| A | B |
|---|
| Oligarchy | a govt. ruled by few |
| unitary | type level/system of govt. where all legal power is held by the national or central govt |
| confederal | type level/system of govt. where inderpendent states join together to accomplish common goals. the central govt. has little to no power |
| federal | type level/system of govt. in which powers are divided among national, state, and local govt |
| presidential | where the legislative branch and the executive are separate and independent of each other. the executive is headed by a president in this system, and the president is chosen independently of the legislature |
| anarchy | state of political disorder resulting from the absense of rules or government |
| constitution | basic set of laws and principles establinshing the nations govt |
| Stamp Act | passed by parliment in 1765 that required colonists to pay a tax on many paper good. A STAMP on these paper goods showed that the tax had been paid |
| Articles of Confederation | first nation govt of the U.S. |
| James Madison | perhaps the most important delegate to the constitutional convention and is sometimes called the "FATHER OF THE CONSTITUTION" |
| federalist | supporters of the new Constitution |
| anti federalist | opponents of the new Constitution |
| Seperation of Powers | makes sure no one branch has too much power |
| Judicial Review | power of the courts to decide if laws and other govt actions are valid under the U.S. constitution |
| Executive Agreement | arrangements that Presidents establish with foreign govt that, unlike formal treaties, dont require Senate approval |
| Political Party | an organized group that seeks to win elections in order to influence the activities of govt |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | the only president that served more than 2 terms, and he led to the passing of the 22nd amendment |
| Factions | groups of people usually motivated by self-interest |
| concurrent powers | powers that the constitution neither grants exclusively to the fed. govt nor denies to the states(aka shared powers) |
| concurrent | to charter banks |
| concurrent | to collect taxes |
| expressed | to coin and print money |
| reserved | to conduct elections |
| concurrent | to establish courts |
| concurrent | to borrow money |
| Connecticut plan | the great compromise |
| apportionment | the process that takes place after a census. It decides how to divide the 435 members of the House between the 50 states |
| gerrymandering | the redrawing of lines to aid one political group or another |
| Franking privilege | one of the benefits that Congress members enjoy that is the ability to send official mail for free |
| ex post facto law | a limit on congress powers that prevents congress from passing this type of LAW that applies to an action that took place before the law was passed |
| writ of habeus corpus | a court order requiring police to bring all persons accused of a crime to court and to show sufficient reason to keep them in jail |
| Bill of Attainder | a law that punishes a person who has not been convicted in a court of law |
| First | January 3, 2013 will begin which session of Congress (ODD YEARS) |
| 2 years | length ( in years) of a U.S. representatives term |
| 6 years | the length (in years) of a U.S. senator's term |
| Speaker of the House | most influential position in the U.S. House of Representatives |
| pork barrel spending | awards, projects, and grants from the govt. to a members home district or state |
| 435 | the number of representatives in the House |
| 100 | number of senators in the senate |
| 538 | number of electorial votes in electorial college |
| party platforms | the party's positions on issues of the day |
| attorney general | the head of the Department of Justice |
| regulatory commission | all the organizations that make up a highly organized system of people and their work on the federal level. this is what "govt" and the "red tape" is sometimes referred to |
| fiscal policies | a set of govt spending, taxing, and borrowing policies used to achieve desired levels of economic performance |
| Strict constructionist | believe that laws and the Constitution should be interpreted STRICTLY according to the wording they contain |
| precidents | these are guiding principles that help in determining what is legal in future situations that involve similar issuse. Judges look at these sometimes in deciding cases |
| loose constructionist | believe that the constitution and other laws must be interpreted in LIGHT of current political and social conditions |
| Judiciary Act of 1789 | ACT set the foundation and groundwork for our court system |
| jurisdiction | authority to interpret and administer the law from the constitution |
| original jurisdiction | the authority to hear a case's INITIAL trial |
| briefs | written legal arguments |
| John Marshall | this man became the chief justice in 1801. he oversaw the famous case of Marbury vs. Madison |
| 6 | Judiciary Act of 1789 set the number of U.S. supreme court justices to this number |
| Chief justice | the nation's highest judicial officer |
| John Roberts | current chief justice |
| concurring | this is the type of opinion that disagrees with the majority outcome but disagrees with all or part of the grounds stated for the disagreement |
| judicial activism | believes that judges should intervene when unacceptable conditions have been ignored or constitutional rights have been violated |
| statutory law | type of law that consists of laws ( or STATUTES) passed by city councils, state legislatures, and congress |
| statutory interpretation | courts often must decide the meaning of laws that legislatures have passed also know at statutory construction |
| constitutional law | type of LAW that has supreme standing overall other types of law |
| common law | type of law that is also called a judge-made law. it's also a body of law based on judicial rulings in earlier cases |
| civil law | type of law that involves disputes in which one private party brings a lawsuit against another for causing some harm |
| plaintiff | the party bringing the suit |
| torts | these are harms that one party causes another and for which the victim may receive damages. These often involve accidents, such as car wrecks |
| contracts | these are legal promises made between 2 or more parties. these can be verbal or non verbal |
| grand jury | made up of 12-23 people who decide if the govt has enough evidence to try an accused person on formal charges |
| arraignment | when the accused is formally notified of the charges against him or her and asked to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty |
| sequestered | when a jury is kept in isolation. they are normally kept in a hotel during the trial in an attempt to keep their viewpoints from being influenced by outside information |
| 10th amendment | deals with powers reserved for the states |
| 4th amendment | protects citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures. officials have to have a search warant |
| 22nd amendment | limited the terms of President to two terms |
| 6th amendment | the right to a speedy and public trial |
| 2nd amendment | right to bear arms |
| 9th amendments | deals with the rights of the people not specifically listed in the constitution |
| 20th amendment | was known as the "lame duck" amendment bc it changed the date that President would take office from March 4 to January 20 |
| 8th amendment | protects people from excessive bail, fines, or cruel or unusual punishment |
| 15 amendment | extended the right to vote to African-American men |
| 27th amendment | dealt with Congressional pay raises |
| 18th amendment | prohibition of alcohol |
| 24th amendment | outlawed poll taxes and other discriminations in federal elections |
| 21st amendment | this was the only amendment to repeal another amendment |
| 23rd amendment | gave residents of washington DC the right to vote in presidential elections and gave them 3 electorial votes |
| 19th amendment | dealt with women's suffrage |
| 17th amendment | established a direct election of Senators to the people |
| 16th amendment | established and detailed a federal income tax |
| 25th amendment | deals with Presidential disability and succession |
| 5th amendment | deals with the rights of accused persons. One has the protection of self-incrimination, and then the right to indictment by a Grand Jury |
| 7th amendment | the right to a trial by a jury in cases that involved more than $20 |
| 3rd amendment | citizen do not have to quarter troops unless they give permission during peacetime or in a time of war |
| 1st amendment | Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right to the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances |
| 26th amendment | lowered the voting age to 18 |
| 11th amendment | deals with suits against the states |
| 12th amendment | deals with the election of President and VP |
| 14th amendment | defines citizenship in detail, and it includes African-AMerican men |
| 13th amendment | officially abolished slavery (not the Emancipation Proclamation) |
| Article VII | deals with the ratification of the constitution |
| article I | deals with the legislative branch of our govt |
| article II | deals with the executive branch of our govt |
| article V | deals with amending the Constitution |
| article VI | describes the role of the federal govt, in it describes the supremacy clause |
| article III | deals witht eh judicial branch of our govt. |
| article IV | deals with the relations among the states (Full Faith & Credit Clause) |
