and the two major political parties.
Term
Strategic Premises
 Definition
The basic rules of the game for a committee.
Term
Decision-Making Processes
 Definition
The internal rules for each committee.
Term
Decisions of Committees
 Definition
Vary, example the Armed Services Committee tends to respond to the president's wishes while the Appropriations Committees generally do not.
Term
The Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress
 Definition
Provides quick answers and long-range studies on a wide range of issues and has computerized databases available to members and their staff.
Term
The Government Accountability Office (GAO)
 Definition
Serves as an important watchdog into waste or fraud in the bureaucracy and conducts investigations at the request of congressional committees.
Term
The Congressional Budget Office
 Definition
Provides Congress with an independent analysis of the president's budget and economic assumptions.
Term
Authorizations
 Definition
Laws that recommend maximum levels of funding for federal programs.
Term
Appropriations Bills
 Definition
Separate legislation that allows the money to be spent.
Term
Legislative Veto
 Definition
A provision of law in which Congress asserts the power to override or strike down an action by the executive branch.
Term
Chadha Case
 Definition
The Court ruled that the legislative veto violated the constitutional requirement of separation of powers among the branches of the government.
Term
Junkets
 Definition
Dubious legislative travel that members of Congress may partake in. Some have relatives on their office payroll, some accepted speaking fees form lobbyists.
Term
Article II of the Constitution excerpt
 Definition
The Executive Power shall be vested in a President of the united States of America.
Term
War Powers Resolution
 Definition
A law passed in 1973 in an effort to limit a president's use of combat forces abroad.
Term
Cold War
 Definition
1945-1991, the period after the Second World War marked by rivalry and tension between the two nuclear superpowers, the United States and the communist government of the Soviet union.
Term
Presidential Roles
 Definition
Chief of State, Chief Executive, Commander in Chief, Chief Diplomat, Chief legislator, Chief of Party, Popular Leader
Term
Executive Agencies
 Definition
Independent agencies of government under the president within the executive branch, but not part of a cabinet department.
Term
Independent Regulatory Agencies
 Definition
Exercise quasi-judicial and quasi-legislative powers and are administratively independent of both the president and Congress (although politically independent of neither.
Term
Civilian Supremacy
 Definition
The principle of civilian control of the military, is based on the clear constitutional power of the president as supreme commander of the armed forces.
Term
Military-Industrial Complex
 Definition
The term often used to describe the ties between the military establishment and the defense-aerospace industry is another limit on the president's power as commander in chief.
Term
Executive Agreements
 Definition
International agreements between the president and foreign heads of state that do not require Senate approval.
Term
Executive Privilege
 Definition
The claims by presidents of an inherent right to withhold information from Congress and the judiciary. This doctrine is nowhere explicitly stated in the Constitution but rests on the separation of p0wers of the three branches of government.
Term
Veto
 Definition
The Constitutional power of the president to disapprove a bill and return it with his objections to the branch of Congress in which it originated. By 2/3 vote of each house, Congress may pass the bill over the president's veto.
Term
Pocket Veto
 Definition
The power of a president to kill a bill by taking no action when Congress has adjourned.
Term
Line-Item Veto
 Definition
The power of the president - struck down by the Supreme Court in 1998 - to veto specific parts of appropriations bills. Most governors have this power.
Term
Riders
 Definition
Provisions tacked on to a piece of legislation that are not relevant to the bill.
Term
Cabinet
 Definition
The president, the vice president, the heads of the major executive department of the government, and certain other senior officials who may hold "cabinet rank" constitute the cabinet.
Term
National Security Council
 Definition
A white house office created under the National Security Act of 1947 to advise the president and help coordinate American military and foreign policy. By statute, the four members are the president, the vice president, and the secretaries of state and defense.
Term
Domestic Policy Council
 Definition
A staff to assist in formulating domestic policy. Creation of a formal staff for this purpose began under Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s.
Term
Office of Management and Budget
 Definition
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was created in 1970. The office was designed to tighten presidential control over the federal bureaucracy an improve its performance.
Term
National Economic Council
 Definition
The National Economic Council, a relatively new body modeled on the National Security Council, was created by President Clinton in 1993 to coordinate all economic policy decisions at the presidential level. It deals with the budget, international trade, and other economic issues and programs.
Term
Council of Economic Advisers
 Definition
Staff who assist the president in the formation of national economic policy.
Term
Office of the United States Trade Representative
 Definition
Represents the president in often difficult and complex international trade and tariff negotiations.
Term
The Vice President
 Definition
Preside over the Senate, to vote in that body in case of a tie, and (under the Twenty-fifth Amendment) to help decie whether the president is disabled, and if so, to serve as acting president.
Term
Presidential Commissions
 Definition
Ad hoc presidential appointments "blue ribbon" commissions of prominent citizens to study special problems.
Term
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
 Definition
DHS includes five major directorates.
1) Boarder and Transportation Security, which includes Customs Services and part of the Immigration and Naturalization Services and several other agencies
2) Emergency Preparedness and Response, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is responsible for disasters.
3) Science and Technology
4) Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection, and
5) Management
6) Transferred agencies included the Coast Guard and the Secret Services.
Term
Bureaucrat
 Definition
Is a neutral word - it simply means "an administrator" -- but its connotations are far from complimentary. "Bureaucrat" and "bureaucracy" are words that, to some people, conjure up an image of self-important but inefficient petty officials wallowing in red tape.
Term
Public Administration
 Definition
The term preferred by most political scientists to describe the bureaucratic process - the business of making government work - and bureaucrats are public administrators.
Term
Constituencies
 Definition
Interest groups, or client groups, either directly regulated by the bureaucracy or vitally affected by its decisions.
Term
Triangle, Iron Triangle or Sub government
 Definition
Although the terms may vary, they refer essentially to the same phenomenon: a powerful alliance of mutual benefit among an agency or unit of the government , and interest group, and a committee or subcommittee of Congress.
Term
Issue Networks
 Definition
A loose grouping of people and organizations who seek to influence policy formation, play an important roll in the shaping of public policy.
Term
Social Regulation
 Definition
Refers to laws, rules, and government programs designed to protect individual rights and specific groups, as well as to benefit society as a whole in such areas as health, worker safety, consumer protection, and the environment.
Term
Spoils or Political Patronage
 Definition
The practice under which the victorious politicians reward their followers with jobs. Jackson preferred to call it "rotation in office."
Term
Hatch Act
 Definition
Congress passed this law in 1939 to restrict political activities by federal workers. Under the law, federal employees are protected from political pressure to make campaign contributions or to work in political campaigns.
Term
Whistle-Blowers
 Definition
Government employees who publicly expose evidence of official waste or corruption that they have learned about in the course of their duties;
Term
Senior Executive Services (SES)
 Definition
A corps of about 7,700 high-level administrators and managers at the top of the government bureaucracy.
Term
Stare Decisis
 Definition
The Latin phrase meaning "stand by past decisions."
Term
Statutory Law
 Definition
Law enacted by Congress, or by state legislatures or local legislative bodies; but many statues embody principles of English common law.
Term
Equity
 Definition
A legal principle of fair dealing, which may provide preventative measures and legal remedies that are unavailable under existing common law and statutory law.
Term
Civil Cases
 Definition
Concern relations between individuals or organizations, such as a divorce action, or a suit for damages arising from an automobile accident or for violation of a business contract.
Term
Criminal Cases
 Definition
Concern crimes committed against the public order.
Term
Administrative Law
 Definition
The rules and regulations made and applied by federal regulatory agencies and commissions.
Term
Judicial Review
 Definition
The power to declare acts of Congress or actions by the executive branch - or laws and actions at any level of local, state and federal government, unconstitutional.
Term
Judicial Activism
 Definition
The philosophy that the Supreme Court justices and other judges should boldly apply the Constitution to social and political questions.
Term
Judicial Restraint
 Definition
Is the philosophy that the Supreme court should avoid constitutional questions when possible and uphold acts of Congress unless they clearly violate a specific section of the Constitution.
Term
Jurisdiction
 Definition
Congress controls the kinds of cases that a court has the authority to decide.
Term
Original Jurisdiction
 Definition
The Court has the right under the Constitution to hear certain kinds of cases directly, such as cases involving foreign diplomats, or cases in which one of the 50 states is a party.
Term
Writ of Certiorari
 Definition
Is a form of petition where the Court can choose which of the cases it wants to hear by denying or granting certiorari, a Latin term meaning "made more certain". The votes of 4 justices are needed in order to grant "cert"
Term
Magistrates Courts
 Definition
Courts in which justices of the peace, or magistrates handle misdemeanors, minor criminal offenses such as speeding and perform civil marriages.
Term
Municipal Courts
 Definition
Police courts, city courts, traffic courts, and night courts. These courts, generally one step up from the magistrates courts, usually hear civil and lesser criminal cases.
Term
County Courts
 Definition
Also called Superior Courts, try felonies, serious crimes, such as murder, arson or rape. These courts also try major civil cases. At this level, jury trials are held in some cases.
Term
Special Jurisdiction Courts
 Definition
County level courts able to handle domestic relations, juveniles, probate of wills and estates, and other specialized tasks.
Term
Intermediate Courts of Appeals
 Definition
Appellate divisions, exist in some states to hear appeals from the county and municipal courts.
Term
Courts of Appeals
 Definition
Often called state supreme courts, are the final judicial tribunals in the states.
Term
11-1 - Coalition
 Definition
Electoral victories are formed by alliances of segments of the electorate and of interest groups, and by unorganized masses of voters who coalesce behind the winner. Electoral victories are won by forming strong alliances with coalitions.
Term
11-2a Who Votes
 Definition
Who Votes: Middle-aged, Women (ha…ha…because there are more women than men! Women RULE!!!) College Graduates, Church Goers, Jews, Whites
Term
Who Does Not Vote
 Definition
Non-Voters: 18-24 yr olds, 60 or over, Less Educated, Non White
Term
11- 2b - Motivations for Not Voting
 Definition
Were Not Registered, Did not like the candidates, were working, too busy, child care issues, chose not to vote, didn't care or disinterested, just moved hadn't met requirements to register, voter or voter's child was sick, thought it didn't matter, had never voted, thought voting process to complicated, had no transportation, were out of town.
Term
12-1 War Powers Resolution
 Definition
Law enacted in 1973 which limits the President's use of combat forces abroad.
Term
12-1a War Powers Resolution
 Definition
Congress felt the need to enact this law because the presidents had been governing under executive privilege and would commit forces to wars, without prior consent from Congress. Only Congress can declare war. However, the President can deploy troops under the auspices of conflict rather than "war".
Term
12-2a Congress' Non-Legislative Functions
 Definition
*It proposes Amendments to the Constitution.
*It may declare war.
*It can impeach and try the president or other civil officers of the United States, including judges
*It may rule on presidential disability
*It regulates the conduct of its members
*It has power to decide whether a prospective member has been properly elected or should be seated.
*May choose the president in the event of electoral deadlock.
*Approves or rejects treaties and presidential appointments
Term
12-2b Congress & Executive & Judicial Branch Match or exceed power
 Definition
President must get approval from CONGRESS to go to war. President Can VETO, House power to impeach, Senate tries impeachment process,
Term
12-3a Trustee
 Definition
A legislator is a trustee for the people, and the belief that legislators should act according to their conscience, clashes with the concept of the representative as instructed delegate.
Term
12-3b Instructed Delegate
 Definition
The representative that the idea that legislators should automatically mirror the will of the majority of their constituents.
Term
13-2 Impeachment Process
 Definition
*House has power to Impeach
*Senate shall try impeachment cases
Term
Chief of State – Presidential Role
 Definition
The official who presides over the machinery of the executive branch in constitution
Term
Chief Executive – Presidential Role
 Definition
runs the executive branch of the government in constitution
Term
Commander in Chief – Presidential Role
 Definition
Head of the armed forces in constitution
Term
Chief Diplomat – Presidential Role
 Definition
the ability to make foreign policy and direct relations with other nations of the world.
Term
Chief legislator – Presidential Role
 Definition
the president gives congress information of the Stat of the Union, and recommend to they consider measures necessary and expediently in constitution
Term
Chief of Party – Presidential Role
 Definition
leader of the party he represents, the machinery of the national party reports to the president, he can install his choice as national chairperson,. not in construction
Term
Popular Leader – Presidential Role
 Definition
the one who speaks for all of America not in constitution
Term
13-b Presidential Powers
 Definition
Formal Powers - Appoints Supreme & Federal Justices, Ambassadors, Members of Major Regulatory Agencies and Other Senior Officials; President can fire officials who he has appointed; Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons, He can negotiate and sign executive agreements with figure heads of state, He can negotiate and sign treaties, He has power to recognize a foreign government; Power of Veto; Pocket-Veto; He can Adjourn Congress or call Congress back to session;
Informal Powers - Power to persuade people, executive privilege gives president inherent right to withhold information from Congress and judiciary; TV, Radio, President's Spouse, flattery to members of congress, providing information through press secretaries
Ceremonial Powers - Ceremonial Head of State, Act as national leader in times of crisis reassure the public, manager of the economy
Term
14 - 1 Sub-Government is Iron Triangle
 Definition
A sub government or the making of an Iron Triangle includes close relationships between three mutually beneficiaries of among a unit of government or agency; unit of government, interest group, and a committee or subcommittee of Congress.
Term
14-2 Whistle-blower
 Definition
A Federal employee who exposes publicly official waste or corruption that they have learned about in the course of their work.
Term
14-3 Political Patronage
 Definition
1828 Andrew Jackson dismissed more than 1/3 or 612 of the presidentially appointed officeholders and 10 to 20 percent of the lesser governemnt officials. He replaced these positions with folks that were his followers. Andrew Jackson called this the "rotation of office". He did this to reward their "political patronage". This was referred to as the "spoils system" by Jefferson.
This was all reformed under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 where it became a requirement that federal employees were chosen through competitive examinations.
Term
15-1 Judicial Review
 Definition
The Supreme Court has the power of Judicial Review. Through Judicial Review, the court has power to declare acts of Congress or actions by the executive branch or laws and actions at any level of the local, state, and federal government, unconstitutional.
Judicial Review was established in the Marbury vs. Madison case.
Term
15-2 Judicial Appointment
 Definition
We already know that the President appoints Supreme Justices. It is the Senate's responsibility to confirm or reject the appointment.
Term
Foreign Policy
 Definition
The sum of the goals, decisions, and actions that govern a nation's relations with the rest of the world.
Term
National Security
 Definition
The basic protection and defense of the nation.
Term
Cold War
 Definition
The period of intense rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union after the Second World War.
Term
Globalization
 Definition
A world economy characterized by the free movement of goods, capital, labor, and information across national borders.
Term
Nuclear Proliferation
 Definition
The spread of nuclear weapons to more nations - threatens the world.
Term
Isolationism
 Definition
A policy of avoiding foreign involvement.
Term
The Monroe Doctrine
 Definition
A declaration by President James Monroe in 1823, warned European powers to keep out of the Western Hemisphere and pledged that the United States would not intervene in the internal affairs of Europe.
Term
Interventionism
 Definition
Or military involvement by the United States in various parts of the world.
Term
Internationalism
 Definition
The policy that America must take an active leadership role in world affairs.
Term
Containment
 Definition
The united States adopted a policy of containment of the power of the Soviet Union. Which was one of firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies.
Term
Marshall Plan
 Definition
Named for its creator, Secretary of State George C. Marshall and poured more than 13 billion in four years into western Europe to speed its postwar economic and social recovery.
Term
NATO
 Definition
North Atlantic Treaty Organization, whose members were pledged to defend each other against attack.
Term
Nationalism
 Definition
It's a love of country and a desire for independence. Also, an excessive form of patriotism that unscrupulous political leaders may exploit to whip up one group against another, leading to civil war and bloody "ethnic cleansing."
Term
Transnational Relations
 Definition
Contacts, coalitions, and interactions across state boundaries that are not controlled by the central foreign-policy organs of government.
Term
Détente
 Definition
relaxation of tensions.
Term
SALT
 Definition
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks - Agreement placing a measure of control over nuclear weapons
Term
Antiballistic Missile (AMB) Treaty
 Definition
Limiting the number of defensive missiles each country could build.
Term
Strategic Deterrence
 Definition
The theory of deterrence, developed in the Pentagon with the assistance of defense "think tanks" such as the Rand Corporation , involved deploying enough nuclear weapons so that an enemy would not, in theory, attack the United States, for fear of being attacked in retaliation.
Term
Budget Surplus
 Definition
The amount of money available when the government's income is greatr than what is spends in a fiscal year.
Term
Deficit
 Definition
The government's income is less than its outlays.
Term
Capitalism
 Definition
Free enterprise system, private ownership of means and production. People own private property either directly or as ashreholders and consumers participate in a free market palce that responds to the laws of supply and demand.
Term
Laissez-Faire
 Definition
Adam Smith was the creator and proponant of laissez-faire capitalisim. Laisse-faire (leave it alone) is the economic system works best when free of government interference. Government should intervene as little as possible.
Term
John Maynard Keynes
 Definition
Opossed laissez-faire. He advocated government intervention in the marketplace.
Term
Fiscal Policy
 Definition
Cutting taxes or increasing spending in the public sector, or both. In Keynes's view, during an economic downturn if the government spent more than it took in from taxes and other revenues, the deficit that resulted was not bad, it was good. He asserted that deficit spending by the government was necessary to combat recession.
Term
Monetary policy
 Definition
The control of the supply of money and the supply of credit through the actions of the Federal Reserve Board.
Term
Supply-Side Economics
 Definition
An economic philosophy that advocates both tax and budget cuts to increase incentives to produce in order to expand the total supply of the nation's goods and services.
Term
Budget Resolutions
 Definition
Congress set's overall spending targets.
Term
Authorizations
 Definition
Congress passes authorizations to spend federal money.
Term
Appropriations Bills
 Definition
Congress passes appropriations bills, a means to pay for the spending it has authorized.
Term
National Debt
 Definition
The total amount of money that the United States owes to its creditors.
Term
Gross Domestic Product (DGP)
 Definition
The yearly value of goods and services produced within a country.
Term
Globalization
 Definition
World economy characterized by the free movement of goods, capital, labor, and information across national borders.
Term
Tarrif
 Definition
A federal tax on imports.
Term
Balance of Trade
 Definition
The relationship between the total cost of foreign goods imported to this country and sales of U.S. products overseas.
Term
Balance of Payments
 Definition
The net balance or relationship between total income and total expendentures by the nation in its dealings with the rest of the world, including trade, loans and investment.
Term
Monopoly
 Definition
The control of a market by a single company.
Term
Oligopoly
 Definition
The concentration of economic power in the hands of a relatively few large companies.
Term
Conglomerates
 Definition
Large multi-interest, and often multinational, corporations that may, under one corporate roof, manufacture products ranging from missiles to baby bottles.
Term
Closed Shop
 Definition
Shop where only union members may be hired.
Term
Union Shop
 Definition
Any person may be hired provided he or she joins the union within a specified time.
Term
Open Shop
 Definition
Any person, union or non union, may be hired. (Georgia is predominantly an open shop state). However, there are unions in Georgia that are not as strong as the unions up north.
Term
Right to Work Laws
 Definition
Outlaws the union shop.
Term
Entitltement Programs
 Definition
Programs mandated by law and not subject to annual review by Congress or the president.
Term
Medicare
 Definition
A federal program of health insurance to provide hospital and medical services to people 65 years old and older through the Social Security system.
Term
Social Security
 Definition
Monthly cash payments received by retired, older people through a compulsory national insurance program financed by taxes on employers and employees.
Term
Medicaid
 Definition
also established in 1965, is a public assistance program created to help pay hospital, doctor, and medical bills for people with low incomes.
Term
Three-Mile Island
 Definition
The worst neculear accident in the history of nuclear power production in the United States.
Term
Initiative
 Definition
Proposed constitutional amendments or legislation can be placed on the ballot if enough signatures are obtained on a petition.
Term
Referendum
 Definition
A method that allows voters, in effect, to "veto" a bill passed by the legislature or to accept or reject a proposal, such as a bond issue, made by a government agency.
Term
Recall
 Definition
A prcedure that in certain circumstatces permits voters to remove elected state officials from office before their terms have expired.
Term
Line-Item Veto
 Definition
The power to reject single parts of appropriation bills.
Term
Bicameral Legislature
 Definition
Every state in the Union, except nebraska, has a two-house legislature
Term
Unicameral Legislature
 Definition
Nebraska is a one-house legislature.
Term
Home Rule
 Definition
Empolwers municipalities to modify their charters and run their affairs without approval by the legislature, subject to the constitution and laws of the state.
Term
Mayor-Council Plan
 Definition
Power is divided between a mayor and an elected city council.
Term
Council-Manager Plan
 Definition
A council, usually elected on a nonpartisan ticket, hires a professional city manager, wo runs the city government and has power to hire and fire city officials.
Term
Commission Plan
 Definition
A board of city commissioners, usually five, is popularly elected (on a nonpartisan ballot, in a majority of cities that use the system).
Term
Town Meeting
 Definition
The townspeople come together for an annual meeting in the spring, at which they elect a board of selectmen and settle local policy questions.
Term
Enterprise Zones
 Definition
Areas in which businesses are encouraged to locate because of tax breaks and other incentives.
Term
Power Structure
 Definition
Popularized in the 1950s by Floyd Hunter, a sociologist who studied community leadership in Atlanta, Georgia. Hunder concluded that a group of about 40 people, mostly top business leaders, determined policy in Atlanta and used the machinery of government to attain their own goals.
Term
Affirmative Action
 Definition
programs of government, universities, and business, designed to favor minorities and remedy past discriminations.
Term
American Indians
 Definition
Are American Citizens as of 1924.
No requirement to live on a reservation.
Term
Antifederalists
 Definition
those who opposed ratification of the Constitution.
Term
Articles of Confederation
 Definition
The written framework for the government of the original 13 states before the Constitution was adopted
Term
Bakke and Weber
 Definition
●Reverse discrimination
●Bakke in college admissions. Universities have the right to give preference to blacks and other minorities as long as they do not use rigid racial “quotas”
●Weber rejected for a training program that would lead to higher pay. The program had set-a-sides for half black workers.
Term
Bill of Attainder
 Definition
Legislation aimed at a particular individual
Term
Bill of Rights
 Definition
First 10 Amendments of the Constitution
Term
Brown v. The Board of Education
 Definition
This Supreme Court decision ruled that the doctrine of 'separate but equal' was unconstitutional
Term
Cesar Chavez
 Definition
This man led his United Farm Workers (UFW) on a successful five-year strike against grape growers in California.
Term
Charter Colonies
 Definition
Rhode Island and Connecticut
Term
Checks and Balances
 Definition
Power is divided among the three constitutionally equal branches of government in the hope of preventing any single branch from becoming too powerful
Term
Civil Liberties
 Definition
the fundamental rights of a free society that are protected by the Bill of Rights.
Term
Civil Rights Acts of 1964
 Definition
*Prohibits racial or religious discrimination in public accommodations that affect interstate commerce, including hotels, motels, restaurants, cafeterias, lunch counters, gas stations, movie houses, theaters, and sports arenas. *Prohibit discrimination against race, color, sex, religion, or national origin by employers or labor unions.
*Bar voting registrars from adopting different standards for whites and black applicants.
*Permit the attorney general to bring suit to enforce desegregation of public accommodations, and allow individuals to sue for their rights under the act.
*Permit the executive branch of the federal government to halt the flow of funds to public or private programs that practice discrimination. Extend the life of the Civil rights commission
Term
Clear and Present Danger
 Definition
When free speech incites violence
Term
Common Law
 Definition
The cumulative body of law as expressed in judicial decisions and customs rather than by statue.
Term
Concurrent Powers
 Definition
Government and states share the power to exercise independently, such as the power to tax
Term
Cooperative Federalism
 Definition
The various levels of government are seen as related parts of a single governmental system, characterized more by cooperation and shared functions than by conflict and competition
Term
Creative Federalism
 Definition
The relationship between Washington and the states
Term
Criminal Information
 Definition
statement presented to the court by a prosecutor charging a person with a crime.
Term
Democracy
 Definition
Rule by the people
Term
Dred Scott Decision
 Definition
This man was a slave who sued for his freedom, but was prevented from bringing his case before a Supreme Court that ruled that he was not a citizen.
Term
Dual Federalism
 Definition
the federal government and the states were seen as competing power centers
Term
Due Process of Law
 Definition
5th and 14th Amendment, This phrase refers to the legal rights (Constitutionally enshrined) of an individual against the arbitrary power of the state; or illegal searches and seizures
Term
Elastic Clause
 Definition
Make all “necessary and proper laws” to carry out the powers of the Constitution
Term
Electoral College
 Definition
each state having as many electors as it had representatives and senators. The electors were to choose the president and vice president.
Term
Enumerated Powers
 Definition
These powers are specifically granted under the U.S. Constitution
Term
Establishment Clause
 Definition
neither a state nor the federal government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws that aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another
Term
Ex Post Facto Law
 Definition
imposing punishment for an act that was not illegal when committed
Term
Exclusionary Rule
 Definition
*Government can not used illegally seized evidence in court
*The government may use illegally seized evidence in order to discredit statements made by a defendant during cross-examination at trial.
*That if the police were exercising “good faith” when relying on a flawed search warrant, the evidence seized could be used in court.
*That illegally seized evidence may be admitted at a trial if the prosecution can show that the evidence would “inevitably” have been discovered by lawful means.
Term
Executive Branch
 Definition
*President of the United States
*Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces
*Right to make Treaties “with the Advice and Consent” of two-thirds of a quorum of the Senate
*Appoint Ambassadors, appoint Judges and other high officials, subject to Senate approval.
* Summon Congress into special Session
Term
Federal System, Federalism
 Definition
*The constitutional powers and functions of government are shared by the national government and the states, and are the basic structure of the government in the United States
Those who favor federalism argue that it permits more opportunities for political participation.
Term
Federalists
 Definition
Those who supported ratification of the Constitution
Term
First Amendment
 Definition
freedom of religion, speech, press, to assemble, to petition the government for grievances.
Term
Flexible Construction
 Definition
the concept that the Constitution must be interpreted flexibly to meet changing conditions
Term
Free Exercise Clause
 Definition
protects the right of individuals to worship or believe as they wish, or to hold no religious beliefs
Term
Gerrymandering
 Definition
redrawing lines in favor of one party or another, which were used to keep black voters from gaining control.
Term
Gideon v. Wainwright
 Definition
established the right of an indigent defendant to legal counsel or an attorney.
Term
Great Compromise, or Connecticut Compromise
 Definition
*A House of Representatives apportioned by the number of free inhabitants in each state plus three-fifths of the slaves.
*A Senate, or upper house, consisting of two members from each state, elected by the state legislatures.
Term
Implied Powers
 Definition
gives Congress power to make all laws “necessary and proper” to carry out its enumerated powers.
Term
Indictment
 Definition
a grand jury found enough evidence existing to warrant a criminal trial.
Term
Inherent Powers
 Definition
National government has the right to conduct foreign relations
Term
Judicial Review
 Definition
This is the power that the Supreme Court has to rule on the constitutionality of a law.
Term
Judiciary
 Definition
*Power of the United States, shall be vested in the supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts” as Congress may establish.
*Provide for trial by jury.
*Right of Judicial Review of acts of Congress
Term
Legislative Branch
 Definition
The Congress, House and Senate, can
*House has power to Impeach
*Senate shall try impeachment cases
*Power to tax
*Provide for the general welfare of the United States
* Borrow money
*Regulate commerce
*Naturalize citizens
*Coin Money
*Punish Counterfeiters
*Establish Post Office
*Copyrights and Patents
*Create lower courts
*Declare ware
*Maintain armed forces
*Suppress insurrections
*Suppress insurrections
*Repel invasions
*Govern DC
*Make all “necessary and proper laws”
Term
Literacy Tests
 Definition
designed to test a voter’s ability to read and write were rigged to keep black voters from the poles.
Term
Magna Carta
 Definition
the document issued by King John at Runnymede in 1215, in which nobles confirmed that the power of the king was not absolute; the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679 and the bill of Rights 1689.
Term
Marbury v. Madison
 Definition
This Supreme Court case firmly established that the Supreme Court had the power of judicial review
Term
Martin Luther King
 Definition
-        Used Gandhi's theory of nonviolence to further the rights of African Americans
Term
McCullough v. Maryland
 Definition
This court case concerned the right of Congress to incorporate a national bank, and established that Congress had broad implied powers in addition to what was specifically enumerated in the Constitution.
Term
Miranda Warnings
 Definition
suspects in police custody be advised of their rights before they are interrogated
Term
National Government
 Definition
Three branches, legislative, executive and judicial
The following types of power are exercised by the national government:
*Enumerated
*Implied
*Inherent
Term
Natural Rights
 Definition
the belief that all people possess certain basic rights that may not be abridged by government.
Term
New Federalism
 Definition
designed to return federal tax money to state and local government
Term
New Jersey Plan
 Definition
*Continuation of the Articles of Confederation, including one vote fore each state represented in the legislature. Congress would be strengthened so that it could impose taxes and regulate trade, and acts of Congress would become the “supreme law
* An executive of more than one person to be elected by Congress.
*A Supreme Court, to be appointed by the executive
Term
Plessey v. Ferguson
 Definition
The doctrine of 'separate but equal' was affirmed by this Supreme Court decision.
Term
Politics
 Definition
The pursuit and exercise of power
Term
Poll Tax
 Definition
tax on voting used to keep poor voters from participating in elections.
Term
Power
 Definition
The possession of control over others
Term
Proprietary Colonies
 Definition
Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.
Term
Regulatory Federalism
 Definition
the federal government has set requirements for the states through federal laws and regulations dealing with the environment and the broad range of other concerns
Term
Republic
 Definition
A form of democracy where the people choose representatives to make political decisions
Term
Royal Colonies
 Definition
the 13 original colonies, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Massachusetts.
Term
Separation of Powers
 Definition
each of the three branches is constitutionally equal to and independent of the others
Term
Supremacy Clause
 Definition
federal laws are supreme over any conflicting state laws. But the states also exercise control within their borders over a wide range of activities
Term
Supremacy Law
 Definition
the laws of Congress prevail over any conflicting state laws
Term
Thomas Jefferson
 Definition
This founding father wrote the Declaration of Independence
Term
Unicameral Legislature
 Definition
Pennsylvania, a legislative body with only one house, the colonial legislatures had two houses.
Term
Unitary System of Government
 Definition
the nation is divided into administrative units called departments, uniformly administered from Paris
Term
USA Patriot Act
 Definition
expanded the power of the federal law enforcement authorities to move against suspected terrorists.
Term
Virginia Plan
 Definition
*A proposed entirely new national government under a constitution to include two-house legislature, the lower house chosen by the people and the upper house chosen by the lower house. The legislature would have the power to annul any state laws that I
*A “national executive” – the makeup was not specified, so there might have been more than one president under the plan – to be elected by the legislature.
*A national judiciary to be chosen by the legislature.
Term
Constitution
 Definition
The right to privacy is NOT in the constitution.
*The writers drew their inspiration from American sources and from European thinkers.
Term
Current Constitutional Issues
 Definition
The constitutional issues that the United States faces today concern the expansion of the state governments’ control.
Term
Public Opinion
 Definition
The expression of attitudes about government and politics.
* A process of interaction between the people and the government.
*Those opinions held by private persons which governments find it prudent to heed.
*Enough people expressing themselves so strongly for or against something that their views are likely to affect government action.
*Because the people who hold and express opinions are constantly changing, as do the issues an conditions to which the public responds.
Term
Political Socialization
 Definition
Over the years a person acquires a set of political attitudes and forms opinions about political and social issues. Which may be affected by:
*The Family
*College Faculty
*Peer Groups
*Elementary, Jr. and High School
*social Class (Working Class, Middle Class, Upper Class)
*Occupation
*Income Level
*Religion, Sex, Race, Ethnicity
*Geographical Area, Rural vs. City
Term
Reference Groups
 Definition
Groups who serve as guidelines to an individual’s opinion.
*   Primary Groups – Because the influence is direct, groups that people come into face-to-face contact with in everyday life – friends, office associates, or a social club.
*Secondary Groups – Groups that people are more remotely affiliated with – labor unions, fraternal unions, professional or religious groups.
Term
Exit Polls
 Definition
Votes are counted of citizens leaving voting booths, which may be an indicator of the final result.
Term
Universe The group
 Definition
The group of people to be measured, known as the population, is too large to poll on every issue.
Term
Random Sample
 Definition
A group of people, chosen by poll-takers, that is representative of the universe being polled. A random sample is sometimes called a probability sample.
Term
Cluster Sampling
 Definition
Interviewing several people from the same neighborhood. Scientific Polling.
Term
Quota Sample
 Definition
A method of polling in which interviewers are instructed to question members of a particular group in proportion to their percentage in the population as a whole.
Term
Bandwagon Effect
 Definition
Political polls themselves may create the bandwagon effect and influence the outcome of an election.
Term
Political Culture
 Definition
A fundamental believe about how government and politics should be conducted.
Term
Interest Groups
 Definition
Private groups that attempt to influence the government to respond to the shared attitudes of their members.
Term
Lobbying
 Definition
Communication with legislators or other government officials to try to influence their decisions.
Term
Political Action Committees (or PAC)
 Definition
Single issue lobbies which are sometimes independent organizations but are more often the political arms of corporations, labor unions, or interest groups established to contribute to candidates or to work for general political goals.
Term
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974
 Definition
Permitted unions and corporations to establish political committees that could contribute up to $5,000 to each candidate in a primary general election.
Term
Buckley v. Valeo
 Definition
Supreme court ruled it unconstitutional to place limits on funds spent for or against a candidate by committees not formally connected to the candidate’s campaign.
Term
Independent Expenditure
 Definition
Funds spent for or against a candidate by committees not formally connected to the candidate’s campaign.
Term
Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act of 1946
 Definition
*Required individuals and groups to register with the clerk of the House and the secretary of the Senate if they solicit or collect money or anything of value “to be used principally to aid…the passage or defeat of any legislation by the Congress of the Un
*1954 the Supreme Court narrowed the scope of the act by ruling that it applied only to lobbyists who communicated directly with members of Congress and not grass-roots lobbying aimed at the public.
Term
Muckrakers
 Definition
A group of writers, journalists, and critics who expose corporate malfeasance and political corruption.
*Malfeasance- Wrong doing of a public official.
Term
Equal Time
 Definition
Federal Communications Act requires broadcasters to provide equal time to all legally qualified political candidates.
*Candidates must be given equal opportunity, if they can afford it.
***Does not include:
Documentaries, Interviews, News, Television Stations do not have to include "fringe" candidates
Term
Fairness Doctrine
 Definition
A requirement by the Federal Communications Commission, abolished in 1987, that radio and television broadcasters present all sides of important public issues.
Term
Seven Dirty Words
 Definition
Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker, Tits
Term
Prior Restraint
 Definition
The principle, rooted in English common law, that normally there must be no governmental prior restraint of the press - the censoring of news stories before publication.
Term
Shield Law
 Definition
Law designed to protect reporters from revealing their sources.
Term
Libel
 Definition
A published or broadcast report that exposes a person to public contempt or injures the person’s reputations.
A person defamed by a newspaper or other publication may be able to sue and collect damages because the First Amendment does not protect this form of “free speech.”
Term
Spin
 Definition
Deliberate shading of news perception; attempted control of political reactions.
Term
Freedom of Information Act
 Definition
Law that requires federal executive branch and regulatory agencies to make information available to journalists, scholars, and the public unless it falls into one of several confidential categories. Exempt from disclosure are:
*National Security Information
*Personnel Files
*Investigatory Records
*Internal documents of an agency
Term
George Gallup
 Definition
Was an American pioneer of survey sampling techniques and inventor of the Gallup poll, a successful statistical method of survey sampling for measuring public opinion.
Term
Pluralism
 Definition
A system in which many conflicting groups within the community have access to government officials and compete with one another in an effort to influence policy decisions; such as a member of the PTA can favor new school construction ant the same time may
Term
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
 Definition
Commission that regulates broadcasts stations and ensure they operate in “the public interest.”
Term
Political Party
 Definition
A broadly based coalition that attempts to gain control of the government by winning elections in order to exercise power and reward its members.
*Manage the Transfer of Power
*Offer a choice of rival candidates and programs to the voters
*Serve as a bridge between government and people by helping to hold elected officials accountable to the voters.
*Help to recruit candidates for office.
*May serve to reconcile conflicting interests in society.
*Staff the government and help to run it.
*Link various branches and levels of government.
Term
The Voter
 Definition
Men or women whom consider themselves either Democrats or Republicans.
Term
Party Leaders Outside of Government
 Definition
Men or women who frequently control the party machinery and sometimes have important power bases.
Term
Party Activists
 Definition
Men or women who ring doorbells, serve as delegates to county, state, and national conventions and perform the day-to-day, grass-roots work of politics.
Term
Party Leaders in the Government
 Definition
The president, leaders in Congress, and party leaders in the state and local governments.
Term
Republican Party
 Definition
The Republican Party was created in February 1854, when a group of the Whigs, Free-Soilers, and antislavery Democrats gathered in a church at Ripon, Wisconsin, to recommend the creation of a new party to fight further expansion of slavery. The Republican
Term
Grand Old Party (GOP)
 Definition
In 1860 and for 25 years thereafter, Republicans ruled America, thus becoming known as the Grand Old Party or GOP.
Term
National Convention
 Definition
The party nominates the party’s candidates for president and vice president, writes a platform, settles disputes, writes rules, and elects the members of the national committee.
Term
National Chair
 Definition
The head of a national political party, is formally elected by the members of the national committee. In practice he or she is chosen or retained by the party’s presidential nominee at the end of the national convention.
Term
National Committee
 Definition
The governing body of the party. Members of the national committee are chosen in the states and formally elected by the party’s national convention.
Term
Dark Horse
 Definition
A term used to describe a candidate who is thought to have only an outside chance of gaining the nomination. James K Polk was considered a dark horse, and he won the presidency in 1844.
Term
527 Organizations
 Definition
Organizations that are tax-exempt groups created to exploit a loophole in the law regulating campaign finance. Section in IRS Code under which the organization must report their expenditures.
Term
Negative Advertising
 Definition
Political commercials that strongly attack a rival candidate.
Term
Soft Money
 Definition
Unregulated campaign funds from corporations, unions, and wealthy donors, that were not subject to the limits of Federal Law.
Term
Independent Expenditures
 Definition
Funds spent for or against a candidate by committees not formally connected to a candidate and without coordination with the campaign.
Term
Know what “political socialization” means, and the means by which we are “socialized”
 Definition
Over the years a person acquires a set of political attitudes and forms opinions about political and social issues. Which may be affected by:
The Family, college Faculty, Peer Groups, Elementary, Jr. and High School, Social Class, Middle Class, Upper Class), Occupation, Income Level, Religion, Sex, Race, Ethnicity, Geographical Area, Rural vs. City
Term
Know which reference groups – primary and secondary – most affect you and others.
 Definition
Groups who serve as guidelines to an individual’s opinion.
*Primary Groups – Because the influence is direct, groups that people come into face-to-face contact with in everyday life – friends, office associates, or a social club.
*Secondary Groups – Groups that people are more remotely affiliated with – labor unions, fraternal unions, professional or religious groups.
Term
Understand how a good poll is constructed, and how even a good poll may be misleading.
 Definition
How a good poll is constructed
*Mathematical probability.
*Random Sampling - A group of people, chosen by poll-takers, that is representative of the universe being polled. A random sample is sometimes called a probability sample.
*Cluster Sampling - Interviewing several people from the same neighborhood. Scientific Polling. As long as the geographic areas are chosen at random, the clustering will usually not result in an unacceptable margin of error.
*Poll-takers often combine the cluster technique with the selection, in a series of stages or steps, of geographic areas to be polled, with each unit selected becoming successively smaller.
Term
Know the functions of interest groups.
 Definition
Private groups that attempt to influence the government to respond to the shared attitudes of their members. When people organize to express attitudes held in common and to influence the government to respond to those attitudes, they become members of in
Term
Understand the differences and similarities between and interest group, PAC, and political party.
 Definition
·       An interest group is a loosely bound group of people sharing attitudes.
Term
Understand why some segments of the population are underrepresented by interest groups.
 Definition
·       Some ordinary voters feel they have been left out of the political system.
Term
Understand what is meant by “grass-roots pressure”, and how this technique compares with direct lobbying or mass propaganda campaigns.
 Definition
One way interest groups try to influence public opinion is through mass propaganda and mass-publicity.
Term
Know what is meant by “freedom of the press,” and how this freedom is limited.
 Definition
Freedom of the press and freedom of expression are not absolute. Press is considered both print and electronic media and can be sued or prosecuted for the following:
Term
Understand how television has changed the political ball game, and which presidents have adapted best to this technology.
 Definition
·    Broadcast of major events on TV has a strong influence on public opinion.
Term
Know the differences between the equal time and fairness doctrines.
 Definition
Equal Time - Federal Communications Act requires broadcasters to provide equal time to all legally qualified political candidates.
Term
Know how and why the FCC regulates broadcast media differently than print media.
 Definition
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - that regulates broadcasts stations and ensure they operate in “the public interest.”
Term
Understand the many functions of political parties in our system – for good and ill.
 Definition
A broadly based coalition that attempts to gain control of the government by winning elections in order to exercise power and reward its members.
Term
Know which political parties were “first on the scene,” and how they were founded and by whom, and why they would eventually give way to the modern Democratic and Republican parties.
 Definition
o      The Federalist Party, organized by Alexander Hamilton, was the first national political party in the United States.
Term
Understand the fundamental differences between Republican and Democratic parties.
 Definition
Republicans - Republicans view themselves as “insiders who represent the core of American society and are the carriers of its fundamental values.”
Term
Know the difference between a pivotal and swing state.
 Definition
·       A swing state is a state in which no candidate has overwhelming support, meaning that any of the major candidates has a reasonable chance of winning the state's electoral college votes.
Term
Understand how electors may be selected by the state legislatures.
 Definition
State legislatures choose an elector by popular vote, equal to the number of the representatives and senators that the state has in Congress.
Term
Understand how your vote is counted in a U.S. presidential election, and why your vote may be more or less influential depending on where you live.
 Definition
A voter for a slate of electors that is normally pledged to the presidential candidate of the voter’s choice.
Term
Pork-Barrel Legislation
 Definition
Lawmakers push through bills that benefit their home districts, or powerful corporate contributors, with sometimes wasteful or unnecessary public works or other projects.
Term
Senatorial Courtesy
 Definition
Unwritten Custom - Individual senators who belong to the same political party as the president exercise an informal veto power over presidential appointments in their states.
Term
Congress' Non-Legislative Functions
 Definition
*It proposes Amendments to the Constitution.
*It may declare war.
*It can impeach and try the president or other civil officers of the United States, including judges
*It may rule on presidential disability
*It regulates the conduct of its members
*It has power to decide whether a prospective member has been properly elected or should be seated.
*May choose the president in the event of electoral deadlock.
*Approves or rejects treaties and presidential appointments
Term
Trustee
 Definition
A legislator is a trustee for the people, and the belief that legislators should act according to their conscience, clashes with the concept of the representative as instructed delegate.
Term
Instructed Delegate
 Definition
The representative that the idea that legislators should automatically mirror the will of the majority of their constituents.
Term
Speaker of the House
 Definition
The person who leads the majority party in the House of Representatives.
*Presides over the House
*Recognize or Ignore members who wish to speak
*Appoint the czar and the Party's members of the Rules Committee
*Appoints members of special or select committee's that conduct special investigations
*Refers bills to one or more committee's
*Exercises other procedural controls.
Term
The Rules Committee
 Definition
Exercises considerable control over what bills are brought to the floor.
Term
Whip
 Definition
The Speaker of the House has has two chief assistants, the majority leader and the majority whip.
*Majority Leader is the party's floor leader and key strategist.
*The majority whip is responsible for rounding up party members for important votes and counting noses.
*The term whip comes from wipper-in the person assigned in English fox hunts to keep the hounds from straying.
Term
Committee of the Whole
 Definition
A device that allows the House to conduct its business with fewer restrictions on debate and a quorum of only 100 members.
Term
Recorded Vote
 Definition
Members vote electronically and the position of each is noted and published in the Congressional Record.
Term
Union Calendar
 Definition
Bills that directly or indirectly appropriate money or raise revenue are placed on the Union Calendar.
Term
House Calendar
 Definition
Bills that do not appropriate money or raise revenue go on the House Calendar. Most bills go either to the Union Calendar or the House Calendar.
Term
Private Matters Calendar
 Definition
Bills that affect specific individuals and deal with private matters, such as claims against the government, immigration, or land titles, are placed on the Private Calendar and are called on the first and, with the speaker's approval, third Tuesdays of each month.
Term
Corrections Calendar
 Definition
Noncontroversial bills that have been favorably reported by committees, but which may require changes, may be placed by the speaker on the Corrections Calendar and debated on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month.
Term
Discharge Calendar
 Definition
Motions to force a bill out of committee are placed on the Discharge Calendar if they receive the necessary 218 signatures from house members. The procedure is rarely successful.
Term
The Senate
 Definition
Has been called "the most exclusive club in the world," or "the rich man's club". In 2003 there were 40 Millionaires in the Senate.
Term
Filibuster
 Definition
A single senator, or group of senators, may stage a filibuster, which is to talk a bill to death and prevent it from coming to a vote. The word filibuster originally meant a privateer or pirate, and its origin in American politics is not certain. Usually, the filibuster is used to defeat a bill by tying up the Senate so long that the measure will never come to a vote.
Term
Hold
 Definition
And information action - Senators delay or even kill floor action on legislation or other Senate matters simply by asking their party leaders not to schedule them.
Term
Cloture
 Definition
The means by which a filibuster may be ended if three-fifths of the entire senate (60 members) vote cloture. *to cut off debate on changes in Senate rules, a vote of two-thirds of the senators present is still required.
Term
Standing Committees
 Definition
Permanent committees of Congress that consider bills and conduct hearings and investigations.
Term
Special Committees or Select Committees
 Definition
Committees that conduct special investigations.
Term
Joint Committees
 Definition
House and Senate committees dealing with subjects as the economy and taxes.
Term
Conference Committees
 Definition
Temporary committees with the purpose to reconcile House-Senate differences on legislation that has passed through both chambers.
Term
Seniority System
 Definition
The part that controls the House or Senate selects the chairs and party's members of the standing committees for that body. Most committee chairs are achieved in this manner.
Term
Member Goals
 Definition
Reflect the benefits desired by each committee member.
Term
Environmental Constraints
 Definition
Outside influences that affect a committee - primarily the other members of the House, the executive branch, client groups, and the two major political parties.
Term
Strategic Premises
 Definition
The basic rules of the game for a committee.
Term
Decision-Making Processes
 Definition
The internal rules for each committee.
Term
Decisions of Committees
 Definition
Vary, example the Armed Services Committee tends to respond to the president's wishes while the Appropriations Committees generally do not.
Term
The Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress
 Definition
Provides quick answers and long-range studies on a wide range of issues and has computerized databases available to members and their staff.
Term
The Government Accountability Office (GAO)
 Definition
Serves as an important watchdog into waste or fraud in the bureaucracy and conducts investigations at the request of congressional committees.
Term
The Congressional Budget Office
 Definition
Provides Congress with an independent analysis of the president's budget and economic assumptions.
Term
Authorizations
 Definition
Laws that recommend maximum levels of funding for federal programs.
Term
Appropriations Bills
 Definition
Separate legislation that allows the money to be spent.
Term
Legislative Veto
 Definition
A provision of law in which Congress asserts the power to override or strike down an action by the executive branch.
Term
Chadha Case
 Definition
The Court ruled that the legislative veto violated the constitutional requirement of separation of powers among the branches of the government.
Term
Junkets
 Definition
Dubious legislative travel that members of Congress may partake in. Some have relatives on their office payroll, some accepted speaking fees form lobbyists.
Term
Article II of the Constitution excerpt
 Definition
The Executive Power shall be vested in a President of the united States of America.
Term
War Powers Resolution
 Definition
A law passed in 1973 in an effort to limit a president's use of combat forces abroad.
Term
Cold War
 Definition
1945-1991, the period after the Second World War marked by rivalry and tension between the two nuclear superpowers, the United States and the communist government of the Soviet union.
Term
Presidential Roles
 Definition
Chief of State, Chief Executive, Commander in Chief, Chief Diplomat, Chief legislator, Chief of Party, Popular Leader
Term
Executive Agencies
 Definition
Independent agencies of government under the president within the executive branch, but not part of a cabinet department.
Term
Independent Regulatory Agencies
 Definition
Exercise quasi-judicial and quasi-legislative powers and are administratively independent of both the president and Congress (although politically independent of neither.
Term
Civilian Supremacy
 Definition
The principle of civilian control of the military, is based on the clear constitutional power of the president as supreme commander of the armed forces.
Term
Military-Industrial Complex
 Definition
The term often used to describe the ties between the military establishment and the defense-aerospace industry is another limit on the president's power as commander in chief.
Term
Executive Agreements
 Definition
International agreements between the president and foreign heads of state that do not require Senate approval.
Term
Executive Privilege
 Definition
The claims by presidents of an inherent right to withhold information from Congress and the judiciary. This doctrine is nowhere explicitly stated in the Constitution but rests on the separation of p0wers of the three branches of government.
Term
Veto
 Definition
The Constitutional power of the president to disapprove a bill and return it with his objections to the branch of Congress in which it originated. By 2/3 vote of each house, Congress may pass the bill over the president's veto.
Term
Pocket Veto
 Definition
The power of a president to kill a bill by taking no action when Congress has adjourned.
Term
Line-Item Veto
 Definition
The power of the president - struck down by the Supreme Court in 1998 - to veto specific parts of appropriations bills. Most governors have this power.
Term
Riders
 Definition
Provisions tacked on to a piece of legislation that are not relevant to the bill.
Term
Cabinet
 Definition
The president, the vice president, the heads of the major executive department of the government, and certain other senior officials who may hold "cabinet rank" constitute the cabinet.
Term
National Security Council
 Definition
A white house office created under the National Security Act of 1947 to advise the president and help coordinate American military and foreign policy. By statute, the four members are the president, the vice president, and the secretaries of state and defense.
Term
Domestic Policy Council
 Definition
A staff to assist in formulating domestic policy. Creation of a formal staff for this purpose began under Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s.
Term
Office of Management and Budget
 Definition
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was created in 1970. The office was designed to tighten presidential control over the federal bureaucracy an improve its performance.
Term
National Economic Council
 Definition
The National Economic Council, a relatively new body modeled on the National Security Council, was created by President Clinton in 1993 to coordinate all economic policy decisions at the presidential level. It deals with the budget, international trade, and other economic issues and programs.
Term
Council of Economic Advisers
 Definition
Staff who assist the president in the formation of national economic policy.
Term
Office of the United States Trade Representative
 Definition
Represents the president in often difficult and complex international trade and tariff negotiations.
Term
The Vice President
 Definition
Preside over the Senate, to vote in that body in case of a tie, and (under the Twenty-fifth Amendment) to help decie whether the president is disabled, and if so, to serve as acting president.
Term
Presidential Commissions
 Definition
Ad hoc presidential appointments "blue ribbon" commissions of prominent citizens to study special problems.
Term
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
 Definition
DHS includes five major directorates.
1) Boarder and Transportation Security, which includes Customs Services and part of the Immigration and Naturalization Services and several other agencies
2) Emergency Preparedness and Response, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is responsible for disasters.
3) Science and Technology
4) Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection, and
5) Management
6) Transferred agencies included the Coast Guard and the Secret Services.
Term
Bureaucrat
 Definition
Is a neutral word - it simply means "an administrator" -- but its connotations are far from complimentary. "Bureaucrat" and "bureaucracy" are words that, to some people, conjure up an image of self-important but inefficient petty officials wallowing in red tape.
Term
Public Administration
 Definition
The term preferred by most political scientists to describe the bureaucratic process - the business of making government work - and bureaucrats are public administrators.
Term
Constituencies
 Definition
Interest groups, or client groups, either directly regulated by the bureaucracy or vitally affected by its decisions.
Term
Triangle, Iron Triangle or Sub government
 Definition
Although the terms may vary, they refer essentially to the same phenomenon: a powerful alliance of mutual benefit among an agency or unit of the government , and interest group, and a committee or subcommittee of Congress.
Term
Issue Networks
 Definition
A loose grouping of people and organizations who seek to influence policy formation, play an important roll in the shaping of public policy.
Term
Social Regulation
 Definition
Refers to laws, rules, and government programs designed to protect individual rights and specific groups, as well as to benefit society as a whole in such areas as health, worker safety, consumer protection, and the environment.
Term
Spoils or Political Patronage
 Definition
The practice under which the victorious politicians reward their followers with jobs. Jackson preferred to call it "rotation in office."
Term
Hatch Act
 Definition
Congress passed this law in 1939 to restrict political activities by federal workers. Under the law, federal employees are protected from political pressure to make campaign contributions or to work in political campaigns.
Term
Whistle-Blowers
 Definition
Government employees who publicly expose evidence of official waste or corruption that they have learned about in the course of their duties;
Term
Senior Executive Services (SES)
 Definition
A corps of about 7,700 high-level administrators and managers at the top of the government bureaucracy.
Term
Stare Decisis
 Definition
The Latin phrase meaning "stand by past decisions."
Term
Statutory Law
 Definition
Law enacted by Congress, or by state legislatures or local legislative bodies; but many statues embody principles of English common law.
Term
Equity
 Definition
A legal principle of fair dealing, which may provide preventative measures and legal remedies that are unavailable under existing common law and statutory law.
Term
Civil Cases
 Definition
Concern relations between individuals or organizations, such as a divorce action, or a suit for damages arising from an automobile accident or for violation of a business contract.
Term
Criminal Cases
 Definition
Concern crimes committed against the public order.
Term
Administrative Law
 Definition
The rules and regulations made and applied by federal regulatory agencies and commissions.
Term
Judicial Review
 Definition
The power to declare acts of Congress or actions by the executive branch - or laws and actions at any level of local, state and federal government, unconstitutional.
Term
Judicial Activism
 Definition
The philosophy that the Supreme Court justices and other judges should boldly apply the Constitution to social and political questions.
Term
Judicial Restraint
 Definition
Is the philosophy that the Supreme court should avoid constitutional questions when possible and uphold acts of Congress unless they clearly violate a specific section of the Constitution.
Term
Jurisdiction
 Definition
Congress controls the kinds of cases that a court has the authority to decide.
Term
Original Jurisdiction
 Definition
The Court has the right under the Constitution to hear certain kinds of cases directly, such as cases involving foreign diplomats, or cases in which one of the 50 states is a party.
Term
Writ of Certiorari
 Definition
Is a form of petition where the Court can choose which of the cases it wants to hear by denying or granting certiorari, a Latin term meaning "made more certain". The votes of 4 justices are needed in order to grant "cert"
Term
Magistrates Courts
 Definition
Courts in which justices of the peace, or magistrates handle misdemeanors, minor criminal offenses such as speeding and perform civil marriages.
Term
Municipal Courts
 Definition
Police courts, city courts, traffic courts, and night courts. These courts, generally one step up from the magistrates courts, usually hear civil and lesser criminal cases.
Term
County Courts
 Definition
Also called Superior Courts, try felonies, serious crimes, such as murder, arson or rape. These courts also try major civil cases. At this level, jury trials are held in some cases.
Term
Special Jurisdiction Courts
 Definition
County level courts able to handle domestic relations, juveniles, probate of wills and estates, and other specialized tasks.
Term
Intermediate Courts of Appeals
 Definition
Appellate divisions, exist in some states to hear appeals from the county and municipal courts.
Term
Courts of Appeals
 Definition
Often called state supreme courts, are the final judicial tribunals in the states.
Term
11-1 - Coalition
 Definition
Electoral victories are formed by alliances of segments of the electorate and of interest groups, and by unorganized masses of voters who coalesce behind the winner. Electoral victories are won by forming strong alliances with coalitions.
Term
11-2a Who Votes
 Definition
Who Votes: Middle-aged, Women (ha…ha…because there are more women than men! Women RULE!!!) College Graduates, Church Goers, Jews, Whites
Term
Who Does Not Vote
 Definition
Non-Voters: 18-24 yr olds, 60 or over, Less Educated, Non White
Term
11- 2b - Motivations for Not Voting
 Definition
Were Not Registered, Did not like the candidates, were working, too busy, child care issues, chose not to vote, didn't care or disinterested, just moved hadn't met requirements to register, voter or voter's child was sick, thought it didn't matter, had never voted, thought voting process to complicated, had no transportation, were out of town.
Term
12-1 War Powers Resolution
 Definition
Law enacted in 1973 which limits the President's use of combat forces abroad.
Term
12-1a War Powers Resolution
 Definition
Congress felt the need to enact this law because the presidents had been governing under executive privilege and would commit forces to wars, without prior consent from Congress. Only Congress can declare war. However, the President can deploy troops under the auspices of conflict rather than "war".
Term
12-2a Congress' Non-Legislative Functions
 Definition
*It proposes Amendments to the Constitution.
*It may declare war.
*It can impeach and try the president or other civil officers of the United States, including judges
*It may rule on presidential disability
*It regulates the conduct of its members
*It has power to decide whether a prospective member has been properly elected or should be seated.
*May choose the president in the event of electoral deadlock.
*Approves or rejects treaties and presidential appointments
Term
12-2b Congress & Executive & Judicial Branch Match or exceed power
 Definition
President must get approval from CONGRESS to go to war. President Can VETO, House power to impeach, Senate tries impeachment process,
Term
12-3a Trustee
 Definition
A legislator is a trustee for the people, and the belief that legislators should act according to their conscience, clashes with the concept of the representative as instructed delegate.
Term
12-3b Instructed Delegate
 Definition
The representative that the idea that legislators should automatically mirror the will of the majority of their constituents.
Term
13-2 Impeachment Process
 Definition
*House has power to Impeach
*Senate shall try impeachment cases
Term
Chief of State – Presidential Role
 Definition
The official who presides over the machinery of the executive branch in constitution
Term
Chief Executive – Presidential Role
 Definition
runs the executive branch of the government in constitution
Term
Commander in Chief – Presidential Role
 Definition
Head of the armed forces in constitution
Term
Chief Diplomat – Presidential Role
 Definition
the ability to make foreign policy and direct relations with other nations of the world.
Term
Chief legislator – Presidential Role
 Definition
the president gives congress information of the Stat of the Union, and recommend to they consider measures necessary and expediently in constitution
Term
Chief of Party – Presidential Role
 Definition
leader of the party he represents, the machinery of the national party reports to the president, he can install his choice as national chairperson,. not in construction
Term
Popular Leader – Presidential Role
 Definition
the one who speaks for all of America not in constitution
Term
13-b Presidential Powers
 Definition
Formal Powers - Appoints Supreme & Federal Justices, Ambassadors, Members of Major Regulatory Agencies and Other Senior Officials; President can fire officials who he has appointed; Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons, He can negotiate and sign executive agreements with figure heads of state, He can negotiate and sign treaties, He has power to recognize a foreign government; Power of Veto; Pocket-Veto; He can Adjourn Congress or call Congress back to session;
Informal Powers - Power to persuade people, executive privilege gives president inherent right to withhold information from Congress and judiciary; TV, Radio, President's Spouse, flattery to members of congress, providing information through press secretaries
Ceremonial Powers - Ceremonial Head of State, Act as national leader in times of crisis reassure the public, manager of the economy
Term
14 - 1 Sub-Government is Iron Triangle
 Definition
A sub government or the making of an Iron Triangle includes close relationships between three mutually beneficiaries of among a unit of government or agency; unit of government, interest group, and a committee or subcommittee of Congress.
Term
14-2 Whistle-blower
 Definition
A Federal employee who exposes publicly official waste or corruption that they have learned about in the course of their work.
Term
14-3 Political Patronage
 Definition
1828 Andrew Jackson dismissed more than 1/3 or 612 of the presidentially appointed officeholders and 10 to 20 percent of the lesser governemnt officials. He replaced these positions with folks that were his followers. Andrew Jackson called this the "rotation of office". He did this to reward their "political patronage". This was referred to as the "spoils system" by Jefferson.
This was all reformed under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 where it became a requirement that federal employees were chosen through competitive examinations.
Term
15-1 Judicial Review
 Definition
The Supreme Court has the power of Judicial Review. Through Judicial Review, the court has power to declare acts of Congress or actions by the executive branch or laws and actions at any level of the local, state, and federal government, unconstitutional.
Judicial Review was established in the Marbury vs. Madison case.
Term
15-2 Judicial Appointment
 Definition
We already know that the President appoints Supreme Justices. It is the Senate's responsibility to confirm or reject the appointment.
Term
Foreign Policy
 Definition
The sum of the goals, decisions, and actions that govern a nation's relations with the rest of the world.
Term
National Security
 Definition
The basic protection and defense of the nation.
Term
Cold War
 Definition
The period of intense rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union after the Second World War.
Term
Globalization
 Definition
A world economy characterized by the free movement of goods, capital, labor, and information across national borders.
Term
Nuclear Proliferation
 Definition
The spread of nuclear weapons to more nations - threatens the world.
Term
Isolationism
 Definition
A policy of avoiding foreign involvement.
Term
The Monroe Doctrine
 Definition
A declaration by President James Monroe in 1823, warned European powers to keep out of the Western Hemisphere and pledged that the United States would not intervene in the internal affairs of Europe.
Term
Interventionism
 Definition
Or military involvement by the United States in various parts of the world.
Term
Internationalism
 Definition
The policy that America must take an active leadership role in world affairs.
Term
Containment
 Definition
The united States adopted a policy of containment of the power of the Soviet Union. Which was one of firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies.
Term
Marshall Plan
 Definition
Named for its creator, Secretary of State George C. Marshall and poured more than 13 billion in four years into western Europe to speed its postwar economic and social recovery.
Term
NATO
 Definition
North Atlantic Treaty Organization, whose members were pledged to defend each other against attack.
Term
Nationalism
 Definition
It's a love of country and a desire for independence. Also, an excessive form of patriotism that unscrupulous political leaders may exploit to whip up one group against another, leading to civil war and bloody "ethnic cleansing."
Term
Transnational Relations
 Definition
Contacts, coalitions, and interactions across state boundaries that are not controlled by the central foreign-policy organs of government.
Term
Détente
 Definition
relaxation of tensions.
Term
SALT
 Definition
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks - Agreement placing a measure of control over nuclear weapons
Term
Antiballistic Missile (AMB) Treaty
 Definition
Limiting the number of defensive missiles each country could build.
Term
Strategic Deterrence
 Definition
The theory of deterrence, developed in the Pentagon with the assistance of defense "think tanks" such as the Rand Corporation , involved deploying enough nuclear weapons so that an enemy would not, in theory, attack the United States, for fear of being attacked in retaliation.
Term
Budget Surplus
 Definition
The amount of money available when the government's income is greatr than what is spends in a fiscal year.
Term
Deficit
 Definition
The government's income is less than its outlays.
Term
Capitalism
 Definition
Free enterprise system, private ownership of means and production. People own private property either directly or as ashreholders and consumers participate in a free market palce that responds to the laws of supply and demand.
Term
Laissez-Faire
 Definition
Adam Smith was the creator and proponant of laissez-faire capitalisim. Laisse-faire (leave it alone) is the economic system works best when free of government interference. Government should intervene as little as possible.
Term
John Maynard Keynes
 Definition
Opossed laissez-faire. He advocated government intervention in the marketplace.
Term
Fiscal Policy
 Definition
Cutting taxes or increasing spending in the public sector, or both. In Keynes's view, during an economic downturn if the government spent more than it took in from taxes and other revenues, the deficit that resulted was not bad, it was good. He asserted that deficit spending by the government was necessary to combat recession.
Term
Monetary policy
 Definition
The control of the supply of money and the supply of credit through the actions of the Federal Reserve Board.
Term
Supply-Side Economics
 Definition
An economic philosophy that advocates both tax and budget cuts to increase incentives to produce in order to expand the total supply of the nation's goods and services.
Term
Budget Resolutions
 Definition
Congress set's overall spending targets.
Term
Authorizations
 Definition
Congress passes authorizations to spend federal money.
Term
Appropriations Bills
 Definition
Congress passes appropriations bills, a means to pay for the spending it has authorized.
Term
National Debt
 Definition
The total amount of money that the United States owes to its creditors.
Term
Gross Domestic Product (DGP)
 Definition
The yearly value of goods and services produced within a country.
Term
Globalization
 Definition
World economy characterized by the free movement of goods, capital, labor, and information across national borders.
Term
Tarrif
 Definition
A federal tax on imports.
Term
Balance of Trade
 Definition
The relationship between the total cost of foreign goods imported to this country and sales of U.S. products overseas.
Term
Balance of Payments
 Definition
The net balance or relationship between total income and total expendentures by the nation in its dealings with the rest of the world, including trade, loans and investment.
Term
Monopoly
 Definition
The control of a market by a single company.
Term
Oligopoly
 Definition
The concentration of economic power in the hands of a relatively few large companies.
Term
Conglomerates
 Definition
Large multi-interest, and often multinational, corporations that may, under one corporate roof, manufacture products ranging from missiles to baby bottles.
Term
Closed Shop
 Definition
Shop where only union members may be hired.
Term
Union Shop
 Definition
Any person may be hired provided he or she joins the union within a specified time.
Term
Open Shop
 Definition
Any person, union or non union, may be hired. (Georgia is predominantly an open shop state). However, there are unions in Georgia that are not as strong as the unions up north.
Term
Right to Work Laws
 Definition
Outlaws the union shop.
Term
Entitltement Programs
 Definition
Programs mandated by law and not subject to annual review by Congress or the president.
Term
Medicare
 Definition
A federal program of health insurance to provide hospital and medical services to people 65 years old and older through the Social Security system.
Term
Social Security
 Definition
Monthly cash payments received by retired, older people through a compulsory national insurance program financed by taxes on employers and employees.
Term
Medicaid
 Definition
also established in 1965, is a public assistance program created to help pay hospital, doctor, and medical bills for people with low incomes.
Term
Three-Mile Island
 Definition
The worst neculear accident in the history of nuclear power production in the United States.
Term
Initiative
 Definition
Proposed constitutional amendments or legislation can be placed on the ballot if enough signatures are obtained on a petition.
Term
Referendum
 Definition
A method that allows voters, in effect, to "veto" a bill passed by the legislature or to accept or reject a proposal, such as a bond issue, made by a government agency.
Term
Recall
 Definition
A prcedure that in certain circumstatces permits voters to remove elected state officials from office before their terms have expired.
Term
Line-Item Veto
 Definition
The power to reject single parts of appropriation bills.
Term
Bicameral Legislature
 Definition
Every state in the Union, except nebraska, has a two-house legislature
Term
Unicameral Legislature
 Definition
Nebraska is a one-house legislature.
Term
Home Rule
 Definition
Empolwers municipalities to modify their charters and run their affairs without approval by the legislature, subject to the constitution and laws of the state.
Term
Mayor-Council Plan
 Definition
Power is divided between a mayor and an elected city council.
Term
Council-Manager Plan
 Definition
A council, usually elected on a nonpartisan ticket, hires a professional city manager, wo runs the city government and has power to hire and fire city officials.
Term
Commission Plan
 Definition
A board of city commissioners, usually five, is popularly elected (on a nonpartisan ballot, in a majority of cities that use the system).
Term
Town Meeting
 Definition
The townspeople come together for an annual meeting in the spring, at which they elect a board of selectmen and settle local policy questions.
Term
Enterprise Zones
 Definition
Areas in which businesses are encouraged to locate because of tax breaks and other incentives.
Term
Power Structure
 Definition
Popularized in the 1950s by Floyd Hunter, a sociologist who studied community leadership in Atlanta, Georgia. Hunder concluded that a group of about 40 people, mostly top business leaders, determined policy in Atlanta and used the machinery of government to attain their own goals.
Term
Great Compromise, or Connecticut Compromise
 Definition
*A House of Representatives apportioned by the number of free inhabitants in each state plus three-fifths of the slaves.
*A Senate, or upper house, consisting of two members from each state, elected by the state legislatures.
Term
Virginia Plan
 Definition
*A proposed entirely new national government under a constitution to include two-house legislature, the lower house chosen by the people and the upper house chosen by the lower house. The legislature would have the power to annul any state laws that I
*A “national executive” – the makeup was not specified, so there might have been more than one president under the plan – to be elected by the legislature.
*A national judiciary to be chosen by the legislature.
Term
New Jersey Plan
 Definition
*Continuation of the Articles of Confederation, including one vote fore each state represented in the legislature. Congress would be strengthened so that it could impose taxes and regulate trade, and acts of Congress would become the “supreme law
* An executive of more than one person to be elected by Congress.
*A Supreme Court, to be appointed by the executive
Term
Exclusionary Rule
 Definition
*Government can not used illegally seized evidence in court
*The government may use illegally seized evidence in order to discredit statements made by a defendant during cross-examination at trial.
*That if the police were exercising “good faith” when relying on a flawed search warrant, the evidence seized could be used in court.
*That illegally seized evidence may be admitted at a trial if the prosecution can show that the evidence would “inevitably” have been discovered by lawful means.
Term
13-2 Impeachment Process
 Definition
*House has power to Impeach
*Senate shall try impeachment cases
Term
Congress' Non-Legislative Functions
 Definition
*It proposes Amendments to the Constitution.
*It may declare war.
*It can impeach and try the president or other civil officers of the United States, including judges
*It may rule on presidential disability
*It regulates the conduct of its members
*It has power to decide whether a prospective member has been properly elected or should be seated.
*May choose the president in the event of electoral deadlock.
*Approves or rejects treaties and presidential appointments
Term
12-2a Congress' Non-Legislative Functions
 Definition
*It proposes Amendments to the Constitution.
*It may declare war.
*It can impeach and try the president or other civil officers of the United States, including judges
*It may rule on presidential disability
*It regulates the conduct of its members
*It has power to decide whether a prospective member has been properly elected or should be seated.
*May choose the president in the event of electoral deadlock.
*Approves or rejects treaties and presidential appointments
Term
Judiciary
 Definition
*Power of the United States, shall be vested in the supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts” as Congress may establish.
*Provide for trial by jury.
*Right of Judicial Review of acts of Congress
Term
Executive Branch
 Definition
*President of the United States
*Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces
*Right to make Treaties “with the Advice and Consent” of two-thirds of a quorum of the Senate
*Appoint Ambassadors, appoint Judges and other high officials, subject to Senate approval.
* Summon Congress into special Session
Term
Civil Rights Acts of 1964
 Definition
*Prohibits racial or religious discrimination in public accommodations that affect interstate commerce, including hotels, motels, restaurants, cafeterias, lunch counters, gas stations, movie houses, theaters, and sports arenas. *Prohibit discrimination against race, color, sex, religion, or national origin by employers or labor unions.
*Bar voting registrars from adopting different standards for whites and black applicants.
*Permit the attorney general to bring suit to enforce desegregation of public accommodations, and allow individuals to sue for their rights under the act.
*Permit the executive branch of the federal government to halt the flow of funds to public or private programs that practice discrimination. Extend the life of the Civil rights commission
Term
Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act of 1946
 Definition
*Required individuals and groups to register with the clerk of the House and the secretary of the Senate if they solicit or collect money or anything of value “to be used principally to aid…the passage or defeat of any legislation by the Congress of the Un
*1954 the Supreme Court narrowed the scope of the act by ruling that it applied only to lobbyists who communicated directly with members of Congress and not grass-roots lobbying aimed at the public.
Term
Federal System, Federalism
 Definition
*The constitutional powers and functions of government are shared by the national government and the states, and are the basic structure of the government in the United States
Those who favor federalism argue that it permits more opportunities for political participation.
Term
Martin Luther King
 Definition
-        Used Gandhi's theory of nonviolence to further the rights of African Americans
Term
14-3 Political Patronage
 Definition
1828 Andrew Jackson dismissed more than 1/3 or 612 of the presidentially appointed officeholders and 10 to 20 percent of the lessergovernemnt officials. He replaced these positions with folks that were his followers. Andrew Jackson called this the "rotation of office". He did this to reward their "political patronage". This was referred to as the "spoils system" by Jefferson.
This was all reformed under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 where it became a requirement that federal employees were chosen through competitive examinations.
Term
Cold War
 Definition
1945-1991, the period after the Second World War marked by rivalry and tension between the two nuclear superpowers, the United States and the communist government of the Soviet union.
Term
Due Process of Law
 Definition
5th and 14th Amendment, This phrase refers to the legal rights (Constitutionally enshrined) of an individual against the arbitrary power of the state; or illegal searches and seizures
Term
14-2 Whistle-blower
 Definition
A Federal employee who exposes publicly offical waste or corruptoin that they have learned about in the course of their work.
Term
Understand the many functions of political parties in our system – for good and ill.
 Definition
A broadly based coalition that attempts to gain control of the government by winning elections in order to exercise power and reward its members.
Term
Political Party
 Definition
A broadly based coalition that attempts to gain control of the government by winning elections in order to exercise power and reward its members.
*Manage the Transfer of Power
*Offer a choice of rival candidates and programs to the voters
*Serve as a bridge between government and people by helping to hold elected officials accountable to the voters.
*Help to recruit candidates for office.
*May serve to reconcile conflicting interests in society.
*Staff the government and help to run it.
*Link various branches and levels of government.
Term
Senior Executive Services (SES)
 Definition
A coprs of about 7,700 high-level administrators and managers at the top of the government bureaucracy.
Term
The Monroe Doctrin
 Definition
A declaration by President James Monroe in 1823, warned European powers to keep out of the Western Hemisphere and pledged that the United States would not intervene in the internal affairs of Europe.
Term
Committee of the Whole
 Definition
A device that allows the House to conduct its business with fewer restrictions on debate and a quorum of only 100 members.
Term
Republic
 Definition
A form of democracy where the people choose representatives to make political decisions
Term
Political Culture
 Definition
A fundamental believe about how government and politics should be conducted.
Term
Random Sample
 Definition
A group of people, chosen by poll-takers, that is representative of the universe being polled. A random sample is sometimes called a probability sample.
Term
Muckrakers
 Definition
A group of writers, journalists, and critics who expose corporate malfeasance and political corruption.
*Malfeasance- Wrong doing of a public official.
Term
War Powers Resolution
 Definition
A law passed in 1973 in an effort to limit a president's use of combat forces abroad.
Term
Equity
 Definition
A legal principle of fair dealing, which may provide preventitive measures and legal remedies that are unavailable under existing common law and statutory law.
Term
Trustee
 Definition
A legislator is a trustee for the people, and the belief that legislators should act according to their conscience, clashes with the concept of the representative as instructed delegate.
Term
12-3a Trustee
 Definition
A legislator is a trustee for the people, and the belief that legislators should act according to their conscience, clashes with the concept of the representative as instructed delegate.
Term
Issue Networks
 Definition
A loose grouping of people and organizations who seek to influence policy formation, play an important rol in the shaping of public policy.
Term
Quota Sample
 Definition
A method of polling in which interviewers are instructed to question members of a particular group in proportion to their percentage in the population as a whole.
Term
Isolationism
 Definition
A policy of avoiding foreign involvement.
Term
Legislative Veto
 Definition
A provision of law in which Congress asserts the power to override or strike down an action by the executive branch.
Term
Libel
 Definition
A published or broadcast report that exposes a person to public contempt or injures the person’s reputations.
A person defamed by a newspaper or other publication may be able to sue and collect damages because the First Amendment does not protect this form of “free speech.”
Term
Fairness Doctrine
 Definition
A requirement by the Federal Communications Commission, abolished in 1987, that radio and television broadcasters present all sides of important public issues.
Term
Filibuster
 Definition
A single senator, or group of senators, may stage a filibuster, which is to talk a bill to death and prevent it from coming to a vote. The word filibuster originally meant a privateer or pirate, and its origin in American politics is not certain. Usually, the filibuster is used to defeat a bill by tying up the Senate so long that the measure will never come to a vote.
Term
Domestic Policy Council
 Definition
A staff to assist in formulating domestic policy. Creation of a formal staff for this purpose began under Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s.
Term
14 - 1 Sub-Government is Iron Triangle
 Definition
A subgovernment or the making of an Iron Triangle includes close relationships between three mutually beneficiaries of omong a unit of government or agency; unit of government, interest group, and a committee or subcommitee of Congress.
Term
Pluralism
 Definition
A system in which many conflicting groups within the community have access to government officials and compete with one another in an effort to influence policy decisions; such as a member of the PTA can favor new school construction ant the same time may
Term
Dark Horse
 Definition
A term used to describe a candidate who is thought to have only an outside chance of gaining the nomination. James K Polk was considered a dark horse, and he won the presidency in 1844.
Term
Understand how your vote is counted in a U.S. presidential election, and why your vote may be more or less influential depending on where you live.
 Definition
A voter for a slate of electors that is normally pledged to the presidential candidate of the voter’s choice.
Term
National Security Council
 Definition
A white house office created under the National Security Act of 1947 to advise the president and help coordinate American military and foreign policy. By statute, the four members are the president, the vice president, and the secretaries of state and defense.
Term
Globalization
 Definition
A world economy characterized by the free movement of goods, capital, labor, and information across national borders.
Term
Presidental Commisions
 Definition
Ad hoc pesidential appointments "blue ribbon" commissions of prominent citizens to study special problems.
Term
County Courts
 Definition
Also called Superior Courts, try felonies, serious crimmes, such as murder, arson or rape. These courts also try major civil cases. At this level, jury trials are held in some cases.
Term
Triangle, Iron Triangle or Subgovernment
 Definition
Althought the terms may vary, they refer essentially to the same phenomenon: a powerful alliance of mutual benefit among an agency or unit of the governmetn , and interest group, and a committee or submommittee of Congress.
Term
Hold
 Definition
And information action - Senators delay or even kill floor action on legislation or other Senate matters simply by asking their party leaders not to schedule them.
Term
Intermediate Courts of Appeals
 Definition
Appellate divisioins, exist in some states to hear appeals from the county and municipal courts.
Term
American Indians
 Definition
Are American Citizens as of 1924.
No requirement to live on a reservation.
Term
Private Matters Calendar
 Definition
Bills that affect specific individuals and deal with private matters, such as claims against the government, immigration, or land titles, are placed on the Private Calendar and are called on the first and, with the speaker's approval, third Tuesdays of each month.
Term
Union Calendar
 Definition
Bills that directly or indirectly appropriate money or raise revenue are placed on the Union Calendar.
Term
House Calendar
 Definition
Bills that do not appropriate money or raise revenue go on the House Calendar. Most bills go either to the Union Calendar or the House Calendar.
Term
13-2a Presidential Roles
 Definition
Chief of State - The official who presides over the machinery of the executive branch - in constitution
Chief Executive - runs the executive branck of the government - in constituion
Commander in Chief - Head of the armed forces - in constitution
Chief Diplomat - the ability to make foriegn policy and direct relations with other nations of the world.
Chief legislator - the president gives congress information of the Stat of the Union, and recommed to they consider measures necessary and expiedently - in constitution
Chief of Party - leader of the party he represents, the machinery of the national party reports to the president, he can install his choice as national chairperson,. - not in constution
Popular Leader - the one who speaks for all of America - not in constitution
Term
Presidential Roles
 Definition
Chief of State, Chief Executive, Commander in Chief, Chief Diplomat, Chief legislator, Chief of Party, Popular Leader
Term
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
 Definition
Commission that regulates broadcasts stations and ensure they operate in “the public interest.”
Term
Special Committees or Select Committees
 Definition
Committees that conduct special investigations.
Term
Lobbying
 Definition
Communication with legislators or other government officials to try to influence their decisions.
Term
Criminal Cases
 Definition
Concern crims committed agains the public order.
Term
Civil Cases
 Definition
Concern relations between individuals or organizations, such as a divorce action, or a suit for damages arising from an automobile accident or for violation of a business contract.
Term
Jurisdiction
 Definition
Congress controls the kinds of cases that a court has the authority to decide.
Term
12-1a War Powers Resolution
 Definition
Congress felt the need to enact this law because the presidents had been governing under executive priviledge and would comit forces to wars, without prior consent from Congress. Only Congress can declare war. However, the President can deploy troups under the auspices of conflict rather than "war".
Term
Hatch Act
 Definition
Congress passed this law in 1939 to restrict political actrivities by federal workers. Under the law, federal employees are protected from political pressure to make campaign contributions or to work in political campaigns.
Term
Transnational Relations
 Definition
Contacts, coalitions, and interations across state boundaries that are not controlled by the central foreign-policy organs of government.
Term
Sepcial Jurisdiction Courts
 Definition
County level courts able to handle domestic relations, juveniles, probate of wills and estates, and other specialized tasks.
Term
Magistrates Courts
 Definition
Courts in which justices of the peace, or magistrates handle misdemeanors, minor criminal offeses such as speeding and perform civil marriages.
Term
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
 Definition
DHS includes five major directorates.
1) Boarder and Transportation Security, which includes Customs Services and part of the Immigration and Naturalization Services and several other agiencies
2) Emergency Preparedness and Response, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is responsible for disasters.
3) Science and Tecnhology
4) Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection, and
5) Management
6) Transferred agiencies included the Coast Guard and the Secret Services.
Term
Spin
 Definition
Deliberate shading of news perception; attempted control of political reactions.
Term
Junkets
 Definition
Dubious legislative travel that members of Congress may partake in. Some have relatives on their office payroll, some accepted speaking fees form lobbyists.
Term
11-1 - Coalition
 Definition
Electoral victories are formed by alliances of segments of the electorate and of interest groups, and by unorganized masses of voters who coalesce behind the winner. Electoral victories are won by forming strong alliances with coalitions.
Term
Know the differences between the equal time and fairness doctrines.
 Definition
Equal Time - Federal Communications Act requires broadcasters to provide equal time to all legally qualified political candidates.
Term
Independent Regulatory Agencies
 Definition
Exercise quasi-judicial and quasi-legislative powers and are administratively independent of both the president and Congress (although politically independent of neither.
Term
The Rules Committee
 Definition
Exercises considerable control over what bills are brought to the floor.
Term
Equal Time
 Definition
Federal Communications Act requires broadcasters to provide equal time to all legally qualified political candidates.
*Candidates must be given equal opportunity, if they can afford it.
***Does not include:
Documentaries, Interviews, News, Television Stations do not have to include "fringe" candidates
Term
Bill of Rights
 Definition
First 10 Amendments of the Constitution
Term
13-b Presidential Powers
 Definition
Formal Powers - Appoints Supreme & Federal Justices, Ambassadors, Members of Major Regulatory Agencies and Other Senior Officials; President can fire officials who he has appointed; Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons, He can negotiate and sign executive agreements with fireugb heads of state, He can negotiate and sign treaties, He has power to recognize a foreign government; Power of Veto; Pocket-Veto; He can Adjourn Congress or call Congress back to session;
Informal Powers - Power to pursuade people, executive privilege gives president inherent right to whhhold information from Congress and judiciary; TV, Radio, President's Spouse, flattery to members of congress, providing information through press secretaries
Ceremonial Powers - Ceromonial Head of State, Act as national leader in times of crisis reassure the public, manager of the economy
Term
Know what is meant by “freedom of the press,” and how this freedom is limited.
 Definition
Freedom of the press and freedom of expression are not absolute. Press is considered both print and electronic media and can be sued or prosecuted for the following:
Term
Independent Expenditures
 Definition
Funds spent for or against a candidate by committees not formally connected to a candidate and without coordination with the campaign.
Term
Independent Expenditure
 Definition
Funds spent for or against a candidate by committees not formally connected to the candidate’s campaign.
Term
Concurrent Powers
 Definition
Government and states share the power to exercise independently, such as the power to tax
Term
Whistle-Blowers
 Definition
Government employees who publicily expose evidence of official waste or corruption that they have learned about in the course of their duties;
Term
Know which reference groups – primary and secondary – most affect you and others.
 Definition
Groups who serve as guidelines to an individual’s opinion.
*Primary Groups – Because the influence is direct, groups that people come into face-to-face contact with in everyday life – friends, office associates, or a social club.
*Secondary Groups – Groups that people are more remotely affiliated with – labor unions, fraternal unions, professional or religious groups.
Term
Reference Groups
 Definition
Groups who serve as guidelines to an individual’s opinion.
*   Primary Groups – Because the influence is direct, groups that people come into face-to-face contact with in everyday life – friends, office associates, or a social club.
*Secondary Groups – Groups that people are more remotely affiliated with – labor unions, fraternal unions, professional or religious groups.
Term
The Senate
 Definition
Has been called "the most exclusive club in the world," or "the rich man's club". In 2003 there were 40 Millionaires in the Senate.
Term
Joint Committees
 Definition
House and Senate committees dealing with subjects as the economy and taxes.
Term
Understand how a good poll is constructed, and how even a good poll may be misleading.
 Definition
How a good poll is constructed
*Mathematical probability.
*Random Sampling - A group of people, chosen by poll-takers, that is representative of the universe being polled. A random sample is sometimes called a probability sample.
*Cluster Sampling - Interviewing several people from the same neighborhood. Scientific Polling. As long as the geographic areas are chosen at random, the clustering will usually not result in an unacceptable margin of error.
*Poll-takers often combine the cluster technique with the selection, in a series of stages or steps, of geographic areas to be polled, with each unit selected becoming successively smaller.
Term
Grand Old Party (GOP)
 Definition
In 1860 and for 25 years thereafter, Republicans ruled America, thus becoming known as the Grand Old Party or GOP.
Term
Executive Agencies
 Definition
Independent agencies of government under the president within the executive branch, but not part of a cabinet department.
Term
Constinuencies
 Definition
Interest groups, or client groups, either directly regulated by the bureaucracy or vitally affected by its decisions.
Term
Executive Agreements
 Definition
International agreements between the president and foreign heads of state that do not require Senate approval.
Term
Cluster Sampling
 Definition
Interviewing several people from the same neighborhood. Scientific Polling.
Term
Writ of Certiorari
 Definition
Is a form of petition where the Court can choose which of the cases it wants to hear by denying or granting certiorari, a Latin term meaning "made more certain". The votes of 4 justices are needed in order to grant "cert"
Term
Bureaucrat
 Definition
Is a neutral word - it simply means "an administrator" -- but its connotations are far from complimentary. "Bureaucrat" and "bureaucracy" are words that, to some people, conjure up an image of self-important but inefficient petty officials wallowing in red tape.
Term
Judicial Restraint
 Definition
Is the philosophy that the Supreme court should avoid constitutional questions when possible and uphold acts of Congress unless they clearly vioate a specifc section of the Constitution.
Term
Nationalism
 Definition
It's a love of country and a desire for independence. Also, an excessive form of patriotism that unscrupulous political leaders may exploit to whip up one group against antoher, leading to civil war and lboody "ethnic cleansing."
Term
Shield Law
 Definition
Law designed to protect reporters from revealing their sources.
Term
Statutory Law
 Definition
Law enacted by Congress, or by state legislatures or local legislative bodies; but many statues embody principles of English common law.
Term
12-1 War Powers Resolution
 Definition
Law inacted in 1973 which limits the President's use of combat forces abroad.
Term
Freedom of Information Act
 Definition
Law that requires federal executive branch and regulatory agencies to make information available to journalists, scholars, and the public unless it falls into one of several confidential categories. Exempt from disclosure are:
*National Security Information
*Personnel Files
*Investigatory Records
*Internal documents of an agency
Term
Pork-Barrel Legislation
 Definition
Lawmakers push through bills that benefit their home districts, or powerful corporate contributors, with sometimes wasteful or unnecessary public works or other projects.
Term
Authorizations
 Definition
Laws that recommend maximum levels of funding for federal programs.
Term
Bill of Attainder
 Definition
Legislation aimed at a particular individual
Term
Antiballistic Missile (AMB) Treaty
 Definition
Limiting the number of defensive missiles each country could build.
Term
Elastic Clause
 Definition
Make all “necessary and proper laws” to carry out the powers of the Constitution
Term
Proprietary Colonies
 Definition
Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.
Term
Recorded Vote
 Definition
Members vote electronically and the position of each is noted and published in the Congressional Record.
Term
Party Leaders Outside of Government
 Definition
Men or women who frequently control the party machinery and sometimes have important power bases.
Term
Party Activists
 Definition
Men or women who ring doorbells, serve as delegates to county, state, and national conventions and perform the day-to-day, grass-roots work of politics.
Term
The Voter
 Definition
Men or women whom consider themselves either Democrats or Republicans.
Term
Discharge Calendar
 Definition
Motions to force a bill out of committee are placed on the Discharge Calendar if they receive the necessary 218 signatures from house members. The procedure is rarely successful.
Term
Marshall Plan
 Definition
Named for its creator, Secretary of State George C. Marshall and apoured more than 13 billion in four years into western Europe to speed its postwar economic and social recovery.
Term
Inherent Powers
 Definition
National government has the right to conduct foreign relations
Term
Corrections Calendar
 Definition
Noncontroversial bills that have been favorably reported by committees, but which may require changes, may be placed by the speaker on the Corrections Calendar and debated on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month.
Term
NATO
 Definition
North Atlantic Treaty Organization, whose members were pledged to defend each other against attack.
Term
Courts of Appeals
 Definition
Often called state supreme courts, are the final judicial tribunals in the states.
Term
Understand what is meant by “grass-roots pressure”, and how this technique compares with direct lobbying or mass propaganda campaigns.
 Definition
One way interest groups try to influence public opinion is through mass propaganda and mass-publicity.
Term
Interventionism
 Definition
Or miliatary involvement by the United States in various parts of the world.
Term
527 Organizations
 Definition
Organizations that are tax-exempt groups created to exploit a loophole in the law regulating campaign finance. Section in IRS Code under which the organization must report their expenditures.
Term
Environmental Constraints
 Definition
Outside influences that affect a committee - primarily the other members of the House, the executive branch, client groups, and the two major political parties.
Term
Political Socialization
 Definition
Over the years a person acquires a set of political attitudes and forms opinions about political and social issues. Which may be affected by:
*The Family
*College Faculty
*Peer Groups
*Elementary, Jr. and High School
*social Class (Working Class, Middle Class, Upper Class)
*Occupation
*Income Level
*Religion, Sex, Race, Ethnicity
*Geographical Area, Rural vs. City
Term
Know what “political socialization” means, and the means by which we are “socialized”
 Definition
Over the years a person acquires a set of political attitudes and forms opinions about political and social issues. Which may be affected by:
The Family, college Faculty, Peer Groups, Elementary, Jr. and High School, Social Class, Middle Class, Upper Class), Occupation, Income Level, Religion, Sex, Race, Ethnicity, Geographical Area, Rural vs. City
Term
Unicameral Legislature
 Definition
Pennsylvania, a legislative body with only one house, the colonial legislatures had two houses.
Term
Standing Committees
 Definition
Permanent committees of Congress that consider bills and conduct hearings and investigations.
Term
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974
 Definition
Permitted unions and corporations to establish political committees that could contribute up to $5,000 to each candidate in a primary general election.
Term
Municipal Courts
 Definition
Police courts, city courts, traffic courts, and night courts. These courts, generally one step up from the magistraes courts, usually hear civil and lesser criminal cases.
Term
Negative Advertising
 Definition
Political commercials that strongly attack a rival candidate.
Term
Bandwagon Effect
 Definition
Political polls themselves may create the bandwagon effect and influence the outcome of an election.
Term
Checks and Balances
 Definition
Power is divided among the three constitutionally equal branches of government in the hope of preventing any single branch from becoming too powerful
Term
The Vice Preident
 Definition
Preside over the Senate, to vote in that body in case of a tie, and (under the Twenty-fifth Amendment) to help decie whether the preident is disabled, and if so, to serve as acting president.
Term
12-2b Congress & Executive & Judicial Branch Match or exceed power
 Definition
President must get approval from CONGRESS to go to war. President Can VETO, House power to impeach, Sentate tries impeachment process,
Term
Interest Groups
 Definition
Private groups that attempt to influence the government to respond to the shared attitudes of their members.
Term
Know the functions of interest groups.
 Definition
Private groups that attempt to influence the government to respond to the shared attitudes of their members. When people organize to express attitudes held in common and to influence the government to respond to those attitudes, they become members of in
Term
The Congressional Budget Office
 Definition
Provides Congress with an independent analysis of the president's budget and economic assumptions.
Term
The Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress
 Definition
Provides quick answers and long-range studies on a wide range of issues and has computerized databases available to members and their staff.
Term
Riders
 Definition
Provisions tacked on to a piece of legislation that are not relevant to the bill.
Term
Social Regulation
 Definition
Refers to laws, rules, and government programs designed to protect individual rights and specific groups, as well as to benefit society as a whole in such areas as health, worker safety, consumer protection, and the environment.
Term
Member Goals
 Definition
Reflect the benefits desired by each committee member.
Term
Office of the United States Trade Representative
 Definition
Represents the president in often difficult and complex international trade and tariff negotiations.
Term
Understand the fundamental differences between Republican and Democratic parties.
 Definition
Republicans - Republicans view themselves as “insiders who represent the core of American society and are the carriers of its fundamental values.”
Term
Charter Colonies
 Definition
Rhode Island and Connecticut
Term
Democracy
 Definition
Rule by the people
Term
Appropriations Bills
 Definition
Separate legislation that allows the money to be spent.
Term
The Government Accountability Office (GAO)
 Definition
Serves as an important watchdog into waste or fraud in the bureaucracy and conducts investigations at the request of congressional committees.
Term
Seven Dirty Words
 Definition
Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker, Tits
Term
Political Action Committees (or PAC)
 Definition
Single issue lobbies which are sometimes independent organizations but are more often the political arms of corporations, labor unions, or interest groups established to contribute to candidates or to work for general political goals.
Term
Council of Economic Advisers
 Definition
Staff who assist the president in the formation of national economic policy.
Term
Understand how electors may be selected by the state legislatures.
 Definition
State legislatures choose an elector by popular vote, equal to the number of the representatives and senators that the state has in Congress.
Term
SALT
 Definition
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks - Agreement placing a measure of control over nuclear weapons
Term
Buckley v. Valeo
 Definition
Supreme court ruled it unconstitutional to place limits on funds spent for or against a candidate by committees not formally connected to the candidate’s campaign.
Term
Conference Committees
 Definition
Temporary committees with the purpose to reconcile House-Senate differences on legislation that has passed through both chambers.
Term
Legislative Branch
 Definition
The Congress, House and Senate, can
*House has power to Impeach
*Senate shall try impeachment cases
*Power to tax
*Provide for the general welfare of the United States
* Borrow money
*Regulate commerce
*Naturalize citizens
*Coin Money
*Punish Counterfeiters
*Establish Post Office
*Copyrights and Patents
*Create lower courts
*Declare ware
*Maintain armed forces
*Suppress insurrections
*Suppress insurrections
*Repel invasions
*Govern DC
*Make all “necessary and proper laws”
Term
Veto
 Definition
The Constitutional power of the president to disapprove a bill and return it with his objections to the branch of Congress in which it originated. By 2/3 vote of each house, Congress may pass the bill over the president's veto.
Term
Original Jurisdiction
 Definition
The Court has the right under the Constitution to hear certain kinds of cases directly, such as cases involving foreign diplomats, or cases in which one of the 50 states is a party.
Term
Chadha Case
 Definition
The Court ruled that the legislative veto violated the constitutional requirement of separation of powers among the branches of the government.
Term
Article II of the Constitution excerpt
 Definition
The Executive Power shall be vested in a President of the united States of America.
Term
Know how and why the FCC regulates broadcast media differently than print media.
 Definition
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - that regulates broadcasts stations and ensure they operate in “the public interest.”
Term
Stare Decisis
 Definition
The Latin phrase meaning "stand by past decisions."
Term
National Economic Council
 Definition
The National Economic Council, a relatively new body modeled on the National Cecurity Councel, was created by President Clinton in 1993 to coordinate all economic policy decisions at the presidential level. It deals with the budget, international trade, and other economic issues and programs.
Term
Office of Management and Budget
 Definition
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was created in 1970. The office was designed to tighten presidential control over the federal bureaucracy an improve its performance.
Term
Republican Party
 Definition
The Republican Party was created in February 1854, when a group of the Whigs, Free-Soilers, and antislavery Democrats gathered in a church at Ripon, Wisconsin, to recommend the creation of a new party to fight further expansion of slavery. The Republican
Term
Whip
 Definition
The Speaker of the House has has two chief assistants, the majority leader and the majority whip.
*Majority Leader is the party's floor leader and key strategist.
*The majority whip is responsible for rounding up party members for important votes and counting noses.
*The term whip comes from wipper-in the person assigned in English fox hunts to keep the hounds from straying.
Term
15-1 Judicial Review
 Definition
The Supreme Court has the power of Jucidial Review. Through Judicial Review, the court has power to declare acts of Congress or actions by the executive branch or laws and actions at any level of the local, state, and federal government, unconstitutional.
Jucidial Review was established in the Marbury vs. Madison case.
Term
National Security
 Definition
The basic protection and defense of the nation.
Term
Strategic Premises
 Definition
The basic rules of the game for a committee.
Term
Executive Privilege
 Definition
The claims by presidents of an inherent right to wihhold information from Congress and the judiciary. This doctrine is nowhere explicicitly stated in the Constitution but rests on the separation of p0wers of the three branches of government.
Term
Current Constitutional Issues
 Definition
The constitutional issues that the United States faces today concern the expansion of the state governments’ control.
Term
Common Law
 Definition
The cumulative body of law as expressed in judicial decisions and customs rather than by statue.
Term
Plessy v. Ferguson
 Definition
The doctrine of 'separate but equal' was affirmed by this Supreme Court decision.
Term
Public Opinion
 Definition
The expression of attitudes about government and politics.
* A process of interaction between the people and the government.
*Those opinions held by private persons which governments find it prudent to heed.
*Enough people expressing themselves so strongly for or against something that their views are likely to affect government action.
*Because the people who hold and express opinions are constantly changing, as do the issues an conditions to which the public responds.
Term
National Committee
 Definition
The governing body of the party. Members of the national committee are chosen in the states and formally elected by the party’s national convention.
Term
Universe The group
 Definition
The group of people to be measured, known as the population, is too large to poll on every issue.
Term
National Chair
 Definition
The head of a national political party, is formally elected by the members of the national committee. In practice he or she is chosen or retained by the party’s presidential nominee at the end of the national convention.
Term
Decision-Making Processes
 Definition
The internal rules for each committee.
Term
Cloture
 Definition
The means by which a filibuster may be ended if three-fifths of the entire senate (60 members) vote cloture. *to cut off debate on changes in Senate rules, a vote of two-thirds of the senators present is still required.
Term
Seniority System
 Definition
The part that controls the House or Senate selects the chairs and party's members of the standing committees for that body. Most committee chairs are achieved in this manner.
Term
National Convention
 Definition
The party nominates the party’s candidates for president and vice president, writes a platform, settles disputes, writes rules, and elects the members of the national committee.
Term
Cold War
 Definition
The period of intense rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Unioin after the Second World War.
Term
Speaker of the House
 Definition
The person who leads the majority party in the House of Representatives.
*Presides over the House
*Recognize or Ignore members who wish to speak
*Appoint the czar and the Party's members of the Rules Committee
*Appoints members of special or select committee's that conduct special investigations
*Refers bills to one or more committee's
*Exercises other procedural controls.
Term
Judicial Activism
 Definition
The philosophy that the Supreme Court justices and other judges should boldly apply the Constitution to social and political questions.
Term
Internationalism
 Definition
The policy that America must take an active leadership role in world affairs.
Term
Power
 Definition
The possession of control over others
Term
Pocket Veto
 Definition
The power of a president to kill a bill by taking no action when Congress has adjourned.
Term
Line-Item Veto
 Definition
The power of the president - struck down by the Supreme Court in 1998 - to veto specific parts of appropriations bills. Most governors have this power.
Term
Judicial Review
 Definition
The power to delcare acts of Congress or actions by the executive branch - or laws and actions at any level of local, state and federal government, unconstitutional.
Term
Spoils or Political Patronage
 Definition
The practice under which the victorious pliiticans reward their followers with jobs. Jackson preferred to call it "rotation in office."
Term
Party Leaders in the Government
 Definition
The president, leaders in Congress, and party leaders in the state and local governments.
Term
Cabinet
 Definition
The president, the vice president, the heads of the major executive department sof the government, and certain other senior officials who may hold "cabinet rank" constitute the cabinet.
Term
Civilian Supremacy
 Definition
The principle of civilian control of the military, is based on the clear constitutional power of the president as supreme commander of the armed forces.
Term
Prior Restraint
 Definition
The principle, rooted in English common law, that normally there must be no governmental prior restraint of the press - the censoring of news stories before publication.
Term
Politics
 Definition
The pursuit and exercise of power
Term
Creative Federalism
 Definition
The relationship between Washington and the states
Term
Instructed Delegate
 Definition
The representative that the idea that legislators should automatically mirror the will of the majority of their constituents.
Term
12-3b Instructed Delegate
 Definition
The representative that the idea that legislators should automatically mirror the will of the majority of their constituents.
Term
Constitution
 Definition
The right to privacy is NOT in the constitution.
*The writers drew their inspiration from American sources and from European thinkers.
Term
Admininstrative Law
 Definition
The rules and regulations made and applied by federal regulatory agencies and commissions.
Term
Nuclear Proliferation
 Definition
The spread of nuclear weapons to more nations - threatens the world.
Term
Foreign Policy
 Definition
The sum of the goals, decisions, and actions that govern a nation's relations with the rest of the world.
Term
Military-Industrial Complex
 Definition
The term often used to describe the ties between the military establishment and the defense-aerospace industry is another limit on the president's power as commander in chief.
Term
Public Administratoin
 Definition
The term preffered by most political scientists to describe the bureaucratic process - the business of making government work - and bureaucrats are public administrators.
Term
Strategic Deterrence
 Definition
The theory of deterrence, developed in the Pentagon with the assistance of defense "think tanks" such as the Rand Corporation, involved deploying enough nuclear weapons so that an enemy would not, in theory, attack the United Sttates, for fear of being attacked in retaliation.
Term
Containment
 Definition
The united States adopted a policy of containment of the power of the Soviet Union. Which was one of firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies.
Term
Cooperative Federalism
 Definition
The various levels of government are seen as related parts of a single governmental system, characterized more by cooperation and shared functions than by conflict and competition
Term
Articles of Confederation
 Definition
The written framework for the government of the original 13 states before the Constitution was adopted
Term
Enumerated Powers
 Definition
These powers are specifically granted under the U.S. Constitution
Term
Marbury v. Madison
 Definition
This Supreme Court case firmly established that the Supreme Court had the power of judicial review
Term
Brown v. The Board of Education
 Definition
This Supreme Court decision ruled that the doctrine of 'separate but equal' was unconstitutional
Term
McCullough v. Maryland
 Definition
This court case concerned the right of Congress to incorporate a national bank, and established that Congress had broad implied powers in addition to what was specifically enumerated in the Constitution.
Term
Thomas Jefferson
 Definition
This founding father wrote the Declaration of Independence
Term
Judicial Review
 Definition
This is the power that the Supreme Court has to rule on the constitutionality of a law.
Term
Cesar Chavez
 Definition
This man led his United Farm Workers (UFW) on a successful five-year strike against grape growers in California.
Term
Dred Scott Decision
 Definition
This man was a slave who sued for his freedom, but was prevented from bringing his case before a Supreme Court that ruled that he was not a citizen.
Term
Federalists
 Definition
Those who supported ratification of the Constitution
Term
National Government
 Definition
Three branches, legislative, executive and judicial
The following types of power are exercised by the national government:
*Enumerated
*Implied
*Inherent
Term
Soft Money
 Definition
Unregulated campaign funds from corporations, unions, and wealthy donors, that were not subject to the limits of Federal Law.
Term
Senatorial Courtesy
 Definition
Unwritten Custom - Individual senators who belong to the same political party as the president exercise an informal veto power over presidential appointments in their states.
Term
Decisions of Committees
 Definition
Vary, example the Armed Services Committee tends to respond to the president's wishes while the Appropriations Committees generally do not.
Term
Exit Polls
 Definition
Votes are counted of citizens leaving voting booths, which may be an indicator of the final result.
Term
George Gallup
 Definition
Was an American pioneer of survey sampling techniques and inventor of the Gallup poll, a successful statistical method of survey sampling for measuring public opinion.
Term
15-2 Judicial Appointment
 Definition
We already know that the President appoints Supreme Justices. It is the Senate's responsibility to confirm or reject the appointment.
Term
11- 2b - Motivations for Not Voting
 Definition
Were Not Registered, Did not like the candidates, were working, too busy, child care issues, chose not to vote, didn't care or disinterested, just moved hadn't met requirements to register, voter or voter's child was sick, thought it didn't matter, had never voted, thought voting process to complicated, had no transportation, were out of town.
Term
Clear and Present Danger
 Definition
When free speech incites violence
Term
11-2a Who or Who Does Not Vote
 Definition
Who Votes: Middle-aged, Women (ha…ha…because there are more women than men! Women RULE!!!) College Graduates, Church Goers, Jews, Whites
Non-Voters: 18-24 yr olds, 60 or over, Less Educated, Non White
Term
Indictment
 Definition
a grand jury found enough evidence existing to warrant a criminal trial.
Term
New Federalism
 Definition
designed to return federal tax money to state and local government
Term
Literacy Tests
 Definition
designed to test a voter’s ability to read and write were rigged to keep black voters from the poles.
Term
Separation of Powers
 Definition
each of the three branches is constitutionally equal to and independent of the others
Term
Electoral College
 Definition
each state having as many electors as it had representatives and senators. The electors were to choose the president and vice president.
Term
Gideon v. Wainwright
 Definition
established the right of an indigent defendant to legal counsel or an attorney.
Term
USA Patriot Act
 Definition
expanded the power of the federal law enforcement authorities to move against suspected terrorists.
Term
Supremacy Clause
 Definition
federal laws are supreme over any conflicting state laws. But the states also exercise control within their borders over a wide range of activities
Term
First Amendment
 Definition
freedom of religion, speech, press, to assemble, to petition the government for grievances.
Term
Implied Powers
 Definition
gives Congress power to make all laws “necessary and proper” to carry out its enumerated powers.
Term
Ex Post Facto Law
 Definition
imposing punishment for an act that was not illegal when committed
Term
Establishment Clause
 Definition
neither a state nor the federal government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws that aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another
Term
Know which political parties were “first on the scene,” and how they were founded and by whom, and why they would eventually give way to the modern Democratic and Republican parties.
 Definition
o      The Federalist Party, organized by Alexander Hamilton, was the first national political party in the United States.
Term
Affirmative Action
 Definition
programs of government, universities, and business, designed to favor minorities and remedy past discriminations.
Term
Free Exercise Clause
 Definition
protects the right of individuals to worship or believe as they wish, or to hold no religious beliefs
Term
Gerrymandering
 Definition
redrawing lines in favor of one party or another, which were used to keep black voters from gaining control.
Term
Détente
 Definition
relaxation of tensions.
Term
Criminal Information
 Definition
statement presented to the court by a prosecutor charging a person with a crime.
Term
Miranda Warnings
 Definition
suspects in police custody be advised of their rights before they are interrogated
Term
Poll Tax
 Definition
tax on voting used to keep poor voters from participating in elections.
Term
Royal Colonies
 Definition
the 13 original colonies, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Massachusetts.
Term
Natural Rights
 Definition
the belief that all people possess certain basic rights that may not be abridged by government.
Term
Flexible Construction
 Definition
the concept that the Constitution must be interpreted flexibly to meet changing conditions
Term
Magna Carta
 Definition
the document issued by King John at Runnymede in 1215, in which nobles confirmed that the power of the king was not absolute; the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679 and the bill of Rights 1689.
Term
Dual Federalism
 Definition
the federal government and the states were seen as competing power centers
Term
Regulatory Federalism
 Definition
the federal government has set requirements for the states through federal laws and regulations dealing with the environment and the broad range of other concerns
Term
Civil Liberties
 Definition
the fundamental rights of a free society that are protected by the Bill of Rights.
Term
Supremacy Law
 Definition
the laws of Congress prevail over any conflicting state laws
Term
Unitary System of Government
 Definition
the nation is divided into administrative units called departments, uniformly administered from Paris
Term
Antifederalists
 Definition
those who opposed ratification of the Constitution.
Term
Understand how television has changed the political ball game, and which presidents have adapted best to this technology.
 Definition
·    Broadcast of major events on TV has a strong influence on public opinion.
Term
Know the difference between a pivotal and swing state.
 Definition
·       A swing state is a state in which no candidate has overwhelming support, meaning that any of the major candidates has a reasonable chance of winning the state's electoral college votes.
Term
Understand the differences and similarities between and interest group, PAC, and political party.
 Definition
·       An interest group is a loosely bound group of people sharing attitudes.
Term
Understand why some segments of the population are underrepresented by interest groups.
 Definition
·       Some ordinary voters feel they have been left out of the political system.
Term
Bakke and Weber
 Definition
●Reverse discrimination
●Bakke in college admissions. Universities have the right to give preference to blacks and other minorities as long as they do not use rigid racial “quotas”
●Weber rejected for a training program that would lead to higher pay. The program had set-a-sides for half black workers.
Supporting users have an ad free experience!