American Government & Politics – Key Vocabulary

Constitutional & Statutory Foundations

• Bill of Rights & Select Amendments
  • 1^{st}\,Amendment – Basis for Establishment and Free-Exercise clauses; shields most speech, press, assembly, petition.
  • 4^{th}\,Amendment – Bars warrantless searches / seizures; exclusionary rule (see Mapp).
  • 5^{th}\,Amendment – Protects against self-incrimination; forms half of “Miranda” warning; due-process clause (federal).
  • 6^{th}\,Amendment – Procedural guarantees for criminal defendants (speedy public trial, impartial jury, confrontation, counsel).
  • 8^{th}\,Amendment – Prohibits excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel & unusual punishment.
  • 14^{th}\,Amendment – Birthright citizenship, due process, equal protection; textual hook for incorporation doctrine.

• Key Clauses Interpreted by the Court
  • Establishment Clause – Government must remain religiously neutral; no endorsement or hostility.
  • Free-Exercise Clause – Religion may be practiced unless practice violates valid laws or endangers public safety.
  • Commerce Clause – Congress may regulate interstate commerce; scope fluctuates (Reich, Lopez contrasts).
  • Supremacy / Pre-emption – Federal statutes override conflicting state law (basis of US v. Arizona).
  • Mandates – Federal requirements imposed on states (e.g., drinking‐age grant strings, Medicaid expansions).

Incorporation Doctrine & Levels of Federalism

• Barron v. Baltimore (1833) – Pre-14th ruling: Bill of Rights bound only federal gov’t.
• Incorporation Doctrine – Gradual case-by-case application of specific amendments to the states via 14^{th} due-process clause (e.g., Gitlow, Gideon, McDonald).
• Dual Federalism (“layer-cake”) – Distinct, non-overlapping spheres of state vs. national authority (roughly pre-New Deal).
• Cooperative Federalism (“marble-cake”) – Shared, intertwined policy areas; categorical grants, joint programs.
• Mandates & Pre-emption – Instruments the national gov’t uses within cooperative model.

Supreme Court Landmark Cases

• Speech & Expression
  • Schenck v. US (1919) – Speech may be curtailed when creating a “clear & present danger.”
  • Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) – Refined test: state may restrict only if speech is intended and likely to produce “imminent lawless action.”
  • Roth v. US (1957) – Obscenity not protected by 1^{st} Amendment.
  • Miller v. California (1973) – Obscenity judged by local “community standards” (three-part Miller test).

• Religion
  • Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) – Aid to religious schools constitutional if it:

  1. Has clear secular purpose,
  2. Neither advances nor inhibits religion,
  3. Avoids “excessive entanglement.” (Lemon test).

• Privacy / Reproductive Rights
  • Roe v. Wade (1973) – Recognized trimester framework; first-trimester abortions shielded.
  • Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) – Abandons trimesters; upholds right absent “undue burden.”
  • Dobbs v. Jackson (2022) – Overturns Roe/Casey; authority returns to states; illustrates doctrine reversal.

• Criminal Procedure
  • Mapp v. Ohio (1961) – Exclusionary rule applies to states; deters illegal search.
  • Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) – Indigent felony defendants entitled to state-funded counsel.
  • Miranda v. Arizona (1966) – Police must advise suspects of rights (silence, lawyer); ensures knowing waiver.

• Cruel & Unusual Punishment
  • Estelle v. Ruiz (1980, TX) – Prison conditions found to violate 8^{th} Amendment.

• Gun Policy & Commerce
  • US v. Lopez (1995) – Struck federal Gun-Free School Zones Act; gun possession ≠ interstate commerce.
  • McDonald v. Chicago (2010) – Incorporated individual right to keep firearms against the states (building on Heller).
  • Reich v. Gonzalez (2005; often referenced as Gonzales v. Raich) – Federal ban on marijuana trumped CA medical cannabis; broad commerce power.

• Immigration & Pre-emption
  • US v. Arizona (2012) – Court voided key parts of AZ immigration law; immigration enforcement is predominantly federal.

Political Parties & Electoral Mechanics

• Party Organization Layers
  • Party-in-Electorate – Voter identifiers; mobilizes majorities in winner-take-all contests.
  • Party-in-Government – Elected officeholders; build legislative coalitions for policymaking.
  • Party Organization – Formal apparatus recruiting candidates, fundraising, GOTV.

• Party Machines & Patronage
  • City-level entities (e.g., Tammany Hall) trading jobs, contracts (\textit{patronage}) and sometimes coercion for votes.

• Party Coalitions & Internal Conflict
  • Coalition – Collection of demographic / interest groups aligned with party.
  • Bifactionalization – When two or more sub-coalitions clash (e.g., progressive vs. moderate Democrats).

• Electoral Phenomena
  • Two-Party System – Product of single-member, plurality (“first-past-the-post”) districts – Duverger's\,Law predicts two dominant parties.
  • Primary Elections – Intra-party contests to nominate general-election candidate.
  • Party Platform – Codified statement of values and policy planks adopted at conventions.
  • Affective Polarization – Voters develop strong positive affect toward own party, negative toward opposition (tribal mentality).
  • Negative Partisanship – Voters motivated chiefly by dislike of other party rather than support for their own.

Defamation & Torts

• Libel – Written defamatory falsehood harming reputation; plaintiffs may seek compensatory & punitive damages; public figures must show “actual malice” (knowledge of falsity).

Practical / Ethical Implications & Connections

• Incorporation and selective application highlight tension between state sovereignty and national guarantees.
• Obscenity, abortion, and gun cases show Court as arbiter of evolving community standards vs. individual rights.
• Federalism cases underscore pendulum between broad commerce power and states’ police powers.
• Party phenomena illustrate how institutional design (e.g., winner-take-all elections) shapes behavioral polarization.
• Criminal-procedure precedents enforce ethical policing and fair trials but spur debate over crime control vs. civil liberties.