AP Government Vocabulary

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. We then hold them politically and legally accountable for how they exercise their powers.

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. (BAD and too much state power!!)

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 786-1787, protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need for a strong national government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went out.

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

Agreement that each slave counted as three-fifths of a person in determining representation in the House for representation and taxation purposes (negated by the 13th amendment)

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 (papers)

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.

Initiative

A procedure by which voters can propose a law or a constitutional amendment.

Referendum

A state-level method of direct legislation that gives voters a chance to approve or disapprove proposed legislation or a proposed constitutional amendment.

Recall

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

Marbury v. Madison

Established judicial review

Writ of mandamus

Court order directing an official to perform an official duty.

Executive order

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

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. The national and the subdivisional governments both exercise direct authority over individuals.

Dual federalism (layer cake federalism)

Views the Constitution as giving a limited list of powersprimarily foreign policy and national defenseto the national government, leaving the rest to the sovereign states. Each level of government is dominant within its own sphere. The Supreme Court serves as the umpire between the national government and the states in disputes over which level of government has responsibility for a particular activity.

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, rather than a layer cake, or dual federalism, with fixed divisions between layers or levels of government.

Competitive federalism

A form of federalism in which states compete to attract businesses and jobs through the policies they adopt.

"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.

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 states 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

the point of view that the national government should have relatively more power than the states

Preemption

the federal government's ability to take over a state government function

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

a grant-in-aid for a narrowly defined purpose, whose dollar value is based on a formula

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. Examples are grants by the National Science Foundation to universities and research institutes to support the work of scientists or grants to states and localities to support training and employment programs.

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. 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. An example is the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, barring job discrimination by state and local governments on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.

Cross-cutting requirements

When a condition on one federal grant is extended to all activities supported by federal funds, regardless of their source (example: discrimination).

Crossover sanctions

A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. These sanctions permit the use of federal money in one program to influence state and local policy in another. For example, a 1984 act 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.

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. . . ." This clause is also known as the elastic clause as is a major and significant power of Congress, 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. The media have been accused of simplifying complicated political issues by relying on photo ops to explain them to the public.

Sound bites

30-second statements on the evening news shows. The media have been accused of simplifying complicated political issues by relying on sound bites to explain them to the public.

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.

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.

Demographics

The study of the characteristics of populations.

Political predisposition

a characteristic of an individual that influences their political behavior. It can be thought of as a pre-existing tendency or inclination that shapes how someone thinks about and engages with politics.

Reinforcing cleavages

Divisions within society that reinforce one another, making groups more homogenous or similar.

Cross-cutting cleavages

Divisions within society that cut across demographic categories to produce groups that are more heterogeneous or different.

Manifest destiny

A notion held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent, from the Atlantic the Pacific.

Race

A grouping of human beings with distinctive characteristics determined by genetic inheritance.

Ethnicity

A social division based on national origin, religion, language, and often race.

Gender gap

The difference between the political opinions or political behavior of men and of women

Fundamentalists

Broad movement in Protestantism in the U.S. which tried to preserve what it considered the basic ideas of Christianity against criticism by liberal theologies. It stressed the literal truths of the Bible and creation.

Gross domestic product (GDP)

The total output of all economic activity in the nation, including goods and services.

Socioeconomic status (SES)

A division of population based on occupation, income, and education.

Faction

A term the founders used to refer to political parties and special interests or interest groups.

Pluralism

A theory of government that holds that open, multiple, and competing groups can check the asserted power by any one group.

Interest group

A collection of people who share a common interest or attitude and seek to influence government for specific ends. Interest groups usually work within the framework of government and try to achieve their goals through tactics such as lobbying.

Movement

A large body of people interested in a common issue, idea, or concern that is of continuing significance and who are willing to take action. Movements seek to change attitudes or institutions, not just policies.

Open shop

A company with a labor agreement under which union membership cannot be required as a condition of employment.

Closed shop

A company with a labor agreement under which union membership can be a condition of employment.

Free rider

An individual who does not to join a group representing his or her interests yet receives the benefit of the group's influence.