AP US Government & Politics vocabulary list: Difference between revisions
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== Foundational documents == | == Foundational documents == | ||
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=== The Declaration of Independence === | === The Declaration of Independence === | ||
* "all men are born equal" | * "all men are born equal" | ||
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* affirms American principle of equality | * affirms American principle of equality | ||
** and its failures and potential | ** and its failures and potential | ||
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== U.S. Constitution outline == | == U.S. Constitution outline == |
Revision as of 22:40, 28 April 2022
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
Forms of government: types & terms[edit | edit source]
- absolute monarchy
- aristocracy
- authoritarian
- colony
- constitutional monarchy
- constitutional government
- constitutional monarchy
- council, city or county
- democracy
- democratic-socialism
- dictatorship (modern)
- direct democracy
- divine rule
- dynasty
- empire
- fascism
- 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[edit | edit source]
- command economy
- comparative advantage
- consumerism
- demand-side economics
- depression
- developed world
- developing world
- excess demand
- First World
- Free-trade
- Great Recession, the
- Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
- "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
- purchasing power (or buying)
- Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)
- Reaganomics
- recession
- regressive tax
- regulatory capture
- rent seeking
- scarcity & surplus
- staple crop
- supply-side economics
- Third world
- traditional economy
- trickle-down
- utility
Taxes / taxation[edit | edit source]
- 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[edit | edit source]
- 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
- Weberian model
Landmark Supreme Court Cases (alphabetical)[edit | edit source]
see Landmark Supreme Court cases
Constitutional Powers (list of)[edit | edit source]
- concurrent
- delegated
- distribution of power
- enumerated
- expressed
- implied
- informal
- inherent
- reserved
Legal doctrines and terms[edit | edit source]
Court doctrines, rules, standards & tests[edit | edit source]
- bad-tendency rule
- Clear & Present Danger doctrine
- Compact Theory
- Judicial Review
- Lemon test
- Miranda rights
- One person one vote standard (Baker v. Carr, 1961)
- Political Question doctrine (Baker v. Carr, 1961)
- "rule of four"
- Rule of Reason
- Separate but Equal (Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896)
Judicial / Court terms & vocabulary[edit | edit source]
- amicus curiae
- capital crime / offense
- case law
- constitutional avoidance
- constitutionality
- dual federalism
- due process
- exclusionary rule
- habeas corpus
- injunction
- irreparable harm
- judicial activism/ -activist
- judicial overreach
- judicial restraint
- litmus test
- living constitution
- original intent
- per curiam opinion
- precedent
- prior restraint
- privileges & immunities
- procedural law / procedural rights
- remedy
- restraining order
- selective incorporation
- stare decisis
- strict constructionist
- strict scrutiny / intermediate scrutiny
- strike down (a law)
- substantive due process
- textualist
- writ of certiorari
Court periods (based upon the Chief Justice)[edit | edit source]
- Marshall Court (1801-1835)
- Warren Court (1954-1969)
- Rehnquist Court (1986-2005)
Important laws[edit | edit source]
- (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)
Foundational documents[edit | edit source]
The Declaration of Independence[edit | edit source]
- "all men are born equal"
- = that the King is not above any other citizen
- = deep implication of equality of all people
- justifies self-government
- statement of grievances against British rule
The Articles of Confederation[edit | edit source]
- loose organization of independent countries ("states")
- lacked centralized and executive powers
The Constitution & Amendments[edit | edit source]
- followed republican principles of
- democratic government (power derived from the people)
- representative government (government by officials selected by the people)
- divided and limited government
Brutus No. 1[edit | edit source]
- argued that the new Constitution would not protect the liberties and rights of the people
Federalist No. 10[edit | edit source]
- explains the republican principles of the Constitution
- especially the idea that a large republic is more secure from the impact of faction than a small republic
Federalist 51[edit | edit source]
- explains the system of separation of powers and checks and balances
- which are to protect against
- faction
- tyranny of the majority
Federalist No. 70[edit | edit source]
- explains the need for a strong Executive branch
Federalist No. 78[edit | edit source]
- explains judicial review
Letter from Birmingham Jail[edit | edit source]
- affirms American principle of equality
- and its failures and potential
U.S. Constitution outline[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
Early Republic amendments[edit | edit source]
- 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[edit | edit source]
- 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
- Section 1
- 15, 1869: protects voting rights regardless of race, color, former servitude
Progressive era amendments[edit | edit source]
- 16, 1913: direct tax (income tax)
- 17, 1913: direct election of senators (by popular vote in states)
- 18, 1917: prohibition
WWI era amendments[edit | edit source]
- 19, 1920: voting rights for women
1930s/40s amendments[edit | edit source]
- 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[edit | edit source]
- 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[edit | edit source]
- 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[edit | edit source]
- Federalism
- cooperative federalism
- dual federalism
- dual sovereignty
- elastic clause
- privileges and immunities
Constitutional Powers[edit | edit source]
- concurrent
- delegated
- enumerated
- enumerated powers
- expressed
- implied
- informal powers
- inherent powers
US History timeline[edit | edit source]
1750s-1770s: Revolutionary Period
- - French Indian War (America) / Seven Years War (Europe/ Asia)
- end of salutary neglect
- 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
1790-1800s: 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)
- in response to anarchist/ socialist agitation & terrorism
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
Running Gov vocabulary list (uncategorized)[edit | edit source]
#
- 3/5ths clause
- 501(c)(3) corporation
- 527 organization
- 435 Members of House
- 538 Electoral College Votes
A
- ABC agencies
- abolition / abolitionist
- absentee ballot
- acquisitive bureaucracies
- activist / activism
- activist court
- actual malice
- actuary tables
- ad hominem
- adjudication
- administrative court
- administrative law
- administrative state, the
- adversarial press
- “advice & consent”
- advocate
- affirmative action
- Afghanistan War
- age discrimination
- agency
- agenda / agenda setting
- Al Sharpton
- Alexis de Tocqueville
- Alien & Sedition Acts
- "all politics is local"
- allocation of resources
- amendment
- America First / America-Firsters
- “Ameicans”
- American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
- American empire
- American Experiment, The
- American exceptionalism
- American System, the
- Americans with Disability Act (ADA)
- amicus curiae
- amnesty
- anarchy / anarchism
- anachronistic / anachronism
- Annapolis Convention
- anomoly / anomolous
- antebellum
- anti-federalist
- anti- trust
- apolitical
- appeal / appellate court
- appointment, & power of
- 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
- authorization
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
- bill of attainder
- Bill of Rights
- bipartisan
- bipolar system
- black box voting machine
- Black Lives Matter (BLM)
- block grant
- blog
- blue collar/ white collar
- Blue Dogs
- Blue state
- bond / bond issue
- Boston Tea Party
- boycott
- Broken Windows Theory
- Bush doctrine
- bourgeoisie
- border wall, the
- budget
- budget deficit
- budget resolution
- bundle/ bundling
- bureau
- bureaucracy / bureaucrat
- bureaucratic inertia
- burden
- busing
C
- cabal
- Cabinet, the
- campaign
- campaign finance reform
- capital
- capital gains tax
- capital offence / capital crime
- capitalism
- capitol
- capture, agency or administrative
- 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
- Chief of State
- Christian Coalition
- citizenship
- civic duty
- civil law
- civil liberties
- civil rights
- Civil Rights Acts
- civil service
- civil society
- claimant / complainant
- classics / classical
- classical conservatism
- classical liberalism
- classified / classified information
- clear & present danger doctrine
- client politics
- closed primary
- cloture
- coalition
- coattails
- coercion
- cognitive dissonance
- collateral damage
- collective bargaining
- collective decisions
- collectivism
- Commander in Chief
- Commerce clause
- commercial speech
- commission
- committees: standing, select, joint
- common law
- community standards
- comparative politics
- 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
- Continental Congress (First, Second)
- 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
- credentials committee (conventions)
- 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 / deregulation
- desegregation
- determinism / deterministic
- deterrence
- deviance
- devolution
- diffusion
- diplomacy / diplomat
- direct democracy
- direct primary
- direct representation
- direct tax
- discharge petition
- 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
- duopoly
- duty / duties
E
- e pluribus unum
- earmark
- ecclesiastical
- economics
- economic theory
- economy / economy
- effective tax rate
- efficacy (internal v external efficacy)
- egalitarianism
- elastic / “elastic clause”
- election
- elector
- Electoral College
- electoral mandate
- electorate
- elites / elitism
- eminent domain
- enabling legislation
- Enlightenment
- entanglement/s
- entitlements
- entitlement state
- entrapment
- entrepreneurial politics
- enumerate
- enumerated powers
- environmental impact statement
- 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
- "equal time" rule
- 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
- faithless elector
- "fake news"
- family values
- favorite son
- federal (small “f”)
- Federal (big “F”)
- federal apparatus
- Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
- Federal Elections Commission
- Federal Register, the
- Federal Reserve / federal reserve bank
- 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, the
- franking / franking privilege
- fraud
- free rider
- free speech
- free trade
- friend of the court
- front loading (primaries)
- front-runner
- FUBAR
- Full faith & credit clause
- functionary
- funded mandates (v unfunded)
- fundamentalism
- future contingents (“what is today is not… tomorrow”)
G
- gag order
- Gallup/ Gallup Poll/ George Gallup
- Gang of Eight
- gas tax/ gasoline tax
- gay and lesbian
- gender
- gender discrimination
- gender gap
- General Accounting Office (GOA)
- General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
- genocide
- gentrification
- gerrymandering
- global warming
- globalization
- government
- Government Accountability Office (GAO)
- Grand Old Party (GOP)
- grandfather laws/ clause / “grandfathered”
- grants
- grants-in-aid
- grassroots, grassroot activism
- Great Compromise
- gridlock
- Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
- Group of 8 (also G8)
- Guantanamo (also “Gitmo”)
- gubernatorial
- guerrilla war
- gun control
H
- habeas corpus, writ of
- hard money (v. soft money)
- harm
- hegemony
- hereditary rule
- home rule
- Homeland Security Department
- honeymoon period
- 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
- impeachment
- implied powers
- impound/ impoundment
- incentives
- income inequality
- income transfer
- incorporation cases
- incumbent
- incrementalism
- independent
- 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”
- in-kind
- incentive
- income distribution
- income tax
- incorporation (14th amendment)
- incumbency
- independence
- independent agency
- independent counsel
- independent voter
- indict / indictment
- indirect democracy
- indirect tax
- individualism / rugged individualism
- inequity
- inflation
- inherent powers
- influence
- infomercial
- informal power
- inherent power
- initiative
- inner circle
- inside game
- "inside the Beltway"
- 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
- journalism, attack- , gotchya-
- judicial activism
- judicial branch
- judicial philosophy
- judicial restraint
- judicial review
- Judiciary Committee
- jurisdiction
- jury nullification
- just-war theory
- justice
- Justice Department
K
- Karl Rove
- Keynesianism
- keynote address
- kitchen cabinet
- Kyoto Protocol
L
- laissez-faire
- lame duck (president)
- landslide
- labor union
- largess
- laws of unintended consequences
- law maker
- law making
- lawfare
- leak/s
- 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
- libel
- liberal (small “l”)
- Liberal (big “L”)
- liberalism
- libertarian
- Libertarian Pary
- liberty
- license
- limited government
- line-item veto
- linkage institution
- liquidity
- literacy test
- litigant / litigation
- living constitution (also “organic”)
- living wage
- litmus test
- lobbying/ lobbyist
- local government / local rule
- lock box
- logrolling
- loophole
- Louisiana Purchase
M
- machine politics
- Machiavelli
- Machiavellian
- Madisonian model
- magistrate
- Magna Carta (also “Magna Charta”)
- mainstream media (MSM)
- majority
- majority age
- Majority Leader
- majority opinion
- majoritarian politics
- majority rule
- “majority rule, minority rights”
- malapportionment
- mandate
- mandatory retirement
- Manifest Destiny
- marble-cake federalism
- margin/ s
- marginal
- marginal district
- marginal tax rate
- market economy
- market mechanism
- markup
- 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
- multiculturalism
- multilateralism
- multinational corporation
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 debt
- National Governors Association
- National Rifle Association (NRA)
- National Security Agency (NSA)
- National Security Advisor / Council
- nation state
- nationalism
- nationalize / nationalization
- natural law
- natural monopoly
- Necessary and Proper clause
- Neocon / neoconservatism
- New Deal
- new federalism
- New Jersey Plan
- New Nationalism
- “New World Order”
- networking
- niche
- Nielsen Ratings
- nihilism
- “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
- Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
O
- Obamacare
- Obama Doctrine
- obscenity
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
- Occupy Wall Street / “Occupy”
- “of the people”
- Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
- Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
- oligarch / tech oligarchs/ oligarchy
- omnibus legislation
- open government
- open primary
- open society
- opinion leader
- opinions (Court)
- opposition research
- oral argument
- orderly transfer of power
- original intent
- original jurisdiction
- originalist
- overlapping authorities
- overregulation
- oversight, judicial-, congressional-
P
- pack journalism
- pardon
- parliamentary maneuver
- parliamentary system
- parochial / parochial school
- partisan / partisanship
- party affiliation
- party realignment
- parties: major, minor, independent
- party de-alignment
- 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
- pigeonholing
- photo op
- plaintiff
- planned economy
- platform / plank
- plea bargain
- plebe / plebian
- pluralism / pluralistic
- plurality
- 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 participation
- political parties
- political science
- political socialization
- political stability
- politicize
- politics
- poll tax
- polling
- polls (surveys / polling stations)
- pollster
- polyarchy
- popular government
- popular sovereignty
- popular vote / popular majority
- populist / populism
- pork
- pork barrel
- positive law
- poverty line
- POW / MIA
- power/ powers
- power broker
- power of the purse
- Preamble, the
- precedent
- preemption
- prescient
- presidency
- president
- President of the United States (also POTUS)
- President of the Senate
- President pro tempore
- presidential commission
- presidential privilege
- Press, the
- press secretary
- pressure groups
- price supports
- price theory
- primary elections/ primaries: direct primary, open primary, closed primary
- primogeniture
- print media (also "dinosaur media")
- prior restraint v. prior review
- privacy / privacy rights
- privatization
- 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
- protected speech
- protection
- protectionism
- proxy war
- public assistance
- public choice theory
- Public Citizen
- public education
- public good (also collective good)
- 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
- "rally 'round the flag"
- random sampling
- ranked choice voting
- ranking member
- ratify / ratification
- ratings
- rational-basis review (or scrutiny)
- reactionary
- Reagan Democrats
- Reaganomics
- realclearpolitics.com
- realignment
- reapportionment
- recall
- recidivism
- receivership
- reconcile
- Red Scare, the
- red state
- red tape
- redistribution / redistributive policy
- redistricting
- referendum
- regime
- regressive tax
- regulation (s)
- regulation v. direct control
- regulatory agency
- regulatory discretion
- regulatory policy
- release valves
- religious right
- Reform Party
- remedy
- rent seeking
- repeal
- reprieve (legal)
- 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
- revenue sharing
- 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
- sample
- sampling error
- sanction
- scandal
- school choice
- school prayer
- school voucher
- 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
- signing message
- silent majority, the
- simple majority
- single-member district
- situational ethics
- skewed sample
- slander
- small claims court
- “smoke filled rooms”
- SNAFU
- soccer mom
- social choice theory
- social class
- social construction
- social contract
- social engineering
- social hierarchy
- social justice
- social media
- social mobility
- Social Security
- social welfare
- socialism
- soft money (v. hard money)
- Solicitor General
- solid South
- sound bite
- sovereignty
- Speaker of the House
- special committee
- special election
- speech
- splinter party
- split ticket v. straight ticket vote
- spoiler
- spoils system
- Southern Poverty Law Center
- staffer
- stakeholder
- standard operating procedure (SOP)
- standards / standardize
- standing (courts)
- stare decisis
- state
- state ownership
- State Department
- State of the Union address
- states’ rights
- statecraft
- statute of limitations
- statutes
- statutory law
- statutory
- stewardship
- straight-ticket voting
- straw vote
- strict constructionist
- strict scrutiny
- structure
- sub rosa
- subpoena
- subsidies / subsidize
- substantive due process
- succession
- suffrage
- Sunday morning talk shows
- sunset provision
- sunshine laws
- super majority
- superdelegate
- Super Tuesday
- Supremacy clause
- Supreme Court (also SCOTUS)
- suspect categories
- swing states
- swing voters/ votes
- symbolic speech
- syndicate
T
- Takings clause
- talk radio
- talking heads
- tax credit
- tax rate
- tax shelter
- taxes
- Tea Party
- technicalities
- term limits
- terrorism
- textualist / textualism
- “The” v. “These” United States
- Thomas Hobbes (”Leviathan”)
- think tanks
- third party
- threshold
- ticket
- Title Programs: Title I, II, IX, etc.
- tort
- total war / warfare
- totalitarian
- town hall meeting
- “Tragedy of the Commons”
- transnational
- treason
- trial balloon
- trial by jury
- triangulation
- Trickle Down theory
- trustee / trusteeship
- two party system
- trust, a (n)
- tyranny of the majority
U
- unalienable / unalienable rights
- unanimity
- unanimous
- underemployment
- underprivileged
- undocumented worker
- unemployment compensation
- unemployment rate
- unfunded mandate
- unilateral / unilaterally
- unintended consequences (moral hazard)
- unipolar
- unity
- unitary system
- universal suffrage
- “Unsafe at Any Speed”
- unwritten constitution
- urban renewal
- user fee
- utility
V
- values
- values voter
- veto
- veto message
- vice presidency
- Virginia Plan
- virtual representation
- vote
- vote by mail / mail-in ballot
- vote of conscience
- voter apathy
- voter behavior
- 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 / watchdog group
- 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”
- woke
- World Bank
- workfare
- writ
- writ of certiorari
X
- xenophobic
Y
- yellow journalism
Z
- zoning