Ch 1-3

Chapter One Vocabulary 

1. politics - the process determining the leaders we select and the policies they pursue. (Ex) Politics produce authoritative decisions about public issues. 

2. single issue groups - groups that have a narrow interest on which their members tend to take an uncompromising stance. 

3. linkage institutions - the political channels through which people’s concerns become political issues on the policy agenda. In the United States, linkage institutions include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media. 

4. policy agenda - the issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people involved in politics at a point in time. 

5. public policy - a choice that the government makes in response to a political issue. :A policy is a course of action taken with regard to some problem. 

6. ‘majority rule with minority rights’ - the majority cannot infringe on minority rights  

7. participatory democracy - people get involved in politics and civil society. 

8. pluralist democracy - emphasizes that the policy making process is very open to the participation of all groups with shared interests, with no single group usually dominating. (Groups that share interest influence public policy through organized efforts)

9. elite democracy - upper class elite hold the power and make policy, regardless of the formal governmental organization. (representatives acting as trustees)

10. (policy) gridlock - a condition that occurs when interests conflict and no coalition is strong enough to form a majority and establish policy, so nothing gets done.

Chapter Two Vocabulary

1. Articles of Confederation - the first constitution of the United States, adopted by congress in 1777 and ratified in 1781. The articles established the Continental Congress as the national legislature, but left most authority, with the state legislatures. 

2. Shays’ Rebellion - A series of attacks on courthouses by a small band of farmers led by Revolutionary War captain Daniel Shays to block foreclosure proceedings. 

3. New Jersey Plan - The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for equal representation of each state in Congress regardless of the size of the state’s population. 

4. Virginia Plan - The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for representation of each state in Congress to be proportional to its population. 

5. Connecticut (Great) Compromise - The compromise reached at the Constitutional Convention that established two houses of Congress: (the House of Representatives), in which representation is based on the state’s population; and (the Senate), in which each state has two representatives. 

6. Three-Fifths Compromise - agreement between northern and southern states at the Constitutional Convention that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for determining direct taxation and representation in the House of Representatives. 

7. separation of powers - a feature of the Constitution that requires the three branches of government — executive, legislative, and judicial — to be relatively independent of each other so that one cannot control the others. Power is shared among these three institutions

8. checks and balances - Features of the Constitution that require each branch of the federal government to obtain the consent of the others for its actions; they limit the power of each branch.

9. Federalists - Supporters of the U.S. Constitution at the time the states were contemplating its adoption. 

10. Anti-Federalists - Opponents of the U.S. Constitution at the time when the states were contemplating its adoption. (Brutus #1)

11. Bill of Rights - The first 1o amendments to the U.S, Constitution, which define such basic liberties as freedom of religion, speech, and the press, and they guarantee defendants’ rights. 

12. Marbury v. Madison - The 1803 case in which the Supreme Court asserted its power to determine the meaning of the U.S. Constitution. The decision established the Court’s power of judicial review over acts of Congress. 

1. judicial review - The power of the courts to determine whether acts of Congress and those of the executive branch are in accord with the U.S. Constitution. Judicial review was established by Marbury v. Madison.

Chapter Three Vocabulary

1. federalism - a system of organizing a nation so that 2 or more levels of gov’t have formal authority over the same land and people.

2. supremacy clause - The clause in Article 6 of the Constitution that makes the Constitution, national laws, and treaties supreme over state laws as long as the national government is acting within its constitutional limits. 

3. 10th Amendment - “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” 

4. enumerated powers - Powers of the federal government that are listed explicitly in the Constitution. 

5. implied powers - powers of the federal government go beyond those enumerated in the Constitution. 

6. Full Faith and Credit Clause (Article IV) - In article 4 of the constitution requiring each state to recognize the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of all other states. 

7. categorical grants - Federal grants that can be used only for specific purposes, or categories, of state and local spendings. 

8. project grants - Federal categorical grants given for specific purposes and awarded on the basis of the merits of applications. 

9. formula grants - Federal categorical grants distributed according to a formula specified in legislation or in administrative regulations. 

10. block grants - federal grants given more or less automatically to states or communities to support broad programs in areas such as community development and social services.