Extra Credit Government Vocabulary
Terms
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- politics
- who gets what when and how in the political process
- policy agenda
- those issues that are receiving the serious attention of policymakers
- policymaking institutions
- those institutions (Congress, the President, the courts, and the bureaucracy) that are responsible for making public policy in the American political system.
- linkage institutions
- those institutions (political parties, elections, special interest groups, and the news media) that link (connect) people and government; assist the people in getting their concerns (issues/problems) on the policy agenda; the channels through which people's concerns become political issues on the Government's policy agenda.
- public policy
- a choice that government makes in response to a political issue(a course of action or inaction); includes: congressional statutes, bureaucratic rules and regulations, executive orders, court decisions, presidential decisions
- majority
- 50 percent + 1 (one more than half)
- plurality
- the most votes but not necessarily a majority
- pluralist theory
- belief that many groups competing for power express the public will; a theory of group competition that emphasizes multiple access points and a positive view of group competition
- elite/class theory
- a theory of government and politics that contends that society is divided along class lines and wealthy or upper class elite will rule regardless of the government structure; belief that big business, the wealthy, or even technical experts have the greatest influence in American government.
- hyperpluralism
- a group theory that contends that groups are so strong that government is weakened; an extreme, exaggerated, or perverted form of pluralism; pluralism gone bad--- too many groups creat gridlock and contradictory policies.
- factions
- terms used by Founding Fathers to refer to self-interested groups arising from the unequal distribution of property; they feared faction would create instability in government; today's interest groups and political parties are examples of what Madison and others had in mind; in The Federalist #10, Madison explained that majority factions would control minority factions, but a large republic was needed to control majority factions.
- Shays' Rebellion
- a series of attacks on courthouses by a small band of farmers led by Daniel Shays in 1786; was a catalyst for the Constitutional Convention; the Founding Fathers viewed it as evidence of a need for much stronger government.
- Connectict Compromise
- the major compromise made and the Constitutional Convention that combined the Virginia (representation based on population) and the New Jersey (equal representation of the states) plans to create a bicameral Congress consisting of a Senate with two Senators per state and a House of Representatives based on population.
- Madisonian Model
- plan for government designed by Madison to keep as much power as possible out of the hands of the people (to prevent majority factions from taking over government) by a system of separation of powers (legislative, executive, and judicial branches) and checks and balances; the only part of government directly elected by the people in the original plan was the House of Representatives.
- Federalist Papers
- a collections of 85 articles written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay in support of ratification of the U.S. Constitution; the articles explain the intent of the Founding Fathers in writing the Constitution.
- separation of powers
- principle of the Constitution that calls for three separate branches (legislative, executive, and judicial) of government, each with separate but overlapping or shared powers.
- checks and balances
- a principle of the Constitution that seeks a balance of power between the various branches of government by giving each branch the ability to check the powers of the other branches.
- judicial review
- the power of the courts to determine the constitutionality of government actions (declare laws or presidential actions unconstitutional in cases before them); resulted from the Supreme Court case o Marbury v. Madison, 1803.
- supremacy clause
- Article VI of the Constitution establishes the U.S. Constitution, U.S. laws and treaties the supreme law of the land; establishes national supremacy in areas where the national government has the legitimate power; the linchpin of our federal system of government.
- necessary and proper clause
- Article 1, Section 8, Clause 18 of the Constitution gives Congress the power to do what is necessary and proper to carry out its stated powers; stretches the power of the national government beyond what is specifically stated in the Constituiton; also called the ELASTIC CLAUSE.
- reserved powers
- state powers; those powers not delegated to the national government nor denied to the states; authorized by the 10th Amendment.
- enumerated powers
- powers of the national government specifically stated in the Constitution; also called expressed powers.
- implied powers
- powers of the national governement not specifically stated in the Constitution but reasonably derived from those that are; based on the necessary and proper clause; can expand the powers of the national government at the expense of the states.
- full faith and credit clause
- a clause in Article IV of the Constitution that requires states to give full faith and credit to the civil acts, records and judicial proceedings of other states; allows the use of a Texas drivers license while temporarily driving in other states (usually applies to marriage certificates; adoption records, wills and deeds).
- dual federalism
- the division of powers between the national and the state governments is distinct and clear- like a layer cake; each level of government is relatively supreme within its own sphere of power; requires a narrow interpretation of the national government's powers.
- cooperative federalism
- a type of federalism in which powers and policy assigments are shared within the levels of government; like a "marble cake" in that national and state powers are mingled and the distinction between the two are blurred; typically