| A | B |
|---|
| government | institutions that make public policy for a society |
| politics | who gets what, when, and how |
| political participation | the way that people get involved in politics |
| single-issue groups/ interest groups | interest groups concerned with one matter that there members will cast their votes on the basis of that one issue only |
| Webster v. Reproductive Health Services | narrowed a womans right to choose by allowing states to decide whether to provide funds to women who want abortions but cannot afford them |
| policy agenda | list of subjects or problems that government is paying attention to at the time |
| public policy | choice that governement makes in response to some issue on its agenda |
| political system | set of institutions and activites that link government politics and public policy |
| linkage instituons | join preferences of citizens to govt policy agenda (i.e. political parties, elections, interest groups, media) |
| traditional democratic theory | how govt makes decisions (equality in voting, effective participation, enlightened understanding, citizen control of agenda, inclusion) |
| majority rule and minority rights | allowing the majority to weigh desires but ensuring rights to the minority |
| pluralist theory | positive- many centers of influencevie for power and control- groups compete with one another for control over public policy but no one dominates |
| elite and class theory | society is divided along class lines and that upper class elites rules regardless of formal niceties of governemental organitation |
| hyperpluralism | pluralism gone sour; influence of interest groups cripple govt. |
| policy gridlock | when the president and congress cannot agree and continuously veto each others proposal |
| gross domestic product | the total value of goods and services produced annually by U.S. |
| liberals | support a more active role of govt in most spheres with higher spending |
| conservatives | favor strict govt |
| individualism | one does well without interference from governement |
| democracy | means of selecting policymakers and organizing govt. so that policy represents and responds to citizens preferences |
| public goods | goods, such as clean air clean water, that everyone must share |
| policy impacts | the effects a policy has on people and problems. impacts are analyzed to see how well a policy has met its goal and at what cost |
| political action committees | funding vehicals created by the 1974 campaign finance reforms |
| constitutions | nations basic laws |
| Declaration of Independence | written by Jefferson was adopted on July 4,1776 |
| Natural rights | rights inherent in human beings not dependent on governments |
| consent of the governed | John Locke- people must agree who their rulers will be |
| limited govt | clear restrictions of what govt can do |
| Articles of Confederation | Govt dominated by the states, no national court, no president, one house |
| anarchy | society in which no govt exist |
| monarchy | headed by single ruler whose position is hereditary |
| constitutional monarchy | ruler has formal or written limits on policy |
| absolute monarchy | ruler word is law |
| dictatorship | headed by a single ruler whose position is not hereditary |
| aristocracy | headed by group of rulers whose positions are hereditary and have varying degrees of power |
| oligarchy | headed by group of rulers whose positions are not hereditary and have same power |
| authoritarian | govt that forces strict obedience; allows no challenges to public policy |
| totalitarian | govt that allows no opposition but enforces control between public and private life |
| theocracy | headed by religious leaders |
| republic | made up of elected leaders that have limited periods |
| what does govt do? | maintain national defense, provide public goods, police powers to provide order, provide public services, collect taxes |
| pork | public policies that come from govt |
| jesus | the only way we will pass this test |
| natural law | system of checks and balances |
| Shay's Rebellion | farmers was mad cause they lost land to creditors leds by Daniel Shay |
| Annapolis Meeting | meeting to discuss problems with Articles of Confederation, and suggest solution, decided to hold constituional convention |
| constituional convention | met in philly with 55 delegates, created the constitution |
| The Majors Issues at Constitional Convention | equality of representations of states, slavery, voting right and running rights |
| connecticut compromise | created two houses in congress |
| New Jersey Plan | each state to be equally represented in congress |
| Vriginia Plan | each state representation based on population |
| 3/5 compromise | slaves counted for 3/5ths |
| Congress | cheif economic policy maker, ability to regualte interstate and foreign commerce, and tax |
| Federalists | supproted the constitution and strong nat.'l govt. |
| Anti-federalists | opposed the constitutuion and central govt |
| Bill of Rights | first ten amendments introduced by james madison and ratified |
| Equal rights amendment (era) | stated that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied by the US or by any state on account of sex. |
| federalism | a system of shared power between units of govt |
| unitary governments | all power resides in the central govt |
| intergovernmental relations | refers to the entire set of interactions among nat.'l, state, and local govt |
| supremacy clause | states that the constitution, the laws of the nat.'l govt, and treaties are the supreme law |
| tenth amendment | states' powers consist of those not delegated or prohibited by the constitutution |
| Why is Federalism Important? | to check factions, decentralize politics, more political participation, |
| McCulloch v. Maryland | establish the supremacy of the nat.'l govt over the stocks and that nat.'l govt has implied powers that go beyond its enumerated powers |
| Eleventh Amendment | prohibits individual damage suits against state officials and protects state govt. from being sued against their consent by private parties in fed. courts |
| enumerated powers | power delegated to fed govt by constitution |
| implied powers | powers that are credited by the elastic clause |
| elastic clause | also known as the necessary and proper clause, gives fed govt the right to act when deemed necessary and proper |
| Gibbons v. Ogdens | defined commerce very broadly to encompass virtually every form of commercial activity |
| full faith and credit | art. 4 requires that states give full faith and credit to the public acts, records, and civil judicial proceedings of every state |
| extradition | states are required to return a person charged w/ a crime in another stated to that state for trial or imprisonment. |
| privileges and immunities | prohibit states from discriminating against citizens of other states |
| dual federalism | both the nat.'l govt and the states remain supreme within their own spheres |
| cooperative federalism | current US fed system--powers and policy assignments are shared between states and fed govt |
| fiscal federalism | the pattern of spending, taxing and providing grants in the fed system |
| categorical grants | the main souce of fed aid to state and local govt's-congress attaches conditions to the grants that states receive |
| project grant | awarded on basis of competitive applications |
| formula grant | distributed according to formula--a grant's formula determines how much money the particular govt will receive |
| block grant | iven more/less automatically to states/communitie, which them hace discretion in deciding how to spend the money. |
| Americans w/ Disabilities Act | required states to make facilities, such as state colleges and universities, accessible to individuals with disabilities |
| advantages for democracy | more levels of govt=more opportunities for participation in politics and better access to govt, better access=better responsiveness from govt |
| disadvantages for democracy | states differ in resources devoted to services like public opinion, diversity in policy discourages stateds from providing services that would otherwise be available |
| 1st amendment | Freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly |
| Fourteenth Amendment | no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law |
| Incorporation Doctrine | the legal concept that says that Bill of Rights applies to all of the states as well |
| Establishment Clause | Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion |
| Free Exercise Clause | Prohibits the abridgement of citizens freedom to worship, or not to worship, as they please |
| Prior Restraint | govt. actions that prevent material from being published |
| Libel | publication of false statements that are malicious, and damage a persons reputation |
| Symbolic speech | actions that do not consist of speaking or writing but express an opinion (i.e. burning the flag) |
| Commercial speech | an example of an expression of opinion that is extensively restricted |
| probable cause | justification that is required to make an arrest, or to issue a search warrant |
| Search Warrant | must specify the area to be searched and the materials sought |
| Exclusionary Rule | prevents illegally seized evidence from being introduced in court |
| Fifth Amendment | forbids forced self incrimination |
| Sixth Amendment | ensures the right to counsel in federal courts |
| Plea Bargain | Bargain between a defendant's lawyer and prosecutor to the effect that a defendant will plead guilty to a lesser crime in exchange for state's not prosecuting that defendant for a more serious crime |
| Eighth Amendment | Forbids cruel and unusual punishment but does not define what it is |
| Right to Privacy | Questionable In Bill of Rights |
| Equal protection of the laws | "equal protection of life, liberty, and property" for all |
| Thirteenth Amendment | ended slavery |
| Civil rights act of 1964 | Made racial discrimination illegal, forbade discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, nat.'l origin, religion, or gender, create equal Employment Opportunity Commission |
| Fifteenth amendment | guaranteed african americans the right to vote |
| 24th amendment | prohibited poll taxes in federal govt |
| demography | the science of human populations, a way of looking at the voting of the American public |
| census | constitution requires that govt. conduct an "actual enumeration" of the population, once every 10 yrs. |
| reapportionment*** | process that happens after every census, seats in House of Representatives are reallocated to the states on the basis of population changes |
| political socialization | the process through which an individual acquires his/her particular political orientation |
| random sampling | operates on the principle that everyone should have an equal probablity of being selected |
| sampling error | the level of confidence in the poll, that depends on the size of the sample |
| random digit dialing | polling technique where calls are placed to phone numbers within randomly chosen exchanges around the country |
| political ideology | coherent set of values and beliefs about public policy |
| civil disobediance | to consciously break a law that you think is unjust |
| public opinion | distribution of the population's beliefs about politics and policy issue |
| High Tech Politics | a politics in which the behavior of citizens and policy makers is shaped by technology |
| Mass Media | popular communication that reach and profoundly influence the masses |
| Media Event | staged primarily for the purpose of being covered |
| press conferences | presidential meetings with reporters |
| Investigative journalism | the use of detective like reporting methods to unearth scandals-- pits reporters against political leaders |
| chains | massive media conglomerates control newspapers with 78% of nation's daily circulations |
| print media | newspaper, magazine, brochures, |
| broadcast media | radio, tv, internet |
| sound bite | when president get up and talk for minute and say "Vote for me" |
| beat | specific location from which news eminates |
| Trial ballons | information leaked to see what the political reaction will be |
| talking head | a shot of a person's face talking directly to the camera |
| Leak | a carefully placed bit of inside info given to a friendly reporter |
| Political party | a team of men/women seaking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election |
| Three headed political giant-political party | party-in-the-electorate, party as an organization, and party- in- govt |
| party identification | the self-proclaimed preference for one party or another |
| ticket splitting | voting with one party for one office and with the other for other offices |
| party machines | organizations that depends crucially on inducements that are both specific and material |
| Inducement | a specific induce is one that can be given to someone and not to someone else... such as a building contract in exchange for political favor |
| Patronage | key inducement of party machines |
| Patronage Job | given for political reasons rather than for merit or competence alone |
| National convention | supreme powers within party meets every four years to write the parties platform and nominate its candidate for president and vice president |
| National Committee | keeps the party going between conventions |
| Party Era | when majority party tends to win a majority of the elections |
| critical election | election where new issues appear that divide the electorate |
| Party Realignment | when the electorate changes party alignment after a critical election |
| Party Dealignment | people are gradually moving away from both parties |
| McGovern Frasier Commission | address the underepresentationof minorities and women in the Democratic party in the democratic conventions |
| Superdelegates | politicians who get convention seats on the basis of their positions |
| Gridlock | the result of individualism and divided govt. |
| Nomination | a party's official endorsement for a candidate for office |
| Campaign Strategy | the way in which candidates attempt to manipulate money, media attention, and momentum to acheive nomination |
| Caucas | a meeting of state party leaders to select party's delegates to the national convention |
| Presidential Primary | where voters go to the polls and vote for a candidate or delegate pledged to that candidate |
| Frontloading | states moving their contest up the calendar in order to capitalize media attention |
| Super Tuesday | southern states moved all primaries to the same day in early March |
