AP Gov Vocab-All

501 (c) groups

Groups that are exempted from reporting their contributions and can receive unlimited contributions. Section 501c of the tax code specifies that such groups cannot spend more than half their funds on political activities.

527 groups

Independent political groups that are not subject to contribution restrictions because they do not directly seek the election of particular candidates.

activation

One of three key consequences of electoral campaigns for voters, in which the voter is activated to contribute money or ring doorbells instead of just voting. See also reinforcement and conversion.

actual group

The people in the potential group who actually join.

Adarand Constructors v. Pena

A 1995 Supreme Court decision holding that federal programs that classify people by race, even for an ostensibly benign purpose such as expanding opportunities for minorities, should be presumed to be unconstitutional. Such programs must be subject to the most searching judicial inquiry and can survive only if they are "narrowly tailored" to accomplish a "compelling governmental interest."

administrative discretion

The authority of administrative actors to select among various responses to a given problem. Discretion is greatest when routines, or standard operating procedures, do not fit a case.

advertising

According to David Mayhew, one of three primary activities undertaken by members of Congress to increase the probability of their reelection. Advertising involves contacts between members and their constituents between elections. See also credit claiming and position taking.

affirmative action

A policy designed to give special attention to or compensatory treatment for members of some previously disadvantaged group.

agents of socialization

Families, schools, television, peer groups, and other influences that contribute to political socialization by shaping formal and especially informal learning about politics.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

A law passed in 1990 that requires employers and public facilities to make "reasonable accommodations" for people with disabilities and prohibits discrimination against these individuals in employment.

amicus curiae briefs

Legal briefs submitted by a "friend of the court" for the purpose of raising additional points of view and presenting information not contained in the briefs of the formal parties. These briefs attempt to influence a court's decision.

Anti-Federalists

Opponents of the American Constitution at the time when the states were contemplating its adoption. They argued that the constitution was a class-based document, that it would erode fundamental liberties, and that it would weaken the power of the states. See also Federalists and U.S. Constitution

antitrust policy

A policy designed to ensure competition and prevent monopoly, which is the control of a market by one company.

appellate jurisdiction

The jurisdiction of courts that hear cases brought to them on appeal from lower courts. These courts do not review the factual record, only the legal issues involved. Compare original jurisdiction.

appropriations bill

an act of Congress that actually funds programs within limits established by authorization bills. Appropriations usually cover one year.

arms race

A tense relationship beginning in the 1950's between the Soviet Union and the United States whereby one side's weaponry became the other side's goad to procure more weaponry, and so on.

Articles of Confederation

The first constitution of the United States, adopted by Congress in 1777 and enacted in 1781. The Articles established a national legislature, the Continental Congress, but most authority rested with the state legislatures.

authorization bill

An act of Congress that established, continues, or changes a discretionary government program or an entitlement. It specifies program goals and maximum expenditures for discretionary programs. Compare appropriations bill.

balance of trade

The ratio of what is paid for imports to what is earned from exports. When more is imported than exported, there is a balance-of-trade deficit.

balanced budget amendment

A proposed amendment to the Constitution that would instruct Congress to hold a national convention to propose to the states a requirement that peacetime federal budgets be balanced. The amendment has been passed in varied forms by the legislatures of nearly two-thirds of the states.

Barron v. Baltimore

The 1833 Supreme Court decision holding that the Bill of Rights restrained only the national government, not the states and cities. Almost a century later, the Court first ruled in Gitlow v. New York that state governments must respect some First Amendment rights.

battleground states

The key states that the presidential campaigns focus on because they are most likely to decide the outcome of the Electoral College vote.

beats

Specific locations from which news frequently emanates, such as Congress or the White House. Most top reporters work a particular beat, thereby becoming specialists in what goes on at that location.

bicameral legislature

A legislature divided into two houses. The U.S. Congress and every American state legislature except Nebraska's are bicameral.

bill

A proposed law, drafted in precise, legal language. Anyone can draft a bill, but only a member of the House of Representatives of the Senate can formally submit a bill for consideration.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, drafted in response to some of the Anti-Federalist concerns. These amendments define such basic liberties as freedom of religion, speech, and press and offer protections against arbitrary searches by the police and being held without talking to a lawyer.

blanket primaries

Elections to select party nominees in which voters are presented with a list of candidates from all the parties. Voters can then select some Democrats and some Republicans if they like. See also primaries

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. compare categorical grants.

Blue Dog Democrats

Fiscally conservative Democrats who are mostly from the South and/or rural parts of the United States.

Brown v. Board of Education

The 1954 Supreme court decision holding that school segregation in Topeka, Kansas, was inherently unconstitutional because it violated the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection. This case marked the end of legal segregation in the United States. See also Plessy v. Ferguson.

budget

A policy document allocating burdens (taxes) and benefits (expenditures). See also balanced budget amendment.

budget resolution

A resolution binding Congress to a total expenditure level, supposedly the bottom line of all federal spending for all programs.

bureaucracy

According to Max Weber, a hierarchical authority structure that uses task specialization, operates on the merit principle, and behaves with impersonality. Bureaucracies govern modern states.

cabinet

A group of presidential advisers not mentioned in the Constitution, although every president has had one. Today the cabinet is composed of 14 secretaries and the attorney general.

campaign contributions

Donations that are made directly to a candidate or a party and that must be reported to the FEC. As of 2012, individuals were allowed to donate up to $2,500 per election to a candidate and up to $30,800 to a political party.

campaign strategy

The master game plan candidates lay out to guide their electoral campaign.

capitalism

An economic system in which individuals and corporations, not the government, own the principal means of production and seek profits. Pure capitalism means the strict noninterference of the government in business affairs. Compare mixed economy. Compare mixed economy.

casework

Activities of members of Congress that help constituents as individuals; cutting through bureaucratic red tape to get people what they think they have a right to get. See also pork barrel.

categorical grants

Federal grants that can be used only for specific purposes, or "categories." of state and local spending. They come with strings attached, such as nondiscrimination provisions. Compare block grants.

caucus

A system for selecting convention delegates used in about a dozen states in which voters must attend an open meeting to express their presidential preference.

caucus (congressional)

A group of members of congress sharing some interest or characteristic. Most are composed of members from both parties and from both houses.

caucus (state party)

A meeting of all state party leaders for selecting delegates to the national party convention. Caucuses are usually organized as a pyramid.

censorship

Governmental regulation of media content.

census

A valuable tool for understanding demographic changes. The constitution requires that the government conduct an "actual enumeration" of the population every ten years. See also demography.

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

An agency created after World War II to coordinate American intelligence activities abroad and to collect, analyze, and evaluate intelligence.

chains

Groups of newspapers published by media conglomerates and today accounting for over four-fifths of the nation's daily newspaper circulation.

checks and balances

Features of the Constitution that limit government's power by requiring each branch to obtain the consent of the others for its actions, limiting and balancing power among the branches.

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

A 2010 landmark Supreme Court case that ruled that individuals, corporations, and unions could donate unlimited amounts of money to groups that make independent political expenditures.

city manager

An official appointed by the city council who is responsible for implementing and administrating the council's actions. More than one-third of U.S. cities use the council-manager form of government.

civic duty

The belief that in order to support democratic government, a citizen should always vote.

civil disobedience

A form of political participation that reflects a conscious decision to break a law believed to be immoral and to suffer the consequences. See also protest.

civil law

The body of law involving cases without a charge of criminality. It concerns disputes between two parties consists of both statures and common law. Compare criminal law.

civil liberties

The legal constitutional protections against government. Although our civil liberties are formally set down in the Bill of Rights, the courts, police, and legislatures define their meaning.

civil rights

Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

The law that made racial discrimination against any group in hotels, motels, and restaurants illegal and forbade many forms of job discrimination. See also civil rights movement and civil rights policies.

civil rights movement

A movement that began in the 1950s and organized both African Americans and Whites to end the policies of segregation. It sought to establish equal opportunities in the political and economic sectors and to end policies that erected barriers between people because of race.

civil rights policies

Policies that extend government protection to particular disadvantaged groups. Compare social welfare policies.

civil service

A system of hiring and promotion based on the merit principle and the desire to create a nonpartisan government service. Compare patronage.

class action suits

Lawsuits permitting a small number of people to sue on behalf of all other people similarly situated.

Clean Air Act of 1970

The law aimed at combating air pollution.

Clean water Act of 1972

A law intended to clean up the nation's rivers and lakes. It requires municipal, industrial, and other polluters to use pollution control technology and secure permits from the Environmental Protection Agency for discharging waste products into waters.

closed primaries

Elections to select party nominees in which only people who have registered in advance with the party can vote for that party's candidates, thus encouraging greater party loyalty. See also primaries.

coalition

A group of individuals with a common interest upon which every political party depends. See also New Deal Coalition.

coalition government

When two or more parties join together to form a majority in a national legislature. This form of government is quite common in the multiparty systems of Europe.

Cold War

War by other than military means usually emphasizing ideological conflict, such as that between the United States and the Soviet Union from the end of World War II until the 1990s.

collective bargaining

Negotiations between representatives of labor unions and management to determine acceptable working conditions.

collective goods

Something of value (money, a tax write-0ff, prestige, clean air, and so on) that cannot be withheld from a group member.

command-and-control policy

According to Charles Schultze, the existing system of regulation whereby government tells business how to reach certain goals, checks that these commands are followed, and punishes offenders. Compare incentive system.

commercial speech

Communication in the form of advertising, It can be restricted more than many other types of speech but has been receiving increased protection from the Supreme Court.

commission government

A form of municipal government in which voters elect individuals to serve as city commissioners who will have legislative responsibilities to approve city policies and executive responsibilities to direct a functional area of city government, such as public safety or public works. See also mayor-council government and council-manger government.

committee chairs

The most important influencers of the congressional agenda. They play dominant roles in scheduling hearings, hiring staff, appointing subcommittees, and managing committee bills when they are brought before the full house.

committees (congressional)

See conference committees, joint committees, select committees, and standing committees.

common law

The accumulation of judicial decisions applied in civil law disputes.

comparable worth

The issue raised when women are paid less than men for working at jobs requiring comparable skill.

conference committees

Congressional committees formed when the Senate and the House pass a particular bill in different forms. Party leadership appoints members from each house to iron out the differences and bring back a single bill. See also standing committees, joint committees, and select committees.

Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974

An act designed to reform the congressional budgetary process. Its supporters hoped that it would also make Congress less dependent on the president's budget and better able to set and meet its own budgetary goals.

Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

A counterweight to the president's Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The CBO advises Congress on the probable consequences of budget decisions and forecasts revenues.

Connecticut Compromise

The compromise reached at the Constitutional Convention that established two house of congress: the House of Representatives, in which representation is based on a state's share of the U.S. population; and the Senate, in which each state has two representatives.

consent of the governed

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

constitution

A nation's basic law. It creates political institutions, assigns or divides powers in government, and often provides certain guarantees to citizens. Constitutions can be either written or unwritten.

consumer price index

The key measure of inflation-the change in the cost of buying a fixed basket of goods and services.

containment doctrine

A foreign policy strategy advocated by George Kennan that call for the United States to isolate the Soviet Union, "contain" its advances, and resist its encroachments by peaceful means if possible but by force if necessary.

continuing resolutions

When congress cannot reach agreement and pass appropriations bills, these resolutions allow agencies to spend at the level of the previous year.

cooperative federalism

A system of government in which powers and policy assignments are shared between states and the national government.

Council of Economic Advisers

A three-member body appointed by the president to advise the president on economic policy.

courts of appeals

Appellate courts empowered to review all final decisions of district courts, except in rare cases. In addition, they also hear appeals to orders of many federal regulatory agencies.

Craig v. Boren

The 1976 ruling in which the Supreme court established the "intermediate scrutiny" standard for determining gender discrimination.

crisis

A sudden, unpredictable, and potentially dangerous event requiring the president to play the role of crisis manager.

critical election

An electoral "earthquake" where new issues emerge, new coalitions replace old ones, and the majority party is often displaced by the minority party. Critical election periods are sometimes marked by a national crisis and may require more than one election to bring about a new party era.

cruel and unusual punishment

Court sentences prohibited by the Eight Amendment.

Declaration of independence

The document approved by representatives of the America colonies in 1776 that stated their grievances against the British monarch and declared their independence.

deficit

An excess of federal expenditures over federal revenues.

democracy

A system of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy represents and responds to the public's preferences.

demography

The science of population changes.

deregulation

The lifting of government restrictions on business, industry, and professional activities.

detente

A policy, beginning in the early 1970s, that sought a relaxation of tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, coupled with firm guarantees of mutual security.

devolution

Transferring responsibility for policies from the federal government to state and local governments.

direct mail

A method of raising money for a political cause or candidate, in which information and requests for money are sent to people whose names appear on list of those who have supported similar views or candidates in the past.

district courts

The 91 federal courts of original jurisdiction. They are the only federal courts in which trials are held and in which juries may be impaneled.

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.