GOV 101
Terms
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- AMICUS CURIAE
- literally:"friend of the court", individuals or groups who are not parties to a lawsuit but who seek to assist the Supreme Court in reaching a decision by presenting additional briefs
- ANTIFEDERALISTS
- those who favored strong state governments and a weak national government an who were opponents of the constitution proposed at the American Constitutional Convention of 1787
- APPELLATE COURT
- a court that hears the appeals of trial court decisions
- ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
- American's first written constitution; served as the basis for Americas national government until 1789
- BICAMERAL LEGISLATURE
- having a legislative assembly composed of two chambers or houses; opposite of unicameral
- BILL OF RIGHTS
- the first 10 commandments to the Constitution; which guarantee certain rights and liberties to the people
- BLOCK GRANTS
- federal grants-in-aid that allow states considerable discretion in how the funds are spent
- BRIEFS
- written documents in which attorneys explain using case procedents, why the court should find in favor of their client
- CABINET
- the secretaries, or chief administrators of the major departments of the federal government. Cabinet secretaries are appointed by the president with the consent of the Senate
- CHECKS & BALANCES
- mechanisms through which each branch of government is able to participate in and influence the activities of the other branches. Major examples include the presidential veto power over congressional legislation, the power of the Senate to approve presiden
- CHIEF JUSTICE
- justice on the SUPREME COURT who presides over the Courts public sessions
- CITIZENSHIP
- informed and active membership in a political community
- CIVIL LAW
- a system of jurisprudence, including private law and governmental actions, to settle disputes that do not involve criminal penalties
- CLASS ACTION SUIT
- a legal action by which a group or class of individuals with common interest can file a suit on behalf of everyone who shares that interest
- CLOTURE
- a rule allowing a majority of two-thirds or three-fifths of the members in a legislative body to set a time limit on debate over a given bill
- COMMANDER IN CHIEF
- the power of the president as commander of the national military and the state national guard units (when called into service)
- CONCURRENT POWERS
- authority possessed by both state and national governments, such as the power to levy taxes
- CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
- a joint committee created to work out a compromise on House and Senate cersions of a piece of legislation
- CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT
- a system of rule in which formal and effective iimits are placed on the powers of the government
- CRIMINAL LAW
- the branch of law that deals with with disputes or actions involving criminal penaltes (as apposed to civil law); it regulates the conduct of individuals, defines crimes, and provides punishment for criminal acts
- DELEGATE
- the role of a representative who votes acording to the preferences of his or her constituency
- DEMOCRACY
-
a system of rule that permits citizens to play a significant part in the governmental process, usually through the election fo key public officials
- DUE PROCESS
- the rights of every citizen against arbitrary action by nationa or state governments
- ELASTIC/NECESSARY & PROPER CLAUSE
- from Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, it provides Congress ith the authority to make all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out its expressed powers
- EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY
- a widely shared shared American ideal that all people should have the freedom to use whatever talents and wealth they have to reach their fullest potential
- EXECUTIVE AGREEMENT
- an agreement, made between the president and another country, that has the force of a treaty buy does not require the Senete's advice and consent
- EXECUTIVE ORDER
- a rule or regulation issued by the president that has the effect and formal status of legislation
- EXECUTIVE PRIVILEDGE
- power that the presidents assert in order to protect the executive branch from congress and the judiciary. Executive privilege allows presidents to refuse some requests fro information from Congress or the judiciary. Justified on the basis of the separati
- EXPRESSED POWERS
- specific powers granted to Congress under Article 1, Secion 8 of the Constitution
- FEDERAL SYSTEM
- a system of government in which the national government shares power with lower levels of government, such as states
- FEDERALISM
- a system of government in which power is divided, by constititution, between a central government and regional governments
- FEDERALISTS
- those who favored a strong national government and supported the constitution proposed at the American Constitutional Convention of 1787
- FILIBUSTER
- a tactic used by members of the Senate to prevent action on legislation they oppose by continuously holding the floor and speaking until the majority backs down. Once given the floor, senators have unlimited time to speak, and it requires a vote of three-
- FULL FAITH & CREDIT CLAUSE
- provision from Article IV, Section 1 of the Constitution, requiring that the states normally honor the public acts and judicial decisions that take another state
- GOVERNMENT
- institutions and procedures through which a territory and its people are ruled
- GREAT COMPROMISE
- the agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that gave each state an equal number of senators regardless of its population, but linked representation in the House of Representatives to population
- IMPEACHMENT
- the formal charge by the House of REPS that a government official has committed "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors
- IMPLIED POWERS
- powers derived from the "necessary and proper" clause of Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution. Such powers are not specifically expressed, but are implied through the expansive interpretation of delegated powers
- INCUMBENCY
- holding a political office for which one is running
- JOINT COMMITTEES
- a legislative committee formed of members of both the House and the Senate
- LAISSEZ-FAIRE CAPITALISM
- an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately owned and operated for profit with minimal or no government inferference
- LIBERATARIAN
- the political philosophy that is skeptical of any government intervention as a potential threat against individual liberty; one who favors minimal government and madimum indivual liberty
- LIBERTY
- freedom from governmental control
- LIMITED GOVERNMENT
- a principle of constitutional government; a government whose powers are defined and limited by a constitution
- MAJORITY LEADER
- the leader of the majority party in the House of REPS or in the Senate. In the House, the leader is subordinate in the party heirarchy to the Speaker of the House
- MAJORITY PARTY
- the party that holds the majority of legislative seats in either the House or the Senate
- MAJORITY RULE/MAJORITY RIGHTS
- the democratic principle that a government follows the preferences of the majority of voters but protects the interests of the minority
- MINORITY LEADER
- the elected leader of the minority party in the House of Senate
- MINORITY PARTY
- the party that holds a minority of legislative seats in either the House or Senate
- NEW FEDERALISM
-
attempts by Presidents Nixon & Reagan to return power to the states through block grants
- NEW JERSEY PLAN
- a framwork for the Constitution, introduced by William Paterson, which called for equal state representation in the national legislature regardless of population
- OLIGARCHY
- a form of government in which a small group-landowners, military officers, or wearlthy merchans-controls most of the governing decisions
- POCKET VETO
- a presidential veto that is automatically triggered if the president does not act on a given piece of legislation passed during the final 10 days of legslative session
- POLITICS
-
conflict over the leadership, structure and policies of governments
- POPULAR SOVREIGNTY
- a principle of democracy in which political authority rests ultimately in the hands of the people
- PORK BARREL
- appropriations made by legislative bodies for local projects that are often not needed but that are created so that local representatives can win re-election in their home districts
- REDISTRICTING
- the process of redrawing election districts and redistributing legislative representatives. This happens every 10 years to reflect shifts in population or in response to legal challenges to existing districts.
- REPUBLIC
- a system of government in which the populace selects representatives, who play a significant role in the governmental decision making
- SEPARATION OF POWERS
- the division of governmental power among several institutions that must cooperate in decision making
- SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
- the chief presiding ofice of the House of REPS. The Speaker is elected at the beginning of every Congress on a straight party and House leader, and can influence the legislative agenda, the fate of individual pieces of legislation, and members'
- STANDING COMMITTEE
- a permanent committee with the power to propose and write legislation that covers a particular subject, such as finance or appopriations
- STATES' RIGHTS
- the principle that the states should oppose the increasing authority of the national government. This principle was most popular in the period before the Civil War
- THE FEDERALIST PAPERS
- a series of essays written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay supporting the ratification of the Constitution
- THREE-FIFTHS COMPROMISE
- the agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that stipulated that for purposes of the apportionment of gressional seats, every slave would be counted as three-fifths of a person
- TOTALITERIANISM
- a system of rule in the government recognizes no formal limits on its power and seeks to absorb or eliminate other social institutions that might challenge it
- TRUSTEE
- the role of a representative who votes based on on what he or she thinks is the best for his or her constituency
- UNFUNDED MANDATES
- regulations or conditions for receiving grants that impoe costs on state and local governments for which they are not reimburesed by the federal government
- UNITERY SYSTEM
- a centralized government system in which lower levels of government have little power independent of the national government
- VIRGINIA PLAN
- a framework for the Constitution, introduced by Edmund Randolph, which called for representation in the national legislature based upon the population of each state