AP US Government & Politics vocabulary list

AP US Government & Politics Running Vocabulary List

• please contact us for suggestions on words to add

• to do / add:
  • federal agencies list
  • state government structures
  • judicial structures as coherent list

Running Gov vocabulary list (uncategorized)

#

• 3/5ths clause
• 501(c)(3) corporation
• 527 organization
• 435 Members of House
• 538 Electoral College Votes

A

• ABC agencies
• acquisitive bureaucracies
• activist court
• actuary tables
• ad hominem
• administrative court
• administrative law
• administrative state, the
• adversarial press
• “advice & consent”
• advocate
• affirmative action
• Afghanistan War
• age discrimination
• agency
• agenda
• Al Sharpton
• Alexis de Tocqueville
• Alien & Sedition Acts
• "all politics is local"
• allocation of resources
• America First / America-Firsters
• “Ameicans”
• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
• American empire
• American Experiment, The
• American exceptionalism
• American System, the
• amicus curiae
• amnesty
• anarchy / anarchism
• anachronistic / anachronism
• Annapolis Convention
• anomoly / anomolous
• antebellum
• anti-federalist
• anti- trust
• apolitical
• appeal / appellate court
• apportion/ apportionment
• appropriations / appropriate
• arbitrary rule
• Areopagitica (Milton)
• arraignment
• Article 1, Section 8
• Articles of Confederation
• asylum
• asymmetrical warfare
• at large / at large representation
• atrophy
• Australian ballot
• authority

B

• balance of trade
• balanced budget
• balancing the ticket
• bankruptcy
• barriers to entry
• base, the
• battleground states
• Bernie Sanders
• bicameral legislature
• big tent
• bilateral
• bill of attainder
• Bill of Rights
• black box voting machine
• Black Lives Matter (BLM)
• bipartisan
• block grants
• blue collar/ white collar
• Blue Dogs
• Blue state
• Boston Tea Party
• Broken Windows Theory
• Bush doctrine
• bourgeoisie
• border wall, the
• budget
• budget deficit
• budget resolution
• bundle/ bundling
• bureau
• bureaucracy / bureaucrat
• bureaucratic inertia
• burden

C

• cabal
• Cabinet, the
• campaign
• campaign finance reform
• capital
• capital gains tax
• capital offence / capital crime
• capitalism
• capitol
• categorical grants
• caucus
• Caucus, the Iowa
• caveat emptor
• census
• censor / censorship
• Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
• centralize / centralization
• “cert” (writ of certiorari)
• charity
• charter
• chauvinistic
• check & balances
• Chief Executive
• Christian Coalition
• citizenship
• civic duty
• civil law
• civil liberties
• civil rights
• Civil Rights Acts
• civil service
• claimant / complainant
• classics / classical
• classical liberalism
• clear & present danger doctrine
• client politics
• cloture
• coalition
• coattails
• coercion
• cognitive dissonance
• collateral damage
• collective bargaining
• collective decisions
• Commander in Chief
• Commerce clause
• commercial speech
• commission
• committees: standing, select, joint
• common law
• community standards
• competitive federalism
• concession
• concession speech
• concurrent power (s)
• concurring opinion
• confederation
• Conference Committee
• congress
• Congress
• Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
• Congressional oversight
• confirmation bias
• conflict of interest
• Connecticut Compromise
• conscription
• consensus
• conservative / conservatism
• consent of the governed
• consideration (contract law)
• constituency
• constituent
• constitutional / unconstitutional
• constitutional crisis
• constitutionalism
• Consumer Price Index (CPI)
• consumerism
• contempt of court
• context / contextual
• Continental Congress
• continuing resolution
• contract / contract law
• contract of cohesion
• convention: constitutional, party convention
• convention bump
• cooperative federalism
• co-option
• copyright
• corporation / incorporation
• cover up
• Council of Economic Advisors
• court
• creative destruction
• criminal law
• cruel and unusual punishment
• currency: hard v. soft, "political currency"
• czar

D

• dark horse
• de facto
• de facto segregation v de jure segregation
• de jure
• debt / federal debt
• debt ceiling
• Declaration of Independence
• deep state, the
• defendant
• deficit: trade deficit, fiscal deficit, budget deficit
• deficit spending
• delegate, a (n)
• delegate, to (v)
• delegated powers
• deliberation
• deliberative body
• demagogue / demagoguery
• democracy
• democratic (little “D”)
• Democratic party (big “D”)
• Democratic-Republican party
• demographics
• department / Department
• Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
• deregulate
• determinism
• deterrence
• deviance
• devolution
• diffusion
• diplomacy / diplomat
• direct democracy
• direct primary
• direct representation
• direct tax
• discount rate (Federal Reserve)
• discretionary authority (bureaucracies)
• discrimination
• disenfranchised
• disinterested
• disparate impact
• dispersed inequality
• dissent
• dissenting opinion
• distribution of power
• distributive policy
• district
• District Attorney (D.A.)
• District Court
• divided government v. unified government
• divine right / divine rule
• diversity
• doctrine
• double Jeopardy
• dualism
• dual federalism
• dual sovereignty
• dual court system
• due process
• duty / duties

E

• e pluribus unum
• earmark
• ecclesiastical
• economics
• economic theory
• economy / economy
• efficacy (internal v external efficacy)
• egalitarianism
• elastic / “elastic clause”
• election
• Electoral College
• electoral mandate
• electorate
• elites / elitism
• eminent domain
• Enlightenment
• entanglement/s
• entitlements
• entitlement state
• entrapment
• entrepreneurial politics
• enumerate
• enumerated powers
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• equal application of the law
• equal protection
• Equal Protection clause
• Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
• equality
• equality of condition
• equality of opportunity
• equality of outcomes
• equity
• Establishment clause
• euphemism
• evangelicals
• ex post facto (laws)
• excise tax
• exclusionary rule
• executive agreement
• executive branch
• executive order
• executive privilege
• exile
• exit polls
• expedient
• expressed powers
• expropriation
• extra-constitutional
• extradite

F

• fact checker
• faction (s)
• fair tax, the
• Fairness doctrine
• "fake news"
• family values
• favorite son
• federal (small “f”)
• Federal (big “F”)
• federal apparatus
• Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
• Federal Reserve
• federalism
• federalist
• Federalist Papers
• Federalist Party
• Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA)
• feminism
• filibuster
• First Lady
• first-past-the-post voting (PFTP)
• fiscal policy / fiscal year
• flag burning
• flat tax
• “flyover country”
• focus group
• food stamps
• “foot in the door”
• foreign entanglements
• foreign policy
• Founders (“Founding Fathers, “Framers”)
• Fourth Branch, the
• Fourth Estate, the
• franchise, the (n)
• franking
• franchise
• franking
• fraud
• free rider
• free speech
• free trade
• friend of the court
• front loading (primaries)
• front runner
• Full faith & credit
• functionary
• funded mandates (v unfunded)
• future contingents (“what is today is not… tomorrow”)

G

• Gallup/ Gallup Poll/ George Gallup
• Gang of Eight
• gas tax/ gasoline tax
• gay and lesbian
• gender
• gender gap
• General Accounting Office (GOA)
• General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
• genocide
• gentrification
• gerrymandering
• global warming
• government
• Government Accountability Office (GAO)
• Grand Old Party (GOP)
• grandfather laws/ clause / “grandfathered”
• grants
• grants-in-aid
• Great Compromise
• gridlock
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
• Group of 8 (also G8)
• Guantanamo (also “Gitmo”)
• gubernatorial

H

• habeas corpus
• hard money (v. soft money)
• harm
• hegemony
• hereditary rule
• home rule
• Homeland Security Department
• Horatio Alger story
• horse race
• Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD)
• human rights
• humanism

I

• idealism
• ideology (-ies)
• “if you want less of something, tax it”
• “if you want more of something, subsidize it;
• illegal alien
• impound/ impoundment
• incentives
• income inequality
• incumbent
• infrastructure
• inherent bias (polling)
• “initiative, referendum and recall”
• intelligence agencies, intelligence establishment
• interdependent
• interventionism / interventionist
• Iowa caucuses
• immigration reform
• impeachment
• implied powers
• impoundment
• impugn
• Imperial presidency
• “In God We Trust”
• incentive
• income distribution
• income tax
• incorporation (14th amendment)
• incumbency
• independence
• independent agency
• independent counsel
• independent voter
• indict / indictment
• indirect democracy
• indirect tax
• individualism
• inequity
• inflation
• influence
• infomercial
• informal power
• inherent power
• initiative
• intellectual property
• inter-state commerce (also, v intra-state)
• institutional bias
• intelligence agency
• inter-dependent
• interests
• interest groups
• interest rate / discount rate
• International Monetary Fund (IMF)
• institution
• Iraq War
• iron triangle
• isolationism / isolationist
• issue advocacy

J

• James Carville
• January 6/ January 6 Committee
• Jean Jacques Rousseau: “Social Contract”
• Jim Crow laws
• John Locke: “Two Treatises of Government”
• Joint Chiefs of Staff
• joint committee
• judicial activism
• judicial branch
• judicial restraint
• judicial review
• Judiciary Committee
• jurisdiction
• jury nullification
• justice
• Justice Department

K

• Karl Rove
• Keynesianism
• keynote address
• kitchen cabinet

L

• laissez-faire
• lame duck (president)
• landslide
• labor union
• largess
• laws of unintended consequences
• left wing
• Left, the
• legal precedent
• legal remedy
• legislation
• legislative branch
• legislative veto
• legislator
• legislature
• legitimate / legitimacy
• Lemon Test
• letter of the law
• liability / limited liability
• liberal (small “l”)
• Liberal (big “L”)
• liberalism
• libertarian
• Libertarian Pary
• liberty
• license
• limited government
• line-item veto
• linkage institution
• liquidity
• litigant / litigation
• living constitution (also “organic”)
• living wage
• litmus test
• lobbying/ lobbyist
• local government / local rule
• lock box
• logrolling
• Louisiana Purchase

M

• machine politics
• Machiavelli
• Machiavellian
• magistrate
• Magna Carta (also “Magna Charta”)
• majority
• majority age
• Majority Leader
• majority opinion
• majoritarian politics
• “majority rule, minority rights”
• mandate
• Manifest Destiny
• margin/ s
• marginal
• marginal district
• market economy
• market mechanism
• Marshall Court
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
• masses, the
• mass market
• mass media
• matching funds / matching grants
• Mayflower Compact
• McCarthy Era / McCarthyism
• means test
• media
• Mediate
• Media Research Center
• Medicaid / Medicare
• merit / merit system
• micro / macro
• Middle America
• midterm elections
• middle, the
• Military-Industrial Complex
• militia
• minority age
• Minority Leader
• minority party
• Miranda Rights
• mitigate
• moderate / moderates
• monetary policy
• monolithic
• monopoly
• monopoly of force / monopoly on violence
• Monroe Doctrine
• Montesquieu, Baron de la Brede
• moral hazard
• mortgage crisis
• motor voter
• muckraker
• Mugwump

N

• Nate Silver
• nation / nation-states
• National Abortion Rights Action League
• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
• National Bank, the
• national committee
• national convention
• National Governors Association
• National Rifle Association (NRA)
• National Security Agency (NSA)
• National Security Advisor / Council
• nationalize / nationalization
• natural law
• natural monopoly
• Necessary and Proper clause
• New Deal
• New Jersey Plan
• New Nationalism
• “New World Order”
• networking
• niche
• Nielsen Ratings
• “The 99%”
• No Child Left Behind
• “no free lunch”
• “No Hypocrites!”
• nomination / nominating convention
• non-governmental organization (NGO)
• non-partisan
• non-profit
• norms
• North America Free Trade Agreement NAFTA)
• Nuclear Football, the

O

• Obamacare
• Obama Doctrine
• obscenity
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
• Occupy Wall Street / “Occupy”
• “of the people”
• Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
• omnibus legislation
• open government
• open primary
• open society
• opinions (Court)
• opposition research
• oral argument
• orderly transfer of power
• original intent
• original jurisdiction
• originalist
• overlapping authorities

P

• pardon
• parliamentary maneuver
• parliamentary system
• parochial
• partisan / partisanship
• party realignment
• parties: major, minor, independent
• party dealignment
• party discipline / party loyalty
• party machine
• “passions attached to opinions”
• patents
• patrician
• patriotic / patriotism
• patronage
• payroll taxes
• peaceful transfer of power
• penal system
• pension
• Pentagon Papers
• per capita
• performatives
• Persian Gulf
• persuasion
• perverse incentives
• petition
• People for the American Way
• photo op
• plaintiff
• planned economy
• platform / plank
• plea bargain
• plebe / plebian
• pluralism / pluralistic
• pocket veto
• polarize / polarization
• police power
• police state
• policy wonk
• political
• Political Action Committee (PAC)
• political appointee
• political base
• political compromise
• political cover
• political efficacy
• political culture
• political economy
• political identity
• political parties
• political socialization
• political stability
• politicize
• politics
• poll tax
• polling
• polls (surveys / polling stations)
• polyarchy
• popular government
• popular sovereignty
• popular vote / popular majority
• populist / populism
• pork barrel
• positive law
• poverty line
• POW / MIA
• power/ powers
• power broker
• Preamble, the
• precedent
• preemption
• prescient
• presidency
• president
• President of the United States (also POTUS)
• President pro tempore
• Press, the
• press secretary
• pressure groups
• price supports
• price theory
• primary elections/ primaries: direct primary, open primary, closed primary
• primogeniture
• prior restraint v. prior review
• privacy / privacy rights
• privilege / privileged / privileges
• privileges & immunities
• “pro-choice”
• procedural due process
• procedural rights
• process
• profit incentive
• progenitor
• progressive
• Progressive Era
• progressive tax
• progressives
• projection of power
• property rights
• proportional representation
• prosecutor / prosecution
• protection
• protectionism
• public choice theory
• Public Citizen
• public interest
• public interest group
• public opinion
• public policy
• public-private
• public safety
• public scrutiny
• public weal
• pure democracy
• push poll

Q

• quota/ racial quota
• quorum

R

• race
• racial discrimination
• racial preferences
• racial quotas
• ranked choice voting
• rational-basis review (or scrutiny)
• reactionary
• Reagan Democrats
• Reaganomics
• realclearpolitics.com
• recall
• recidivism
• reconcile
• Red Scare, the
• red state
• red tape
• redistribution
• redistricting
• referendum
• regressive tax
• regulation (s)
• regulation v. direct control
• regulatory agency
• regulatory discretion
• regulatory policy
• release valves
• religious right
• Reform Party
• remedy
• rent seeking
• repeal
• republic
• republican (small “r”)
• Republican (big “R”)
• Republican in Name Only (RINO)
• Republican party
• republican principle, the
• republicanism
• representative democracy
• reserved powers / Reserved Powers clause
• rescission
• resolutions (v. laws)
• revenue
• reverse discrimination
• rhetorical power
• riders
• right to bear arms
• “right to life”
• Right, the
• right wing
• rights
• roll-call / roll-call votes
• rule of four
• rule of law
• Rule of Reason
• Rules Committee
• run-off
• Russia Gate
• Rust Belt

S

• “safe seat”
• safety net
• sampling error
• sanction
• scandal
• school choice
• school prayer
• scrutiny: intermediate & strict scrutiny; also rational basis scrutiny
• search and seizure
• secession
• Second Continental Congress
• Section 8 (Housing Act of 1937)
• sectionalism
• secular
• Security Council
• sedition
• self-actualization
• self-determination
• self-government
• self-perpetuating
• self-rule
• senatorial
• Senatorial courtesy
• senior citizens
• separate but equal
• separation of church and state
• separation of powers
• September 11 (also “911")
• sequester
• session of Congress
• Shays’ Rebellion
• show cause
• silent majority, the
• simple majority
• single-member district
• situational ethics
• small claims court
• “smoke filled rooms”
• soccer mom
• social choice theory
• social construction
• social contract
• social engineering
• social hierarchy
• social justice
• social media
• social mobility
• social class
• social welfare
• socialism
• soft money (v. hard money)
• Solicitor General
• solid South
• sound bite
• sovereignty
• Speaker of the House
• special committee
• speech
• split ticket v. straight ticket vote
• Southern Poverty Law Center
• stakeholder
• standards / standardize
• standing (courts)
• stare decisis
• state
• state ownership
• State Department
• State of the Union address
• states’ rights
• statute of limitations
• statutes
• statutory law
• statutory
• stewardship
• straw vote
• strict constructionist
• strict scrutiny
• structure
• sub rosa
• subpoena
• subsidies / subsidize
• substantive due process
• succession
• suffrage
• Sunday morning talk shows
• sunshine laws
• super majority
• Supremacy clause
• Supreme Court (also SCOTUS)
• suspect categories
• swing states
• swing voters/ votes
• symbolic speech
• syndicate

T

• Takings clause
• talk radio
• talking heads
• tax rate
• tax shelter
• taxes
• Tea Party
• technicalities
• term limits
• textualist / textualism
• “The” v. “These” United States
• Thomas Hobbes (”Leviathan”)
• think tanks
• third party
• threshold
• ticket
• Title Programs: Title I, II, IX, etc.
• tort
• totalitarian
• town hall meeting
• “Tragedy of the Commons”
• trial balloon
• triangulation
• Trickle Down theory
• two party system
• trust, a (n)
• tyranny of the majority

U

• unalienable / unalienable rights
• unanimity
• unanimous
• undocumented worker
• underprivileged
• unemployment compensation
• unemployment rate
• unfunded mandate
• unilateral / unilaterally
• unintended consequences (moral hazard)
• universal suffrage
• “Unsafe at Any Speed”
• unwritten constitution
• urban renewal
• utility

V

• values
• values voter
• veto
• vice presidency
• Virginia Plan
• virtual representation
• vote
• vote of conscience
• voter behavior
• voter apathy (>> not defining of non-voting)
• voting rights
• Voting Rights Act (esp. “Section 2”)
• voucher/ “vouchers”

W

• “wall of separation”
• War on Drugs
• War on Poverty
• War on Terrorism
• war powers
• watchdog
• Watergate
• Ways & Means committee
• Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
• wedge issue
• weighting
• welfare
• welfare reform
• welfare state
• whip
• Whiskey Rebellion
• whistle-blowing
• William Jennings Bryan
• “winner take all”
• World Bank
• workfare
• writ
• writ of certiorari

X

• xenophobic

Z

• zoning

Forms of government: types & terms

• absolute monarchy
• aristocracy
• authoritarian
• colony
• constitutional monarchy
• constitutional government
• constitutional monarchy
• council, city or county
• democracy
• dictatorship (modern)
• direct democracy
• divine rule
• dynasty
• empire
• feudalism
• hereditary rule
• kleptocracy
• monarchy
• nation
• oligarchy
• parliamentary
• polyarchy
• primogeniture
• representative democracy
• republic
• self-government
• self-rule
• state
• theocracy
• totalitarian
• tyranny (tyrant)

Economics: theories & terms

• command economy
• comparative advantage
• consumerism
• developed world
• developing world
• First World
• Free-trade
• "Invisible hand of the market"
• Keynesianism
• laissez-faire
• local v national economy
• Locke
• market economy
• Marxism
• opportunity cost
• planned economy
• political economy
• public choice & social choice theories
• Reaganomics
• scarcity & surplus
• staple crop
• Supply-Side
• Third world
• traditional economy
• trickle-down
• utility

Taxes / taxation

• business tax
• capital gains tax
• city, state, local taxes
• direct v. indirect tax
• excise tax
• income bracket
• income
• inheritance tax
• Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
• loopholes
• marginal tax rate
• payroll tax
• progressive tax
• property
• regressive tax
• sales
• shelters
• tax authority
• withholding

Sociological terms

• affirmation
• Broken Windows Theory
• confirmation bias
• “defining deviance down” (Daniel Patrick Moynihan)
• deviance as healthy (Durkheim)
• deviance
• group think
• life cycles
• linguistics
• loss aversion
• norms
• repetition bias
• role fulfillment
• self-identity
• socialization
• status
• symbols / symbolism
• validation
• voter behavior

Landmark Supreme Court Cases (alphabetical)

see Landmark Supreme Court cases page for more on cases

• Baker v Carr (1962, racial preferences)
• Bakke v Regents of the University of California (1978)
• Bob Jones University v US (1983)
• Boy Scouts of America v Dale (2000: freedom of association; banned laws forcing inclusion in a private group; homosexuality)
• Brown v Board of Education (1954, equal protection, overturned Plessy)
• Buckley v Valeo (1976)
• Bush v Gore (2000)
• Charles River Bridge v Warren Bridge (1837)
• Cherokee Nation v Georgia (1831)
• Citizens United v Federal Election Commission (2010)
• Civil Rights Cases of 1883
• Clinton v City of New York (1998)
• Clinton v Jones (1997)
• Commonwealth v Hunt (1842)
• Cooper v. Aaron (1958, states cannot nullify federal Court rulings)
• Dartmouth College v Woodward (1819)
• District of Columbia v Heller (2008: gun rights upheld)
• Dred Scott v Sandford (1857)
• Engel v Vitale (1962: religion; banned school prayer)
• Escobeda v Illinois (1964)
• Ex parte Endo (1944)
• Ex parte Milligan (1866)
• Fletcher v Peck (1810)
• Furman v Georgia (1972)
• Gibbons v Ogden (1824: upheld federal interstate commerce / Commerce clause powers)
• Gideon v Wainwright (1963: right to state-funded attorney)
• Gitlow v New York (1925)
• Gratz v Bollinger (2003)
• Griswald v Connecticut (1965: "right to privacy; birth control)
• Grutter v Bollinger (2003: upheld university diversity policies)
• Hamdi v Rumsfield (2004)
• Hazelwood v Kuhlmeier (1983: speech; upheld limits on student publications)
• Heart of Atlanta v US (1964)
• Kelo v City of New London (2005)
• Korematsu v United States (1944)
• Lau v Nichols (1974)
• Lawrence v Texas (2003: right to privacy; banned anti-sodomy law; homosexuality)
• Lemon v Kurtzman (1971)
• Lochner v New York (1905)
• Loving v Virginia (1967: equal protection; banned miscegenation laws)
• Mapp v Ohio (1961: probable cause, due process; evidence obtained illegally cannot be used in criminal court)
• Marbury v Madison (1803: judicial review)
• Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018: free exercise of religion, right to discriminate based on religious belief)
• McCulloch v Maryland (1819: Supremacy clause, upheld implied powers)
• McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010: gun rights; applied Heller decision to states)
• McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020, tribal reservation rights)
• Miller v California (1973)
• Miranda v Arizona (1966: due process; informed rights before questioning)
• Muller v Oregon (1908)
• Munn v Illinois (1876)
• New Jersey v T.L.O. (1985: public safety over rights of minors)
• New York Times v Sullivan (1964: rights of press; "actual malice" requirement in libel)
• New York Times v U.S. (1971)
• Northern Securities Co. v U. S. (1904)
• Planned Parenthood v Casey (1992)
• Plessy v Ferguson (1896)
• Pollock v The Farmers' Loan and Trust Co. (1895)
• Roe v Wade (1973: right to privacy; abortion)
• Roper v Simmons (2005: execution is cruel & unusual punishment for minors)
• Schenck v US (1919: )
• Schechter v U. S. (1936)
• Scott v Sanford (1857)
• Shaw v Reno (1993)
• Terry v. Ohio (1969: probably clause/ reasonable search justified without warrant in certain circumstances)
• Texas v Johnson (1989: symbolic speech protection in burning of flag)
• Tinker v Des Moines (1969: rights of minors; search & seizure)
• U.S. v American Library Association (2003)
• U. S. v E. C. Knight Co. (1895)
• U.S. v Nixon (1974: executive privilege)
• Van Order v Perry (2005)
• Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific Railway Co. v Illinois (1886)
• Zelma v. Simmons-Harris (2002, religion, school vouchers)

Constitutional Powers (list of)

• concurrent
• delegated
• distribution of power
• enumerated
• expressed
• implied
• informal
• inherent
• reserved

Legal doctrines and terms

• Clear & Present Danger Doctrine
• Judicial Review
• Lemon test
• Miranda rights
• Rule of Reason
• Separate but Equal
• judicial activism/ -activist
• judicial restraint
• living constitution
• original intent
• strict constructionist
• textualist
• amicus curiae
• due process
• exclusionary rule
• habeas corpus
• litmus test
• precedent
• prior restraint
• privileges & immunities
• procedural law / procedural rights
• remedy
• stare decisis
• strict scrutiny
• strict scrutiny / intermediate scrutiny
• substantive due process
• writ of certiorari
• Marshall Court (1801-1835)
• Warren Court (1954-1969)
• Rehnquist Court (1986-2005)

Important laws

• (incomplete, names as commonly known, not the actual legislative name)
• Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC; 1935 as part of SSA)
• Americans with Disabilities Act (1991)
• Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act (1993)
• Civil Service Reform Act (1978)
• Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Clean Water Act (1987)
• Clean Air Act (1970)
• Dodd-Frank (2010)
• Endangered Species Act (1973)
• Fair Housing Act (1968)
• Family Medical Leave Act (1993)
• Federal Election Campaign Acts (FECA, 1971)
• Freedom of Information Act (FOIA, 1966)
• Hatch Act (1939)
• Immigration Act of 1991
• Judiciary Act (1789)
• McCain Feingold (2002)
• Motor Voter Act of 1993
• National Security Act of 1947
• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA, 1969)
• Norris-LaGuardia Act (1932)
• Obama Care (“Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010”)
• Pendleton Act (or "Civil Service Act of 1883")
• Social Security Act (SSA) (1935)
  • see also Title II, Title XVIII (Medicare), Title XIX (Medicaid)
• Simpson-Marzzoli Act (1987)
• Taft-Hartley Act (1947)
• U.S. Patriot Act of 2001
• Voting Rights Act of 1965
• Wagner Act (1935)
• War Powers Act (1973)

U.S. Constitution

For Constitution Pop-Up Study Guide see: http://www.mrbromleysclass.com/jsagov/?page_id=96

• Preamble
• Article 1: Legislative organization/ powers
• Article 2: Executive organization/ powers
• Article 3: Judicial organization / powers
• Article 4: Full Faith & Credit / Privileges & Immunities (relationship between states); also "Republican Form of Government" guarantee
• Article 5: constitutional amendment process (2/3rds Congress or convention of states to propose, 3/4ths States to ratify; state equal suffrage in Senate protection
• Article 6: Supremacy Clause; also, oaths of office, no religious test
• Article 7: Ratification of Constitution by 9 states

Constitutional Amendments/ Timeline

Early Republic amendments

• 1-10, 1789: BOR (Bill or Rights)
• 11, 1795: clarified / limited judicial powers re. suits between citizens & states & foreign nations
• 12, 1803: reorganized Prez/VP election (joined as a ticket essentially)

Civil War era amendments

• 13, 1865: abolish slavery
• 14, 1868.
  • Section 1
    • naturalized citizenship
    • privileges & immunities protection,
    • due process
    • equal representation
  • Section 2
    • apportionment of representatives (abolished 3/5ths clause)
  • Section 3
    • limit political participation of former confederates
  • Section 4
    • validated Northern war debt
• 15, 1869: protects voting rights regardless of race, color, former servitude

Progressive era amendments

• 16, 1913: direct tax (income tax)
• 17, 1913: direct election of senators (by popular vote in states)
• 18, 1917: prohibition

WWI era amendments

• 19, 1920: voting rights for women

1930s/40s amendments

• 20, 1933: move prez inauguration to Jan (from March), clarified succession
• 21: repeals 18th amendment (prohibition)
• 22, 1951: limit office of prez to two terms (in response to FDR 4 terms)

Civil Rights era amendments

• 23, 1961: electoral college votes for DC
• 24, 1964: abolishes poll taxes
• 25, 1967: clarifies prez succession in case of incapacitation (Cold War)
• 26, 1971: reduce voting age to 18

Modern era amendments

• 27, 1992 (originally proposed 1789 but had no sunset date): Congressional pay raises can't take effect until after a subsequent election cycle

Notes on the Constitution / misc vocab

• Federalism
• cooperative federalism
• dual federalism
• dual sovereignty
• elastic clause
• privileges and immunities

Constitutional Powers

• concurrent
• delegated
• enumerated
• enumerated powers
• expressed
• implied
• informal powers
• inherent powers

US History timeline

1750s-1770s: Revolutionary Period

• - French Indian War (America) / Seven Years War (Europe/ Asia)
• end of salutary neglect
  • see US History timeline & concept chart: 16th-18th centuries (to 1754) British-American colonies

• British colonial rule subsequent to war, including
  • taxes, trade restrictions and regulations
  • direct imposition of British rule through
    • crown-appointed governors and judges
    • placement of soldiers in areas of unrest
• impact upon American political thought:
  • economic and political liberties
  • taxes
  • representation in Parliament

1775-81: American Revolution

1776: Declaration of Independence

• "Common Sense"

Articles of Confederation period (1775-1789)

• 1787 Constitutional Convention

1789: Constitution ratified/ Federal government commences

• Federalist Papers
  • compromise w/ anti-Federalists
  • restrictions upon FEDERAL powers/ protections for individuals and states
  • BOR adopted, 1791

1790s: Early Republic

• growing partisanship: Hamilton v. Jefferson
• factions
• 1798: Alien and Sedition Acts:
  • partisan fight over Anglo/French outlook & French Revolution (Paine to France)
  • restriction on immigration (Naturalization Act) & powers of deportation (Alien Friends Act)
  • limits on political speech (Sedition Act)
• Judicial review affirmed by Marshall Court (Marbury v. Madison, 1803)

1812-1815: War of 1812

• largely over U.S. western expansion/encroachment and Napoleonic War implications on trade & maritime laws

1810s - 1820s

• Era of Good Feelings
• Federal Supremacy affirmed by Marshall Court (McCullough v. Maryland, 1819)
• challenges to federal Commerce Clause powers

1820s: Jacksonian period

• political patronage
• entrenchment of political parties
  • federal Indian policies
  • national bank arguments for/against
• protectionism
  • southerners hated it, northerners wanted import taxes
  • = promotion of industry
  • emergence of Whig party in reaction to Jacksonian

1850s: antebellum period

• expansion of slavery (arguments, political compromises, entry of new states)
• slavery issue / abolition movement
• westward expansion >> manifest destiny
• federal expansion via territories
• 1860 election: rise of Republican party (4-way split election)

1861-65: Civil War

• “Second American Revolution”
• Gettysburg Address
• abolition and Constitutional Amendments

1865-1877: Reconstruction

• Civil Rights Acts
• Compromise of 1877 (Hayes elected, end of Reconstruction)
• Posse Comitatus Act (1878)
• - Segregation/ Jim Crow

1880s-1890s: Industrialization

• Pendleton Act (1883; anti-patronage after Garfield assassination)
• Jim Crow / Segregation
  • Plessy v Ferguson 1896
• Railroads & western economic expansion challenges Commerce Clause
• populism, demands for government regulation (railroads, granaries, slaughterhouses)
• industrialization
• labor conditions
• unionization
• trusts
• Spanish-American War: American colonialism (1896)

1890s-1910s: Progressive Era

• Gov reform: “professional” expert” bureaucracies, rule by "commissions"
• economic & social reforms: urban conditions / labor / immigration
• Department of Labor (changed from Bureau to Department 1913)
• Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)
• Income tax (16th amendment)
• Direct Democracy (17th amendment)
• “initiative, referendum and recall”
• Trusts / trust busting
• Federal Reserve (panic of 1907)

1917-18: WWI (US involvement; 1914-1918 in Europe)

• policing powers v. individual rights/ dissenters/protesters
• 1st amendment: anti-war protests/ conscription (Debs)
  • " yell fire in a crowded theater"
• “Incorporation cases”
• Women’s suffrage (19th amendment, 1920) – as result of women participation in economy during war

1920s: Roaring 20s

• Prohibition (18th amendment)
• Expansion of federal policing powers (FBI)

1930s: Depression

• New Deal economic interventions/ expansion of commerce clause powers
• Social Security: welfare state
• FDR court packing scheme

1941-45: WWII

• pressure on segregation from total social mobilization during war that included black Americans
• 1945-1950s/60s: Post-War:
• 50's middle class / suburbs
• automobiles / National Highways System
• Cold War
• Korean War (1950-53)

Civil Rights era

• desegregation: Brown (in public schools)
• desegregation of economic activity
• application of Civil Rights Movement to ethnicity, social identities
• expansion of liberties, especially “privacy”
• Martin Luther King
• Malcolm X
• Great Society (Johnson)

1960s:

• Vietnam / protests
• youth movements / hippies
• popular culture
• Regulatory State: EPA, Dept of Transportation, etc.
• sexuality: contraception (1960s), abortion (1973) homosexuality (1990s)

1970s

• inflation / economic decline
• feminism

1980s

• economic growth
• banking / Wall Street scandals
• 1989: collapse of Soviet Union

1990s/ 2000s:

• technology
• globalization
• global warming
• War on Terror