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Government vocab

Terms in this set (48)

Preamble
Identifies the six purposes of constitutional government
Articles 1-7
Outlines structure of Constitution
Amendments
Article V. Formal changes to the written constitution (27)
Veto
Presidents ability to check the power of congress when passing laws
Supreme Court
federal courts function to interpret the constitution
Elastic Clause
Article 1. power of congress to make laws necessary and proper to carry out expressed laws
Federalism
the division of power between the national government and state government
Bill of Rights
the 1st ten amendments to the constitution protecting one's civil rights and liberties
Direct election of Senate
not introduced until 1913 prior to that state legislators elected senators
Judicial Review
power of the courts to declare actions of the president or congress unconstitutional
Override
ability of the of the Congress to override a presidential veto with 2/3rds vote
Expressed powers
Article 1. powers given directly to the national congress
Representative Government
electing officials to represent citizens in a democracy
Checks and Balances
principle of government where by each branch can limit the power of another branch
Limited Government
principle where by government doesn't derive power from itself rule of law
Popular Sovereignty
power lies with people give consent to govern
Purposes of Government
the preamble; security goods and services protect civil rights and liberties
Separation of powers
the three branches legislative = makes laws executive = enforces laws judicial = interprets laws
U.S. Government
structure of institutions used to fulfill the purposes of security, provide goods and services, promote equality through the protection of civil rights and liberties
Divine right theory
god given right to rule
Social contract theory
consent of the governed
Evolutionary theory
1st family to arrive establishes government
Force Theory
take by winning war strong survive
Representative democracy
elect officials to represent our viewpoints in voting on issues
Direct democracy
one person one vote on each issue in society
Unitary system
one central government controls all decisions
Confederal system
independent sovereign states make their own decisions
Federal system
divided power between the national and state governments
Democracy
the power lies with the people for making decisions
Sovereignty
consent of the governed within territorial boundaries
Constitution
written structure of laws based on principles
Preamble
lists the six purposes of constitutional government
Politics
process by which we elect leaders in a representative democracy who make decisions and create the political agenda determines who gets what where when why and how.
John Locke
English philosopher who developed the idea of the social contract which became the basis for constitutional government.
Political Participation
how one impacts public policy examples
Political Party
members of a group that seek to get elected to office to control the public agenda
Media
present facts or not to inform and influence the public
Polling
collecting data on public opinion used for policy making or winning elections
PAC's
political action committees designed to raise money for political candidates or issues
Random Sample
a polling activity designed to provide the equal probability of being selected
1st Amendment
Freedoms of speech assembly... guaranteed
Political Culture
CDV's that unite Americans
Political Socialization
how we learn about our own beliefs in politics (family)
Political Efficacy
knowledge of and willingness to participate and vote in government
Trial Balloon
politicians who leak information out to the public to get a feel for their opinions reactions to policy issues
Political Ideology
beliefs along the political spectrum for liberal to moderate to conservative and anywhere in between
Propaganda
the use of information "real or fake" to promote an idea or issue
Political Spectrum
a system of classifying different political positions upon one or more geometric axes that symbolize independent political dimensions.
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