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U.S government
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Amendment | A change in, or addition to, a constitution or law |
| Anti- federalists | Those persons who opposed the ratification of the constitution in 1787-1788 |
| Bicameral | An adjective describing a legislative body composed of two chambers |
| Boycott | A refusal to buy or sell certain goods |
| Cabinet | Presidential advisory body, traditionally made up of the exceutive departments and other officers |
| Charter | A city’s basic laws, its constitution, a written grant of authority from the king |
| Checks and balances | System of overlapping the powers of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches to permit each branch to check the actions of others |
| Compromise | An adjustment of opposing principles or systems by modifying some aspect of each |
| Constitutionalism | basic principle that government and those who govern must obey the law |
| Electoral college | Group of persons chosen in each state and the District of Columbia every four years who make a formal selection of the president and Vice President |
| Executive agreement | A pact made by the president directly with the head of a foreign state |
| Expressed powers | those delegated powers of the national government that are spelled out, expressly, in the constitution |
| Federalism | A system Government in which a written constitution divides power between a central or national government and several regional governments |
| Federalists | Those persons who supported the ratification of the constitution in the 1787-1788 |
| Formal amendment | Change of addition that becomes part of the written language of the constitution itself through the four methods set forth in the constitution |
| Framers | A group of the delegates who drafted the u.s. constitution at the Philadelphia convention in 1787. |
| Government | The institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies |
| Implied powers | Those delegated powers of the national government that are suggested by the expressed powers out in the constitution |
| Informal amendment | the Constitution does not specifically list these processes as forms of amending the Constitution, but because of change in society or judicial review changed the rule of law |
| Inherent powers | Powers of the constitution is presumed to have delegated to the government because it is the government of a sovereign state within the world community |
| Judicial power | The power to interpret laws to determine their meaning and their meaning and to settle disputes within society |
| Judicial review | The power of a court to determine the constitutionality ifba governmental action. |
| Limited government | Basic principle of American government which states that government is restricted in what it may do and each individual has nights that government cannot take away |
| Popular sovereignty | Basic principle of the American system of government which asserts that the people are the source or any all governmental power and share certain views and work to shape public policy |
| Lobbying | Activities by which group pressures are brought to bear on legislators, the legislative process, and all aspects of the public- policy- making process |
| Major parties | having electoral strength sufficient to permit it to win control of a government usually with comparative regularity and when defeated to constitute the principle opposition to the part lay in power |
| Mandate | The instructions or commands a constituency gives to its elected officials |
| Minor parties | Party with a smaller role than the mainstream parties in a country’s politics and elections |
| Opinion leader | Any person who for any reason has an usually strong influence on the views of others |
| Plurality | In an election the number of votes that leading candidate obtains over the next highest candidate |
| Political action committee | The political extension of special-interest groups which have a major stake in public policy |
| Political party | A group of persons who seek to controls government through the winning of elections and the holding of the public office |
| Propaganda | Information, especially if a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view |
| Public opinion | The complex collection of the opinions of many different people |
| Single- interest group | An association of individuals or organizations, usually formally organized of one or more shared concerns |
| Splinter parties | Parties that have split away from one of the majority parties |
| Split- ticket voting | Voting for candidates of different parties for different offices at the same election |
| Straight-ticket voting | The practice or candidates of only one party in an election |
| Straw vote | Poll that seeks to read the public’s mind by asking the same question of a large number of people |
| Apportion | Distribute, as in seats in a legislative body |
| Cloture | Procedure that may be used t limit or end floor debate in legislative body |
| Constituency | The people and interest that an elected official represents |
| Direct tax | A tax such as income tax which is levied on the income or profits of the person who pays it |
| Eminent domain | Power of a government to take private property for public use |
| Filibuster | Various tactics aimed at defeating a bill in a legislative body by preventing a final vote |
| Impeach | To bring formal charges against a public official |
| Indirect tax | A tax collected by an intermediary from the person who bears the ultimate economic burden of the tax |
| Naturalization | The legal process by which citizens of one country become citizens of another |
| Necessary and proper clause | Constitutional clause that gives congress the power to make all laws “necessary and proper” for executive its powers |
| President of the senate | The presiding officer of a senate |
| President pro tempore | The member of the United States government can exist only with the consent o the governed |
| Preamble | No legal force but does set out the purposes of those who drafted and adopted the document |
| Proprietary | Organized by a proprietor |
| Public policy | All of the many goals that a government pursues in all of the many areas of human affairs in which it is involved |
| Quorum | Least number of memebers who must be present for a legislative body to conduct business |
| Ratification | Formal approval, final consent to the effectiveness of a constitution, constitutional amendment o treaty |
| Representative government | System of government in which public policies are made by officials selected by bthe voters are held accountable in periodic elections |
| Separations of powers | Basic principles of American system of government that the executive, legislative and judicial powers are divided among three independent and coequal branches of government |
| State | A body of people living in a defined territory who have a government with the power to make and enforce law without the consent of any higher authority |
| Treaty | a formal agreement between two or more sovereign states |
| Unconstitutional | Contrary to the constitutional provisions and so illegal, null and void of no force and effect |
| Unicameral | And adjective describing a legislative body with one chamber |
| Veto | Chief executives power to reject a bill passed by a legislature |
| Confederation | A joint of several groups for a common purpose |
| Democracy | A form of government in which the supreme authority rests with the people |
| Dictatorship | A form of government in which leader has absolute power and authority |
| Parliamentary government | A form of government in which the executive branch is made up of the prime minister or premier and that officials cabinet |
| Presidential government | A form of government in which the executive and legislative branches of the government are separate independent and coequal |
| Unitary government | A centralized government in which all government powers belong to a single central agency |
| Closed primary | A party nominating elections in which only declared party members can vote |
| Electorate | All of the people entitled to vote in a given election |
| Gerrymandering | That drawing of electoral district lines to the advantage of a party or group |
| Grass roots | Pressures on public officials from members of an interest group or the people at large |
| Ideological parties | Parties based on a particular set of beliefs a comprehensive view or social economic and political matters |
| Incumbent | The current officeholder |
| Independents | A term used to describe people who have no party affiliation |
| Interest group | Private organizations whose members senate or if the upper house of a states legislature chosen to preside in the absence of the president of the senate |
| Attorney general | The head of the department of justice |
| Bureaucracy | A large complex administrative structure that handles the everyday business or and organization |
| Bureaucrat | A person who works for a bureaucratic organization |
| Civil service | Those civilian employees who preform the administrative work of government |
| Government corporation | Corporation within the executive branch subject to the presidents direction and control set up by congress to carry out certain business like activities |
| Patronage | The practice of giving jobs to supporters and friends |
| Spoils system | The practice of giving offices and other divots of government to political supporters and friends |
| Concurring opinion | Written explanation of the views of one or more judges who support a decision reached by a majority of the court |
| Dissenting opinion | Written explanation of the views of one or more judges who disagree with a decision reached by a majority of the court |
| Exclusionary rule | Evidence gained as the result of an illegal act by police cannot be used against the person from whom it was seized |
| Free exercise clause | The second part of the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom which guarantees to each person the right to believe whatever he/she chooses to believe in no matter religion |
| Indictment | A formal complaint before a grand jury which one or more crimes |
| Majority opinion | Officially called the opinion of the court |
| Plaintiff | I’m civil law the party who brings a suit or some other legal action against another in court |
| Search warrant | A court order authorizing a search |
| Symbolic speech | Expression by conduct |
| Treason | Betrayal of ones country |
| Common law | An unwritten law made by a judge that’s has developed over centuries form those generally accepted ideas of right and wrong that have fined judicial recognition |
| Jury | A body of persons elected according to law who hear evidence and decide questions of fact in a court case |
| The legislative branch | Government that writes debates and passes laws |
| The judicial branch | Us government makes decisions interpretation of laws |
| The executive branch | Responsible for implementing supporting and enforcing the laws made by the legislative branch and interpreted by the judicial branch |
| Floor leaders | Members of the house and senate picked by their parties to carry out party decisions and steer legislative action to meet party goals |
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Diamondf00
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