GOV FINAL VOCAB
Criminal Law: Branch of law that regulates the conduct of individuals, defines crimes and specifies punishments for criminal acts.
Plaintiff: party that brings charges to court
Defendants: those who are found guilty of charges brought against them; may be fined or sent to jail
Civil Law: Branch of law that deals with disputes that do not involve criminal penalties
Precedent: A prior case whose principles are used by judges as the basis for their decision in present case
Trial Court: The 1st court to hear a case
Court of Appeals
Appellant: the party filing an appeal
Supreme Court: The highest court in the state.
Plea Bargain: A negotiated agreement in a criminal case in which a defendant agrees to plead guilty in return for the state’s agreement to reduce the severity of the criminal charge
Jurisdiction: sphere of power & authority of the federal courts
Original jurisdiction: the authority to consider a case initially
Of due process of law: the right of every individual against arbitrary action by national or state governments
Writ of habeas corpus: a court order that the individual in custody be brought into court and shown the cause for detention
Judicial Review: power of courts to review and, if necessary, declare laws or executive actions invalid or unconstitutional. U.S Constitution does not mention judicial review; power comes from Marbury v. Madison (1803).
Supremacy Clause: laws passed by the national government and all treaties are the supreme law of land and superior to all laws adopted by any state
Standing: A substantial stake in the outcome of the case
Mootness: A criterion used to dismiss cases that no longer require a resolution
Writ of certiorari: a decision of at least 4 of the 9 Supreme Court justices to review a lower-court decision
Solicitor general: the top government lawyer in all cases before the U.S Supreme Court in which gov. Is a party
Amicus curiae: “friend of the court”
Judicial restraint: Judicial philosophy whose adherents refuse to go beyond the clear words of Constitution in interpreting the document’s meaning
Judicial activism: Judicial philosophy that posits that the Court should go beyond the words of the Constitution or a statute to consider the broader societal implication of its decisions
Domestic Policy Council(DPC): drives the development and implementation of the President’s domestic policy agenda in the White House & across the Federal government
Fiscal Policy: the government’s use of taxing, monetary, & spending powers to manipulate the economy
Tariffs: Taxes on imported goods
Progressive taxes vs. Regressive taxes
Progressive: the rate of taxation hits upper income brackets more heavily
Regressive: burden lower-income brackets more heavily
Redistribution: raise revenue and reduce disparities in wealth
Budget deficit
National debt
Subsidies: gov. Grants of cash or commodities to support certain economic sectors
Contracting power: allows the government to set conditions on companies selling goods or services to government agencies
Monetary policies: efforts to regulate the economy through the manipulation of the supply of money and credit
Federal Reserve System
Antitrust Policy: government’s efforts to regulate large businesses that have est. monopolies in some marker
Monopoly: a single firm in a market that controls all the goods and services of the market, no competition
Deregulation
Laissez- faire capitalism: government should do little in managing economy
Keynesian economics
Supply-side economics
Welfare State: the collection of policies a nation must promote and protect the economic and social well-being of its citizens
Contributory programs: social program financed in whole or in part by taxation or other mandatory contributions by their present or future recipients ; Social security & medicare
Indexing: a periodic process of adjusting social benefits or wages to account for increase in the cost of living
Noncontributory programs: “social assistance programs”; social programs that aid people based on demonstrated need rather than any contribution they have made
Medicaid: federally and state-financed, state-operated program providing medical services to low-income people
Equality of opportunity
Hard power: the use of military and economic means to influence the behavior or interests of other political bodies
Soft power: the ability to attract co-opt rather than coerce
Nation-states
Non-state actors: groups other than nation-states that attempt to play a role in the international system; example is terrorist groups
Isolationism: avoidance of involvement in the affairs of other nations
Containment: a policy designed to curtail the political and military expansion of a hostile power
Preventive war: a policy of striking first when a nation fears that a foreign foe is contemplating hostile action
Appeasement: an effort to forestall war by giving in to the demands of a hostile power
Deterrence: an effort to prevent hostile action by promising to retaliate forcefully against an attacker
Bush Doctrine: based on the idea that the US should take preemptive action against threats to its security
Executive agreements: agreements between the president and another country that have the force of a treaty but do not require Senate approval
Diplomacy representation of a government to other govs.
International Monetary Fund: provides loans and facilitates international monetary exchanges