AP Government Study Guide Flashcards

Flashcards for reviewing key vocabulary terms for the AP Government exam.

Direct Democracy

Citizens meet and vote directly on government decisions.

Representative Democracy (Republic)

Citizens choose officials who make decisions on government policy.

Magna Carta (1215)

First attempt to limit the power of the British King, guaranteed all people certain rights.

Social Contract Theory

Principle that people enter into a social contract with the government and allow to be ruled.

Consent of the Governed

Principle that there are no supreme rulers, all rulers depend on the approval of the people; when governments fail to protect rights, the people have the right to change the government.

Natural Rights

Principle that all people are born with certain rights: life, liberty, and property (Jefferson changes property into pursuit of happiness).

Declaration of Independence

Thomas Jefferson’s document built on principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, consent of the governed, and social contract theory; also justified American revolution against England.

Common Good

Belief in doing what’s best for the nation overall.

Popular Sovereignty

Belief that the ultimate authority rests with the people.

Majority Rule

Belief that government is run based on the will of the majority.

Articles of Confederation

Weak association of states (states very independent).

Shays’ Rebellion

Farmer rebellion in Massachusetts 1786-1787 protesting mortgage foreclosures and terrible economy; represented how weak the central government was and terrified many Americans.

Representative Democracy (Republic)

Democracy where people elect representatives who pass laws.

North-South Compromises – 3/5 Compromise

Compromise that counted slaves as 3/5 of a person to give the South more representatives.

Connecticut Compromise – (Bicameralism)

Established two equal bodies (House of Representatives and Senate), one based on population, one giving all states equal representation; compromise between big states (Virginia Plan) and small states (New Jersey Plan) over the format of the Congress.

Federalists

Supported the Constitution because it gave power to a strong central government.

Anti-federalists

Opposed the constitution because they thought the national government would become tyrannical and take power away from the states.

Federalist Papers

Articles written by Madison, Hamilton, and Jay arguing for the constitution.

Federalist Paper #10

Written by Madison, discusses importance of factions; factions are inevitable, but factions are best handled by a large republic.

Federalist Paper #51

Written by Madison, discusses importance of checks and balances and the separation of powers in the constitution.

Interstate Commerce Clause

Clause that gives Congress interstate regulatory power.

Separation of Powers

Each of the three branches has its own power and independence.

Checks and Balances

Each branch has some power over the others but retains independence.

Federalism

Separation between powers of the Federal, State, and Local governments.

Confederacy

System of government in which the central government is very weak, and most of the true power lies in individual states.

Unitary System

System of government in which the central government is extremely powerful, and individual states have few powers.

Dual Federalism, aka “Layer Cake” Federalism (1789-1932)

Belief that the state and national governments are supreme within their own sphere of influence.

Cooperative Federalism, aka “Marble Cake” Federalism

Sharing powers between state and federal governments.

Fiscal Federalism

Government’s patterns of spending, taxing, and providing grants to influence state and local governments.

Grants-in-aid

Money given from the federal government to the states.

Categorical grants

Federal grants for specific purposes (building an airport).

Block grants

Broad grants from the federal government that give local/state governments a lot of freedom to spend money as they please without many strings attached; the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 began transferring more authority back to the states through block grants.

Revenue sharing

Federal sharing of a fixed percentage of its revenue with the states.

Mandates

Terms set by the federal government that states must meet if they accept federal grants.

Devolution

Process of returning power to the states; this began during New Federalism under presidents Nixon, Reagan, and Bush.

Express powers

Powers listed (enumerated) in the constitution for the Federal government: go to war, raise an army, regulate interstate and foreign commerce, establish post offices.

Implied powers

Based on necessary and proper clause (elastic clause) – gives congress flexibility to make laws necessary and proper for carrying out express powers; upheld in McCulloch v. Maryland.

Inherent powers

Powers dealing with foreign policy not in constitution, but given to federal government.

Denied Powers

Power explicitly denied to government, such as suspending writ of habeas corpus, passing bills of attainder, and ex post facto laws.

Concurrent Powers

Shared by Federal and State governments – power to tax and spend, establish courts, make laws.

Reserved to States

Any power not denied nor given to federal government is reserved for state governments (create local governments) (10th amendment).

Supremacy Clause

Federal law is superior to state law; this came out of the court case McCulloch vs. Maryland, in which there was debate as to whether or not the Bank of the United States had to pay Maryland state taxes – the Supreme Court ruled that because the Bank of the US was NATIONAL it did not have to follow Maryland STATE law.

Interstate Commerce Clause

Gives Federal Government authority to regulate all of interstate commerce; this clause gives the federal government authority to regulate businesses that go between state lines and justifies many federal laws (Civil Rights Act).

Take Care Clause

President must enforce ALL laws passed by Congress.

Full Faith and Credit

States must honor laws and court rulings of other states.

Privileges and Immunities

Requires states to extend same privileges and immunities to all citizens (even of other states).

Bill of Rights

First 10 amendments to the Constitution that guarantees individual and states’ rights; a concession the federalists made to the anti-federalists to ensure constitution would be ratified.

Amendment 1

Freedom of speech, assembly, petition, religion, press.

Amendment 2

Right to bear arms.

Amendment 4

No unreasonable searches and seizures.

Amendment 5

Right to a trial, no double jeopardy, individuals are not required to testify against themselves.

Amendment 6

Right to a speedy, public, and impartial trial with lawyer.

Amendment 8

No excessive bails or fines, no cruel and unusual policies.

Amendment 10

Powers not given to the federal government or denied of the states are reserved to the states (states rights).

Alexis de Tocqueville

Frenchmen who visited America in the 1800's and described the young democracy he saw.

Political Culture

A coherent way of thinking about how politics and the government ought to be carried out.

Political Socialization

Public opinion evolves through family, friends, media, current government, and education.

Liberal

Large federal government involvement needed to provide for the people (welfare, new deal, great society).

Socialist

Belief in an extremely powerful state to protect people.

Conservative

Belief that limited government is necessary to grow strong economy, very pro-business anti-regulation.

Libertarianism

Belief in very small government and extreme focus on individual and business rights, no regulation of industry.

Demographics

Characteristics of population on income, education, race, gender.

Demographics trends

Changes in the way people of a certain socio-economic background vote (politicians follow these very closely).

The Census

Every 10 years a count of the total population, different ethnic groups, religions, and how people vote.

Redistricting

After every census, the congressional districts are redrawn based on population.

Reapportionment

State legislatures reapportion (resize) state congressional districts after every census.

Gerrymandering

The practice of redistricting in order to benefit a specific party by drawing districts based on the demo of their residents (Baker v. Carr and Shaw v. Reno were court cases in which the supreme court ruled that gerrymandering was unconstitutional).

Political Efficacy

Belief that you can participate in politics, or that government will respond (my vote counts).

Civic Duty

Belief that one has an obligation to participate in civic and political affairs.

Caucuses

Candidate nomination process in which party members meet to discuss and decide on candidate.

Referendum

People vote on whether or not to accept a law passed by state legislature, or a proposed amendment to the state constitution.

Initiative

People vote on laws and constitutional amendments within state (direct democracy).

Recall

Voters remove elected officials.

Linkage Organizations

Organizations that link the people with government.

Congressional Elections

Congressional elections use winner-take-all systems in which the winner of a plurality wins (single-member district).

Realignment

A major change in the core members/beliefs of a political party – either one major party is replaced by another, or the two major parties completely change viewpoints.

Dealignment

When people abandon parties and become independents.

Electoral Votes

These votes equal to number of senators and number of representatives

Party Activists

Party activits for a goal.

Interest Group

A collection of people who share a common interest or attitude and seek to influence government; these groups use fundraising and lobbying to influence the political process (can be unions, government groups, businesses, think-tanks, or ideological groups).

Political Action Committees (PACs)

Form the financial branch of interest groups; they donate to candidates.

Lobbying

Activities aimed at influencing public officials (legislators) and trying to promote or defeat certain legislation; often comes in the form of supplying data to government officials to convince them to vote a certain way.

Media

They spin news toward a certain political ideology, but are driven by profit.

Red Tape

Complex rules and procedures that must be followed to get stuff done.

Discretionary Authority

Government's ability to choose course of action and make policies not explicitly spelled out by laws.

Deregulation

Removing government restrictions and regulations.

Independent Regulatory Commissions

Quasi Legislative and Quasi Judicial Agencies.

Cabinet Departments

These consist of Secretaries appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate.

Electoral College

A body of voters that selects the next president.

Monetary Policy

Actions the Federal Reserve takes to control the economy by promoting growth and contractions and to control the money supply.

Fiscal Policy

President and Congress fiscal managing.

Regressive Tax System

A tax system in which people with lower incomes pays at a higher rate.

Keynesianism

Government must manage the economy by spending more money during recessions and cutting spending when there is inflation.

Monetarism

Inflation occurs when government prints too much money, and that government should leave the economy to the free market.

Supply Side Economics

Lower taxes and fewer regulations will stimulate economic growth.

Majoritarian

Welfare programs fund by taxes that most benefit (universal).

Social Policy

These programs are needed to lift the poorest from the economic system.

Block Grant Era

This act allowed power to return back to the states and local communities regarding welfare responsibilities.

President and Foreign Policy

The president is the commander and chief, treaties and executive agreements appoint ambassadors

War Powers Act of 1973

All commitments of troops must be reported within 48 hours. Troops can only be held for 60 days prior to congressional declaration.