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A.P. Gov Vocabulary
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Government | The institutions and processes through which public policies are made for a society |
| Public Goods | Goods that everyone must share EX: Clean air, clean water |
| Politics | The process by which we select our governmental leaders and what policies said leaders pursue |
| Political participation | All the activities by which citizens try to influence political leaders |
| Single-issue groups | Narrow interest groups that often taken an uncompromising stance |
| Policy making system | The process by which policy is conceived and made |
| Linkage institutions | Political channels that get the people's concerns to the policy makers |
| Policy agenda | The issues that attract serious attention from officials and other people |
| Political issue | An issue that arises when there is a disagreement over how to fix it |
| Policy making institutions | Branches of US government that take action on political issues |
| Public policy | A choice that government makes in response to a political issue |
| Policy impacts | The effects a policy has on the people and the problem |
| Democracy | A system of selecting policymakers such that the policy represents and responds to the citizens |
| Majority rule | A fundamental principle in traditional democratic theory where the majority's desire is respected |
| Minority rights | The principles that guarantees the rights to those who are not in the majority |
| Representation | A basic principle of traditional democratic theory that describes the relationships between leaders and followers |
| Pluralism | A theory of American democracy that emphasizes policy making is very open to all groups, with no single group dominating, for the good of the whole |
| Elitism | A theory of American democracy where the upper class holds all of the power regardless of whether they are in government |
| Hyperpluralism | Pluralism gone bad, too many interest groups to function |
| Policy gridlock | A condition when interests conflict and no one is able to accomplish anything |
| Political culture | An overall set of values widely shared in a society |
| Gross domestic product | The sum of the value of all of the goods and services produced in a year in a country |
| Public opinion | The distribution of the population's beliefs |
| Demography | The science of population changes |
| Census | A count of the entire population, required by Constitution every 10 years |
| Melting pot | A term used to characterize US |
| Minority majority | The situation where non-Hispanic whites will be the minority, and all of the minorities together will be the majority |
| Reapportionment | The process of reallocating the House seats to reflect the census |
| Political socialization | The process which by individuals in a society acquire political attitudes, views, and knowledge |
| Sample | A small proportion of the population used to make predictions about the whole population |
| Random sampling | The principle that everyone should have an equal probability of being selected for the sample |
| Sampling error | The level of confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll |
| Random-digit dialing | A technique used to randomly select people for a survey by randomly pulling telephone numbers |
| Exit poll | Public opinions surveys used the predict electoral winners |
| Political ideology | A coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose which give meaning to political events |
| Gender gap | The regular pattern in which women support Democrats and men support Republicans, generally |
| Protest | A form of political participation designed to achieve change through dramatic tactics |
| Civil disobidence | A form of political participation based on a conscious decision to break the law in order to make a point about the justness of the law |
| Federalism | A way of organizing a nation so that 2+ levels of government have power over a certain area |
| Unitary government | A way of organizing a nation so that all power resides in a central government |
| Intergovernmental relations | The workings of the federal system |
| Supremacy clause | Article VI Constitution, national laws, treaties supreme law of the land |
| Enumerated powers | Powers given specifically in the Constitution |
| Implied powers | Powers that go beyond the ones specifically given in Constitution |
| Elastic clause | Final paragraph of Article I, Section VIII "necessary and proper" |
| Full faith and credit | Article IV States must recognize each other's public acts, records, and judicial proceedings |
| Extradition | A legal process where a person is turned over the state where the crime was committed |
| Privileges and immunities | The provision of the Constitution according citizens of each state the privileges of citizens in other states |
| Dual federalism | A system of government in which both the state and national governments are supreme in their own sphere |
| Cooperative federalism | A system of government in which the state and national government share some duties |
| Devolution | Transferring responsibility from the national to the state/local governments |
| Fiscal federalism | The pattern of spending, taxing, and providing grants in the federal system |
| Categorical grants | Federal grants that can only be used for specific purposes |
| Project grants | A type of categorical grant award on the basis of merit in applications |
| Formula grants | A type of categorical grant in which money is distributed on the basis of a formula |
| Block grants | Federal grants given for larger goals such as education, or transportation and the states decide where exactly the money will go |
| Constitution | A nation's basic law |
| Declaration of Independence | The document approved by the colonies listing their grievances towards England and declared independence from England |
| Natural rights | Rights inherent in human beings |
| Consent of the governed | The idea that government derives its authority by the sanction of the people |
| Limited government | The idea that certain restrictions should be placed on the government to protect the natural rights of the citizens |
| Articles of Confederation | The first constitution of the US with most of the authority residing in the states |
| Shays' Rebellion | A series of attacks on courthouses by a small band of farmers to block foreclosure proceedings |
| US Constitution | The documents that replaced the Articles and set forth the structure and duties of the US government |
| Factions | Parties or interest groups that can arise from unequal distribution of property/wealth |
| New Jersey Plan | The proposal at the Convention that called for equal representation regardless of population |
| Virginia Plan | The proposal at the Convention that called for representation based on population |
| Connecticut Compromise | The compromise the combined both plans into a bicamal Congress |
| Writ of habeas corpus | A court order requiring jailers to explain to a judge why they are holding a prisoner in custody |
| Separation of powers | A feature of the Constitution that shares power into 3 relatively independent branches |
| Checks and balances | Features of the Constitution that limit each branches' power by requiring action from another branch |
| Republic | A form of government in which the people select representatives to govern them and make laws |
| Federalists | Supports of the US constitution |
| Anti-federalists | Opponents of the US Consitituion |
| Federalist papers | A collection of 85 articles that defend the US Consitution |
| Bill of Rights | The first 10 amendments to the Constiution |
| Equal rights amendment | A failed constitutional amendment that gave equal rights to both males and females |
| Judicial review | The power of the courts to determine whether actions are Constitutional or not, established in Maybury v. Madison |
| Civil liberties | The legal constitutional protections against government |
| Due process clause | In 14th amendment, guarantees persons cannot be deprived of life, liberty, or property by government without due process |
| Incorporation doctrine | The legal concept under which the Supreme Court has applied the Bill of Rights to the state government |
| Establishment clause | Congress cannot make a law establishing a national religion, in first amendment |
| Free exercise clause | Congress cannot make a law inhibiting a person from practicing their religion, in first amendment |
| Prior restraint | A government preventing material from being published |
| Libel | The publication of falsehoods about a person meant to destroy their reputation |
| Symbolic speech | Nonverbal communication |
| Commercial speech | Communication in the form of advertising |
| Probable cause | The situation occurring when the police have reason to believe that a person should be arrested |
| Unreasonable searches and seizures | Obtaining evidence in a haphazard or random manner (need probable cause or a search warrant) |
| Search warrant | A written authorization from the court specifying the area to be searched and what the police are searching for |
| Exclusionary rule | The rule that evidence cannot be introduced into a trial if it was not constitutionally obtained |
| Self-incrimination | The situation occurring when an individual accused of a crime is compelled to be a witness against him or herself in court |
| Plea bargaining | A bargain struck between the defendant's lawyer and the prosecutor to the effect that the defendant will plead guilty to a lesser crime (or fewer crimes) in exchange for the state's promise not to prosecute the defendant for a more serious crimes |
| Right to privacy | The right to a private personal life free form the intrusion of government |
| Civil liberties | The legal constitutional protections against the government |
| Bill of Rights | The first 10 amendments to the US Constitution |
| First Amendment | Establishes freedom of speech, religion, press, and assembly |
| 14th Amendment | One of the civil war amendments that states that no state can inhibit due process |
| Due process clause | Part of the 14th amendment that due process can not be taken away |
| Incorporation doctrine | The legal concept in which the Bill of Rights has been applied to states through the due process clause in the 14th amendment |
| Establishment clause | Freedom from Congress making a law establishing a religion |
| Free exercise clause | Freedom from Congress making a law inhibiting people from practicing their religion |
| Prior restraint | A government prohibiting stuff from being published before it is ever published |
| Libel | The publication of false or malicious statements that damage someone's reputation |
| Symbolic speech | Nonverbal communication |
| Commercial speech | Communication in the form of advertising |
| Probable cause | The situation occurring when the police have reason to believe that a person should be arrested. In making the arrest, police are allowed legally to search for and seize incriminating evidence |
| Unreasonable searches and seizures | Obtaining evidence in a haphazard or random manner, a practice prohibited by the Fourth Amendment. Probable cause and/or a search warrant are required for a legal and proper search for and seizure of incriminating evidence |
| Search warrant | A written authorization from a court specifying the area to be searched and what the police are searching |
| Exclusionary rule | The rule that evidence cannot be introduced into a trial if it was not constitutionally obtained |
| 5th Amendment | The amendment designed to protect the rights of persons accused of crimes |
| Self-incrimination | The situation occurring when an individual accused of a crime is compelled to be a witness against himself in court |
| 6th Amendment | Another later amendment designed to protect the rights of the accused |
| Plea bargaining | A bargain struck between the defendant's lawyer and the prosecutor to the effect that the defendant will plead guilty to a lesser crime in exchange for the state's promise not to prosecute the defendant for a more serious crime |
| 8th Amendment | An amendment the forbids cruel and unusual punishment and high bail |
| Cruel and unusual punishment | Court sentences prohibited by 8th amendment, and determined by the courts |
| Right to privacy | The right to a private personal life away from the intrusion of government |
| Civil Rights | Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals |
| Equal protection of the laws | Part of the 14th amendment emphasizing that the laws must provide equivalent protection to all people |
| 13th Amendment | The constitutional amendment ratified after the Civil War that forbade slavery and involuntary servitude |
| Civil Rights Act of 1964 | The law making racial discrimination in hotels, motels, and restaurants illegal and forbidding many forms of job discrimination |
| Suffrage | The legal right to vote |
| 15th Amendment | The last of the Civil War amendments that extended suffrage to African Americans |
| Poll taxes | Small taxes levied on the right to vote used to exclude certain groups from voting |
| White primary | Primary elections from which African Americans were excluded |
| 24th amendment | The constitutional amendment passed in 1964 that declared poll taxes illegal in federal elections |
| Voting Rights Act of 1965 | A law designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African American suffrage |
| 19th Amendment | The constitutional amendment adopted in 1920 granting women the right of suffrage |
| Equal Rights Amendment | A constitutional amendment originally introduced in Congress in 1923 stating that equality cannot be denied on the bases of sex, but it never passed |
| Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 | A law passed in 1990 that requires employers and public facilities to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities and prohibits discrimination against these individuals in employment |
| Affirmative action | A policy designed to give special attention to or compensatory treatment for members of some previously disadvantaged group |
| Capitalism | An economic system in which individuals and corporations not the government own the principal means of production and seek profits |
| Mixed economy | An economic system in which the government is deeply involved in economic decisions |
| Multinational corporations | Businesses with vast holdings in multiple countries |
| Securities and Exchange Commission | The federal agency created during the New Deal that regulates the stock market |
| Minimum wage | The legal minimum hourly wage to which most workers are entitled |
| Labor union | An organization of workers intended to engage in collective bargaining |
| Collective bargaining | Negotiations between representatives of labor unions and management to determine pay and acceptable working condititions |
| Unemployment rate | The proportion of the labor force actively seeking work but unable to find jobs |
| Underemployment rate | Unemployment plus those who are working part time, but still looking for full time and those who quit looking because they were discouragd |
| Inflation | A rise in the price of goods and services |
| Consumer price index | The key measure of inflation-the change in the cost of buying a fixed basket of goods and services |
| Laissez-faire | The principle that government should not meddle in the economy |
| Monetary policy | Government manipulation of the supply of money in private mands |
| Monetarism | An economic theory that says the supply of money is key to a nation's economic health |
| Federal Reserve System | The main instrument for making monetary policy in the US |
| Fiscal policty | The use of the federal budget to influence the economy |
| Keynesian economic theory | The theory emphasizing that government spending and deficits can help the economy, advocates using the power of government to stimulate the economy |
| Supply side economics | An economic theory holding that the key task for fiscal policy is to stimulate good production through tax breaks |
| Protectionism | Economic policy of shielding an economy from imports |
| World Trade Organization | International organization that promotes free trade |
| Antitrust policy | Policy designed to ensure competition and prevent monopoly |
| Food and Drug Administration | The federal agency with broad regulatory powers of food and drug in the US |
| National Labor Relations Act | Wagner act, that guarantees workers the right of collective bargaining, sets rules for unions, and establishes the National Labor Relations Board to regulate labor management relations |
| Social Welfare policies | Policies that provide benefits, cash or in-kind, to individuals, based on either entitlement or means testing |
| Means-tested programs | Government programs providing benefits only to individuals who qualify based on specific needs |
| Income distribution | The way the national income is divided into "shares" ranging from the poor to the rich |
| Relative deprivation | A perception by an individual that he or she is not doing well economically in comparison to others |
| Income | The amount of money collected between any two points in time |
| Wealth | The value of assets owned |
| Poverty line | The income threshold below which people are considered poor, based on what a family must spend for an austere standard of living (3x the cost of a subsistence diet) |
| Feminization of poverty | The increasing concentration of poverty among women particularly unmarried women and their children |
| Progressive tax | A tax by which the government takes a greater share of the income of the rich than of the poor |
| Proportional tax | A tax by which the government takes the same share of income from everyone |
| Regressive tax | A tax in which the burden falls relatively more heavily on low income groups than wealthy tax payers |
| Earned Income Tax Credit | Refundable federal income tax credit for low to moderate income working individuals and families |
| Transfer payments | Benefits given by the government directly to individuals-either cash or in-kind |
| Social Security Act of 1935 | Created both the Social Security program and a national assistance program for poor families |
| Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act | The welfare reform law of 1996 which implemented the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program |
| Temporary Assistance for Needy Families | Replacing Aid to Families with Dependent Children as the program for public assistance to needy families |
| Social Security Trust Fund | The "account" into which Social Security employee and employer contributions are "deposited" and used to pay out eligible recipients |
| Health maintenance organization | Organization contracted by individuals or insurance companies to provide health care for a yearly fee |
| Medicare | A program added to the Social Security in 1965 that provides hospitalization insurance for the elderly and provides elderly opportunity to purchase other health insurance for cheap |
| Medicaid | A public assistance program designed to provide health care for poor Americans and funded by both the state and national government |
| National health insurance | A compulsory insurance program for all Americans that would have the government finance citizens' medical care |
| Environment Protection Agency | The largest federal independent regulatory agency, created in 1970 to administer much of US environmental protection policy |
| National Environmental Policy Act | Centerpiece of federal environmental policy which requires agencies to file environmental impact statements |
| Environmental impact statement | A detailing of a proposed policy's environmental effects, which agencies are required to file with the EPA every time they propose to undertake a policy that might be disruptive to the environment |
| Clean Air Act of 1970 | The law aimed at combating air pollution, by charging the EPA with protecting and improving the quality of the nation's air |
| Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 | A law intended to clean up the nation's river and lakes, by enabling regulation of point sources of pollution |
| Endangered Species Act of 1973 | A law requiring the federal government to protect all species listed as endangered |
| Superfund | A fund created by Congress in 1980 to clean up hazardous waste coming taxing chemical products |
| Global warming | The increase in the Earth's temperatures |
| Foreign policy | Policy the involves choice taking about relations with the rest of the world. The president of the US is the chief initiator of US foreign policy |
| United Nations | Created in 1945 and currently with 192 member countries with a central peacekeeping mission and programs in areas including economic development and health, education, and welfare (Real power in UN is held by security council) |
| North Atlantic Treaty Organization | A regional organization that was created in 1949 by Atlantic countries for mutual defense among other things |
| European Union | A transnational government composed of most European nations that coordinates monetary, trade, immigration, and labor policies making the member nations a single economic union |
| Secretary of state | The head of the Department of State and traditionally the key adviser to the president of foreign policy |
| Secretary of defense | The head of the Department of Defense and the president's key adviser on military policy and as such a key foreign policy actor |
| Joint Chiefs of Staff | A group that consists of the commanding officer of each of the armed services, a chairperson, and a vice chairperson and advises the president on military policy |
| Central Intelligence Agency | An agency created after World War II to coordinate American intelligence activities abroad and to collect, analyze, and evaluate intelligence |
| Isolationism | The foreign policy course the United States followed throughout most of its history whereby it tried to stay out of other nations' conflicts, particularly European wars |
| Containment doctrine | A foreign policy strategy advocated by George Kennan that called for the United States to isolate the Soviet Union, contain its advances, and resist its encroachments by peaceful means if possible |
| Cold War | The hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union which often brought them to the brink of war |
| Arms race | A tense relationship beginning in the 1950s between the Soviet Union and United States whereby one side's weaponry became the other side's motivation to procure more weaponry and so forth |
| Detente | A policy beginning in the early 1970s that sought a relaxation of tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union coupled with firm guarantees of mutual security |
| Interdepency | Mutual reliance, as in the economic realm |
| Tariff | A special tax added to imported goods to raise their price |
| Balance of trade | The ratio of what is paid for imports to what is earned from exports |
| Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries | An economic organization consisting primarily of Middle Eastern nations that seeks to control the amount of oil its members produce and sell to other nations and hence the price of oil |
| Party competition | The battle of the parties for control of public offices |
| Political party | A team of men seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election |
| Linkage institutions | The channels through which people's concerns become political issues on the government's policy agenda |
| Rational choice theory | A popular theory in political science to explain the actions of voters as well as politicians, individuals act in their own best interest, weighing the costs and benefits of possible alternatives |
| Party image | The voter's perception of what the Republicans or Democrats stand for |
| Party identification | A citizen's self proclaimed preference for one party or another |
| Ticket splinting | Voting for one party for one office and other party for a different office |
| Party machines | A type of political party organization that relies heavily on material inducements such as patronage to win votes and govern |
| Patronage | One of the key inducements used by party machines, such as a job promotion or contract |
| Closed primaries | Elections to select party nominees in which only people who have registered in advance with the party can vote |
| Open primaries | Elections to select party nominees in which voters can decide on Election Day whether they want to participate in Republican or Democrat primaries |
| National convention | The meeting of party delegates every four years to choose a presidential ticket and write the party's platform |
| National committee | One of the institutions that keeps the party operating between conventions |
| National chairperson | Responsible for the day to day activities of the party and is usually handpicked by the presidential nominee |
| Coalitition | A group of individuals with a common interest upon which every political party depends |
| Party eras | Historical periods in which a majority of voters cling to the party in power |
| Critical election | An electoral earthquake where new issues emerge, and the majority party is often displaced by the other party |
| Party realignment | The displacement of the majority party by the minority party during a critical election period |
| New Deal colition | A coalition forged by the Democrats during the New Deal |
| Party dealignment | The gradual disengagement of people from the parties as seen in part by shrinking party identification |
| Third parties | Electoral contenders other than the two major parties |
| Winner take all system | An electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded only to the candidates who come in first in their constituencies |
| Proportional representation | An electoral system used throughout most of Europe that awards legislative seats based on the proportion of votes the party won |
| Coalition government | When two or more parties join together to form a majority in a national legislature |
| Responsible party model | A view how parties should work, that says parties should offer clear choices to the voters, who can then use those choices as cues to their own preferences of candidates |
| Blue Dog Democrats | Fiscally conservative Democrats from the south |
| Interest group | An organization of people with shared policy goals entering the policy process at several points to try to achieve these goals |
| Pluralism | A theory of government and politics emphasizing that many groups, each pressing for its preferred policies compete and counterbalance one another in the political marketplace |
| Elitism | A theory of government and politics contending that an upper class elite will hold most of the power and thus in effect run the government |
| Hyperpluralism | A theory of government and politics contending that groups are so strong that government seeking to please them all is thereby weakened |
| Iron triangles | Subgovernments are composed of interest group leaders interested in a particular policy, the government agency in charge of administering that policy and the members of congressional committees and subcommittees handling that policy |
| Potential group | All the people who might be interest group members because they share a common interest |
| Actual group | The people who actually join an interest group |
| Collective good | Something of value that cannot be withheld from a potential group member |
| Free rider problem | For a group the problem of people not joining because they can benefit without joining. |
| Selective benefits | Goods that a group can restrict to those who actually join |
| Single issue group | Groups that have a narrow interest tend to dislike compromise and often draw membership from people new to politics |
| Lobbying | A communication by someone other than a citizen acting on his or her own behalf directed to a governmental decision maker with the hope of influencing his or her decision |
| Electioneering | Direct group involvement in the electoral process |
| Political action committees (PACs) | Political funding vehicles |
| Union shop | A provision found in some collective bargaining agreements requiring all employees of a business to join the union within a short period |
| Right to Work laws | A state law forbidding requirements that workers must join a union to hold their jobs |
| Public interest lobbies | Organizations that seek a collective good, the achievement of which will not selectively and materially benefit the membership or activists of the organization |
| Nomination | The official endorsement of a candidate for office by a political party requiring generally momentum, money, and media |
| Campaign strategy | The master game plan candidates lay out to guide their electoral campaign |
| National party convention | The supreme power within each of the parties, which meets every four years to nominate presidential candidates and write the platform |
| McGovern-Fraser Commission | A commission formed at the 1968 Democratic convention in response to demands for reform by minority groups and others who sought better representation |
| Superdelegates | National party leaders who automatically get a delegate slot at the national party convention |
| Caucus | A system for selecting convention delegates in which people express their opinions regarding candiates |
| Presidential primaries | Elections in which a state's voters go to the polls to express their preference for a party's nominee for president |
| Front loading | The recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention |
| National primary | A proposed nationwide primary that would replace the current primary/caucus system |
| Regional primary | A proposed series of primaries held in each geographic region that would replace the current primary/caucus system |
| Party platform | A political party's statement of its goals and policies for the next four years |
| Direct mail | A method of raising money for a political cause or candidate in which information and requests for money are sent to people whose names appear on lists of those who have supported similar views or candidates in the past |
| Federal Election Campaign Act | A law passed in 1974 fo reforming campaign finances, creating the Federal election commission, providing public financing for presidential primaries and general elections, limited presidential campaign spending, required disclosure.. |
| Federal Election Commission | A six member bipartisan group that administers and enforces campaign finance laws |
| Presidential Election Campaign Fund | Money from the income tax check off goes into the fun which is then distributed to qualified candidates to subsidize their campaigns |
| Matching funds | Contributions of up to $250 are matched from the presidential election campaign fund to candidates for the presidential nomination who qualify and agree to meet certain conditions |
| Soft money | Political contributions earmarked for party-building expenses at the grassroots level or for generic party advertising that is not subject to limits (Not given to a candidate) |
| 527 groups | Independent political groups that are not subject to contribution restrictions because they do not directly seek the election of particular candiates |
| 501(c) groups | Groups that are exempted from reporting their contributions and can receive unlimited contributions, cannot spend more than half of their funds on political activites |
| Political action committees | A corporation, union, or other group that funds campaigns and must register with FEC |
| Selective perception | The phenomenon that people's beliefs often guide what they pay the most attention to and how they interpret events |
| Legitimacy | A characterization of elections by political scientists meaning that they are almost universally accepted as fair and free method of selecting political leaders |
| Referendum | A state level method of direct legislation that gives voters a chance to approve or disapprove proposed legislation or constitutional amendments |
| Initiative petition | A process permitted in some states where voters may put different issues on the ballot if they get enough signatures |
| Suffrage | The legal right to vote |
| Political efficacy | The belief that one's political participation really matters |
| Civic duty | The belief that in order to support democratic government, a citizen should vote |
| Voter registration | A system adopted by the states that requires voters to register prior to voting |
| Motor Vehicle Act | A 1993 act that requires that states permit people to register to vote when they apply for their driver's license |
| Mandate theory of elections | The idea that the winning candidate has a mandate from the people to carry out his/her platform and politics |
| Policy voting | Electoral choices that are made on the basis of the voters' policy preferences and where candidates stand on issues |
| Electoral college | A unique American institution, created by the Constitution, providing for the selection of the president by electors |
| Retrospective voting | A theory of voting according to which voters essentially make their decisions based on their answers to the question: "What have you done for me lately" |
| High tech politics | A politics in which the behavior of citizens and policymakers and the political agenda itself are increasingly shaped by technology |
| Mass media | Television, radio, newspaper, magazines, the Internet, and other means of popular communication |
| Media event | Events that are purposely staged for the media and that are significant because the media is there |
| Press conferences | Meetings of public officials with reporters |
| Investigative journalism | The use of in-depth reporting to unearth scandals, scams, and schemes, at times putting reporting reporters in adversarial relationships with political leaders |
| Print media | Newspapers and magazines |
| Electronic media | Television, radio, and the Internet |
| Narrowcasting | Media programming that is focused on a particular interest and audience |
| Chains | Groups of newspapers published by media conglomerates |
| Beats | Specific locations from which news frequently emanates |
| Trial balloons | Intentional news leaks for the purpose of assessing political reaction |
| Sound bites | Short video clips of approx. 10 seconds |
| Talking head | A shot of a person's face talking directly to the camera that is generally not shown for long |
| Policy agenda | The issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people involved in politics |
| Policy entrepreneurs | People who invest their political capital in an issue |
| Budget | A policy document allocating taxes and expenditures |
| Deficit | An excess of federal expenditures over federal revenues |
| Expenditures | Government spending |
| Revenues | The financial resources of the government |
| Income tax | Shares of individual wages and corporate revenues collected by the government |
| 16th amendment | The amendment that legalizes an income tax (1913) |
| Tax expenditures | Revenue losses that result from exemptions |
| Social Security Act | A 1935 law intended to provide a minimal level of sustenance to older Americans |
| Medicare | A program that provides health insurance for the elderly |
| Incrementalism | The idea that this years budget will be last years plus a little bit |
| Uncontrollable expenditures | Expenditures that are determined by how many eligible beneficiaries there are for a program, or by previous obligations |
| Entitlements | Policies for which Congress is obligated to pay everyone eligible a certain amount |
| House Ways and Means Commmittee | The House committee that writes tax codes |
| Senate Finance Committee | The Senate committee that writes tax codes |
| Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 | An act designed to reform the congressional budgetary process, forcing Congress to look at the budget as a whole |
| Congressional Budget Office | Advises Congress on the probable consequences of its decisions, forecasts revenues, and is a counterweight to the OMB |
| Budget resolution | A resolution binding Congress to a total expenditure level |
| Reconciliation | A congressional process through which program authorizations are revised to achieve savings |
| Authorization bill | An act of Congress that establishes, continues, or changes a government program |
| Appropriations bill | An act of Congress that funds authorization bills |
| Continuing resolutions | When congress cannot reach an agreement, these resolutions allow agencies to spend at the level of the previous year |
| Incumbents | Those already holding office |
| Casework | Activities of members of Congress that help constituents as individuals |
| Pork barrel | Federal projects, grants, and contracts available to state and local governments, businesses, colleges, and other institutions |
| Bicameral legislature | 2 houses |
| House Rules Committee | The committee in the House that reviews most bills coming from a House committee before they go to the full House |
| Filibuster | A strategy in the Senate where there can be unlimited debate, thus votes can be postponed or never occur, takes 60 members to overcome a filibuster |
| Speaker of the House | A constitutionally mandated office that is chosen by the majority party, and is 2nd in line for the presidency |
| Majority leader | Responsible for scheduling bills, influencing committee assignments, and rounding up votes in behalf of the party's legislative positions |
| Whips | Party leaders who work the the majority leader or minority leader to count votes beforehand |
| Minority leader | Principle leader of the minority party in either the House or the Senate |
| Standing committees | Separate subject matter committees that handle bills in different policy areas |
| Joint committees | Congressional committees on a few subject matter areas with membership from both houses |
| Conference committees | Congressional committees that try to compromise the House and Senate versions of a bill |
| Select committees | Congressional committees appointed for a specific purpose |
| Legislative oversight | congress's monitoring of the bureaucracy and its administration of policy through hearings |
| Committee chairs | The most important influences of congressional agenda who schedule hearings, hire staff, appoint subcommittees, and manage committee bills when they are brought to the full house |
| Seniority system | A simple rule of picking committee chairs |
| Caucus | A group of members of Congress sharing some interest or characteristic |
| Bill | A proposed law |
| Federal debt | All the money borrowed by the federal government that is still outstanding |
| 22nd Amendment | Limits presidents to 2 terms in office |
| 25th Amendment | Permits vice president to become the acting president if the president is disabled |
| Impeachment | The political equivalent of an indictment in the criminal law for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors |
| Watergate | The events and scandal surrounding a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and the subsequent cover up of White House involvement |
| Cabinet | A group of presidential advisers not mentioned in the Constitution |
| National Security Council | The committee that links the president's foreign and military policy advisers, made up of the president, vice president, secretary of state and secretary of defense |
| Office of Management and Budget | An office that prepares the president's budget and advises the president on proposals from departments and agencies |
| Council of Economic Advisers | A three member body appointed by the president to advise on economic policy |
| Veto | The constitutional power of the president to send a bill back to Congress with his reasons for rejecting it |
| Pocket Veto | A type of veto occurring when Congress adjourns within 10 days of submitting the bill to the president and the president lets the bill die by not doing anything |
| Presidential cottails | These occurs when voters cast their ballots for congressional candidates of the president's party because they support the president |
| War Powers Resolution | A law passed in 1973 that requires presidents to consult with Congress whenever possible prior to using military force or withdraw troops in 60 days unless Congress declares war or grants an extentsion |
| Legislative veto | A vote in Congress to override a presidential decision |
| Crisis | A sudden, unpredictable, and potentially dangerous event |
| Bureaucracy | A hierarchical authority structure that uses task specialization, operates on the merit principle, and behaves with impersonality |
| Patronage | A system in which jobs and promotions are awarded for political reasons rather than merit |
| Pendleton Civil Service Act | An act that created the federal civil service, so advancement would be based on merit |
| Civil service | A system of hiring and promotion based on merit and the desire to create a nonpartisan government service |
| Merit Principle | The idea that hiring should be based on people with skill and talent |
| Hatch Act | A federal law prohibiting governmental employees from active participation in partisan politics while on duty or for employees in sensitive positions at any time |
| Office of Personnel Management | The office in charge of hiring for most agencies of the federal government |
| General Schedule rating | A schedule for federal employees by which salaries can be keyed to rating and experience |
| Senior Executive service | An elite cadre at the top of the civil service system |
| Independent regulatory commission | A governmental agency with responsibility for making and enforcing rules to protect the public interest in some sector of the economy |
| Government corporations | A governmental organization that provides a service that could be delivered by the private sector and typically charges for its services |
| Policy implementation | The stage of policy making between the establishment of a policy and the consequences of that policy on those affected |
| Standard operating procedures | Procedures that make everyday decisions for the bureaucrats bringing efficiency and uniformity |
| Administrative discretion | The authority of administrative actors to select among various responses to a particular problem |
| Street level bureaucrats | Bureaucrats who are in constant contact with the public and have more administrative discretion |
| Regulation | The use of governmental authority to control or change some practice in the private sector |
| Deregulation | The lifting of governmental restrictions on businesses, industry, and professional activities |
| Command and control policy | A typical system of deregulation whereby the government tells businesses what to do, how to do it, and when to do it by, and punishes offenders |
| Incentive system | An alternative to command and control policy using market-like strategies such as rewards to manage public policy |
| Executive orders | Regulations originating from the executive branch |
| Iron triangles | AKA subgovernments, a mutually dependent, mutually advantageous relationship between the bureaucrats, interest groups, and congressional committees |
| Independent executive agency | The governmental agencies not accounted for by the cabinet, regulatory commissions, or corporations |
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meredithl2013
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