AP Government
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49 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 affirmative system | govt mandated progs that seek to creat special employment opprotunities for AAs, women, and other victims of past discrim |
| appellate jurisdiction | courts whose role is to hear appeals from lower courts |
| blanket primary | election in which voters may select a cand from any party for each office |
| bread and butter issues | polit issues secific directd at the daily concerns of most working class amers |
| categorical grants | fed aid given to states with string attached; to get $ states must agree to guidelines for spending it |
| caucus | meeting of local party members for the purpose of choosing delegates to a natl party convention |
| civil rights act of 1964 | fed law that made segregation illegal in most public places, w/held fed aid from schools that discrim on basis of race/gender, incr penalties/sents for those convicted of discrim in emp |
| civil service system | method of hiring fed emps based on merit |
| closed primary | voting is restricted to registered members of a political party |
| concurrent powers | constitutional pwrs shared by the fed and state govts |
| conference commitee | cong committee that includes reps of both houses of cong; purpose is to settle differences b/w HOR and Senate versions of bills |
| cloture | motion in the senate to end debate, often used in the event of a filibuster; reqs 3/5 majority of the senate |
| cooperative federalism | system in which the natl and state govts share many pwrs |
| dealignment | voters act incr indep of a party affiliation; result of TV b/c cands can appeal directly to the electorate w/o relying on their party; conseq= ticket splitting leading to a dvided govt |
| dual federalism | fed and state govts remained separate and indep |
| due process | estab legal procedures for the arrest and trial of an accused criminal |
| earmark | provision w/in legislation that appropriates money to a specific project, usually to benefit a small # of individs or a region |
| electoral college | created to choose pres and VP; general elections voters choose pres; winner in each state gets all of the states electoral votes; if majority cant be reached election determ by HOR |
| executive agreement | pres agreements made with foreign nations; same legal force as treaties but dont req approval of senate |
| Federal Reserve Board | executive agency largely responsible for from and implement of monetary policy |
| filibuster | lengthy speech that halts all legislative action in Senate; not possible in HOR b/c strict time limits govern their debates |
| fiscal year | one year; starts on oct 1; govt budgets go into effect and cong/pres agree on a budget resolution in april to guide govt spend |
| Great Society | LBJ social/econ prog aimed at raising standard of living for amer's poor; medicare, medicaid |
| Griswold v. Connecticut | const implicitly guars citizen's right to privacy |
| House Rules Committee | determs rules for debate of each bill; most pwrful committee in HOR; senate has no rules for debate |
| interest group | political group org around a particular polit goal/phil; attempt to influ public policy thru polit action and donations to sympth cands |
| joint committee | cong committee, membs of both houses, usually to investigate and research specific subjects |
| liberal | ideolgoy that tends to favor govt spending on social progs, affirm action, women's right to an abortion, active govt, disfavor defense spending and school prayer; generally affil w/ Demo party` |
| open primary | election in which voters may vote in whichever party primary they choose but must select that party before entering the voting booth |
| original jurisdiction | a court's power to initially try a case |
| pardon | cancellation of criminal punishment; pres and govenors have pwr to grant these to those awaiting trial/ convicted of crimes |
| pocket veto | if pres fails to approve a bill passed during the last ten days of a cong session, bill doesn't become a law |
| pork barrel | budget items proposed by legislators to benefit constituents in their home state or district |
| primary election | held by maj of states; during which voters select nominees for polit parties; winners of these appear on ballot during general election |
| prior restraint | censorship of news material before its made public |
| realignment | occurs when a party undergoes a major shift in its electoral bas/polit agenda; rare and tend to be signaled by a critical election |
| reserved powers | const powers belong soley to states |
| sampling error | margin of error in public opinion poll; +/- 4% |
| Schenck v. US | limit free speech rights; est "clear and present danger" principle in determ what type of speech could be restricted |
| selective committee | temp committee of Cong, created to investigate secific purposes |
| senatorial courtesy | trad whereby cands for the fed bureaucracy are appt by pres and selected from a list of noms submitted by senators |
| shield law | law guar news reporters the right to protect the anonymity of their sources; there is no federal one |
| soft money | political donations made to parties for the purpose of general party maintenance and support such as get out the vote campaigns, issue advocacy, and ads that promote the party but not individ cands; banned in 2002 by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (aka McCain Feingold Bill) |
| standing committee | a permanent cong committee |
| supremacy clause | section of const that reqs conflicts b/w fed and stae law to be resolved in favor of fed law |
| War Powers Act 1973 | Law req pres to seek periodic approval from Cong for any substantial troop commitment; in response to vietnam war |
| Warren Court 1953-1969 | expanded rights of minorities and rights of the accused |
| writ of habeas corpus | court order req an explanation as to why a prisoner is being held in custody |
| writ of certiorari | legal document issed by Sup Crt to request the crt transcripts of a case aka review a lower court's decision |
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