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AP Gov Vocab.
vocab words for midterm
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Civil rights | policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals |
| Civil liberties | The legal constitutional protections against government. Although our civil liberties are formally set down in the bill of rights, the courts, police, and legislatures define their meaning. |
| Incorporation doctrine | The legal concept under which the Supreme Court has nationalized the Bill of Rights by making most of its provisions applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. |
| Census | a valuable tool for understanding demographic changes. Th constitution requires that the government conduct an "actual enumeration" of the population every ten years |
| "Minority Majority" | The emergence of a non-Caucasian majority as compared with a WASP majority. It is predicted that by 2060, Hispanic Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans together will out number White Americans |
| Reapportionment | The process or reallocation seats in the House of Representatives every 10 years on the basis on the results of the census |
| Political Party | According to Anthony Downs, a "team of men seeking to control the government by gaining office in a duly constituted election" |
| Linkage Institutions | The channels or acess points through which issues and people's policy preferences get on the governments policy agenda. In the United States, elections, political parties, interest groups, and the mass media are the main three linkage institutions. |
| Rational Choice Theory | A popular theory in political science to explain the actions of voters as well as politicians. It assumes that individuals act in their own very best interest, carefully weighing the costs and benefits of possible alternatives. |
| Ticket Splitting | Voting with one party for one office and another party for other offices. It has become the norm in American voting behavior. |
| Critical Election | An electoral "earth quake" whereby new issues emerge and new coalitions replace old ones, and the majority party is often displaced by the minority party. |
| McGovern-Fraser Commission | A commission formed at the 1986 Democratic convention in response to demands for reform by minority groups and others who sought better representation. |
| Referendum | A state level method of direct legislation that gives voters a chance to approve or disapprove legislation or a constitutional amendment proposed by the state legislature. |
| Initiative Group | A process permitted in some states whereby voters may put proposed changes in the state constitution to a vote if sufficient signatures are obtained on petitions calling for such a referendum. |
| Mandate theory of elections | The idea that the winning candidate has a mandate from the people to carry out his or her platforms and politics. Politicians like the theory better than political scientists do. |
| Interest Group | An organization of People with shared policy goals entering the policy process at several points to try to achieve their goals.Interest groups pursue their goals in many arenas. |
| pluralism | A theory of government and politics emphasizing that politics is mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies. |
| Suffrage | The legal right to vote, extended to African Americans in the Fifteenth Amendment, to women by the Nineteenth and to people over the age of 18 by the twenty sixth amendment |
| open primaries | Elections to select party nominees in which voters can decide on Election Day whether they want to participate in the Democratic or Republican contests. |
| Closed Primaries | Elections to select party nominees in which only people who have registered in advance with the party can vote for that party's candidates, thus encouraging greater party loyalty. |
| Blanket Primaries | Elections to select party nominees in which voters are presented with a list of candidates from all parties. Voters can then select some Democrats and some Republicans if they like. |
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