Term Quiz (1-8)
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Created by:
hklein1318 on February 23, 2012
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123 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Enabling Act | A law passed by Congress that allows a territory to write a state constitution |
| Reserved Powers | Powers that are not granted to the national government but are given to the states |
| Informal Amendments | Changes to the Constitution based on the daily experiences in government |
| Magna Carta | Document signed by King John I in 1215; First document to limit power of the king |
| Extradition | The legal process by which a fugitive of one state is returned to the state where the crime was committed |
| Concurrent Powers | Powers that are held by both the national government and the states |
| State | A group of people living in a defined territory, organized politically with absolute sovereignty within its borders |
| Second Continental Congress | In 1775, it served as the first unofficial government of the United States in which the unicameral Congress exercised limited powers |
| Block Grant | Type of grant that allows a state to use money for a broad purpose, such as infrastructure, without any conditions |
| Full Faith and Credit Clause | Allows each state to respect and honor the laws and public records of other states |
| Judicial Review | Allows the courts to determine whether a law is constitutional |
| Expressed Powers | Powers that are specifically stated within the Constitution |
| Confederation | A loose alliance of independent states with a weak central government |
| Albany Plan of the Union | Proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1754; Suggested an annual Congress that would meet to discuss trade problems and attacks by Native Americans |
| Stamp Act Congress | During this event, the colonists wrote the Declaration of Rights and Grievances to protest unfair taxes that they were subjected to by the British |
| Government | The institution through which society makes and enforces its public policies |
| Framers | The delegates who gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 to create the Constitution |
| Anarchy | The absence of government; Chaos |
| Virginia Plan | Presented by James Madison and Edmund Randolph; Created a strong national government, three distinct branches of government, and a bicameral legislature |
| Parliamentary Government | Type of Government in which the Prime Minister or Premier and his Cabinet members are chosen by the majority of the members of the legislature |
| Popular Sovereignty | The government principle that the people are the source of all government power and the government can exist only with the consent of the governed |
| English Bill of Rights | Document signed by William and Mary in 1689 which granted more freedoms to English citizens |
| Federal Government | Type of government in which the powers are divided between the central government and the state/local governments |
| Committees of Correspondence | Formed by Samuel Adams in 1772 to communicate with other colonies about the atrocities committed by the British |
| New Jersey Plan | Proposed by William Paterson; Retained the unicameral Congress established by the Articles of Confederation in which each state was equally represented |
| Ratification | Formal approval |
| Direct Democracy | Type of government in which the laws are made by the citizens themselves |
| First Continental Congress | Comprised of twelve of the thirteen colonies; Colonists decided to boycott all English goods in hopes of avoiding war |
| Categorical Grant | Type of grant that can only be used for a very specific purpose (i.e. SAT prep classes) in which the state must contribute its own money and create an agency to make sure that the funds are managed properly |
| Inherent Powers | Powers that are given to all sovereign nations in the world |
| Three-Fifths Compromise | Adopted at the Constitutional Convention; Determined that slaves would count in the population for representation in Congress but only as partial persons |
| Privileges and Immunities Clause | Determines that states cannot make unreasonable distinctions between its state residents and those who reside in other states |
| Federalists | The group of people who supported the ratification of the Constitution |
| Public Policies | All of the important issues that the government decides to focus on, such as healthcare or taxes |
| Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise | Did not allow Congress to interfere with the slave trade for at least twenty years or tax the exports from any state |
| Petition of Right | Signed by King Charles I in 1628; Further limited the powers of the king and granted more power to Parliament |
| Autocracy | A form of dictatorship in which there is one supreme ruler who is usually self-appointed |
| Executive Agreement | A contract between the President and a foreign head of state without the approval of the Senate |
| Anti-Federalists | The group of people who opposed the ratification of the Constitution |
| Federalism | The government principle that divides government power between a central government and state/local governments |
| Connecticut Compromise | Established a bicameral legislature in which the House of Representatives would be based on population and in the Senate each state would be represented equally |
| Presidential Government | Type of government in which the executive and legislative branches are separate but equal |
| Rule of Law | The idea that all government officials must obey the laws and that they are not superior to the law |
| Formal Amendment | A written change to the Constitution |
| Articles of Confederation | (1777) First written plan of government for all thirteen colonies |
| Separation of Powers | The idea that government powers should be divided among three distinct branches |
| Dictatorship | Type of government in which the rulers are not responsible to the will of the people |
| Coalition | A group of people with diverse interests who come together for a common purpose such as electing a certain candidate to office |
| Multiparty System | System that contains several major and minor political parties that regularly compete for political office and win elections |
| Bipartisan | When both Democrats and Republicans work together to support a particular law or government program |
| Platform | All of a political party's positions on the key issues |
| Plurality | In an election, the number of votes that the leading candidate receives over the next highest candidate |
| Political Party | A group of people who seek to control government by winning elections and holding public office |
| Moderates | People who do not identify with either the Republicans or Democrats; They are usually registered non-partisan or independent |
| Single-Member District | An electoral district from which one person is chosen by the voters for each elected office |
| Radicals | People who want to make sweeping social, political, and economic changes in government |
| Unitary Government | Type of government in which the power is held by a single, central government which creates local governments to carry out the work of that central agency |
| Canvas | To go door-to-door to try and persuade voters to vote for a particular candidate |
| Conservatives | People who want to keep things the same in government with very little, if any, political, economic, and social changes |
| Suffrage | The right to vote |
| Electorate | All of the people who are eligible to vote in the population |
| Precinct | A voting district |
| Incumbent | Someone who runs for re-election for the office that he/she currently holds |
| Gerrymandering | The drawing of electoral district lines to limit the strength of a particular party or group |
| Split-Ticket Voting | To vote for different parties in the same election |
| Splinter Parties | Minor parties that break off from one of the major parties; They usually rally around a dynamic leader |
| Injunction | A court order that forces or limits the performance of some act by a private individual or by a public official |
| Ward | A unit into which cities are often divided for the election of city council members |
| Liberals | People who believe in social, political, and economic changes, but are willing to compromise to achieve these goals |
| Ideological Parties | Minor parties based on a particular set of social, economic, or political beliefs; Usually centered on the ideas of Karl Marx |
| Oligarchy | Type of government run by a small group (usually self-appointed) that has unlimited political power |
| Political Efficacy | One's own influence or effectiveness on politics |
| Caucus | A group of like-minded people who meet to select the candidates they will support in the upcoming election |
| Open Primary | Primary election in which any qualified voter may take part in the electoral process; Voters either choose which party's candidates they would like to vote for, or they make a private choice within the voting booth |
| Absentee Ballot | Allows citizens who are unable to get to their regular polling places on Election Day to cast their ballots ahead of time |
| Subsidy | A grant of money that comes from the government |
| Party Identification | The loyalty of people to a particular political party |
| Straight-Ticket Voting | To vote for all the candidates of one political party in an election |
| Midterm Elections | Congressional elections that occur between presidential election years |
| Implied Powers | Powers of the government that are not directly written in the Constitution, but are justified by laws stated in the Constitution |
| Two-Party System | System in which Democrats and Republicans regularly compete for and win public office |
| Runoff Primary | An additional election in which the top two vote-getters face each other after no candidate received a majority of the votes in the first election |
| Political Socialization | The process by which people gain their political attitudes and opinions |
| General Election | The regularly scheduled election in November in which voters make their final selections of candidates for public office |
| Coattail Effect | The effect of a strong candidate running for an office at the top of the ballot helping to attract voters to other candidates on the party's ticket |
| Sovereign | ruler |
| Democracy | supreme political authority rests with people; people hold sovereign power and government conduct only with conset of people |
| Bicameral | legislative body composed by 2 chambers |
| Checks and Balances | system of overlapping the powers of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches to permit each branch to check the actions of the others |
| Treaty | formal amendment between two or more sovereign states |
| Exclusive Powers | those powers that can be exercised by the National Government alone |
| Supremacy clause | Constitution stands above al other forms of law |
| Act of admission | congessional act admitting a new state to the union |
| Project grant | one type of federal grants; made for specific projects to the States, localities, and private agencies who apply for them |
| Interstate Compacts | formal agreement entered into with the consent of Congress, between or among States, or between a State and foreign state |
| Political party | group of people who seek to control government by winning elections and holding public office |
| Partisanship | government action based on firm allegiance to a political party |
| Minor party | one of the political parties not widely supported |
| Plurality | the number of votes that the leading candidate obtains over the next highest candidate |
| Reactionaries | a person who opposed political or social change; absolute same or return to ways of an earlier time period; right wing |
| Single-Issue Parties | parties that concentrate on only one publi policy matter (once adopted --> party drops; aka plank party) |
| Economic Protest Party | parties rooted in poor economic times, lacking a clear ideological base, dissatisfied with current condition and demanding better times |
| Literacy Tests | outlawed in 1965; first one in CT ti orevent Irish Catholics from voting; written tests difficult to see if educated enough to vote; prevent minorities from voting |
| Poll Tax | a special tax, demanded by Statesm as a condition of voting (outlawed in 66) |
| Closed Primary | a party nominating election in which only declared party members can vote |
| Office-group ballot | original form of Australian ballot; candidates for an office are grouped together under the title of that office (aka Massachusetts ballot or office-block ballot) |
| Party-Column ballot | lists each party's candidates in a column under the party's name (encourages straight-ticket voting) |
| Political Action Committee (PAC) | poltical arm of special interest groups which have a major stake in public policy |
| Hard Money | campaign money that is given directly to a candidate and is subject to regulations by the FEC |
| Soft Money | money given to a State and local party organizations for voting-related activities |
| Public Opinion | attitudes that are shared by many peopel in the population regarding government and politics |
| Opinion Leaders | any person who, for any reason, has an unusually strong influence on the views of others |
| Mandate | instructions or commands that the electorate gives a public office |
| Interest groups | private organizations whose members share certain views and work to shape public policy |
| Public Opinion poll | devices that attempt to collect information by asking people questions |
| Straw Vote | type of poll that aks one question to a large number of people |
| Random Sample | a certain number of randomly selected people who live in a certain number of randomly selected places |
| Quota Sample | sample deliberately constructed to reflect several of the major characteristics of a given population |
| Sound bite | a 30-45 second clip that shows someone doing something exciting |
| Public Agenda | the public issues on which the peoples attention is focused |
| Sportscenter Effect | the way that the national news media only skims the news without going into in-depth coverage of important topics |
| Trade Association | an interest group specifically within business community |
| Labor Union | an organization of workers who share the same type of job or who work in the same industry |
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