Chapters 4-8 Polysci

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the constitution. They include rights such as freedom of speech and religion and due process protections for persons accused of crimes.

Civil Liberties

The fundamental individual rights of a free society, such as freedom of speech and the right to a jury trial, in the united states are protected by the bill of rights

Clear-And-Present-Danger Test

A test devised by the supreme court in 1919 to define the limits of free speech in the context of national severity. According to the test, the government cannot abridge political expression unless it presents a clear present danger to the nation's security.

Due Process Clause

the clause of the constitution that has been used by the judiciary to apply bill of rights protections to the actions of state governments.

Establishment Clause

the first amendment provision stating that the government may not favor one religion over another or favor religion over no religion and prohibiting congress from passing laws respecting the establishment of religion

Exclusionary Rule

-the legal principle that the government is prohibited from using in trials evidence that was obtained by unconstitutional means.

Freedom of Expression

a fundamental right affirmed in the First Amendment to speak, publish, and protest

Free Exercise Clause

A first amendment provision that prohibits the government from interfering with the practice of religion (Imminent Lawless action)

Lemon Test

A three part test to determine whether a law relating to religion is valid under the religious establishment clause, to be valid, a law must have a sc\ecure purpose that serves neither too advanced nor inhibit religion and avoid excessive government entanglement with religion

Libel

the publication of false material that damages a person's reputation.

Prior Restraint.

government prohibition of speech or publication before the fact, which is presumed by the courts to be unconstitutional unless the justification for it is overwhelming

Procedural Due Process

the constitutional requirement that the government must follow proper legal procedure before a person can be legitimately punished for an aligned offense

Right of Privacy.

A right implied by the freedoms in the bill of rights that grant individuals a degree of personal]nal privacy upon which the government can not lawfully intrude. The right gives individuals a level of free choice in areas such as reproduction and intimate relations

Selective Incorporation

the process by which certain of the rights contained in the bill of rights become apportionable through the fourteenth amendment to actions by the state governments

Slander

spoken falsehoods that damage a person's reputation

Symbolic Speech

action to express a political opinion

Affirmative Action.

Programs designed to ensure that women minorities and other traditionally disadvantaged groups have full and equal opportunities in employment education and other areas of life

de facto Discrimination

Discrimanation on the basis of race sex religion ethnicity and like that results from social economic and cultural biases and conditions

de jure Discrimination

Discrimonmation on the basis of race sex, religion, ethnicity, and cultural biases and conditions (Equal-Protection Clause)

Equal Rights

The right of every person to equal protection under the laws and equal access to societies opportunities and public facilities

Reasonable-Basis Test.

A test applied by courts to laws the threat individually unequally such a law may be deemed constitutional if its purpose is held to be reasonably related to a legitimate government interest

Strict-Scrutiny Test

A test applied by courts to laws that attempt a racial or ethnic classification. In effect the strict scrutiny test eliminates race or ethnicity as legal classification when it places minority group members at disadvantag

Suspect Classifications.

Legal classification such as race and national law that have individual discrimination as their purpose

Agents of Socialization.

Agents such as the family and the media have a significant impact on citizcitizens'tical socialization

Cultural Conservatives

Those who believe Government powers should be used to uphold Traditional Values

Cultural Liberals

those who believe it is not the government's rule to buttrest traditional Values at the expense of unconventional or new values

Delegate

An elected representative following with is tofollowing withh the expressed wishes of the people they represent

Direction

An opinion dimension whether people have a pro or con opinion on an issue

Economic Conservatives

Those who believe government tries to do many things that should be left to private interest in economic markets

Economic Liberals

Those who believe government should do more to assist people who had difficulty meeting their economic needs on their own

Identity Politics

The situation where people base their concerns on a grade identity such as race or religion and align themselves with those who share that identity to exclude other groups

Ideology

A general belief about the role and purpose of government

Intensity

An opinion dimension on how strongly people feel about an issue

Party Identification

The personal sense of loyalty that an individual may feel towards a particular political party

Political Socialization

The learning process by which people acquire their political opinions beliefs and values

Party Identification

The personal sense of loyalty that a dividual may feel towards a particular political party

Political Socialization

The learning process by which people acquire their political opinions beliefs and values

Population

In a public opinion poll, the people whose opp icons are being estimated through interviews with a sample of these people

Public Opinion

-the politically relevant opinions held by ordinary citizens that they express openly

Public Opinion Poll

A device for measuring public opinion whereby a relatively small number of individuals are interviewed to estimate the opinions of the whole community

Salience

An opinion dimension of how highly people rank an issue relative to other issues

Sample.

In the public opinion poll, a relatively small number of individuals are interviewed to estimate the opinions of the entire population

Sampling Error

a measure of the accuracy of a public opinion pool, mainly at a faction of sample size, and usually expressed in percentage terms

Trustee

an elected representative, whose obligation is to act in accordance with his, or her own coincidence as to what policies are in the best interest of the public

Alienation

a feeling of a personal powerlessness that includes the nation that the government does not care about the opinions of the people like oneself

Apathy

a feeling of personal does interest in or lack of concern

Civic Duty

a belief of an individual that Civic and political participation is a responsability of citizenship

Political Interest Groups

the level of interest that a citizen has in politics. Political interest is a prime determination of whether a citizen will pay attention to politics and participate through voting

Political Movements

also called a social movement active and sustained effort to achieve social and political change by groups of people who feel that government has not been properly responsive to their

Political Participation

intended to influence, public policy and leader ship, such as boating, joining political groups, contacting elected officials, did demonstrating for political causes, and giving money to political

Registration

the practice of placing citizens names on the individual list of voters before they are eligible to exercise their right to vote

Social Capital

the sum of the face-to-face interactions among citizens in society

Suffrage

the right to vote

Candidate-Centered Campaigns .

the election campaigns and other political processesprocess in which candidates, not political parties, have most of the initiative and influence

Gender Gap

the tendency of women and men to differ and their political attitudes and voting preferences

Grassroots Party

A political party organized at the level of the voters, and dependent on their support for it strength

Hard Money

campaign funds given directly to candidates to spend as they choose

Nomination

the selection of a particular individual to run as a political party candidate in the general election

Packaging

in modern campaigning the process of recasting a candidate record into an appealing image

Party-Centered Campaigns

election campaigns and other political processes in which political parties not individual candidates more most of the initiative in influence

Party Coalition

The groups and interests that support a political party

Party Competition

a process in which conflict over societies goals is transformed by political parties, into electoral competition in which the winner games the power to cover

Party Organizations .

the party, organizational units and national state and local levels. Their influence has decreased overtime because of many factors

Party Realignments

elections or sets of elections in which the electorate responds strongly to an extraordinary, powerful issue that has disrupted the establish political order. A realignment has a lasting impact on public policy popular support for the parties, and the composition of the party coalitions.

Linkage Institutions

institutions that connect citizens with government, linkage institutions include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.

Median Voter Theorem

the theory that parties in a two party system can maximize their vote by locating themselves at the position of median voter - the voter whose preferences are exactly in the middle.

Money Chase

the fact that U.S campaigns are very expensive and candidates must spend a great amount of time raising funds in order to compete successfully

Multiparty System -.

A system in which three or more political parties have the capacity to gain control of government, separately or coalition

Political Party

An on going coalition of interests joined together to try to get their candidates for public office elected under a common label

Primary Election - .

Also called a direct primary, a form of election in which voters choose a party's nominees for public office. In most states, eligibility to vote in a primary electionelections is limited to voters who designated themselves as party members when they registered to vote

Proportional Representation System

• A form of representation in which seats in the legislature are allocated proportionally according to each political party's share of the popular vote. This system enables smaller parties to compete successfully for seats.

Single-Member Districts -

The form of representation in which only the candidate who gets the most votes in a district wins office

Single-Member System

• Also called a winners takes all system or a plurality, and electoral system in which the candidate who gets the most votes in an election district is elected to office from that district

Two-Party System

A system in which only two political parties have a chance of acquiring control of the government