| Term | Definition |
|---|
| power | the ability of one person to get another person to act in accordance with the first person's intentions |
| authority | the right to use power |
| legitimacy | political authority conferred by law or by a state or national constitution |
| democracy | the rule of many |
| direct democracy | a government in which all or most citizens participate directly (aka participatory democracy) |
| representative democracy | a government in which leaders make decisions by winning a competitive struggle for a popular vote |
| elite | persons who possess a disproportionate share of power of some valued resource, like money or power |
| Marxist view | view that the government is dominated by capitalists |
| power elite view | view that the government is dominated by a few top leaders, most of whom are outside of government |
| bureaucratic view | view that the government is dominated by appointed officials |
| pluralistic view | the belief that competition among all affected intrests shapes public policy |
| hyperpluralism | groups are so strong that government is weakened. Extreme, exaggerated form of pluralism |
| unalienable | a human right based on nature or God |
| Articles of Confederation | a weak constitution that governed America during the Revolutionary War |
| Constitutional Convention | meeting in Philadelphia in 1787 that produced a new constitution |
| Shay's Rebellion | a 1787 rebellion in which ex-Revolutionary War soldiers attempted to prevent foreclosures of farms as a result of high interest rates and taxes |
| Virginia Plan | proposal to create a strong national government |
| New Jersey Plan | proposal to create a weak national government |
| Great Compromise | plan to have a popularly elected House based on state population and a state-elected senate, with two members for each state |
| republic | a government in which elected representatives make the decision |
| judicial review | the power of the courts to declare laws unconstitutional |
| federalism | government authority shared by national and state government |
| checks and balances | authority shared by three branches of government |
| enumerated powers | powers given to the national government alone |
| reserved powers | powers given to the state government alone |
| concurrent powers | powers shared by the national and state government |
| seperation of powers | constitutional authority is shared by three different branches of government |
| faction | a group with a distinct political interest |
| Federalists | those who favor a stronger national government |
| Antifederalists | those who favor a weaker national government |
| coalition | an alliance of factions |
| habeas corpus | an order to produce an arrested person before a judge |
| bill of attainder | a law that declares a person, without a trial, to be guilty of a crime |
| ex post facto law | a law that makes an act criminal although the act was legal when it was committed |
| Bill of Rights | the first 10 amendments to the Constitution |
| amendment | a new provision in the Constitution that has been ratified by the states |
| line-item veto | an executive's ability to block a particular provision in a bill passed by the legislature |
| devolution | the effort to transfer responsibility for many public programs and services from the federal government to the states |
| block grants | money from the national government that states can spend within broad guidelines determined by Washington |
| "necessary and proper" clause | section of the Constitution allowing Congress to pass all laws "necessary and proper" to its duties, and which has permitted Congress to exercise powers not specifically given to it (enumerated) by the Constitution |
| nullification | the doctrine that a state can declare null and void a federal law that, in the state's opinion, violates the Constitution |
| dual federalism | doctrine holding that the national government is supreme in its sphere, the states are supreme in theirs, and two spheres should be kept seperate |
| police power | state power to enact laws promoting health, safety, and morals |
| initiative | process that permits voters to put legislative measures directly on the ballot |
| referendum | procedure enabling voters to reject a measure passed by the legislature |
| recall | procedure whereby voters can remove an elected official from office |
| grants-in-aid | money given by the national government to the states |
| categorical grants | federal grants for specific purposes, such as building an airport |
| revenue sharing | federal sharing of a fixed percentage of its revenue with the states |
| conditions of aid | terms set by the national government that states must meet if they are to receive certain federal funds |
| mandates | terms set by the national government that the states must meet whether or not they accept federal grants |
| political culture | a coherent way of thinking about how politics and government ought to be carried out |
| civic duty | a belief that one has an obligation to participate in civic and political affairs |
| civic competence | a belief that one can affect government policies |
| class consciousness | a belief that you are a member of an economic group whose interests are opposed to people in other such groups |
| orthodox | a belief that morality and religion ought to be decisive importance |
| progressive | a belief that personal freedom and solving social problems are more important than religion |
| political efficacy | a belief that you can take part in politics (internal efficacy) or that the government will respond to the citizenry (external efficacy) |
| internal efficacy | the ability to understand and take part in politics |
| external efficacy | the willingness of the state to respond to the citizenry |
| public opinion | how people think or feel about particular things |
| poll | a survey of public opinion |
| random sample | method of selecting from a population in which each person has an equal probability of being selected |
| sampling error | the difference between the results of random samples taken at the same time |
| exit polls | polls based on interviews conducted on Election Day with randomly selected voters |
| political socialization | process by which background traits influence one's political views |
| elite | people who have a disproportionate amount of some valued resource |
| gender gap | difference in political views between men and women |
| political ideology | more or less consistent set of beliefs about what policies government ought to pursue |
| political elites | persons with a disproportionate share of political power |
| norm | a standard of right or proper conduct |
| voting-age population | citizens who are eligible to vote after reaching the minimum age requirement |
| registered voters | people who are registered to vote |
| literacy test | a requirement that citizens pass a literacy test in order to register to vote |
| poll tax | a requirement that citizens pay a tax in order to register to vote |
| grandfather clause | a clause in registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867 |
| white primary | the practice of keeping blacks from voting in the southern states' primaries through arbitary use of registration requirements and intimidation |
| Australian ballot | a government-printed ballot of uniform dimensions to be cast in secret that many states adopted around 1890 to reduce voting fraud assocated with party-printed cast in public |
| activists | people who tend to participate in all form of politics |
Combine with other sets
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace