POLI 100: Comprehensive Review of American Government and Politics

A comprehensive vocabulary review deck covering political parties, the federal bureaucracy, judicial review, the Electoral College, campaign finance, and voter turnout based on POLI 100 lectures.

Federalist Party

An early American political party led by Alexander Hamilton that championed a strong national government, an economy centered on northern commerce and manufacturing, government subsidies, and protective tariffs.

Democratic-Republican Party

An early American political party led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison that advocated for limited national government, states' rights, free trade, and southern and western agrarian interests.

Era of Good Feelings

The period between 1815 and 1825 during which the collapse of the Federalist Party left the United States operating essentially as a one-party nation under the Democratic-Republicans.

Martin Van Buren's Defense of Political Parties

The political doctrine arguing that organized political parties strengthen democracy by fostering national unity across regions, simplifying electoral choices for voters, and mobilizing citizen participation.

Whig Party

A political party established in 1833 in opposition to Andrew Jackson that revived Federalist principles, promoting internal improvements such as roads and canals, along with high protective tariffs.

New Deal System

The political era initiated in 1932 by Franklin D. Roosevelt that combated the Great Depression through extensive federal intervention, public works programs, and social safety nets like the Social Security Act.

Original Cabinet Departments

The foundational executive departments established to manage core governmental functions: State, Treasury, Defense, and Justice.

Clientele Departments

Cabinet departments created to promote and represent the interests of specific socio-economic sectors, including Agriculture (USDA), Commerce, Labor, Veterans Affairs, and the Interior (DOI).

Service Departments

Cabinet departments created to administer broad social services and public goods, including Health and Human Services (HHS), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Transportation (DOT), Energy (DOE), Education, and Homeland Security (DHS).

Independent Regulatory Commissions (IRCs)

Twelve federal agencies led by multi-member, bipartisan boards with staggered terms designed to regulate critical economic sectors and public interests with insulation from direct presidential partisan control.

Independent Executive Agencies

Federal executive bodies that exist outside cabinet departments and are led by a single director or administrator to handle specific mandates without being classified under a parent executive department.

Trump v. Slaughter (decided June 29, 2026)

A landmark legal ruling that re-evaluated whether the President possesses the authority to remove members of independent regulatory commissions at will.

Bureaucrats

Permanent civil service employees of government departments and agencies who execute, administer, and enforce public policy rather than serving fixed political terms.

Policy Implementation

The administrative process whereby the executive bureaucracy translates statutory laws passed by Congress into concrete regulations, operational programs, and daily enforcement.

Political Patronage System

The historical spoils system of staffing government offices by awarding civil service positions and government contracts based on partisan loyalty and political ties rather than objective merit.

Pendleton Act of 1883

Federal legislation, also known as the Civil Service Reform Act, that dismantled the spoils system by requiring federal employment to be awarded through open, competitive exams based on merit.

Project 2025

A policy initiative designed to restructure the federal bureaucracy along conservative principles, expand executive control over civil servants, and eliminate or curtail specific federal agencies.

Original Jurisdiction

The legal authority of a court to hear a case in the first instance, which the U.S. Supreme Court exercises primarily in disputes between states or cases involving foreign ambassadors and public ministers.

Appellate Jurisdiction

The power of a higher court to review, amend, or overrule legal decisions rendered by lower trial or intermediate appellate courts.

Writ of Certiorari

A formal order issued by a superior court commanding a lower court to transmit the records of a proceeding for judicial review.

Rule of Four

The long-standing procedural practice requiring at least four of the nine Supreme Court justices to vote in favor of granting a writ of certiorari for a case to be heard.

Circuit Split

A conflict occurring when two or more federal circuit courts of appeals issue conflicting rulings on the identical federal question or constitutional issue.

Departmental Theory of Constitutional Interpretation

Thomas Jefferson's constitutional theory asserting that each of the three branches of government holds equal authority to interpret the Constitution for itself, rejecting judicial supremacy.

Third Party

A political party organized as an alternative to the dominant two major parties within an established two-party political system.

Spoiler Effect

The electoral dynamic whereby a minor third-party candidate draws sufficient votes away from a major-party candidate with similar ideology, inadvertently causing the opposing major party candidate to win.

Single-Member District Plurality System

An electoral arrangement where each legislative seat represents a single geographical district and the candidate receiving the highest number of votes wins the seat, presenting severe structural barriers to minor parties.

Commission on Presidential Debates 15 Percent Rule

The participation standard requiring a third-party candidate to achieve an average of at least $15\%$ support across selected major national opinion polls to receive an invitation to televised presidential debates.

Federal Election Commission 5 Percent Rule

The public campaign financing regulation requiring a third-party's presidential nominee to have secured at least $5\%$ of the national popular vote in the previous election to qualify for general election public funding.

Electoral College

The formal body established by the Constitution that elects the President and Vice President of the United States, composed of $538$ electors allocated among the states according to their congressional delegations.

Faithless Elector

A designated member of the Electoral College who casts their electoral ballot contrary to the candidate or party ticket to which they were pledged.

Winner-Take-All Model

The system employed by 48 states and the District of Columbia where whichever presidential slate receives a plurality of the state popular vote receives all of that state's electoral votes.

Congressional District Method

The electoral allocation system utilized exclusively by Maine and Nebraska that awards two statewide electoral votes to the overall state winner and one electoral vote to the plurality winner of each individual congressional district.

National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC)

An agreement among states pledging to allocate all of their collective electoral votes to whichever presidential candidate wins the nationwide popular vote once joined by states representing a majority of $270$ electoral votes.

Voting Age Population (VAP)

A measure of voter turnout calculated by using the total number of individuals residing in the country who meet the legal minimum age requirement of 18 as the denominator, regardless of legal citizenship or eligibility.

Voting Eligible Population (VEP)

A refined turnout measure whose denominator is restricted to voting-age citizens who are legally permitted to vote, excluding non-citizens and ineligible disenfranchised felons while adding overseas citizens.

National Voter Registration Act of 1993

Federal legislation, commonly known as the Motor Voter Act, designed to increase civic participation by requiring states to offer voter registration opportunities at motor vehicle bureaus and other public social service offices.

Automatic Voter Registration (AVR)

An electoral procedure implemented by 23 states and Washington, D.C., that seamlessly registers eligible citizens to vote whenever they conduct business at the DMV or other agencies unless they affirmatively opt out.

Speaker of the House

The presiding officer of the House of Representatives responsible for committee referrals, scheduling floor debates and votes, appointing committee members, and controlling the Rules Committee, who does not sit on standing committees.

Incumbency Advantage

The institutional and structural electoral edge held by current officeholders seeking re-election over challengers due to name recognition, established donor networks, constituency casework, and legislative experience.

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)

A landmark Supreme Court decision establishing that political spending is protected free speech under the First Amendment, barring the government from restricting independent expenditures by corporations and labor unions.

Regular Political Action Committee (PAC)

A registered political committee that raises limited contributions (up to $5,000$ annually from individuals) to donate directly to candidates or political parties ($5,000$ per election) and coordinate with campaigns, barred from accepting general corporate or union treasury funds.

Super PAC

An independent expenditure-only committee permitted to solicit and spend unlimited sums of money from individuals, corporations, and unions for independent advocacy, strictly prohibited from coordinating with or contributing directly to candidates.