AP Gov Midterm Review

John Locke's philosophy on government

Social Contract Theory

Social Contract Theory

a citizen and their government cooperate to give each other mutual benefits, where the citizen sacrifices some freedom for governmental protection

Participatory Democracy

every person votes; majority rules

Pluralist Democracy

a number of minority organizations compete democratically for policy influence

Elite Democracy

a privileged or aristocratic class (typically landowners) have the exclusive right to vote

Unicameral legislature

One-house legislature

Apportionment

the process of allotting congressional seats to each state according to its proportion of the population, following the decennial census

Commerce Clause

The clause in the Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Clause 1) that gives Congress the power to regulate all business activities that cross state lines or affect more than one state or other nations.

Popular Sovereignty

A government in which the people rule by their own consent.

Shay's Rebellion

Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787, protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need for a strong national government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went out.

Virginia Plan

"Large state" proposal for the new constitution, calling for proportional representation in both houses of a bicameral Congress. The plan favored larger states and thus prompted smaller states to come back with their own plan for apportioning representation.

New Jersey Plan

"Small state" proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for equal representation of each state in Congress regardless of the state's population.

Federalism

A system in which power is divided between the national and state governments

Necessary and Proper Clause

Clause of the Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3) setting forth the implied powers of Congress. It states that Congress, in addition to its express powers, has the right to make all laws necessary and proper to carry out all powers the Constitution vests in the national government

Separation of Powers

Constitutional division of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, with the legislative branch making law, the executive applying and enforcing the law, and the judiciary interpreting the law

Concurrent powers

Powers held jointly by the national and state governments.

Reserved powers

Powers given to the state government alone

Unitary Government

A centralized government in which all government powers belong to a single, central agency.

Formal Amendment Process

Article V; the (very difficult) process of adding or deleting words to the constitution (27 times since 1788); propose by 2/3 vote of Congress or Constitutional Convention (never used); ratify by 3/4 vote of state legislators or state convention (only used once)

Informal Amendment Process

Changing the meaning of the Constitution without changing the actual words (which requires a formal amendment through Article V process). Examples \= Supreme Court opinions, laws, traditions.

Dual Federalism

A system of government in which both the states and the national government remain supreme within their own spheres, each responsible for some policies.

Extradition Clause

Part of Article IV of the Constitution that requires states to extradite, or return, criminals to states where they have been convicted or are to stand trial.

Connecticut Compromise

Compromise agreement by states at the Constitutional Convention for a bicameral legislature with a lower house in which representation would be based on population and an upper house in which each state would have two senators.

Electoral College

A group of people named by each state legislature to select the president and vice president

Supremacy Clause

Article VI of the Constitution, which makes the Constitution, national laws, and treaties supreme over state laws when the national government is acting within its constitutional limits.

Cooperative Federalism (Marble Cake)

A system of government in which powers and policy assignments are shared between states and the national government. They may also share costs, administration, and even blame for programs that work poorly.

New Federalism

system in which the national government restores greater authority back to the states

10th Amendment

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Preemption

A doctrine under which certain federal laws preempt, or take precedence over, conflicting state or local laws.

Unfunded Mandate Reform Act of 1995

A federal law that tries to limit the number of unfunded federal mandates imposed by the federal government on state, local, and tribal governments.

Habeas Corpus

An order to produce an arrested person before a judge.

bill of attainder

a law that punishes a person accused of a crime without a trial or a fair hearing in court

Full Faith and Credit Clause

Constitution's requirement that each state accept the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state

categorical grants

Federal grants for specific purposes, such as building an airport

block grants

Money from the national government that states can spend within broad guidelines

Straw Poll

unscientific survey used to gauge public opinion on a variety of issues and policies

push polls

polls taken for the purpose of providing information on an opponent that would lead respondents to vote against that candidate

tracking polls

continuous surveys that enable a campaign or news organization to chart a candidate's daily rise or fall in support

benchmark poll

initial poll on a candidate and issues on which campaign strategy is based and against which later polls are compared

Random sample

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

Stratified sample

a sample drawn in such a way that known subgroups within a population are represented in proportion to their numbers in the general population

Margin of error

a measure of the accuracy of a public opinion poll (~4% is good)

Question wording

the way in which survey questions are phrased, which influences how respondents answer them

Question framing

Certain way of presenting the question for polls and surveys. Different ways of presenting to get different, bias results. It is a subset of skewed question, it is a type of skewed question.

Bandwagon effect

a shift in electoral support to the candidate whom public opinion polls report as the front-runner

Break late voting

Voters pop in last second, not expected by polls

Privileges and Immunities Clause

Part of Article IV of the Constitution guaranteeing that the citizens of each state are afforded the same rights as citizens of all other states.

Functions of political parties

1. recruiting candidates for public office 2. organizing and running elections 3. Presenting alternative policies to the electorate 4. Accepting responsibility for operating the government 5. acting as the organized opposition to the party in power.

Political machine

A party organization that recruits voter loyalty with tangible incentives and is characterized by a high degree of control over member activity

party-centered politics

Election campaigns and other political processes in which political parties, not individual candidates, hold most of the initiative and influence.

candidate-centered politics

politics that focus on the candidates, their particular issues, and character rather than party affiliation

Think-tank

institutional collection of policy-oriented researchers and academics who are sources of policy ideas

party realignment

The displacement of the majority party by the minority party, usually during a critical election period.

secular realignment

the gradual rearrangement of party coalitions, based more on demographic shifts than on shocks to the political system

Critical election

An election when significant groups of voters change their traditional patterns of party loyalty.

winner-take-all system

an electoral system in which the party that receives at least one more vote than any other party wins the election

linkage institutions

The channels through which people's concerns become political issues on the government's policy agenda. In the United States, linkage institutions include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.

Election of 1800

Jefferson and Burr each received 73 votes in the Electoral College, so the House of Representatives had to decide the outcome. The House chose Jefferson as President and Burr as Vice President.

12th Amendment

separation of votes for President and Vice President

Jacksonian Democracy

A policy of spreading more political power to more people. It was a "Common Man" theme.

Whig Party

An American political party formed in the 1830s to oppose President Andrew Jackson and the Democrats, stood for protective tariffs, national banking, and federal aid for internal improvements

Barriers for third parties

No ideological room for third parties, Legal advantages for the two major parties, Existing party identification

15th Amendment

Citizens cannot be denied the right to vote because of race, color , or precious condition of servitude

17th Amendment

direct election of senators by the people

19th Amendment

Gave women the right to vote

24th Amendment

Abolishes poll taxes

26th Amendment

Lowered the voting age from 21 to 18

Shelby County v. Holder

2013 (5-4 decision) States and localities do not need federal approval to change voting laws. Ruled preclearance law unconstitutional.

Pre-clearance

mandated by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the prior approval by the Justice Department of changes to or new election laws by certain States

Voting Rights Act of 1965

a law designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African-American suffrage

Jim Crow 2.0

States can change their voting laws to indirectly exclude black people due to the Shelby County v. Holder decision

Closed primary

A primary in which only registered members of a particular political party can vote

Open primary

A primary election in which voters may choose in which party to vote as they enter the polling place

Fed 10

Factions inevitable, Cure factions= eliminate freedom (no) or representative democracy- well controls factions pure democracy- cannot control factions - pluralist theory: all these groups compete in a republic so you get compromise - Federalism- if representative focused on national issues- don't worry because you have a state government- controls factions (power splintered so one group can't control multiple states)

Fed 51

Checks and balances, separation of powers. "If all men were angels..."

Brutus 1

Argument against the Constitution, Examples of History, US too big, too many different interests, Government is too far away to help and too powerful to not be tyrannical

General Election

An election held to choose which candidate will hold office

Caucus

A meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and to decide the platform.

Primary vs. Caucus

In presidential campaigns, a caucus is a system of local gatherings where voters decide which candidate to support and select delegates for nominating conventions. A primary is a statewide voting process in which voters cast secret ballots for their preferred candidates.

Front-loading

The recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention.

Referendum

a legislative act is referred for final approval to a popular vote by the electorate

Initiative

A procedure by which voters can propose a law or a constitutional amendment.

Recall

A procedure for submitting to popular vote the removal of officials from office before the end of their term.

Factors that impact voter turnout

political efficacy, if it's a midterm, interest in politics, voting difficulty

Ideas to Improve Voter Turnout

Election laws, easier-to-get-to voting stations, mail-in voting

rational choice voting

Voting based on what is perceived to be in the citizen's individual interest

retrospective voting

A theory of voting in which voters essentially ask this simple question: "What have you done for me lately?"

prospective voting

basing voting decisions on well-informed opinions and consideration of the future consequences of a given vote

party-line voting

process in which voters select candidates by their party affiliation

McCulloch v. Maryland

Maryland was trying to tax the national bank and Supreme Court ruled (1819) that federal law was stronger than the state law

US v. Lopez

The Court held (1995) that Congress had exceeded its commerce clause power by prohibiting guns in a school zone, it's not interstate commerce.

Confederacy

A loose union of independent states

Fiscal Federalism

The pattern of spending, taxing, and providing grants in the federal system; it is the cornerstone of the national government's relations with state and local governments.

Grants-in-aid

money given by the national government to the states

revenue sharing

A law providing for the distribution of a fixed amount or share of federal tax revenues to the states for spending on almost any government purpose.

Devolution

the transfer of powers and responsibilities from the federal government to the states, cornerstone of New Federalism

inherent powers

The powers of the national government in foreign affairs that the Supreme Court has declared do not depend on constitutional grants but rather grow out of the very existence of the national government.

Denied Powers

Powers which the constitution prohibits to the national and state governments: Suspension of habeas corpus, ex post facto laws, bills of attainder

Take Care Clause

The constitutional requirement (in Article II, Section 3) that presidents take care that the laws are faithfully executed, even if they disagree with the purpose of those laws.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the Constitution