American Political Culture

1. Immigrant: people who come to a country to settle as permanent residents

2. Quotas: set numbers, such as for immigrants, who may enter a country in a
year

3. Aliens: people who live in a nation but are not citizens of that nation

4. Refugees: people who flee persecution in their homeland to seek safety in

another nation

5. Native-born citizen: a person who has citizenship based on birth in the United
States or its territories

6. Naturalization: a legal process by which aliens become citizens

7. American exceptionalism: The view that the United States is different from
other countries.

8. Political efficacy: the belief that the government listens to normal people and
that participation can make a difference in government.

9. Necessary evil: Something that is believed to be needed but is not good in

and of itself; many Americans see government as a necessary evil.

10.Diversity: A mix of different cultural and religious traditions and values.

11.Rugged individualism: A form of individualism that emphasizes self-reliance

and ignoring what others want and think.

12.Rights of the minority: Rights held by the minority that must be respected by
the majority.

13.Conformism: A tendency for people to act the same way, watch the same
television programs, read the same books, and so on.

14.Popular sovereignty: A regime in which the government must respond to the

wishes of the people.

15.Equality of opportunity: When all people are given the same chances to
compete and achieve so that those with talent and diligence will succeed,
whereas others will not.

16.Equality of outcome: When all people achieve the same result, regardless of
talent or effort.
17.Political equality: treating everyone the same way in the realm of politics.

18.Laissez-faire capitalism: The economic philosophy that the government

should not interfere with the economy.

19.Limited government: A government that places few restrictions on its

citizens’ choices and actions, and in which the government is limited in what
it can do.

20.Liberty: The freedom to do what one chooses as long as one does not harm or
limit the freedom of other people.

Constitution and Its Founding

21.Direct democracy: a form of government in which all the people meet

together at one place to make laws and decide what actions to take

22.Marbury v. Madison: A landmark case in United States law and the basis for
the exercise of judicial review in the United States, under Article Three of the
United States Constitution. The case resulted from a petition to the Supreme
Court by William Marbury, who had been appointed as Justice of the Peace in
the District of Columbia by President John Adams shortly before leaving
office, but whose commission was not delivered as required by John Marshall,
Adam’s Secretary of State. When Thomas Jefferson assumed office, he
ordered the new Secretary of State, James Madison, to withhold Marbury’s
and several other men’s commissions. Marbury and three others petitioned
the Court to force Madison to deliver the commission to Marbury. The
Supreme Court denied Marbury’s petition, holding that the state upon which
he based his claim was unconstitutional.

23.Natural law: God’s or nature’s law that defines right from wrong and is higher
than human law.

24.Democracy: a form of government in which the people of a country either rule

directly or through elected representatives – with free and frequent elections

25.Representative democracy: a form of government in which the people elect

representatives to carry on the work of government for them; also called a
republic

26.Constitutional democracy: A government that enforces recognized limits on

those who govern and allows the voice of the people to be heard through
free, fair, and relatively frequent elections.

27.Constitution: a written plan of government

28.Statism: The idea that the rights of the nation are supreme over the rights of
the individuals who make up the nation
29.First Continental Congress: A gathering of representatives from all thirteen
colonies in 1774; it called for a total boycott of British goods in protest
against taxes.

30.Second Continental Congress: The governing body over the colonies during
the revolution that drafted the Articles of Confederation to create the first
national government.

31.Articles of Confederation: America’s first national constitution, which loosely

bound the states under a weak national Congress; the first governing
document of the confederated states drafted in 1777, ratified in 1781, and
replaced by the present Constitution in 1789.

32.Annapolis Convention: The convention in Philadelphia, May 25 to September

17, 1787, that debated and agreed upon the Constitution of the United
States.

33.Shay’s Rebellion: A 1786 uprising of Massachusetts farmers against high

taxes and debt; rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farms in western
Massachusetts in 1786-1787, protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted
the need for a strong national government just as the call or the
Constitutional Convention went out.

34.Framers: The men who wrote the Constitution.

35.Virginia Plan: initial proposal at the Constitutional Convention made by the

Virginia delegation for a strong central government with a bicameral
legislature dominated by the big states.

36.New Jersey Plan: Proposal at the Constitutional Convention made by William

Paterson of New Jersey for a central government with a single-house
legislature in which each state would be represented equally.

37.Connecticut Compromise: Compromise agreement by states at the

Constitutional Convention for a bicameral legislature with a lower house in
which representation would be based on population and an upper house in
which each state would have two senators; Great Compromise

38.Three-fifths Compromise: A compromise on how to count slaves for

determining population; slaves were counted as three-fifths of a person.

39.Electoral College: The body that elects the president of the United States;
composed of electors from each state equal to that state’s representation in
Congress; a candidate must get a majority of electoral votes to win.

40.Separation of powers: Dividing up governmental power among several

branches.
41.Checks and balances: The ability of different branches of government to stop
each other from acting; designed to prevent one branch from gaining too
much power.

42.Reapportionment: The process of reallocating representation in the House of

Representatives after a census; some states will gain seats, while others will
lose them.

43.Census: Counting the population to determine representation in the House of

Representatives; the constitution mandates one every ten years.

44.Judicial review: The power of the courts to declare laws and presidential
actions unconstitutional.

45.Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas: Supreme Court case that

ended segregation and declared “separate but equal” to be unconstitutional.

46.Amendment: A change to the Constitution.

47.Bill of rights: The first ten amendments to the Constitution, which safeguard
some specific rights of the American people and the states.

48.Confederation: a loose association of states

49.Tyranny of the majority: when the majority violate the rights of the minority

50.McCulloch v. Maryland: A Supreme Court case that granted the federal

government extensive power to carry out its enumerated powers

51.Delegates: representatives

52.Delegated powers: powers given to the federal government by the

Constitution

53.Bicameral: consisting of two houses, as in a lawmaking body

54.Federalism: a system of government in which the powers of government are

divided between the national government, which governs the whole country,
and the state governments, which govern the people of each state

55.Federalists: supporter of the constitution who urged its adoption

56.The Federalist: Essays promoting ratification of the Constitution, published

anonymously by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison in 1787
and 1788.

57.Anti-federalists: opponents of the Constitution who urged its rejection

58.Ratification: approval by a formal vote

59.Compromise: a an agreement in which each side gives up part of its demands

60.Legislature: a lawmaking body of government

61.Supremacy clause: The part of Article VI of the Constitution that specified

that the federal Constitution, and laws passed by the federal government, are
the supreme law of the land.

62.Political culture: the widely shared beliefs, values, and norms about how
citizens relate to governments and to one another.

63.American dream: The widespread belief that the United States is a land of
opportunity and that individual initiative and hard work can bring economic
success.

64.Capitalism: an economic system characterized by private property,

competitive markets, economic incentives, and limited government
involvement in the production, distribution, and pricing of goods and services.

65.Suffrage: the right to vote

66.Political ideology: A consistent pattern of beliefs about political values and the
role of government.

67.Liberalism: A belief that government can and should achieve justice and
equality of opportunity.

68.Conservatism: A belief that limited government insures order competitive

markets and personal opportunity.

69.Socialism: An economic and governmental system based on public ownership

of the means of production and exchange.

70.Libertarianism: An ideology that cherishes individual liberty and insists on

minimal government, promoting a free market economy, a noninterventionist
foreign policy, and an absence of regulation in moral, economic, and social
life.

FEDERALISM

71.Unitary government: A system of government where power is concentrated in

the hands of the central government

72.Federal system: a system of government where power is shred between the

central government and state and local governments.
73.Confederate government: a system of government with a very weak central
government and strong states.

74.Enumerated powers: The powers specifically given to Congress in Article I,

Section 8, of the Constitution (expressed powers)

75.Expressed powers: the specific power given to the Congress or the president
y the Constitution; also called the enumerated powers.

76.Necessary and proper clause: A clause at the end of Article I, Section 8, of the
U.S. Constitution that grants Congress the power to do whatever is necessary
and proper to carry out its duties; also known as the elastic clause

77.Elastic clause: Clause in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution that says the
Congress has the power to do anything that is necessary and proper in order
to carry out its explicit powers; also called the necessary and proper clause.

78.Implied powers: Powers given to the national government by the necessary

and proper clause.

79.Inherent powers: The powers inherent to the national government because

the United States is a sovereign nation.

80.Prohibited powers: The powers specifically denied to the national government

by the Constitution.

81.Commerce clause: A clause in Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution

that grants Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce.

82.Reserved powers: The powers reserved to the states and the people in the
Tenth Amendment.

83.Concurrent powers: Powers exercised simultaneously by the states and the

federal government.

84.Full faith and credit clause: A clause in Article IV of the Constitution that
declared that state governments must give full faith and credit to other state
government’s decisions.

85.Charter: A document issued by state government granting certain powers

and responsibilities to a local government

86.Home rule: The granting of significant autonomy (freedom) to local

governments by state governments.

87.Special district: A type of local government designed to meet a very specific

need.
88.Dual federalism: A term to describe federalism through most of the
nineteenth century, where the federal and state government each had their
own issue areas, which rarely overlapped; also known as layer-cake
federalism

89.Layer-cake federalism: A term used to describe federalism through most of

the nineteenth century, in which the federal and state governments each had
their own issue areas, that rarely overlapped; also known as dual federalism.

90.Due process clause: Part of the Fourteenth Amendment, which declares that
no person can be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of
law; states cannot deprive citizens of their legal rights.

91.Equal protection clause: Part of the Fourteenth Amendment, which states that
states must give all citizens the equal protection under the law.

92.Privileges and immunities clause: Part of the Fourteenth Amendment, which

forbids state governments from taking away any of the privileges and
immunities of American citizenship.

93.Industrialization:

94.Globalization:

95.Cooperative federalism: A term used to describe federalism for most of the

twentieth century (and into the twenty-first), where the federal government
and the states work closely together and are intertwined; also known as
marble-cake federalism.

96.Marble-make federalism: A term used to describe federalism for most of the

twentieth century (and into the twenty-first), where the federal government
and the states work closely together and are intertwined; also known as
cooperative federalism.

97.New federalism: An American movement, starting in the 1970’s, to return

power to state and local governments, thereby decreasing the amount of
power held by the federal government.

98.Devolution: The process of the national government giving responsibilities

and powers to state, local, or regional governments.

99.Fiscal federalism: The practice of states spending federal money to help

administer national programs.

100.Grants-in-aid: A general term to describe federal aid given to the states for a
particular matter.
101.Block grants: A grant-in-aid with few restrictions or rules about how it can be
spent.

102.Categorical grants: Money given for a specific purpose that comes with
restrictions concerning how the money should be spent. There are two types
of categorical grants: project grants and formula grants.

a. Formula grants: Congress appropriates funds for a specific purpose,

such as school lunches or for building airports and highways. These
funds are allocated by formula and are subject to detailed federal
conditions, often on a matching basis; that is, the local government
receiving the federal funds must put up some of its own dollars.
Categorical grants, in addition, provide federal supervision to ensure
that the federal dollars are spent as Congress wants.

103.Project grants: Categorical grant programs in which states submit proposals

for projects to the federal government and the national government chooses
which to fund on a competitive basis.

104.Formula grants: Grants in which a formula is used to determine how much

money each state receives.

105.Mandates: When the federal government requires states to do certain

things.

106.Unfunded mandates: A mandate for which the federal government gives the
states no money.

107.Regulated federalism: The practice of the national government imposing

standards and regulations on state governments.

108.Preemption: The practice of the national government overriding state and

local laws in the name of the national interest.

109.Horizontal federalism: How state governments relate to one another.

110.Gibbons v. Ogden: An 1824 Supreme Court case that gave the federal
government extensive powers through the commerce clause.

THE PRESIDENCY

111.Executive privilege: The right of officials of the executive branch to refuse to

disclose some information to other branches of government or to the public

112.Executive order: An order issued by the president that has the effect of law.
113.Impeach: The power of the House of Representatives to charge an
officeholder with crimes; the Senate then holds a trial to determine if the
officeholder should be expelled from office.

114.Federal Register: A federal publication that lists all executive orders.

115.State of the Union Address: A constitutionally mandated message, given by

the president to Congress, in which the president lays out plans for the
coming year.

116.Reprieves: A formal postponement of the execution of a criminal sentence;

the president has the power to grant reprieves.

117.Pardon: A release from punishment from criminal conviction; the president

has the power to pardon.

118.Electoral College: The body that elects the president of the United States;
composed of electors from each state equal to that state’s representation in
Congress; a candidate must get a majority of electoral votes to win

119.Electors: A member of the electoral college

120.Winner-take-all system: An electoral system in which the person with the

most votes wins everything (and everyone else loses); most states have
winner-take-all systems for determining electoral votes.

121.Veto: The power of the president to stop a bill passed by Congress from
becoming law.

122.Pocket Veto: An unusual type of presidential veto: When the president

neither signs nor vetoes a bill, after ten days the bill dies if Congress is not in
session. A formal decision to reject a bill passed by Congress after it adjourns.

123.Line item veto: Presidential power to strike, or remove, specific items from a
spending bill without vetoing the entire package; declared unconstitutional by
the Supreme Court.

124.Majority: More than half

125.Plurality: More votes than any other candidate but not a majority

126.Veto message: A message written by the president, attached to a bill he or

she has vetoed, which explains the reasons for the veto.

127.Signing message: A message attached to a bill the president signs,

explaining his or her understanding of the bill.

128.Legislative agenda: A series of laws a person wishes to pass.

129.War Powers Resolution: Passed in 1973, the War Powers Resolution demands
that the president consult with Congress when sending troops into action; it
also gives Congress the power to force withdrawal of troops.

130.Cabinet: A group composed of the heads of federal departments and key

agencies that advises the president.

131.Kitchen Cabinet: An informal name for the president’s closest advisers.

132.Faithless Electors: An elector who votes for someone other than the
candidate who won the most votes in the state.

133.Chief of State: The ceremonial head of government; in the United States, the
president serves as chief of state.

134.Chief of staff: The head of the White House staff

135.Bureaucracy: An administrative way of organizing large numbers of people

to work together; usually relies on specialization, hierarchy, and standard
operating procedure.

136.Appointment Powers: The president’s power to appoint people to key federal

offices.

137.Constitutional powers: Powers of the president granted explicitly in the

Constitution.

138.Delegated Powers: Powers granted by Congress to help the president fulfill

his duties.

139.Inherent Powers: The powers inherent to the national government because

the United States is a sovereign nation.

140.Expressed Powers: The specific powers given (expressed)

POLITICAL PARTIES

141.Political party: an organization that seeks political power by electing people

to office so that its positions and philosophy become public policy.

142.Party identification: An informal and subjective affiliation with a political

party that most people acquire in childhood.

143.Independents

144.Party activists

145.Duopoly
146.Plurality: look above

147.Winner-take-all system: election system in which the candidate with the

most votes wins

148.Proportional representation: An election system in which each party running

receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of
the vote.

149.Realignment: An election during periods of expanded suffrage and change in

the economy and society that proves to be a turning point, redefining the
agenda of politics and the alignment of voters within parties.

150.Critical election: also realigning election

151.Soft money: money raised in unlimited amounts by political parties for party-
building purposes. Now largely illegal except for limited contributions to state
or local parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts.

152.Hard money: Political contributions given to a party, candidate, or interest

group that are limited in amounts and fully disclosed. Raising such limited
funds is harder than raising unlimited funds, hence the term “hard money.”

153.Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act: Largely banned party soft money, restored
a longstanding prohibition on corporations and labor unions for using general
treasury funds for electoral purposes, and narrowed the definition of issue
advocacy.

154.McCain-Feingold bill

155.527 groups: Interest groups organized under section 527 of the Internal
Revenue Code may advertise for or against candidates. If their source of
funding is corporations or unions, they have some restrictions on broadcast
advertising. 527 organizations were important in recent elections.

156.Third party

157.Caucus: a meeting of local party members to choose party officials or

candidates for public office and to decide the platform.

158.Populists

159.Responsible parties

160.Party reform

161.Dealignment : Weakening of partisan preferences that points to a rejection

of both major parties and a rise in the number of independents.
 162.Split-ticket voting

163.Divided governments: governance divided between the parties, especially

when one holds the presidency and the other controls one or both of the
houses of Congress

ELECTORAL COLLEGE

164.Electoral college: Electoral system used in electing the president and vice
president, in which voters vote for electors pledged to cast their ballots for
particular party’s candidates.