U.S. Government and Politics Key Terms

A comprehensive vocabulary review set covering foundational political principles, democratic theories, constitutional framework, and federalism dynamics from the lecture notes.

Government

The institutions and processes through which public policies are made and authority is exercised over a society.

Politics

The process of determining the leaders we select and the policies they pursue, producing authoritative decisions about public issues.

Political Participation

Activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue.

Majority Rule

A principle of democratic theory requiring that the majority's desire be respected when making decisions.

Minority Rights

Guarantees rights to those who do not belong to majorities and allows that they might join majorities through persuasive argument.

Policy Agenda

The issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actively involved in politics at a certain time.

Public Policy

A choice that the government makes in response to a political issue; a course of action taken with regard to some problem.

Political System

A set of groups and institutions that link people to the government and transform public input into policy outputs.

Linkage Institutions

Channels through which people's concerns become political issues on the policy agenda.

Democracy (Direct and Indirect)

A system of selecting policymakers and organizing so that policy reflects citizens' preferences. Direct democracy involves citizens ruling directly without representatives, while indirect (representative) democracy involves citizens electing representatives to make laws and policy for them.

Participatory Democracy

A model of democracy in which citizens have the power to make direct decisions on policy while politicians are responsible for implementing those decisions.

Pluralist Democracy

A theory of American democracy emphasizing that the policymaking process is very open to the participation of all groups with shared interests, with no single group dominating.

Elite Democracy

A theory of democracy contending that an upper-class elite holds the power and makes policy, regardless of the formal governmental organization.

Hyperpluralism

A theory of American democracy contending that groups are so strong that the government, seeking to please them all, is thereby weakened.

Representation

A principle of traditional democratic theory that describes the relationship between the few leaders and the many followers in an indirect democracy.

Majoritarian Politics

A policy in which almost everybody benefits and almost everybody pays.

Popular Sovereignty

The principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, through their elected representatives.

Constitution

A nation's basic law that creates political institutions, assigns or divides powers in government, and often provides certain guarantees to citizens.

Natural Rights

Rights inherent in human beings, not dependent on governments, which include life, liberty, and property (pursuit of happiness).

Consent of the Governed

The idea that the government derives its authority by sanction of the people.

Limited Government

The idea that certain restrictions should be placed on government to protect the natural rights of citizens.

Confederation (Confederal Government)

A national government that derives its power from the states; a loose league of independent states.

Articles of Confederation

The first constitution of the United States, adopted by Congress in 1777 and enacted in 1781, establishing a weak central government.

Factions

Interest groups or political parties arising from the unequal distribution of property or wealth (as discussed by James Madison in Federalist No. 10).

Writ of Habeas Corpus

A court order requiring jailers to explain to a judge why they are holding a prisoner in custody.

Checks and Balances

Features of the Constitution that limit government's power by requiring that power be balanced among different governmental institutions.

Separation of Powers

A feature of the Constitution that requires each of the three branches of government to be relatively independent of the others so that one cannot control the others.

Republic

A form of government in which the people select representatives to govern them and make laws.

Federalists

Supporters of the U.S. Constitution at the time the states were contemplating its adoption.

Anti-Federalists

Opponents of the U.S. Constitution at the time when the states were contemplating its adoption who favored stronger state governments.

The Federalist Papers

A collection of 85 articles written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison under the name "Publius" to defend the Constitution in detail.

Bill of Rights

The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, drafted in response to Anti-Federalist concerns, guaranteeing basic individual liberties.

Judicial Review

The power of the courts to determine whether acts of Congress and, by implication, the executive are in accord with the U.S. Constitution (established by Marbury v. Madison).

Social Contract

An implicit agreement among the members of a corporation for social benefits, sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection.

Federalism (Federal system of government)

A way of organizing a nation so that two or more levels of government have formal authority over the same land and people.

Unitary Government

A central government that holds supreme power in a nation.

Intergovernmental Relations

The workings of the federal system, comprising the entire set of interactions among national, state, and local governments.

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.

Amendment

A formal change or addition made to a law, constitution, or other legal document.

Enumerated Powers

Powers of the federal government that are specifically addressed in the Constitution.

Implied Powers

Powers of the federal government that go beyond those enumerated in the Constitution, in accordance with the statement that Congress has the power to "make all laws necessary and proper".

Elastic Clause

The final paragraph of Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution, which authorizes Congress to pass all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out the enumerated powers.

Full Faith and Credit Clause

Article IV, Section 1 of the Constitution requiring each state to recognize the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of all other states.

Privileges and Immunities

A clause in Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution giving citizens of each state most of the privileges of citizens of other states.

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 (often called layer cake federalism).

Cooperative Federalism

A system of government in which powers and policy assignments are shared between states and the national government (often called marble cake federalism).

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.

Categorical Grants

Federal grants that can be used only for specific purposes, or "categories," of state and local spending, which can come with certain punishments.

Block Grants

Federal grants given more or less automatically to states or communities to support broad programs in areas such as community development and social services.

Commerce Clause

Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the Constitution, giving Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the several states, and with Indian tribes.

Amendment Process

The legal pathway specified in Article V to alter the Constitution, requiring a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress (or a constitutional convention) and ratification by three-fourths of the states.

Mandates (Funded/Unfunded)

Requirements that direct state or local governments to provide additional services under threat of penalties or as a condition of receiving federal funds. Funded mandates provide federal money to implement the rule, while unfunded mandates do not.