| bread-and-butter issues | those political issues are specifically directed at the daily concerns of most working-class Americans, such as job security, tax rates, wages, and employee benefits |
| broad constructionism | belief that the Constitution should be interpreted loosely when concerning the restrictions it places on federal power, broad constructionists emphasize the importance of the elastic clause, which allows Congress to pass laws "necessary and proper" to the perfomance of its duties |
| Brown v. Board of Education | the 1954 case in which the Supreme Court overturned the "separate but equal" (Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896) standard as it applied to education |
| budget deficit | condition that arises when federal expenditures exceed revenues; when the government spends more money than it takes in |
| budget resolution | set of budget guidelines that must pass both houses of Congress in identical form by April 15, it guides government spending for the following fiscal year |
| categorical grants | federal aid given to states with strings attached, to receive it, the states must agree to adhere to federall mandated guideline for spending it |
| caucus | meeting of local party members for the purpose of choosing delegates to a national party convention also refers to Democratic members of the House of Representatives meeting |
| census | the process, mandated by the Constitution, by which the population of the U.S. is officially counted every 10 years, data is then used to help distribute federal money and to reapportion congressional districts |
| checks and balances | system that prevents any branch of government from becoming too powerful by requiring the approval of more than one branch for all important acts |
| civil court | court in which lawsuits are heard |
| civil disobedience | nonviolent act requiring activists to protest peacefully against laws they believe unjust and to be qilling to accept arrest as a means of demonstrating the justice of their cause (popularized by Henry David Thoreau, practiced by Martin Luther King Jr) |
| civil liberties | those protections against goverment power embodied in the Bill of Rights and similar legislation, include free speech, free exercise of religion and right to a fair trial |
| civil rights | those protections against discrimination by the government and individuals, intended to prevent discrimination based on race, religion, gender, ethnicity, physical handicap, or sexual orientation |
| Civil Rights Act of 1964 | federal law that made segregation illegal in most public places, increased penalties and sentences for those convicted of discrimination in employment, and withheld federal aid form schools that discriminated on the basis of race or gender |
| civil service system | method of hiring federal employees based on merit rather than on political beliefs or allegiances (replaced spoils system) |
| class action suit | a lawsuit filed on behalf of a group of people, and whose result affects that group as a whole, interest groups such as the NAACP often use these to assert their influence over policy decisions |
| clear and present danger test | interpretation by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes regarding limits on free speech if it presents clear and present danger to the public or leads to illegal actions (Fire!) |
| closed primary | primary election in which voting is restricted to registered members of a political party |
| cloture | a motion in the Senate to end debate, often used in the event of a filibuster that require three-fifths majority |
| coalition | a combo of groups of people who work together to achieve a political goal |
| commander-in-chief | the president's role as leader of all U.S. military forces |
| concurrent powers | Constitutional powers shared by the federal and state governments |
| conference committee | congressional committee that includes representatives of both house of Congress created to settle differences between the House and Senate versions of bills that have been passed by their respective legislatures |
| Congressional Budget Office | agency of budget experts who assess the feasibility of the president's plan and who help create Congress's version of the deferal budget |
| conservative | a political ideology that tends to favor defense spending and school prayer and to disapporve of social programs, abortion, affirmative action, and a large active goverment |
