Government Midterm Review: Foundations, Texas Politics, Federalism, and Civil Liberties

Vocabulary flashcards covering core topics for the midterm review: Political Values, Texas Political Culture, U.S. Constitution, Texas Constitution, Federalism, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, and Media Influence.

Government

The formal institutions and procedures through which a land and its people are ruled.

Politics

Conflicts and struggles over the leadership, structure, and policies of government.

Public Goods

Goods or services provided by government that are available to all citizens and cannot be withheld from any individual, such as national defense or infrastructure.

Direct Democracy

A system of rule that permits citizens to vote directly on laws and policies rather than selecting representatives to make decisions.

Representative Democracy

A system of government in which the populace selects government officials to represent them and make laws and decisions on their behalf.

Naturalization Act (1790)

An early U.S. federal law specifying that citizenship through naturalization was available only to 'free white persons' of good character.

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

A federal statute that suspended immigration of Chinese laborers to the United States and declared Chinese immigrants ineligible for naturalization.

Immigration Act (1924)

Legislation that established a strict national origins quota system, limiting immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe and virtually banning Asian immigration.

Immigration and Nationality Act (1965)

Major immigration reform that abolished national origins quotas, transforming U.S. policy to prioritize family reunification and attracting skilled workers.

American Political Values

Core foundational principles consisting of liberty, equality, and justice, which often come into conflict when defining the role and limits of government.

Provincialism

A narrow, limited, and self-interested view of the world often associated with rural values and an aversion to expansive government spending and regulation in Texas political culture.

Texas Geographic Regions

The four distinct land regions influencing the state's political economy and culture: Gulf Coast, Interior Lowlands, Great Plains, and Basin and Range Province.

Tea Act of 1773 and Boston Tea Party

A British taxation measure granting the East India Company a monopoly on the tea trade and the subsequent 1773 direct-action protest by colonists that escalated revolutionary strife.

Articles of Confederation (1777-1789)

America's first governing constitution, establishing a loose confederation with a weak central government that lacked an independent executive, judiciary, and power to tax or regulate commerce.

The Great Compromise

The agreement reached at the 1787 Constitutional Convention establishing a bicameral legislature, granting equal state representation in the Senate and population-based representation in the House of Representatives.

Three-Fifths Compromise

The constitutional agreement declaring that each enslaved person would be counted as $\frac{3}{5}$ of a person for the purposes of congressional representation and direct taxation.

Separation of Powers

The constitutional division of governmental powers across three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial.

Checks and Balances

Mechanisms through which each branch of government is given constitutional powers to limit, monitor, and influence the actions of the other branches.

Supremacy Clause

The clause in Article VI of the U.S. Constitution asserting that the Constitution, national laws, and treaties take precedence over conflicting state laws.

Coahuila y Tejas (1827)

The first constitutional framework for Texas as a joint state within the Mexican Federation, featuring a unicameral legislature and state Catholicism.

Republic of Texas Constitution (1836)

The constitution drafted after declaring independence from Mexico, creating a bicameral legislature, an elected president, and legalizing slavery.

Texas State Constitution of 1845

The constitution drafted upon the annexation of Texas into the United States, which sparked increased tensions leading to the Mexican-American War.

Confederate Constitution of 1861

The governing document adopted after Texas seceded from the Union, replacing allegiance to the U.S. with the Confederacy and explicitly protecting slavery.

Texas Constitution of 1866

The document drafted during Presidential Reconstruction to rejoin the Union, repudiating secession and abolishing slavery while conferring minimal legal protections on freedmen.

Texas Constitution of 1869

The Reconstruction document shaped by Radical Republicans that heavily centralized state power in the governor's office and restricted local government control.

Texas Constitution of 1876

The current Texas constitution, established in reaction to centralized power under Governor Davis, characterized by a fragmented executive, strict limits on government power, and frequent amendments.

Express Powers

Specific governmental powers granted directly to the national government by the explicit text of the U.S. Constitution.

Implied Powers

Powers not explicitly detailed in the Constitution but interpreted through the Necessary and Proper Clause as essential for executing express federal duties.

Reserved Powers

Powers protected by the Tenth Amendment that are not delegated to the national government nor prohibited to the states, remaining with the states or the people.

Concurrent Powers

Governmental authority possessed and exercised jointly by both national and state governments, such as levying taxes and borrowing money.

Dual Federalism (1789-1937)

A model of federalism ('layer cake') where national and state governments exercised clearly separated functions, with states controlling most domestic policies.

Cooperative Federalism (1937-1960s)

A model of federalism ('marble cake') wherein national, state, and local governments cooperated interdependently, largely through federal grants-in-aid.

Regulated Federalism (1960s-1990s)

A period of federalism where the national government imposed strict national standards, regulations, and mandates directly on state governments.

New Federalism (1990s to present day)

A federalism approach emphasizing devolution and the return of authority to the states, predominantly using block grants to provide spending flexibility.

McColloch vs. Maryland (1819)

Landmark Supreme Court case upholding Congress's implied powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause and establishing the supremacy of federal institutions over state taxation.

Gibbons v. Ogden (1827)

Supreme Court decision that expanded national power by interpreting the Commerce Clause broadly to include navigation and interstate commercial activity.

United States v. Lopez (1995)

Supreme Court case that restrained federal authority by ruling that Congress exceeded its Commerce Clause powers when enacting the Gun-Free School Zones Act.

Selective Incorporation

The constitutional process through which the Supreme Court applied the Bill of Rights piecemeal to the states using the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause.

Barron v. Baltimore (1833)

Pre-Civil War ruling establishing that the protections of the Bill of Rights applied solely to the actions of the national government, not state governments.

The Slaughterhouse Cases (1873)

Early Supreme Court rulings that severely narrowed the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment's Privileges or Immunities Clause, delaying the incorporation of rights against states.

Palko v. Connecticut (1937)

Supreme Court case establishing the standard that only liberties 'implicit in the concept of ordered liberty' should be incorporated to the states under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Establishment Clause

The First Amendment provision prohibiting the national government from establishing an official religion or showing institutional preference toward religion.

Free Exercise Clause

The First Amendment guarantee securing citizens' rights to believe and practice any religion or follow no religious belief without unwarranted government interference.

Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)

Case that established a three-part test for the Establishment Clause requiring laws to have a secular purpose, avoid advancing or inhibiting religion, and prevent excessive government entanglement.

Kennedy v. Bremerton (2022)

Supreme Court case that effectively replaced the Lemon test in Establishment Clause jurisprudence with an evaluation based on historical practices and original understandings.

Libel and Slander

Categories of unprotected speech involving false defamation that damages reputation; libel applies to written statements, while slander applies to oral speech.

Rights of the Criminally Accused

Core procedural civil liberties contained in the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments regarding searches, double jeopardy, counsel, and cruel and unusual punishment.

Equal Protection Clause

The Fourteenth Amendment provision guaranteeing that no state shall deny to any person equal protection under the law, functioning as the legal basis for modern civil rights challenges.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Supreme Court decision that legitimized Jim Crow segregation laws by formulating the 'separate but equal' doctrine.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Unanimous Supreme Court ruling that overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, holding that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal and violate the Equal Protection Clause.

Voting Rights Act (1965)

Federal legislation aimed at overcoming racial barriers to voting, outlawing literacy tests and providing federal oversight over voter registration.

Equal Time Rule

A Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation mandating that broadcasters give equivalent airtime opportunities to all competing political candidates for the same office.

Right of Rebuttal

An FCC requirement providing candidates or individuals an opportunity to respond when personal attacks or unfavorable endorsements are aired on broadcast media.

Selective Exposure

The psychological tendency of media consumers to seek out information sources matching their preexisting beliefs while actively avoiding opposing viewpoints.

Agenda Setting

The media's capacity to direct public focus and political debate toward specific issues through the choice and volume of topics covered.

Framing

The media's power to influence how events or issues are interpreted by the public by presenting them through specific contextual angles and narratives.

Priming

The media process of preparing the public to use designated criteria or particular issues when assessing political leaders, parties, or institutions.