AP Gov Vocab

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• Absentee ballots: voting completed and submitted before the day of an election

• Affirmative action: policy designed to address the consequences of previous discrimination

• Agency capture: when regulatory agencies have ties to the firms they are supposed to regulate

• Agenda setting: media's ability to highlight certain issues and bring them to public attention

• Aggregating: process through which news providers relay news as reported by journalists and other sources

• Amendment: constitutional provision for making changes to the Constitution

• American dream: idea that individuals can achieve prosperity through hard work and talent

• American political culture: set of beliefs, customs, traditions, and values shared by Americans

• Amicus curiae brief: brief filed by someone not a party to a case to persuade the court

• Antifederalist: person opposed to the proposed Constitution favoring stronger state governments

• Appellate jurisdiction: authority of a court to review decisions made by lower courts

• Apportionment: process of determining the number of representatives for each state using census data

• Appropriation: process of allocating funds to executive branch agencies

• Articles of Confederation: governing document that created a union of thirteen sovereign states

• Bail: amount of money posted as security to allow an individual to be freed while awaiting trial

• Bargaining and persuasion: informal tool used by the president to persuade members of Congress

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• Battleground state: state where the polls show a close election

• Benchmark poll: survey taken at the beginning of a campaign to gauge support and determine important issues to voters

• Bicameral: two-house legislature

• Bill of attainder: when the legislature declares someone guilty without a trial

• Bill of Rights: first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution

• Bipartisanship: agreement between parties to work together in Congress

• Block grant: type of grant-in-aid that gives state officials more authority in the disbursement of federal funds

• Media outlets: news and content providers that rely on mass communications technology

• Brutus No. 1: Antifederalist paper arguing that the country was too large to be governed as a republic

• Budget deficit: when a government spends more money than it takes in

• Budget surplus: when a government takes in more money than it spends

• Bully pulpit: presidential appeals to the public to pressure other branches of government

• Bureaucrat: official employed within a government bureaucracy

• Bureaucratic adjudication: when the federal bureaucracy settles disputes over the implementation of federal laws

• Bureaucratic discretion: power to decide how a law is implemented and interpret Congress's intent

• Business cycle: fluctuation of economic activity around a long-term trend

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• Candidate-centered campaign: trend in which candidates develop their own strategies and raise money with less influence from the party elite

• Capitalist system: economic system where private firms make decisions about production and distribution

• Categorical grants: grants-in-aid provided to states with specific provisions on their use

• Caucus: process through which a state's eligible voters meet to select delegates for the nomination process

• Certiorari: process through which most cases reach the Supreme Court

• Checks and balances: design of government where each branch has powers to prevent others from making policy

• Civil disobedience: intentional refusal to obey a law to call attention to its injustice

• Civil law: category of law covering cases involving private rights and relationships

• Civil liberties: fundamental rights and freedoms protected from government infringement

• Civil rights: protections from discrimination as a member of a particular group

• Civil Rights Act of 1964: legislation outlawing racial segregation and authorizing lawsuits against non-compliant school districts

• Civil society group: independent association outside the government's control

• Clear and present danger test: legal standard that speech posing an immediate and serious threat to national security is not protected

• Closed primary: primary election where only registered party members can vote

• Cloture: procedure to end debate on a bill in the Senate

• Collective action: political action when individuals contribute to a larger group goal

• Collective good: public benefit that individuals can enjoy even if they do not contribute to achieving it

• Command-and-control economy: economic policy where the government dictates much of a nation's economic activity

• Commerce clause: grants Congress the authority to regulate interstate business and commercial activity

• Committee chair: leader of a congressional committee with authority over the committee's agenda

• Committee of the Whole: consists of all members of the House and meets to consider complex and controversial legislation

• Compromise on Importation: Congress could not restrict the slave trade until 1808

• Concurrent powers: powers granted to both states and the federal government in the Constitution

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• Congressional Budget Office (CBO): federal agency that produces independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues

• Conservatism: ideology favoring more regulation of social behavior and less government interference in the economy

• Constituency: body of voters in a given area who elect a representative or senator

• Constitution: document that sets out the fundamental principles of governance and establishes the institutions of a government

• Constitutional Convention: meeting in 1787 to fix the Articles of Confederation

• Constitutional republic: democratic system with elected representatives where the constitution is the supreme law

• Consumer price index (CPI): measure of the cost of living using a basket of fixed goods and services

• Cooperative federalism: form of American federalism where states and the national government work together to shape public policy

• Criminal law: category of law covering actions determined to harm the community itself

• Critical election: major national election that signals a change in the balance of power between the two parties

• De facto segregation: separation based on characteristics that arise not by law but due to other factors

• Defendant: person or group against whom a case is brought in court

• De jure segregation: separation based on characteristics intentionally and by law

• Delegate: person who acts as the voters' representative at a convention to select the party's nominee

• Delegate role: idea that the main duty of a member of Congress is to carry out constituent wishes

• Democracy: system of government where power is held by the people

• Demographic characteristics: measurable characteristics of a population, such as economic status, education, age, race or ethnicity, gender, and partisan attachment

• Demographics: grouping of individuals based on shared characteristics

• Deregulation: reduction or elimination of government power in a particular industry

• Descriptive representation: degree to which a legislature reflects the diversity of a nation's identities and experiences

• Devolution: returning more authority to state or local governments

• Digital divide: divisions in society driven by access to and knowledge about technologies

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• Direct democracy: citizens vote directly on public policies

  • Example: Referendums and initiatives

• Discharge petition: motion filed by a member of Congress to move a bill out of committee and onto the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote

  • Purpose: Bypasses committee leadership and brings a bill to a vote

• Discretionary spending: spending for programs and policies at the discretion of Congress and the president

  • Example: Funding for education, defense, and infrastructure

• Dissenting opinion: an opinion that disagrees with the majority opinion and does not serve as precedent

  • Purpose: Provides an alternative viewpoint and highlights disagreements within the court

• Divided government: control of the presidency and one or both chambers of Congress is split between the two major parties

  • Example: Republican president with a Democratic-controlled Congress

• Double jeopardy: protects an individual acquitted of a crime from being charged with the same crime again in the same jurisdiction

  • Principle of fairness and protection against harassment

• Dual federalism: states and the nation operate independently in their own areas of public policy

  • Example: States have control over education and criminal justice systems

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• Due process clause: restricts state governments from denying their citizens their life, liberty, or property without legal safeguards

  • Part of the Fourteenth Amendment

• Earmark: addition to a piece of legislation that directs specific funds to projects within districts or states

  • Controversial practice often criticized as pork-barrel spending

• Economic interest group: group advocating on behalf of the financial interests of members

  • Example: Chamber of Commerce representing business interests

• Economic policy: efforts of government to regulate and support the economy to protect and expand citizens' financial well-being and economic prospects

  • Includes fiscal and monetary policies

• Economic recession: period of decline in economic activity, typically defined by two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth

  • Example: The Great Recession of 2008

• Economy: systems and organizations through which a society produces and distributes goods and services

  • Includes sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and services

• Electoral College: constitutionally required process for selecting the president through slates of electors chosen in each state

  • Purpose: Balances power between states and ensures smaller states have a voice

• Elite: small number of individuals who tend to have well-informed and well-reasoned opinions

  • Often influential in shaping public policy

• Elitist theory: theory of democracy that the elites have a disproportionate amount of influence in the policymaking process

  • Criticized for undermining the principle of equal representation

• Entitlement program: program that provides benefits for those who qualify under the law, regardless of income

  • Example: Social Security and Medicare

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• Entrance survey: poll conducted of people coming to an event

  • Used to gather data on attendees' opinions and demographics

• Enumerated powers: powers explicitly granted to the national government through the Constitution

  • Example: Power to coin money and regulate interstate commerce

• Equal protection clause: requires the states to treat all citizens alike with regard to application of the laws

  • Part of the Fourteenth Amendment

• Equal Rights Amendment: proposed but not ratified amendment to the Constitution that sought to guarantee equality of rights based upon sex

  • Example: Equal pay for equal work

• Era of divided government: trend since 1969, in which one party controls one or both houses of Congress and the president is from the opposing party

  • Example: President Obama with a Republican-controlled Congress

• Establishment clause: First Amendment protection against the government requiring citizens to join or support a religion

  • Principle of separation of church and state

• Exclusionary rule: rule that evidence obtained without a warrant is inadmissible in court

  • Protects against unreasonable searches and seizures

• Exclusive powers: powers only the national government may exercise

  • Example: Power to declare war and conduct foreign affairs

• Executive agreement: agreement between a president and another nation that does not require Senate ratification

  • Less formal than a treaty but still binding

• Executive branch: institution responsible for carrying out laws passed by the legislative branch

  • Headed by the president

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• Executive Office of the President: collection of offices within the White House organization designed mainly to provide information to the president

  • Example: National Security Council and Council of Economic Advisers

• Executive order: policy directives issued by presidents that do not require congressional approval

  • Used to implement and interpret existing laws

• Executive privilege: right claimed by presidents to keep certain conversations, records, and transcripts confidential from outside scrutiny, especially that of Congress

  • Controversial power that can be challenged in court

• Exit poll: survey conducted outside a polling place in which individuals are asked who or what they just voted for and why

  • Provides immediate data on voter preferences and motivations

• Ex post facto law: law punishing people for acts that were not crimes at the time they were committed

  • Prohibited by the Constitution

• Expressed or enumerated powers: authority specifically granted to a branch of the government in the Constitution

  • Example: Power to regulate commerce and establish post offices

• Extradition: requirement that officials in one state return a defendant to another state where the crime was committed

  • Ensures criminals face justice in the appropriate jurisdiction

• Faction: group of self-interested people

  • Term used by the Founding Fathers to describe political parties and interest groups

• Federal bureaucracy: departments and agencies within the executive branch that carry out the laws of the nation

  • Example: Department of Defense and Environmental Protection Agency

• Federal civil service: merit-based bureaucracy, excluding the armed forces and political appointments

  • Hires employees based on qualifications and performance rather than political affiliation

• Federal courts of appeals: middle level of the federal judiciary; these courts review and hear appeals from the federal district courts

  • Example: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

• Federal district courts: lowest level of the federal judiciary; these courts usually have original jurisdiction in cases that start at the federal level

  • Example: United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

• Federalism: sharing of power between the national government and the states

  • Principle of decentralization and division of authority

• Federalist: supporter of the proposed Constitution, who called for a strong national government

  • Example: Alexander Hamilton and James Madison

• Federalist No. 10: an essay in which Madison argues that the dangers of faction can be mitigated by a large republic and republican government

  • Advocates for a system of checks and balances

• Federalist No. 51: an essay in which Madison argues that separation of powers and federalism will prevent tyranny

  • Emphasizes the importance of independent branches of government

• Federalist Papers: series of eighty-five essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay and published between 1787 and 1788 that lay out the theory behind the Constitution

  • Influential in shaping public opinion and supporting ratification

• Federal judiciary: branch of the federal government that interprets the laws of the nation

  • Headed by the Supreme Court

• Federal Reserve System: board of governors, Federal Reserve Banks, and member banks responsible for monetary policy

  • Controls the nation's money supply and interest rates

• Federal system: system where power is divided between the national and state governments

  • Example: United States and Germany

• Fifteenth Amendment: constitutional amendment that gave African Americans the right to vote

  • Expanded suffrage and civil rights

• Filibuster: tactic through which an individual senator may use the right of unlimited debate to delay a motion or postpone action on a piece of legislation

  • Used to block or stall legislation

• Fiscal federalism: federal government's use of grants-in-aid to influence policies in the states

  • Example: Medicaid and highway funding

• Fiscal policy: government use of taxes and spending to attempt to lower unemployment, support economic activity, and stabilize the economy

  • Example: Stimulus packages and tax cuts

• Focus group: small group of individuals assembled for a conversation about specific issues

  • Used to gather qualitative data and opinions on a topic

• Formal or enumerated powers: powers of the president expressly granted in the Constitution

  • Example: Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and power to grant pardons

• Fourteenth Amendment: constitutional amendment asserting that persons born in the United States are citizens and prohibits the states from denying persons due process or equal protection under the law

  • Expanded civil rights and equal protection

• Franchise (or suffrage): right to vote in political elections

  • Example: Voting in presidential and congressional elections

• Freedom of expression: fundamental right affirmed in the First Amendment to speak, publish, and protest

  • Protects freedom of speech, press, and assembly

• Free exercise clause: First Amendment protection of the rights of individuals to exercise and express their religious beliefs

  • Principle of religious freedom and non-establishment

• Free rider: individual who enjoys collective goods and benefits from the actions of an interest group without joining

  • Example: Non-union workers benefiting from union negotiations

• Front-loading: decision by a state to push its primary or caucus to an early date in the election season to gain more influence in the presidential nomination process

  • Example: Iowa and New Hampshire holding early primaries

• Faith and credit clause: constitutional clause requiring states to fully recognize the public

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Inalienable rights

• Rights that the government cannot take away.

Incumbency advantage

• Institutional advantages held by those already in office who are trying to fend off challengers in an election.

Incumbent

• A political official who is currently in office.

Independent executive agency

• An agency otherwise similar to cabinet departments but existing outside of the cabinet structure and usually having a narrower focus of mission.

Independent regulatory agency

• An organization that exists outside of the major cabinet departments and whose job is to monitor and regulate specific sectors of the economy.

Individualism

• The belief that individuals should be responsible for themselves and for the decisions they make.

Inflation

• The rise in the prices of goods and services.

Informal powers

• Powers not laid out in the Constitution but used to carry out presidential duties.

Interest group

• A voluntary association of people who come together with the goal of getting the policies that they favor enacted.

Interest rates

• The rates paid to borrow money.

Investigative journalism

• An approach to newsgathering in which reporters dig into stories, often looking for instances of wrongdoing.

Iron triangle

• Coordinated and mutually beneficial activities of the bureaucracy, Congress, and interest groups to achieve shared policy goals.

Issue network

• Webs of influence between interest groups, policymakers, and policy advocates.

Judicial activism

• A philosophy of constitutional interpretation that justices should wield the power of judicial review, sometimes creating bold new policies.

Judicial branch

• The institution responsible for hearing and deciding cases through federal courts.

Judicial restraint

• A philosophy of constitutional interpretation that asserts justices should be cautious in overturning laws.

Judicial review

• The authority of the Supreme Court to strike down a law or executive action if it conflicts with the Constitution.

Laissez-faire or free enterprise

• An economic system in which government intrudes as little as possible in the transactions among citizens and businesses.

Lame duck period

• A period at the end of a presidential term when Congress may block presidential initiatives and nominees.

Legal segregation

• The separation by law of individuals based on their race.

Legislative branch

• The institution responsible for making laws.

Libel

• An untrue written statement that injures a person's reputation.

Liberalism

• An ideology favoring less government control over social behavior and greater regulation of the economy.

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Libertarianism

• An ideology favoring very little government intervention beyond protecting private property and individual liberty.

Liberty

• Social, political, and economic freedoms.

Life-cycle effect

• The impact of a person's age and stage in life on his or her political views.

Linkage institutions

• Channels that connect individuals with government, including elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.

Lobbying

• Interacting with government officials in order to advance a group's public policy goals.

Logrolling

• Trading of votes on legislation by members of Congress to get their earmarks passed into legislation.

Majority-minority district

• A district in which voters of a minority ethnicity constitute an electoral majority within that electoral district.

Majority opinion

• Binding Supreme Court opinions, which serve as precedent for future cases.

Majority party leader

• The head of the party with the most seats in Congress, chosen by the party's members.

Malapportionment

• The uneven distribution of the population between legislative districts.

Mandatory spending

• Spending required by existing laws that is "locked in" the budget.

Marbury V. Madison (1803)

• A Supreme Court decision that established judicial review over federal laws.

Markup

• A process during which a bill is revised prior to a final vote in Congress.

Mass media

• Sources of information that appeal to a wide audience, including newspapers, radio, television, and Internet outlets.

Mass survey

• A survey designed to measure the opinions of the population, usually consisting of 1,500 responses.

Media consolidation

• The concentration of ownership of the media into fewer corporations.

Media effects

• The power of the news media in shaping individuals' political knowledge, preferences, and political behavior.

Medicaid

• A federal program that provides health care for the poor.

Medicare

• A federal program that provides health insurance to seniors and the disabled.

Merit system

• A system of hiring and promotion based on competitive testing results, education, and other qualifications rather than politics and personal connections.

Minority leader

• The head of the party with the second-highest number of seats in Congress, chosen by the party's members.

Miranda rights

• The right to remain silent and to have an attorney present during questioning; these rights must be given by police to individuals suspected of criminal activity.

Mixed economy

• Economic policy in which many economic decisions are left to individuals and businesses with the federal government regulating economic activity.

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Political Ideology

• An individual's coherent set of beliefs about government and politics.

Political Institutions

• The structure of government, including the executive, legislature, and judiciary.

Political Mobilization

• Efforts by political parties to encourage their members to vote.

Political Participation

• The different ways in which individuals take action to shape the laws and policies of a government.

Political Party

• An organized group of party leaders, officeholders, and voters who work together to elect candidates to political office.

Political Patronage

• Filling administrative positions as a reward for support, rather than solely on merit.

Political Science

• The systematic study of the ways in which ideas, individuals, and institutions shape political outcomes.

Political Socialization

• The experiences and factors that shape our political values, attitudes, and behaviors.

Politico Role Representation

• Members of Congress balance their choices with the interests of their constituents and parties in making decisions.

Politics

• The process of influencing the actions and policies of government.

Popular Sovereignty

• The idea that the government's right to rule comes from the people.

Pork Barrel Spending

• Legislation that directs specific funds to projects within districts or states.

Precedent

• A judicial decision that guides future courts in handling similar cases.

Presidential Pardon

• Presidential authority to forgive an individual and set aside punishment for a crime.

Primary Election

• An election in which a state's voters choose delegates who support a particular presidential candidate for nomination or an election by a plurality vote to select a party's nominee for a seat in Congress.

Prior Restraint

• The suppression of material prior to publication on the grounds that it might endanger national security.

Privacy

• A right not enumerated in the Constitution but affirmed by Supreme Court decisions that covers individuals' decisions in their private lives, including decisions regarding reproductive rights and sexuality.

Privilege

• Something subject to political process.

Privileges and Immunities Clause

• Prevents states from discriminating against people from out of state.

Probable Cause

• Reasonable belief that a crime has been committed or that there is evidence indicating so.

Procedural Due Process

• A judicial standard requiring that fairness be applied to all individuals equally.

Proportional Representation System

• An election system for a legislature in which citizens vote for parties, rather than individuals, and parties are represented in the legislature according to the percentage of the vote they receive.

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Prospective Voting

• Casting a ballot for a candidate who promises to enact policies favored by the voter in the future.

Protest

• A public demonstration designed to call attention to the need for change.

Public Interest Group

• A group that acts on behalf of the collective interests of a broad group of individuals.

Public Opinion

• The sum of individual attitudes about government, policies, and issues.

Public Policy

• The intentional use of governmental power to secure the health, welfare, opportunities, and national security of citizens.

Question Order

• The sequencing of questions in public opinion polls.

Question Wording

• The phrasing of a question in a public opinion poll.

Random Digit Dialing

• The use of telephone numbers randomly generated by a computer to select potential survey respondents.

Random Selection

• A method of choosing all poll respondents in a way that does not over- or underrepresent any group of the population.

Rational Choice Voting

• Voting based on what a citizen believes is in his or her best interest.

Realignment

• When the groups of people who support a political party shift their allegiance to a different political party.

Recruitment

• The process through which political parties identify potential candidates.

Redistricting

• States' redrawing of boundaries of electoral districts following each census.

Registration Requirements

• The set of rules that govern who can vote and how, when, and where they vote.

Regulation

• The process through which the federal bureaucracy makes rules that have the force of law, to carry out the laws passed by Congress.

Representative Democracy

• A political system in which voters select representatives who then vote on matters of public policy.

Representative Sample

• A sample that reflects the demographics of the population.

Republic

• A government ruled by representatives of the people.

Republicanism

• A system in which the government's authority comes from the people.

Reserved Powers

• Powers not given to the national government, which are retained by the states and the people.

Retrospective Voting

• Voting based on an assessment of an incumbent's past performance.

Revenue Sharing

• When the federal government apportions tax money to the states with no strings attached.

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Revolving Door

• The movement of individuals between government and lobbying positions.

Right

• Something fundamental to which all have access.

Roll-Call Vote

• A recorded vote on a bill.

Rulemaking

• The process through which the federal bureaucracy fills in critical details of a law.

Rule of Law

• The principle that no one, including public officials, is above the law.

Sample

• A group of individuals from a larger population used to measure public opinion.

Sampling Error

• The margin of error in a poll, which usually is calculated to plus or minus three percentage points.

Scientific Poll

• A representative poll of randomly selected respondents with a statistically significant sample size using neutral language.

Selective Benefit

• Benefit available only to those who join the group.

Selective Incorporation

• The process through which the Supreme Court applies fundamental rights in the Bill of Rights to the states on a case-by-case basis.

Senate Majority Leader

• The person who has the most power in the Senate and is the head of the party with the most seats.

Separate but Equal

• The doctrine that racial segregation was constitutional so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal.

Separation of Powers

• A design of government that distributes powers across institutions in order to avoid making one branch too powerful on its own.

Shays's Rebellion

• A popular uprising against the government of Massachusetts.

Signing Statement

• Text issued by presidents while signing a bill into law that usually consists of political statements or reasons for signing the bill but that may also include a president's interpretation of the law itself.

Single-Issue Group

• Association focusing on one specific area of public policy, often a moral issue about which they are unwilling to compromise.

Single-Member Plurality System

• An election system for choosing members of the legislature where the winner is the candidate who receives the most votes, even if the candidate does not receive a majority of the votes.

Slander

• An untrue spoken expression that injures a person's reputation.

Social Contract

• People allow their governments to rule over them to ensure an orderly and functioning society.

Social Insurance Programs

• Programs such as Social Security that are financed by payroll taxes paid by individuals and that do not have income-based requirements to receive their benefits.

Social Media

• Forms of electronic communication that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.

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Social Movement

• Large groups of citizens organizing for political change.

Social Welfare Policies

• Governmental efforts designed to improve or protect the health, safety, education, and opportunities for citizens and residents.

Socioeconomic Status (SES)

• A measure of an individual's wealth, income, occupation, and educational attainment.

Speaker of the House

• The leader of the House of Representatives, chosen by an election of its members.

Split-Ticket Voting

• Voting for candidates from different parties in the same election.

Standing

• The legal ability to bring a case in court.

Stare Decisis

• The practice of letting a previous legal decision stand.

State of the Union Address

• The annual speech from the president to Congress updating that branch on the state of national affairs.

Statute

• A written law established by a legislative body.

Straight-Ticket Voting

• Voting for all of the candidates on the ballot from one political party.

Suffrage

• The right to vote in political elections.

Superdelegate

• Usually, a party leader or activist who is not pledged to a candidate based on the outcomes of the state's primary or caucus.

Super PAC

• An organization that may spend an unlimited amount of money on a political campaign, as long as the spending is not coordinated with the campaign.

Supremacy Clause

• Constitutional provision declaring that the Constitution and all national laws and treaties are the supreme law of the land.

Supreme Court

• The highest level of the federal judiciary, which was established in Article III of the Constitution and serves as the highest court in the nation.

Swing State

• A state where levels of support for the parties are similar and elections swing back and forth between Democrats and Republicans.

Symbolic Speech

• Protected expression in the form of images, signs, and other symbols.

Tenth Amendment

• Reserves powers not delegated to the national government to the states and the people; the basis of federalism.

Terrorism

• The use of violence as a means to achieve political ends.

Theory of Participatory Democracy

• The belief that citizens impact policymaking through their involvement in civil society.

Third Party

• A minor political party in competition with the two major parties.

Thirteenth Amendment

• Constitutional amendment that outlaws slavery.

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• Three-Fifths Compromise:

  • Agreement reached by delegates at the Constitutional Convention

  • Slave counted as three-fifths of a person in calculating a state's representation

• Title IX of the Higher Education Amendments of 1972:

  • Legislation prohibiting sex discrimination in schools receiving federal aid

  • Increased female participation in sports programs

• Tracking poll:

  • Survey determining the level of support for a candidate or an issue throughout a campaign

• Treaty:

  • Agreement with a foreign government negotiated by the president

  • Requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate to ratify

• Trustee role:

  • Idea that members of Congress should act as trustees

  • Make decisions based on their knowledge and judgment

• Twenty-Fourth Amendment:

  • Prohibits Congress and the states from imposing poll taxes as a condition for voting in federal elections

• Twenty-Sixth Amendment:

  • Allows those eighteen years old and older to vote

• Two-party system:

  • System in which two political parties dominate politics

  • Winning almost all elections

• Tyranny of the majority:

  • Large number of citizens use the power of their majority to trample on the rights of a smaller group

• Tyranny of the minority:

  • Small number of citizens trample on the rights of the larger population

• Unanimous consent agreement:

  • Agreement in the Senate that sets the terms for consideration of a bill

• Unemployment rate:

  • Percentage of people actively looking for work who cannot find jobs

• Unfunded mandate:

  • Federal requirement the states must follow without being provided with funding

• Unicameral:

  • One-house legislature

• Unitary system:

  • System where the central government has all of the power over subnational governments

• Veto:

  • Formal rejection by the president of a bill that has passed both houses of Congress

• Virginia Plan:

  • Plan of government calling for a three-branch government with a bicameral legislature

  • More populous states would have more representation in Congress

• Voter turnout:

  • Number of eligible voters who participate in an election as a percentage of the total number of eligible voters

• Voting Rights Act of 1965:

  • Legislation outlawing literacy tests

  • Authorizing the Justice Department to send federal officers to register voters in uncooperative cities, counties, and states

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• War Powers Resolution:

  • Law passed over President Nixon's veto

  • Restricts the power of the president to maintain troops in combat for more than sixty days without congressional authorization

• Warrant:

  • Document issued by a judge authorizing a search

• Weighting:

  • Procedure in which the survey is adjusted according to the demographics of the larger population

• Whip:

  • Member of Congress chosen by his or her party members

  • Ensures party unity and discipline

• Winner-take-all system:

  • System of elections in which the candidate who wins the plurality of votes within a state receives all of that state's votes in the Electoral College

• Wire service:

  • Organization that gathers and reports on news

  • Sells the stories to other outlets

• W