American National Government

  • autocracy - a dictatorship where a single person has absolute control

  • confederation - a union of sovereign states, united for purposes of common action often in relation to other states

  • democracy - a system of government in which the people participate

  • dictatorship - systems of government in which the people do not participate

  • Divine Right Theory - a theory of government that states the right to rule comes from God

  • Evolutionary Theory - a theory of government that states government power evolved from the family groupings in which there was a “ruler”and when he/she died, a family member followed

  • federalist system - where there is a central (national) government and local (state) government, with each receiving their specified and individual powers from the people, not from each other

  • Force Theory - a theory of government that states the strongest power rules; i.e. government power is determined by force

  • government - the governing body of a nation, state, or community

  • Parliamentary System - a government in which the chief executive is controlled by the legislature

  • Political Science - a social science concerned chiefly with the description and analysis of political and especially governmental institutions and processes

  • Presidential System - a government in which the legislative branch and the executive branch are both chosen separately and each have their own designated powers

  • republics - democracies where the people elect representatives to make the decisions

  • state - a politically unified people occupying a definite territory with a government and self-determination (sovereignty); a nation

  • unitary system - a governmental system in which power is concentrated in a central (one) government

  • elite theory - the belief that a set of elite citizens controls the government and ordinary citizens have no influence

  • hyperpluralism - the theory that interest groups are so powerful that they weaken the government

  • interest groups - organizations that represent people who share a common interest and work to protect and promote that interest by influencing the government

  • iron triangles - the policy-making relationships among congressional committees, government agencies, and interest groups

  • pluralist theory - the belief that political power rests with competing interest groups who share influence in government

  • civic engagement - individual or group activity done with the intent to advocate on behalf of the public

  • civil disobedience - refusal to comply with certain laws as a peaceful form of political protest

  • direct democracy - a form of democratic government in which citizens decide policy initiatives directly, as opposed to electing representatives to govern for them

  • linkage institutions - the groups, associations, and media that can begin to move an idea from the people to the government, linking the people to the public policy making process

  • public policy - government policies that affect the whole population

  • public policy agenda - when a political issue becomes part of the political process, in which it may be discussed by candidates or become part of a party platform

  • public policy cycle - stages in which the needs, concerns, and wants of the people become issues for the government to act on and affect change

  • republic - form of democracy in which people elect representatives to decide on policy initiatives for them

  • Enlightenment - a European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition 

  • ideology - established beliefs and ideals that help shape political policy

  • partisanship - the tendency to identify with and to support a particular political party

  • charters - written agreements between the colonies and the king of England or Parliament; provided for direct rule by the king

  • English Bill of Rights - enumerated the rights of English citizens and explicitly guaranteed rights to life, liberty, and property; influenced the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights

  • Magna Carta - a promise to the English subjects that monarchs would refrain from certain actions that harmed, or had the potential to harm, the people of England, with protections for life, liberty, and property

  • Mayflower Compact - an agreement by the Separatists who founded Plymouth Colony to govern themselves according to the laws created by the male voters of the colony

  • social contract - an implicit agreement among the members of a society to cooperate for social benefits, for example, by sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection

  • Virginia House of Burgesses - the first colonial legislature

  • Boston Massacre - a riot in Boston (March 5, 1770) arising from the resentment of Boston colonists toward British troops quartered in the city, in which the troops fired on the mob and killed several persons

  • Boston Tea Party - The Boston Tea Party was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. The demonstrators, some disguised as Native Americans, in defiance of the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, destroyed an entire shipment of tea sent by the East India Company

  • Coercive Acts - (also called “The Intolerable Acts”) were harsh laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774. They were meant to punish the American colonists - specifically Boston and Massachusetts - for the Boston Tea Party and other protests

  • direct taxes - taxes imposed on individuals instead of on transactions

  • League of Friendship - loose confederation of the states under the Articles of Confederation

  • Proclamation of 1763 - British proclamation which forbade the colonists to purchase land or settle west of the Appalachian Mountains

  • Shays' Rebellion - a revolt by angry farmers in Massachusetts, which symbolized the chaos in the country in the 1780s under the Articles of Confederation

  • Stamp Act - passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed

  • Townshend Acts - British tax acts that imposed taxes on many everyday objects such as glass, tea, and paint

  • virtual representation - representatives elected by those who can vote who make laws on behalf of those who cannot vote

  • Articles of Confederation - adopted by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777, this document served as the United States' first constitution, and was in force from March 1, 1781 until 1789 when the present day Constitution went into effect

  • checks and balances - a system that gives each of the three branches of government the power to restrict the actions of the others, thus requiring them to work together

  • Constitutional Convention - a meeting between 55 delegates in May of 1787 meant to revise the Articles of Confederation, ultimately creating a new government and the new U.S. Constitution

  • Great Compromise - an agreement that large and small states reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that defined the legislative structure and representation each state would have under the United States Constitution

  • separation of powers - the U.S. government is separated into the judicial, legislative, and executive branches; these branches each serve a different purpose and work together to check power on any one branch

  • Three-Fifths Compromise - enslaved persons were counted as three-fifths of a free person for the sake of calculating the number of people a state could elect to the House of Representatives

  • veto - the presidential power to strike down a law passed by Congress

  • expressed powers - (enumerated or delegated); powers of the federal government that are listed in the Constitution of the United States

  • immigration - the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country

  • dual federalism - a style of federalism in which the states and national government exercise exclusive authority in distinctly delineated spheres of jurisdiction, creating a layer-cake view of federalism

  • new federalism - a style of federalism premised on the idea that the decentralization of policies enhances administrative efficiency, reduces overall public spending, and improves outcomes

  • civil rights - policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals; often concerning physical attributes: skin color, gender, age, physical disabilities, race, nationality, and other differences

  • civil rights - policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals; often concerning physical attributes: skin color, gender, age, physical disabilities, race, nationality, and other differences

  • Congressional authority - whether Congress has expressed, implied, or inherent authority to act 

  • de facto segregation - separation by fact

  • de jure segregation - separation by law

  • desegregate - actions taken to eliminate laws or behavior in which people from different groups — often different racial groups — are given separate or restricted access to facilities, services, or accommodations

  • discrimination - in human social affairs, the treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person based on the group, class, or category to which the person is perceived to belong rather than on individual attributes

  • Feminist Movements - a range of political movements, ideologies, and social movements that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes

  • heterogeneous - diverse in character or content 

  • interstate commerce - interstate commerce refers to the purchase, sale, or exchange of commodities, transportation of people, money, or goods, and navigation of waters between different states. Interstate commerce is regulated by the federal government as authorized under Article I of the U.S. Constitution

  • Segregation

  • the enforced separation of different racial groups in a country, community, or establishment

  • Seneca Falls Convention

  • the first women's rights convention, advertised as "a convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of women"

  • suffragists

  • people advocating for the right to vote, usually for women’s right to vote

  • Title IX of the United States Education Amendments of 1972

  • Title IX is a comprehensive federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity

  • Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña (1995) - Supreme Court Case in which the Court ruled that federal programs classifying people by race, even for the purpose of expanding and creating opportunities for minorities, must be analyzed under strict scrutiny

  • affirmative action - the policy of favoring members of a disadvantaged group who suffer or have suffered from discrimination within a culture; it usually provides for equal results rather than equal opportunities

  • civil rights - the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality

  • discrimination - the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex

  • equal opportunities - policies and practices in employment and other areas that do not discriminate against persons on the basis of race, color, age, sex, national origin, religion, or mental or physical disability, but do not necessarily result in equality

  • Equal Protection Clause - a part of the 14th Amendment that guarantees citizens "the equal protection of the laws" under state governments; took effect in 1868

  • equal results - generally entails reducing or eliminating material inequalities between individuals or households in a society, through a transfer of income or wealth from wealthier to poorer individuals or adopting other measures to promote equality of condition (i.e. affirmative action policies)

  • Fisher v. University of Texas (2013, 2016) - Supreme Court Case in which the Court ruled that race-based admissions are legal, but that the utility of such an approach has to be re-established on a regular basis

  • Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) - Supreme Court Case in which the Court reaffirmed that universities could take race or ethnicity into account as one of several factors in admitting a student but could not set a specific quota of minority students

  • intermediate scrutiny - a test courts use to determine a statute's constitutionality, in which the challenged law must further an important governmental interest, and must do so by means that are substantially related to that interest

  • Korematsu v. United States (1944) - Supreme Court Case in which the Court ruled that protecting against espionage was a compelling governmental interest for discriminating against Japanese Americans, maintaining the legality of Japanese internment camps

  • rational basis test - a test courts use to determine a statute's constitutionality, in which the challenged law must be rationally related to a legitimate government interest

  • Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) - Supreme Court Case in which the Court ruled that universities could not set quotas for members of particular racial groups, but they could use race or ethnicity as an element in admissions

  • strict scrutiny - a test courts use to determine a statute's constitutionality, in which the court presumes a policy to be invalid unless the government can demonstrate a compelling interest to justify it. The strict scrutiny standard of judicial review is based on the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment

 

  • civil rights - policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals; often concerning physical attributes: skin color, gender, age, physical disabilities, race, nationality, and other differences

  • Fred Korematsu - an American civil rights activist who objected to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II

  • fundamental right - a basic or foundational right, derived from natural law; a right deemed by the Supreme Court to receive the highest level of Constitutional protection against government interference

  • Hispanic - referring to native speakers of Spanish

  • immigration - the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country

  • internment camps - putting a person in prison or other kind of detention, generally in wartime; During World War II, the American government put Japanese Americans in internment camps, fearing they might be loyal to Japan

  • Latino - referring to people who come from, or whose ancestors came from, Latin America

  • LGBT - LGBT or GLBT is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender; refers to anyone who is non-heterosexual or non-cisgender, instead of exclusively to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender

  • protected class - federal protected classes now include race, color, national origin, religion, sex (or gender), age (over 40), and disability

  • classical liberalism - political ideology that believes in individual liberties and rights, based on the view that people are born equal with the right to make decisions without government intervention

  • conservative ideology - generally, a belief that individuals are primarily accountable for their own well-being, and that the government's responsibility is to see that they have the freedom to pursue their dreams

  • ideological spectrum - system of classifying different political positions, typically used in the United States to represent conservative and liberal ideologies

  • liberal ideology - generally, a belief that government power should be used to regulate the economy and bring about justice and equality of opportunity

  • modern conservatism - political ideology that believes an elected government will guard individual liberties and provide laws, while preferring a smaller government that stays out of the economy and allows the market and businesses to determine prices, wages, and supply

  • modern liberalism - political ideology that focuses on equality and supports government intervention in society and the economy if it does so to promote equality

  • political culture - the widely shared beliefs, values, and norms that define the relationship between citizens and the government, and citizens to one another, that is unique to every country

  • political ideologies - views of the world that reflect an individual's values and ideas

  • traditional conservatism - political ideology that supports monarchy and church authority and believes that the government provides the rule of law and maintains a society that is safe and organized

  • archconservatives - a person who is extremely averse to change and strongly adheres to traditional values

  • political culture - the widely shared beliefs, values, and norms that define the relationship between citizens and the government, and citizens to one another, that is unique to every country

  • political ideology - views of the world that reflect an individual's attitudes and beliefs

  • political polarization - when members of one party see the government from a very different perspective than members of the other party

  • political socialization - the process of learning the norms and practices of a political system through others and societal institutions

  • public opinion - a collection of popular views on a topic, person, or event

  • Religious Right - religiously motivated right-wing voters or conservatives

  • solid south - the tendency in the South to vote for Democrats, no matter what, that began to erode during the 1950s

  • margin of error - an amount that dictates how far the poll results may be from the actual opinion of the total population of citizens

  • public opinion polls - a ballot of a population’s opinion on a specific subject, issue, or person

  • random sample - a limited number of people from the overall population, who are selected in such a way that each has an equal chance of being chosen

  • representative sample - a group whose demographic distribution is similar to that of the overall population

  • sample size - a set number of people polled, which varies based on the size of the population being interviewed and the level of accuracy the pollster wishes to reach

  • straw polls - an informal ballot of a non-random population or group conducted as a test of opinion

  • universe - the entire group or population whose attitudes pollsters wish to measure

  • direct democracy - a form of democratic government in which citizens decide policy initiatives directly, as opposed to electing representatives to govern for them

  • initiative - law or constitutional amendment proposed and passed by the voters and subject to review by the state courts; also called a proposition

  • recall - the removal of a politician or government official by the voters

  • referendum - a yes or no vote by citizens on a law or candidate proposed by the state government

  • voting-age population - the number of citizens over 18 years of age

  • voting-eligible population - the number of citizens eligible to vote

  • party organization - the formal structure of the political party and the active members responsible for coordinating party behavior and supporting party candidates

  • party-in-government - party identifiers who have been elected to office and are responsible for fulfilling the party’s promises

  • precinct - the lowest level of party organization, usually organized around neighborhoods

  • straight-ticket - selecting all candidates from the same party for all positions in an election

  • third party - a political party formed as an alternative to the Republican and Democratic parties, also known as a minor party

  • two-party system - a system in which two major parties win all, or almost all, elections

  • caucus - a form of candidate nomination that occurs in a town-hall style format rather than a day-long election; usually reserved for presidential elections

  • closed primary - an election in which only voters registered with a party may vote for that party’s candidates

  • delegates - party members who are chosen to represent a particular candidate at the party’s state or National level nominating convention

  • linkage institutions - the groups, associations, and media that can begin to move an idea from the people to the government, linking the people to the public policymaking process

  • open primary - an election in which any registered voter may vote in any party’s primary or caucus

  • party platform - the set of issues important to a political party and its party delegates

  • policymaking cycle - stages in which the needs, concerns, and wants of the people become issues for the government to act on and affect change

  • top-two primary - (or jungle primary); a primary election in which the two candidates with the most votes, regardless of party, become the nominees for the general election

  • free-rider problem - the tendency of people to contribute very little or nothing to the production of public goods with the belief that they will benefit regardless of paying, leading to under-provided or nonexistent public goods

  • material incentives - substantive monetary or physical benefits given to group members to help overcome collective action problems

  • purposive incentives - benefits to overcome collective action problems that appeal to people’s support of the issue or cause

  • solidary incentives - benefits based on the concept that people like to associate with those who are similar to them

  • framing - the process of giving a news story a specific context or background

  • mass media - communication that is consumed by a mass (or large) audience, through a variety of sources such as radio, television, theater, movies, newspapers, books, and the internet