AP USGOV FINAL

includes all vocab from previous vocab quizes

Natural Rights

the right to life, liberty, and property,
which government cannot take away

Social Contract

people allow their governments to rule
over them to ensure an orderly and functioning society

Popular Sovereignty

the idea that the government's
right to rule comes from the people

Republicanism

the authority of the government comes
from the people

Participatory Democracy

a theory that widespread political participation is essential for democratic government.

Pluralist Theory

a theory of democracy that emphasizes the role of groups in the policymaking process.

Elitist Theory

a theory of democracy that the elites have a disproportionate amount of influence in the policymaking process.

Articles of Confederation

a governing document that created a union of thirteen sovereign states in which the states, not the national government, were supreme.

Shay's Rebellion

a popular uprising against the government of Massachusetts.

Constitutional Convention

a meeting attended by state delegates in 1787 to fix the Articles of Confederation.

Virginia Plan

a plan of government calling for a three-branch government with a bicameral legislature, where more populous states would have more representation in Congress.

New Jersey Plan

a plan of government that provided for a unicameral legislature with equal votes for each states.

Great Compromise

an agreement for a plan of government that drew upon both the Virginia and New Jersey Plans; it settled issues of state representation by calling for a bicameral legislature with a House of Representatives apportioned proportionately and a Senate apportioned equally.

Bicameral

a two-house legislature.

Three-Fifths Compromise

an agreement reached by delegates at the Constitutional Convention that a slave would count as three-fifths of a person in calculating a state's representation.

Compromise of Importation

Congress could not restrict the slave trade until 1808.

Separation of Powers

a design of government that distributes powers across institutions in order to avoid making one branch too powerful on its own.

Necessary and Proper or Elastic Clause

language in Article I, Section 8, granting Congress the powers necessary to carry out its enumerated powers.

Implied Powers

authority of the federal government that goes beyond its expressed powers.

Supremacy Clause

constitutional provision declaring that the Constitution and all national laws and treaties are the supreme law of the land.

Federalists

supporters of the proposed Constitution, who called for a strong national government.

Antifederalists

those opposed to the proposed Constitution, who favored stronger state governments.

Federalist No.51

an essay in which Madison argues that separation of powers and federalism will prevent tyranny.

Faction

a group of self-interested people who use the government to get what they want, trampling the rights of others in the process

Federalist No.10

an essay in which Madison argues that the dangers of faction can be mitigated by a large republic and republican government.

Brutus No.1

an Antifederalist Paper arguing that the country was too large to be governed as a republic and that the Constitution gave too much power to the national government.

Federalism

the sharing of power between the national government and the states.

Exclusive Powers

powers only the national government may exercise.

Commerce Clause

grants Congress the authority to regulate interstate business and commercial activity.

Tenth Amendment

reserves powers not delegated to the national government to the states and the people; the basis of federalism.

Reserved Powers

powers not given to the national government, which are retained by the states and the people.

Concurrent Powers

powers granted to both states and the federal government in the Constitution.

Full Faith and Credit Clause

constitutional clause requiring states to recognize the public acts, records, and civil court proceedings from another state.

Extradition

the requirement that officials in one state return a defendant to another state where a crime was committed.

Fourteenth Amendment

constitutional amendment that provides that persons born in the United States are citizens and prohibits states from denying persons due process or equal protection under the law.

Selective Incorporation

the process through which the Supreme Court applies fundamental rights in the Bill of Rights to the states on a case-by-case basis.

Categorical Grants

grants-in-aid provided to states with specific provisions on their use.

Unfunded Mandate

federal requirements that states must follow without being provided with funding.

Block Grants

a type of grant-in-aid that gives state officials more authority in the disbursement of federal funds.

Revenue Sharing

when the federal government apportions tax money to the states with no strings attached.

Expressed or Enumerated Powers

the powers granted to the federal government of the United States by the United States Constitution

Civil Liberties

those personal freedoms protected from arbitrary governmental interference or deprivations by constitutional guarantee.

Civil Rights

protections from discrimination based on such characteristics as race, color, national origin, religion, and sex.

Bill of Rights

was designed specifically to guarantee liberties and rights. These civil liberties include protections of citizens' thoughts, beliefs, opinions, and their right to express them. It protects property. Government cannot take away property without a just cause.

Due Process Clause

Bill of Rights provisions through the Fourteenth Amendment

Selective Incorporation

The process of declaring only certain, or selected, provisions of the Bill of Rights applicable to the states rather than all of them at once

Establishment Clause

in the First Amendment to prevent the federal government from establishing a national religion.

Free Exercise Clause

in the First Amendment prevents governments from stopping religious practices. This clause is generally upheld, unless a religious act is illegal or threatens the interests of the community.

Clear and Present Danger Test

allows the government to restrict free speech if it presents an immediate and severe threat to interests the government can lawfully protect. test became the balancing act between competing demands of free expression and a government needing to protect a free society.

Prior Restraint

the right to stop spoken or printed expression in advance

Libel

refers to false statements in print about someone that defames—or damages that person's reputation.

Ex Post Facto Laws

is a retroactive law that criminalizes an action that was legal when it was committed, or that increases the punishment for a crime already committed.

Bill of Attainder

a legislative act that declares a person or group guilty of a crime and imposes punishment, often without a trial

Writ of Habeas Corpus

guarantees that the government cannot arbitrarily imprison or detain someone without formal charges. requiring a person or agency holding someone in custody (like a prison warden) to bring that person before a judge to determine if their detention is lawful

Miranda Rights

the legal rights guaranteed to individuals during police interrogation

Thirteenth Amendment

Outlawed slavery across the United States, trumping the Tenth Amendment's reserved powers to the states. One of the three amendments to ratify slavery

Fourteenth Amendment

Guaranteed U.S. citizenship to anyone born or naturalized in the United States. The equal protection clause protected individuals' rights when in other jurisdictions [states]. One of the three amendments to ratify slavery

Equal Protection Clause

prohibited state governments from denying persons within their jurisdiction equal protection of the laws.

Fifteenth Amendment

Prohibited states from denying the vote to anyone "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." One of the three amendments to ratify slavery

Separate but Equal

allowed for racial segregation as long as the segregated facilities were equal Appeased the First amendment

Affirmative Action

the label placed on institutional eforts to diversify byrace, gender, or otherwise. Companies and government entities have practiced in recruitment, in awarding government contracts, and in college admissions over the years.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which investigates allegations of discrimination in hiring and fring. The law helped set the stage for passage of an immigration reform bill in 1965, which did away with national origin quotas and increased the diversity of the U.S. population.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

was the single greatest improvement for African Americans' access to the ballot box. By 1967, black voter registration in six southern states had increased from about 30 to more than 50 percent.

Nineteenth Amendment

prohibits the denial or abridgment of the right to vote based on sex In 1872, in direct violation of New York law, she walked into a polling place and cast a vote. An all-male jury later convicted her. She later authored the passage that would eventually make it into the Constitution as the Nineteenth Amendment (1920).

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972

which guaranteed that women have the same educational opportunities as men in programs receiving federal government funding. amended the 1964 Civil Rights Act, guaranteed that women have the same educational opportunities as men in programs receiving federal government funding.

Political Action Committee

a political committee organized for the purpose of raising and spending money to elect and defeat candidates.

Linkage Institution

channels that connect individuals with government - Elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media

Twenty-Sixth Amendment

allows those eighteen years old and older to vote

Twenty-Fourth Amendment

prohibits Congress and the states from imposing poll taxes as a condition for voting in federal elections

Party-line Voting

voting for candidates who belong only to one
political party for all of the offices on the ballot

Winner-Take-All System

Candidate that receives the most votes at the state level wins all of the electoral votes for that state

Swing State

a state where levels of support for the parties are similar and
elections swing back and forth between Democrats and Republicans

Super PAC

An organization that may spend an unlimited
amount of money on a political campaign, as long
as the spending is not coordinated with a campaign

Split Ticket Voting

when a voter in an election votes for candidates from different political parties

Party Platform

a set of positions and policy objectives that members of a political party
agree to

Primary Election

an election in which a state's voters choose
delegates who support a presidential candidate for nomination or an election
by a plurality vote to select a party's nominee for a seat in Congress

Open Primary

all eligible voters may vote, regardless of their party affiliation

Closed Primary

only those who have registered as a member of a political party may vote

Proportional Representation System

an electoral system for a
legislature in which citizens vote for parties, rather than
individuals, and parties are represented in the legislature
according to the percentage of the vote they receive

Single Member Districts

An electoral system where each district elects one representative, typically used in the United States for congressional elections. This system can lead to a winner-takes-all outcome, often favoring a two-party system.

Public Interest Groups

act on behalf of the collective interests of a broad
group of individuals

Single Issue Groups

associations focusing on one specific area of
public policy, often a moral issue about which they are
unwilling to compromise

Lobbying

Interacting with government officials to advance a group's public
policy goals

Iron Triangle

the coordinated and mutually beneficial
activities of the bureaucracy, Congress, and interest groups to
achieve shared policy goals

Issue Network

the webs of influence between interest
groups, policymakers, and policy advocates

Grassroots Lobbying

mobilizing interest group members to pressure
their representatives by contacting them directly through phone calls,
email, and social media

Horse-Race Journalism

focus on the latest polls, emphasizing the drama of who is winning
- coverage of political campaigns that focuses more on the drama of the
campaign than on policy issues.
- May lead to Americans not knowing anything substantial about the
policy agendas of candidates

Voter Turnout

the percentage of eligible voters who participate in an election, reflecting public engagement in the democratic process.

Political Efficacy

the belief that one's actions can influence political outcomes and that participation is important.

Rational Choice Voting

a theory that posits voters make decisions based on their own interests and the expected outcomes of their choices.

Retrospective Voting

a voting theory where voters base their decisions on the past performance of a candidate or party.

Prospective Voting

a voting theory where voters make decisions based on their expectations of a candidate's future performance and proposed policies.

Political Party

an organized group of people with similar political beliefs that seeks to influence government policies and gain political power.

Ideological Groups

groups that share a common political ideology and seek to promote their beliefs in the political arena.

Professional Associations

organizations that unite individuals in a specific profession to promote their interests, provide resources, and advocate for professional standards.

Gatekeeper

A role played by media or political entities that decides what information is disseminated to the public and shapes the political agenda.

Free press

the right of journalists to report news without censorship or restraint from the government, protecting the media's role in a democratic society.

Political Culture

The dominant set of beliefs, customs, traditions, and values that define the relationship between citizens and government

Rule of Law

The principle that no one, including public officials, is above the law.

-Citizens and officials respect and abide by the law equally

Political Socialization

The experiences and factors that shape an individual's political values, attitudes, and behaviors