ap us government and politics ALL terms

Democracy

Government by the people, both directly or indirectly, with free and frequent elections.

Direct democracy

Government in which citizens vote on laws and select officials directly.

Representative democracy

Government in which the people elect those who govern and pass laws; also called a republic.

Constitutional democracy

A government that enforces recognized limits on those who govern and allows the voice of the people to be heard through free, fair, and relatively frequent elections.

Constitutionalism

The set of arrangements, including checks and balances, federalism, separation of powers, rule of law, due process, and a bill of rights, that requires our leaders to listen, think, bargain, and explain before they act or make laws.

Statism

The idea that the rights of the nation are supreme over the rights of the individuals who make up the nation.

Popular consent

The idea that a just government must derive its powers from the consent of the people it governs.

Majority rule

Governance according to the expressed preferences of the majority.

Majority

The candidate or party that wins more than half the votes cast in an election.

Plurality

Candidate or party with the most votes cast in an election, not necessarily more than half.

Theocracy

Government by religious leaders, who claim divine guidance.

Articles of Confederation

The first governing document of the confederated states drafted in 1777, ratified in 1781, and replaced by the present Constitution in 1789.

Annapolis Convention

A convention held in September 1786 to consider problems of trade and navigation, attended by five states and important because it issued the call to Congress and the states for what became the Constitutional Convention.

Constitutional Convention

The convention in Philadelphia, May 25 to September 17, 1787, that debated and agreed upon the Constitution of the United States.

Shays's Rebellion

Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787, protesting mortgage foreclosures.

Bicameralism

The principle of a two-house legislature.

Virginia Plan

Initial proposal at the Constitutional Convention made by the Virginia delegation for a strong central government with a bicameral legislature dominated by the big states.

New Jersey Plan

Proposal at the Constitutional Convention made by William Paterson of New Jersey for a central government with a single-house legislature in which each state would be represented equally.

Connecticut Compromise

Compromise agreement by states at the Constitutional Convention for a bicameral legislature with a lower house in which representation would be based on population and an upper house in which each state would have two senators.

Three-fifths compromise

Compromise between northern and southern states at the Constitutional Convention that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for determining direct taxation and representation in the House of Representatives.

Federalists

Supporters of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government.

Antifederalists

Opponents of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government, generally.

The Federalist

Essays promoting ratification of the Constitution, published anonymously by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison in 1787 and 1788.

Natural law

God's or nature's law that defines right from wrong and is higher than human law.

Separation of powers

Constitutional division of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, with the legislative branch making law, the executive applying and enforcing the law, and the judiciary interpreting the law.

Checks and balances

Constitutional grant of powers that enables each of the three branches of government to check some acts of the others and therefore ensure that no branch can dominate.

Divided government

Governance divided between the parties, especially when one holds the presidency and the other controls one or both houses of Congress.

Direct primary

Election in which voters choose party nominees.

Initiative

Procedure whereby a certain number of voters may, by petition, propose a law or constitutional amendment and have it submitted to the voters.

Referendum

Procedure for submitting to popular vote measures passed by the legislature or proposed amendments to a state constitution.

Recall

Procedure for submitting to popular vote the removal of officials from office before the end of their term.

Marbury v. Madison

A landmark case in United States law and the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States, under Article Three of the United States Constitution.

Judicial review

The power of a court to refuse to enforce a law or a government regulation that in the opinion of the judges conflicts with the U.S. Constitution or, in a state court, the state constitution.

Writ of mandamus

Court order directing an official to perform an official duty.

Impeachment

Formal accusation by the lower house of legislature against a public official, the first step in removal from office.

Executive order

Directive issued by a president or governor that has the force of law.

Executive privilege

The power to keep executive communications confidential, especially if they relate to national security.

Impoundment

Presidential refusal to allow an agency to spend funds that Congress authorized and appropriated.

Devolution revolution

The effort to slow the growth of the federal government by returning many functions to the states.

Federalism

Constitutional arrangement in which power is distributed between a central government and subdivisional governments, called states in the United States.

Dual federalism (layer cake federalism)

Views the Constitution as giving a limited list of powers—primarily foreign policy and national defense—to the national government, leaving the rest to the sovereign states.

Cooperative federalism

Stresses federalism as a system of intergovernmental relations in delivering governmental goods and services to the people and calls for cooperation among various levels of government.

Marble cake federalism

Conceives of federalism as a marble cake in which all levels of government are involved in a variety of issues and programs.

Competitive federalism

Views the national government, 50 states, and thousands of local governments as competing with each other over ways to put together packages of services and taxes.

Permissive federalism

Implies that although federalism provides 'a sharing of power and authority between the national and state governments, the state's share rests upon the permission and permissiveness of the national government.'

Our federalism

Championed by Ronald Reagan, presumes that the power of the federal government is limited in favor of the broad powers reserved to the states.

Unitary system

Constitutional arrangement that concentrates power in a central government.

Confederation

Constitutional arrangement in which sovereign nations or states, by compact, create a central government but carefully limit its power and do not give it direct authority over individuals.

Express powers

Powers the Constitution specifically grants to one of the branches of the national government.

Implied powers

Powers inferred from the express powers that allow Congress to carry out its functions.

Necessary and proper clause

Clause of the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3) setting forth the implied powers of Congress. It states that Congress, in addition to its express powers has the right to make all laws necessary and proper to carry out all powers the Constitution vests in the national government.

Inherent powers

The powers of the national government in foreign affairs that the Supreme Court has declared do not depend on constitutional grants but rather grow out of the very existence of the national government.

Commerce clause

The clause in the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1) that gives Congress the power to regulate all business activities that cross state lines or affect more than one state or other nations.

Federal mandate

A requirement the federal government imposes as a condition for receiving federal funds.

Concurrent powers

Powers that the Constitution gives to both the national and state governments, such as the power to levy taxes.

Full faith and credit clause

Clause in the Constitution (Article 4, Section 1) requiring each state to recognize the civil judgments rendered by the courts of the other states and to accept their public records and acts as valid.

Extradition

Legal process whereby an alleged criminal offender is surrendered by the officials of one state to officials of the state in which the crime is alleged to have been committed.

Interstate compact

An agreement among two or more states. Congress must approve most such agreements.

National supremacy

Constitutional doctrine that whenever conflict occurs between the constitutionally authorized actions of the national government and those of a state or local government, the actions of the federal government will prevail.

Preemption

The right of a federal law or a regulation to preclude enforcement of a state or local law or regulation.

Centralists

People who favor national action over action at the state and local levels.

Decentralists

People who favor state or local action rather than national action.

Categorical-formula grants

Congress appropriates funds for a specific purpose, such as school lunches or for building airports and highways. These funds are allocated by formula and are subject to detailed federal conditions, often on a matching basis; that is, the local government receiving the federal funds must put up some of its own dollars.

Project grants

Congress appropriates a certain sum, which is allocated to state and local units and sometimes to nongovernmental agencies, based on applications from those who wish to participate.

State's rights

Powers expressly or implicitly reserved to the states.

Block grants

These are broad state grants to states for prescribed activities—welfare, child care, education, social services, preventive health care, and health services—with only a few strings attached.

Block grant dollars

States have greater flexibility in deciding how to spend block grant dollars, but when the federal funds for any fiscal year are gone, there are no more matching federal dollars.

Direct orders

A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Direct orders must be complied with under threat of criminal or civil sanction.

Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972

An example of direct orders, barring job discrimination by state and local governments on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.

Cross-cutting requirements

A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Federal grants may establish certain conditions that extend to all activities supported by federal funds, regardless of their source.

Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act

The first and most famous cross-cutting requirement, which holds that in the use of federal funds, no person may be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, or national origin.

Crossover sanctions

A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations that permit the use of federal money in one program to influence state and local policy in another.

1984 act

An act that reduced federal highway aid by up to 15 percent for any state that failed to adopt a minimum drinking age of 21.

Total and Partial Preemption

A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations where total preemption rests on the national government's power under the supremacy and commerce clauses to preempt conflicting state and local activity.

Mandatory partial preemption

A situation where the national government requires states to act on peril of losing other funds but provides no funds to support state action.

Creative federalism

During the Great Society, the marble cake approach of intergovernmental relations.

Fiscal federalism

Through different grant programs, slices up the marble cake into many different pieces, making it even more difficult to differentiate the functions of the levels of government.

"Necessary and proper" clause

Clause in the Constitution that states that 'Congress should have the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers.'

Elastic clause

Another name for the 'necessary and proper' clause, granting Congress the ability to interpret its lawmaking ability in a broad manner.

Linkage institutions

The means by which individuals can express preferences regarding the development of public policy.

Photo ops

Photo opportunities set up by the candidates, which the media have been accused of using to simplify complicated political issues.

Sound bites

30-second statements on the evening news shows that the media have been accused of using to simplify complicated political issues.

Political culture

The widely shared beliefs, values, and norms about how citizens relate to governments and to one another.

Social capital

Democratic and civic habits of discussion, compromise, and respect for differences, which grow out of participation in voluntary organizations.

Natural rights

The rights of all people to dignity and worth; also called human rights.

Democratic consensus

Widespread agreement on fundamental principles of democratic governance and the values that undergird them.

Popular sovereignty

A belief that ultimate power resides in the people.

American dream

The widespread belief that the United States is a land of opportunity and that individual initiative and hard work can bring economic success.

Capitalism

An economic system characterized by private property, competitive markets, economic incentives, and limited government involvement in the production, distribution, and pricing of goods and services.

Suffrage

The right to vote.

Monopoly

Domination of an industry by a single company that fixes prices and discourages competition; also, the company that dominates the industry by these means.

Antitrust legislation

Federal laws (starting with the Sherman Act of 1890) that tried to prevent a monopoly from dominating an industry and restraining trade.

Political ideology

A consistent pattern of beliefs about political values and the role of government.

Liberalism

A belief that government can and should achieve justice and equality of opportunity.

Conservatism

A belief that limited government insures order competitive markets and personal opportunity.

Socialism

An economic and governmental system based on public ownership of the means of production and exchange.

Libertarianism

An ideology that cherishes individual liberty and insists on minimal government, promoting a free market economy, a noninterventionist foreign policy, and an absence of regulation in moral, economic, and social life.

Ethnocentrism

Belief in the superiority of one's nation or ethnic group.

Political socialization

The process by which we develop our political attitudes, values, and beliefs.

Demographics

The study of the characteristics of populations.