Untitled Flashcards Set

political science - the systematic study of political phenomena using empirical or philosophical methods

politics - “who gets what, where, when, and how”—the process for resolving disputes and allocating scarce resources through collective decision making

sovereign - the entity (person or institution) that holds supreme authority over a domain

legitimate - authority used in ways that are true to the rules

authority - the entity (person or institution) holding legitimate power in a specific realm

Critical thinking - Reflective thinking focused on deciding what can reasonably be believed and then using this information to make judgments.

Elitism - The notion that wealthy and well-connected individuals exercise power over certain areas of public policy.

Free-market system - An economic system based on the idea that government should interfere with economic transactions as little as possible. Free enterprise and self-reliance are the collective and individual principles that underpin free markets.

Majoritarianism - The idea that the majority prevails not only in elections but also in determining policy.

Pluralism - A theory of American politics that holds that society’s interests are substantially represented through the activities of groups.

Political Culture - The characteristics and deep-seated beliefs of a particular group of people.

Public policies - Decisions by government to pursue particular courses of action.

Checks and balances - The elaborate system of divided spheres of authority provided by the U.S. Constitution as a means of controlling the power of government. The separation of powers among the branches of the national government, federalism, and the different methods of selecting national officers are all part of this system. 

Constitution - The fundamental law that defines how a government will legitimately operate. 

Great Compromise - The agreement of the constitutional convention to create a two-chamber Congress with the House apportioned by population and the Senate apportioned equally by state. 

Liberty - The principle that individuals should be free to act and think as they choose, provided they do not infringe unreasonably on the rights and freedoms of others. 

New Jersey Plan - A constitutional proposal for a strengthened Congress but one in which each state would have a single vote, thus granting a small state the same legislative power as a larger state. 

Separation of powers - The division of the powers of government among separate institutions or branches. 

Social contract - A voluntary agreement by individuals to form a government that is then obligated to work within the confines of that agreement. 

Three-Fifths Compromise - A compromise worked out at the 1787 convention between northern states and southern states. Each slave was to be counted as three fifths of a person for purposes of federal taxation and congressional apportionment (number of seats in the House of Representative). 

Tyranny of the majority - The potential of a majority to monopolize power for its own gain and to the detriment of minority rights and interests. 

Virginia (large-state) Plan - A constitutional proposal for a strong Congress with two chambers, both of which would be based on numerical representation, thus granting more power to the larger states.

Block grants - Federal grants-in-aid that permit state and local officials to decide how the money will be spent within a general area, such as education or health. 

Categorical grants - Federal grants-in-aid to states and localities that can be used only for designated projects. 

Commerce clause -The authority granted Congress in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution “to regulate commerce” among the states.

Confederacy - A governmental system in which sovereignty is vested entirely in subnational (state) governments. 
 
Cooperative federalism - The situation in which the national, state, and local levels work together to solve problems.

Devolution - The passing down of authority from the national government to state and local governments.

Dual federalism - A doctrine based on the idea that a precise separation of national power and state power is both possible and desirable.

Enumerated (expressed) powers - The 17 powers granted to the national government under Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution. These powers include taxation and the regulation of commerce as well as the authority to provide for the national defense.

Federalism - A governmental system in which authority is divided between two sovereign levels of government: national and regional. 

Fiscal federalism - A term that refers to the expenditure of federal funds on programs run in part through states and localities.

Grants-in-aid - Federal cash payments to states and localities for programs they administer.

Implied powers - The federal government’s constitutional authority (through the “necessary and proper” clause) to take action that is not expressly authorized by the Constitution but that supports actions that are so authorized. 

Nationalization - The process by which authority in the American federal system has shifted gradually from the states to the national government. 

“Necessary and proper” clause - The authority granted Congress in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper” for the implementation of its enumerated powers. 
 
Reserved powers - The powers granted to the states under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. 

Supremacy clause - Article VI of the Constitution, which makes national law supreme over state law when the national government is acting within its constitutional limits.

Unitary system - A governmental system in which the national government alone has sovereign (ultimate) authority.

Bill of Rights - The first 10 amendments to the Constitution. They include rights such as freedom of speech and religion and due process protections (e.g., the right to a jury trial) for persons accused of crimes.
 
Civil liberties - The fundamental individual rights of a free society, such as freedom of speech and the right to a jury trial, which in the United States are protected by the Bill of Rights.

Clear-and-present-danger test - A test devised by the Supreme Court in 1919 in order to define the limits of free speech in the context of national security. According to the test, government cannot abridge political expression unless it presents a clear and present danger to the nation’s security.

Due process clause (of the Fourteenth Amendment) - The clause of the Constitution that has been used by the judiciary to apply the Bill of Rights to the actions of state governments.

Establishment clause - The First Amendment provision stating that government may not favor one religion over another or favor religion over no religion, and prohibiting Congress from passing laws respecting the establishment of religion.

Exclusionary rule - The legal principle that government is prohibited from using in trials evidence that was obtained by unconstitutional means (e.g., illegal search and seizure).

Freedom of expression - Americans’ freedom to communicate their views, the foundation of which is the First Amendment rights of freedom of conscience, speech, press, assembly, and petition.

Free-exercise clause - A First Amendment provision that prohibits the government from interfering with the practice of religion.

Imminent lawless action - A legal test that says government cannot lawfully suppress advocacy that promotes lawless action unless such advocacy is aimed at producing, and is likely to produce, imminent lawless action.

Lemon test - A three-part test to determine whether a law relating to religion is valid under the religious establishment clause. To be valid, a law must have a secular purpose, serve neither to advance nor inhibit religion, and avoid excessive government entanglement with religion.

Libel - Publication of false material that damages a person’s reputation.

Prior restraint - Government prohibition of speech or publication before the fact, which is presumed by the courts to be unconstitutional unless the justification for it is overwhelming.

Procedural due process - The constitutional requirement that government must follow proper legal procedures before a person can be legitimately punished for an alleged offense.

Right of privacy - A right implied by the freedoms in the Bill of Rights that grants individuals a degree of personal privacy upon which government cannot lawfully intrude. The right gives individuals a level of free choice in areas such as reproduction and intimate relations.

Selective incorporation - The process by which certain of the rights (e.g., freedom of speech) contained in the Bill of Rights become applicable, through the Fourteenth Amendment, to actions by the state governments.

Slander - Spoken falsehoods that damage a person’s reputation.

Symbolic speech - Action (e.g., the waving or burning of a flag) for the purpose of expressing a political opinion.

Equal-protection clause - A clause of the Fourteenth Amendment that forbids any state to deny equal protection of the laws to any individual within its jurisdiction.

Equal rights (civil rights) - The right of every person to equal protection under the laws and equal access to society’s opportunities and public facilities.