| A | B |
|---|
| Representative Democracy | people elect leaders to represent them, this is the format most modern democracies follow |
| Oligarchy | rule by a small group. (ex. communist party in China) |
| Theocracy | rule by a religious leader or by religion (ex. Iran) |
| Magna Carta | the first document in England to limit the power of the king and give rights to the people |
| Common law | law that is not written but instead based on the decisions made by courts and customary practices. It is a foundation for American democracy |
| Declaration of Inependence | written by Thomas Jefferson (and influenced heavily by John Locke) it stated man's inalienable rights and 27 cases of abuses by the King of England |
| Federal System | a system of government with different levels (national, state, local) where the lower levels are guaranteed a role in the government |
| Confederal System | A system of governemnt where the states maintain soveriegnty and allow the central government to exist. The central government is weaker than the states. |
| Articles of Confederation | the government for the US prior to the Constitution, it was a weak and ineffective central government that lacked many key powers |
| VA plan | early attempt at the Constitutional Convention that wanted to give states with larger populations more representation in the congress |
| NJ plan | early attempt at the Consttutional convention, wanted to give each state equal representation in Congress |
| Connecticut Compromise | agreement at the Constitutional convention that combined the VA and J plan's by creating a two house legislature with one house reflecting each house's plan |
| 3/5 compromise | agreement at the Constitutional Convention to count 3/5 of the slaves towards a state's population when determining representation in the legislature |
| Federalists | those who supported the Constitution and a stronger central government |
| Anti-Federalists | those who opposed the Constitution and a stronger central government |
| VA statute of religious freedom | written by Thomas Jefferson it gave freedom of religion in the state of VA and was highly influential on the 1st amendment |
| Bill of Rights | collective name for the 1st 10 amendments to the Constitution, it was added as a safeguard for liberties and as a promise in exhange for the ratification of the Constitution |
| Supremacy clause | established the national government as supreme to the states whenever policies collide. It heavily factored in deciding the McCulloch v MD case in favor of the national government |
| Judicial Review | the power of the Court's to determine the constitutionality of a law. It allows the courts to strike down laws that are unconstitutional |
| Expressed Powers | powers that are clearly specified in the Constitution. (ex. declare war, tax, coin $, regulate interstate commerce) |
| Implied powers | powers that the government can use to carry out its expressed powers. The basis for these powers is the "necessary and proper" clause. For example it is implied that the government can build a missile defense system as part of its power of "maintaining an army" even though the Constitution doesn't specifically say it can build a missile defense system, because a missile defense system is "necessary and proper" for "maintaining an army" |
| "necessary and proper" clause | allows Congress to expand its powers in order to carry out its expressed powers. This is the basis for the implied powers. |
| Reserved powers | from the 10th amendment they are any powers not forbidden to the states or given strictly to the national government |
| 10th amendment | the source of the reserved powers, it alllows states to run most of their own affairs |
| "laboratories of democracy" | idea that federalism is a good system when states are allowed to experiment with different approaches to policy matters |
| commerce clause | as a broad power (regulating interstate commerce) this has allowed the government to have more implied powers as "commerce" is something that is easy for the government to connect its actions to. For example the government used the commerce clause to uphold the Civil Rights Act of 1964 |
| New Federalism | sometimes called devolution, it is the idea that more powers should be returned to the states rather than having the federal government's power expand |
| New Deal legislation | large package of government programs designed to bring the country out of the depression, it greatly expanded the role of the Federal government and began the phase of federalism known as "cooperative federalism" |
| Block Grants | Fed $ given to the states for a geneal policy areas (like education) but the states get to decide how the $ is spent. This type of aid is more attractive to the states |
| Unfunded mandate | when the federal government sets a national standard for states to comply with but provides little to no funding to help them comply |
| Civil Liberties | term for restrictions on the action that the government can take. |
| Civil Rights | term for active teps taken by the government to ensure equality |
| 14th amendment | through its due process claus it allows the freedoms from the bill of rights to also apply to the states, it states that no STATE can deprive any PERSON of LIBERTY without due process. In addition it calls for everyrone to receive EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW |
| Selective Incorporation | the process of the court choosing freedoms from the Bill of rights to also apply to the state governments, This has been down slowly one case at a time since the early 20th century. |
| Establishment clause | part of the 1st amendment it is basically freedom FROM religion, or the idea of separation of Church and State |
| Free exercise clause | part of the 1st amendment that allows people to believe in whatever religion they please |
| Slander/Libel | false speech that defames one's character. In order to sue for libel/slander one must prove that falsehoods were given with "malicious intent" |
| Clear and Present Danger Test | as a restriction on speech, it allows the government to restrict speech that represents a threat |
| Symbolic Speech | gestures or symbols that count as speech, they are typicaly protected under the 1st amendment (ex: flag burning) |
| No prior restraint | the idea that the press can not be prevented from operating or publishing, but can be punished for what it does publish |
| Due process | the idea that the government must respect the rights of citizens and can not deprive them of those rights without a fair legal process |
| double jeopardy | the idea that someone can not be tried for the exact same crime twice |
| imminent domain | when the government takes private property for publice use, they must however compensate the property owner |
| Self-incrimination | testifying against yourself, the 5th amendment protects one from this. |
| exclusionary rule | any evidence that is illegally obtained (ex. evidence taken without a warrant) must be excluded from a trial even if it helps prove guilt |
| political culture | a set of widely shared values about how the government should operate. (ex. in USA: liberty, democracy, civic duty, individual responsibility) |
| political ideology | a clear and consistent view on policies the government should pursue (ex: liberalism, conservatism, libertarianism) |
| political socialization | how someone obtains their political ideology and culture, the main way is through their family |
| 15th amendment | said that states could not deny the right to vote on the basis of race |
| 19th amendment | said that states couldn't deny women the right to vote |
| 24th amendment | banned poll taxes from being used in states |
| interest group | a collection of citizens that advocate for a policy objective. |
| Amicus curiae | documents submitted by Interest groups to the court during litigation to help the court make its decision |
| "linkage institution" | something that connects the people to the government (ex. political parties, interest groups elections) |
| political party | a group that sponsors a candidate for election under their name |
| National convention | the big meeting for a political party where they officialyy name their candidate for President |
| Realignment | when a demographic group that has consistently supported one political party starts supporting a different political party |
| Dealignment | when a demographic group that has consistently supported one political party leaves the party and becomes independent |
| PACs | political action committees, they are used by interest groups to donate $ to candidates |
| Super PACs | a type of PAC that is unlimited in the amount of $ it spends towards independent expenditures |
| Primary election | an election that detemrines who will be be the candidate representing the party in an upcoming general election they typically feature a smaller % of the voting population and more ideologically extreme voters |
| General election | an election that determines who actually gets to hold political office |
| Caucus | a meeting where party members choose delgates to attend the national convention |
| Open primary | a primary where anyone can participate and they do not have to declare their party affiliation |
| Closed Primary | a primary where someone MUST declare their party affiliation prior to participatin |
| "super" delegate | soemone who will attend a convention regardless of the outcome of the primaries |
| Federal Election Campaign Act | the campaign finance law from the 1970s that set limits on how much someone could donate to an individual's campaign |
| Federal Eleection Commisison | Federal Agency that oversees federal campaign finance law |
| Independent expenditures | $ spent or contirbuted by Interest groups/PACs separate from a candidate's official campaign. |
| Electoral College | the group that directly elects the president. IT was established as a buffer against the common people and to include the states in the presidential election process |
| Position issue | an issue one can have a clear ad different position from their opponent on (ex: Death penalty, abortion) |
| Valence Issue | an issue that both candidates support but may have a different view of how it should be achieved (ex. improving the economy) |
| "Candidate centered" campaign | the idea that campaigns are now more focused on the individual candiate rather than the party they represent |
| "horse race" jounralism | focusing on the "who's winning" aspect of a cammpaign rather than the issues. It is frequent in the election coverage. |
| "micro-targeting" | using the internet to target the most likely potential voters and donors in an attempt to gain their support |
| Bi-Partisan campagin finance reform act | A campagin refomr law from 2002 that tried to limit the amount of independent expenditures and "soft" $ in campaigns |
| US v Heart of Atlanta Motel | upheld the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on the basis of the commerce clause |
| Gibbons v Ogden | the first case to give "commerce" a broad definition and allow the federal government to expand its power via this clause |
| Marbury v Madison | the case that first established judicial review |
| McCulloch v MD | the case that established the NAtional government as supreme to the states and expanded the government's ability to have implied powers |
| Miranda v AZ | the case that determiend a criminal suspect must be informed of their rights upon arrest |
| Gideon v Wainwright | the case that determined that criminal defendants have a right to an attorney in both state and federal cases |
| Gitlow v NY | the case that determined that speech was a fundamental right that states could not infringe upon. It was the first case in the process of selective incorporation |
| Roe v Wade | the case that determined abortion was a protected privacy right |
| Brown v Board of Education I | struck the principle of separate but equal established by Plessy v Ferguson |
| Brown v Board of education II | declared that integration cold occur "with all deliberate speed" thus indirectly allowing states to slowly and carefully integrate |
| mapp v ohio | the case that determined the exclusionary rule also applied to state governments |
| Buckley v Valeo | the case that upheld the Federal Election campaign Act |
| Citizens United v FEC | the case from 2010 that determined that unions and corporations could not be limited in their spennding on independent expenditures |
| 3rd party | any politicla party other than the Republicans and democrats, they have influenced elections by sometimes serving as "spoilers" and costing a major party the election |
| "first past the Post" | in elections this is when the person with the most votes is guaranteed to the one seat. IT supports having a 2 party system. |
