AP US Government and Politics ALL VOCAB

Government

The formal vehicle through which policies are made and affairs of state are conducted.

Monarchy

A form of government in which power is vested in hereditary kings and queens who govern in the interest of all.

Totalitarianism

A form of government in which power resides in a leader who rules according to self-interest and without regard for individual rights and liberties.

Oligarchy

A form of government in which the right to participate depends on the possession of wealth, social status, military position, or achievement.

Democracy

A system of government that gives power to the people whether directly or through elected representatives.

Direct democracy

A system of government in which members of the polity meet to discuss all policy decisions and then agree to abide by majority rule.

Indirect democracy

A system of government that gives citizens the opportunity to vote for representatives who will work on their behalf.

Republic

A government rooted in the consent of the governed; a representative or indirect democracy.

Political Culture

Commonly shared attitudes, beliefs, and core values about how government should operate.

Personal Liberty

A key characteristic of U.S. democracy. Initially meaning freedom from governmental interference, today it includes demands for freedom to engage in a variety of practices without government interference or discrimination.

Political Ideology

The coherent set of values and beliefs about the purpose and scope of government held by groups and individuals

Conservative

One who favors limited government intervention; particularly in economic affairs.

Social conservative

One who believes that the government should support and further traditional moral teachings.

Liberal

One who favors greater government intervention, particularly in economic affairs and in the provision of social services.

Moderate

A person who takes a relatively centrist or middle-of-the-road view on most political issues

Statist

One who believes in extensive government control of personal and economic liberties.

Libertarian

One who believes in limited government interference in personal and economic liberties.

Politics

The study of who gets what, when, and how- or how policy decisions are made.

American Dream

An American ideal of a happy, successful life, which often includes wealth, a house, a better life for one's children, and, for some, the opportunity to grow up to be president.

Mercantilism

An economic theory designed to increase a nation's wealth through the development of commercial industry and a favorable balance of trade.

Stamp Act Congress

Meeting of Representatives of nine of the thirteen colonies held in New York City in 1765, during which representatives drafted a document to send to the king that listed how their rights had been violated

Committees of Correspondance

Organizations in each of the American colonies created to keep colonists abreast of developments with the British served as powerful molders of public opinion against the British.

First Continental Congress

Meeting held in Philadelphia from September 5th to October 26, 1774, in which fifty-six delegates (from every colony except Georgia) opted for a resolution in opposition to the Coercive Acts

Second Continental Congress

Meeting that convened in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, at which it was decided that an army should be raised and George Washington of Virginia was named commander in chief

Declaration of Independence

Document drafted largely by Thomas Jefferson in 1776 that proclaimed the right of the American colonies to separate from Great Britain.

Articles of Confederation

The compact between the thirteen original colonies that created a loose league of friendship, with the national government drawing its powers from the states.

Confederation

A type of government in which the national government derives its powers from the states; a league of independent states.

Shays Rebellion

A rebellion in which an army of 1,500 disgruntled and angry farmers led by Daniel Shays marched to Springfield, Massachusetts, and forcibly restrained the state court from foreclosing mortgages on their farms.

Constitution

A document establishing the structure, functions, and limitations of a government.

Virginia Plan

The first general plan for the Constitution was offered in Philadelphia. Its key points were a bicameral legislature, as well as an executive and judiciary chosen by the national legislature.

New Jersey Plan

A framework for the Constitution proposed by a group of small states. Its key points were a one-house legislature with one vote for each state, a congress with the ability to raise revenue, and a supreme court with members appointed for life.

Great Compromise

The final decision of the Constitutional convention to create a two-house- legislature with the lower house elected by the people and with powers divided between the two houses. It also made national law supreme.

Federal System

System of government in which the national government and state governments share power and derive all authority from the people.

Enumerated Powers

The powers of the national government specifically granted to Congress in Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution.

Necessary and proper clause

The final paragraph of Article One, Section Eight, of the Constitution, which gives Congress the authority to pass all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out the enumerated powers specified in the Constitution; also called the elastic clause.

Implied powers

The powers of the national government derived from the enumerated powers and the necessary and proper clause.

Full Faith and Credit Clause

Section of Article Four of the Constitution that ensures judicial decrees and contracts made in one state will be binding and enforceable in any other state.

Supremacy Clause

A portion of Article Six of the Constitution mandating that national law is supreme to (that is, supersedes) all other laws passed by the states or by any other subdivision of government.

Federalists

Those who favored a stronger national government and supported the proposed U.S. Constitution; later became the first U.S. political party.

Anti-Federalists

Those who favored strong state governments and a weak national government; opposed ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

The Federalist Papers

A series of eighty-five political essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in support of ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution largely guarantee specific rights and liberties.

Unitary System

System of government in which the local and regional governments derive all authority from a strong national government.

Implied Powers

The powers of the national government derived from the enumerated powers and the necessary and proper clause.

Reserved powers

Powers reserved to the states by the Tenth Amendment that lie at the foundation of a state's rights to legislate for the public health and welfare of its citizens.

Concurrent powers

Powers shared by the national and state governments.

Full faith and credit clause

Section of Article IV of the constitution that ensures judicial decrees and contacts made in one state will be binding and enforceable in any other state.

Privileges and immunities clause

Part of Article IV of the constitution that the citizens of each state are afforded the same rights as citizens of all other states.

Extradition clause

Part of Article IV of the constitution that requires states to extradite, or return, criminals to the states where they have been convicted or are to stand trial.

Interstate compacts

Contracts between states that carry the force of law; generally now used as a tool to address multistate policy concerns.

Dillion's Rule

A premise articulated by Judge John F. Dillion in 1868 which states that local governments do not have any inherent sovereignty and instead must be authorized by state governments that can create or abolish them.

Charter

A document that, like a constitution, specifies the basic policies, procedures, and institutions of local government. Charters for local governments must be approved by state legislatures.

County

The basic administrative unit of local government.

Municipality

City governments created in response to the emergence of relatively densely populated areas.

Special district

A local government that is restricted to a particular function.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

The Supreme Court upheld the power of the national government and denied the right of a state to tax the federal bank, using the Constitution's supremacy clause. The Court's broad interpretation of the necessary and proper clause paves the way for later rulings upholding expansive federal powers.

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

The Supreme Court upheld broad congressional power to regulate interstate commerce. The Court's broad interpretation of the Constitution's commerce clause paved the way for later rulings upholding expansive federal powers.

Barron v. Baltimore (1833)

The Supreme Court ruled that the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment did not apply to the actions of states. This decision limited the Bill of Rights to the actions of Congress alone.

Dual Federalism

The belief that having separate and equally powerful levels of government is the best arrangement, often referred to as layer-cake federalism.

Nullification

The right of a state to declare void a federal law.

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

The Supreme Court concluded that the U.S. Congress lacked the constitutional authority to bar slavery in the territories. This decision narrowed the scope of national power, while it enhanced that of the states.

Sixteenth Amendment

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that authorizes Congress to enact a national income tax.

Seventeenth Amendment

Amendment to the U.S Constitution that made senators directly elected by the people, removing their selection from state legislatures.

Cooperative Federalism

The intertwined relationship between the national, state, and local governments that began with the New Deal, often referred to as marble-cake federalism.

Bicameral Legislation

A two-house legislature

Apportionment

The process of allotting congressional seats to each state according to its proportion of the population, following the decennial census

Bill

A proposed law

Impeachment

The power delegated to the House of Representatives in the Constitution to charge the president, vice president, or other "civil officers," including federal judges, with "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." This is the first step in the constitutional process of removing government officials from office.

Redistricting

The process of redrawing congressional districts to reflect increases or decreases in seats allotted to the states, as well as population shifts within a state

Gerrymandering

The drawing of congressional districts to produce a particular electoral outcome without regard to the shape of the district

Majority Party

The political party in each house of Congress with the most members

Minority Party

The political party in each house of Congress with the second most members

Party caucus (or conference)

A formal gathering of all party members

Speaker of the House

The only officer of the House of Representatives specifically mentioned in the Constitution; the chamber's most powerful position; traditionally a member of the majority party.

Majority leader

The head of the party controlling the most seats in the House of Representatives or the Senate; is second in authority to the Speaker of the House and in the Senate is regarded as its most powerful member.

Minority leader

The head of the party with the second highest number of elected representatives in the House of Representatives or the Senate.

Whip

Party leader who keeps close contact with all members of his or her party, takes vote counts on key legislation, prepares summaries of bills, and acts as a communications link within a party

President Pro Tempore

The official chair of the Senate; usually the most senior member of the majority party.

Standing committee

Committee to which proposed bills are referred; continues from one Congress to the next

Joint committee

Standing committee that includes members from both houses of Congress set up to conduct investigations or special studies

Twenty-Second Amendment

Adopted in 1951; prevents a president from serving more than two terms, or more than 10 years if he came to office via the death, resignation, or impeachment of his predecessor.

Executive Privilege

An implied presidential power that allows the president to refuse to disclose information regarding confidential conversations or national security to Congress or the judiciary.

U.S. v. Nixon (1974)

Supreme Court ruling on power of the president, holding that no absolute constitutional executive privilege allows a president to refuse to comply with a court order to produce information needed in a criminal trial.

Twenty-Fifth Amendment

Adopted in 1967 to establish procedures for filling vacancies in the offices of President and Vice President as well as providing for procedures to deal with the disability of a president.

Cabinet

The formal body of presidential advisors who head the 15 executive departments. Presidents often add others to this body of formal advisors.

Executive agreements

Formal international agreements entered into by the president that do not require the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.

Veto

The formal, constitutional authority of the president to reject bills passed by both houses of Congress, thus preventing them from becoming law without further congressional action.

Line-item veto

The authority of a chief executive to delete part of a bill passed by the legislature that involves taxing or spending. Ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

War Powers Resolution

Passed by Congress in 1973; requires the authorization of Congress to deploy troops overseas and limits the time of their deployment.

Pardon

An executive grant providing restoration of all rights and privileges of citizenship to a specific individual charged or convicted of a crime.

Inherent powers

Powers that belong to the president because they can be inferred from the Constitution.

Executive Office of the President (EOP)

A mini-bureaucracy created in 1939 to help the president oversee the executive branch bureaucracy.

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

The office that prepares the president's annual budget proposal, reviews the budget and programs of the executive departments, supplies economic forecasts, and conducts detailed analyses of proposed bills and agency rules.

Executive orders

Rules or regulations issued by the president that have the effect of law. All executive orders must be published in the Federal Register.

Signing statements

Occasional written comments attached to a bill signed by the president.

Federal bureaucracy

The thousands of federal government agencies and institutions that Implement and administer federal laws and programs.

Spoils system

The firing of public-office holders of a defeated political party to replace them with loyalists of the newly elected party.

Patronage

Jobs, grants, or other special favors that are given as rewards to friends and political allies for their support.

Merit system

A system of employment based on qualifications, test scores, and ability, rather than party loyalty

Pendleton Act

Reform measure that established the principle of federal employment on the basis of open, competitive exams and created the Civil Service Commission.