These are terms you will need to know for the AP Exam...Enjoy!
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| 62333238 | means tested program | government programs only available to people below poverty line. example: reduced price school lunch, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Medicaid | |
| 62333239 | Americans with Disabilities Act | Passed by Congress in 1991, this act banned discrimination against the disabled in employment and mandated easy access to all public and commerical buildings. | |
| 62333240 | Civil Rights Act | LBJ passed this in 1964. Prohibited discrimination of African Americans in employement, voting, or public accomidations. Also said there could be no discrimination against race, color, sex, religion, or national origin. | |
| 62333241 | Clean Air Act | 1970- law that established national standards for states, strict auto emissions guidelines, and regulations, which set air pollution standardds for private industry | |
| 62333242 | Congressional Impoundment and Control Act | xx | |
| 62333243 | Federal Elections Campaign Act | xx | |
| 62333244 | Gramm Rudman Hollings Act | xx | |
| 62333245 | Hatch Act | Federal statute barring federal employees from active participation in certain kinds of politics and protecting them from being fired on partisan grounds. | |
| 62333246 | Motor Voter Bill | a legislative act passed in 1993 that requires all states to allow voters to register by mail when they renew their driver licenses and provides for the placement of voter registration forms in motor vehicle, public assistance, and military recruitment offices | |
| 62333247 | National Environmental Policy Act | A law passed in 1969 requiring agencies to issue an environmental impact statement before undertaking any major action affecting the environment. | |
| 62333248 | Pendleton Civil Service Act | 1883 law that created a Civil Service Commission and stated that federal employees could not be required to contribute to campaign funds nor be fired for political reasons | |
| 62333249 | Social Security Act | xx | |
| 62333250 | Voting Rights Act | 1965 act which guaranteed the right to vote to all Americans, and allowed the federal government to intervene in order to ensure that minorities could vote | |
| 62333251 | War Powers Resolution | xx | |
| 62333252 | Water Pollution Control Act | 1973 | |
| 62333253 | Adversarial Press | The tendency of the national media to be suspicious of officials and eager to reveal unflattering stories about them. | |
| 62333254 | American Civil Liberties Union | "An organization founded in 1920 in the wake of the red scare to defend civil liberties. The ACLU has often defended the rights of individuals aligned with unpopular causes, including American communists and Nazis." | |
| 62333255 | Appellate Jurisdiction | The authority of a court to review decisions made by lower courts | |
| 62333256 | Appropriations | funding that must be authorized by Congress for any federal spending | |
| 62333257 | Bicameral | a two house legislature | |
| 62333258 | Bill of Attainder | a legislative act finding a person guilty of treason or felony without a trial | |
| 62333259 | Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act | law banning soft money, limited individual contributions to 2,000 per election, and indepentent expenditures were restricted | |
| 62333260 | Blanket Primary | a primary election in which each voter may vote for candidates from both parties | |
| 62333261 | Block Grants | a form of fiscal federalism where federal aid is given to the states with few strings attached | |
| 62333262 | Bureaucracy | a system of departments and agencies formed to carry out the work of government | |
| 62333263 | Cabinet | persons appointed by a head of state to head executive departments of government and act as official advisers | |
| 62333264 | Categorical Grants | Federal grants that can be used only for specific purposes or "categories," of state and local spending. They come with strings attached, such as nondiscrimination provisions. Compare to block grants. | |
| 62333265 | Congressional Caucus | An association or members of Congress based on party, interest, or social group such as gender or race. | |
| 62333266 | Checks and Balances | A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power | |
| 62333267 | Civil Liberties | the guarantees of the safety of persons, opinions, and property from the arbitrary acts of government, including freedom of speech and freedom of religion | |
| 62333268 | Civil Rights | rights to personal liberty established by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and certain Congressional acts, esp. as applied to an individual or a minority group. | |
| 62333269 | 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 | |
| 62333270 | Coattails | the alleged tendency of candidates to win more votes in an election because of the presence at the top of the ticket of a better-known candidate, such as the president | |
| 62333271 | Commercial Speech | xx | |
| 62333272 | Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act | Designed to reform the budgetary process by establishing a budget calendar and created the CBO | |
| 62333273 | Congressional Budget Office | advises the congress on the likely economic effects of different spending programs and provides information on the costs of proposed policies | |
| 62333274 | Connecticut Compromise | Compromise agreement by states at the Constitutional Convention for a bicameral legislature with a lower house in which representation would be based on population and an upper house in which each state would have two senators | |
| 62333275 | Council of Economic Advisors | a three-member body appointed by the president to advise the president on economic policy | |
| 62333276 | Credit Claiming | According to David Mayhew, one of three primary activities undertaken by members of Congress to increase the probability of their reelection. It involves personal and district service. | |
| 62333277 | Critical Election | an electoral "earthquake" whereby new issues emerge, new coalitions replace old ones, and the majority party is often displaced by the minority party. These are sometimes marked by a national crisis and may require more than one election to bring about a new party era | |
| 62333278 | Dealignment | Weakening of partisan preferences that points to a rejection of both major parties and a rise in the number of Independents. | |
| 62333279 | Deregulation | the lifting of restrictions on business, industry, and professional activities for which government rules had been established and that bureaucracies had been created to administer. | |
| 62333280 | Devolution | the transfer of powers and responsibilities from the federal government to the states | |
| 62333281 | District Courts | Lowest level of fed. courts, where fed. cases begin &trials are held (bank robbery, environmental violations, tax evasion) | |
| 62333282 | Direct Mail | A high-tech method of raising money for a political cause or candidate. It involves sending information and requests for money to people whose names appear on lists of those who have supported similar views or candidates in the past. | |
| 62333283 | Divided Government | Governance divided between the parties, as when one holds the presidency and the other controls one or both houses of Congress. | |
| 62333284 | Double Tracking | A procedure to keep the Senate going during a filibuster in which the disputed bill is shelved temporarily so that the Senate can get on with other business. | |
| 62333285 | Dual Federalism | A system of government in which both the states and the national government remain supreme within their own spheres, each responsible for some policies. | |
| 62333286 | Due Process Clause | Part of the 14th amendment which guarantees that no state deny basic rights to its people | |
| 62333287 | Elastic clause | This clause in the Constitution grants Congress the right to pass all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out the powers specifically granted to Congress by the Constitution. This clause was the source of Hamilton's implied powers doctrine and has been used by "loose constructionists" to increase the powers of the national government. | |
| 62333288 | Elite Theory | A theory of government and politics contending that societies are divided along class lines and that an upper-class elite will rule, regardless of the formal niceties of governmental organization. | |
| 62333289 | Entitlement Programs | programs that provide benefits to eligible citizens, social insurance programs that allocate federal funds to all people who meet the conditions of the program, they are a form of mandatory spending so it is incredibly difficult to cut funds during the budgetary process (Social Security and Medicare are the largest and most expensive ones) | |
| 62333290 | Enumerated Power | powers that the Constitution gives Congress/the national government in Article One, Section Eight such as: controlling immigration, maintaining and army, establishing a postal system, etc. | |
| 62333291 | Environmental Impact Statements | A statement required by federal law from all agencies for any project using federal funds to assess the potential effect of the new construction or development on the environment. A policy which is enacted to lessen the effect of environmental building damage | |
| 62333292 | Equal Protection of the Law | idea that all citizens should be treated equally under the law, and that no state has the right to grant privileges or discriminated against any individual or group. This idea is embodied in the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. | |
| 62333293 | Equal Rights Amendment | Supported by the National Organization for Women, this amendment would prevent all gender-based discrimination practices. However, it never passed the ratification process. | |
| 62333294 | Establishment Clause | part of the first amendment stating that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" | |
| 62333295 | Exlusionary Rule | The principle that evidence, no matter how incriminating, cannot be used to convict someone if it is gathered illegally. Established by the Supreme Court in Mapp v. Ohio. | |
| 62333296 | Executive Order | a rule issued by the president that has the force of law | |
| 62333297 | Ex Post Facto | retroactive criminal laws that make an act a crime after it was committed or that increase the sentence of a crime after it was committed | |
| 62333298 | Federalism | a system in which power is divided between the national and state governments | |
| 62333299 | Federal Reserve System | The country's central banking system, which is responsible for the nation's monetary policy by regulating the supply of money and interest rates | |
| 62333300 | Federalist Papers | a series of 85 essays written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay (using the name "publius") published in NY newspapers and used to convice readers to adopt the new constitution | |
| 62333301 | Filibuster | A procedural practice in the Senate whereby a senator refuses to relinquish the floor and thereby delays proceedings and prevents a vote on a controversial issue. | |
| 62333302 | Fiscal Federalism | National govt's use of fiscal policy to influence states through the granting/withholding of appropriations | |
| 62333303 | Franking Privilege | the ability of members to mail letters to their constituents free of charge by substituting their facsimile signature for postage | |
| 62333304 | Free Exercise Clause | the First Amendment guarantee that citizens may freely engage in the religious activities of their choice | |
| 62333305 | Frontloading | the recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention | |
| 62333306 | Full Faith and Credit | A clause in Article IV, Section 1, of the Constitution requiring each state to recognize the official documents and civil judgments rendered by the courts of other states. | |
| 62333307 | Gender Gap | A term that refers to the regular pattern by which women are more likely to support Democratic candidates. Women tend to be significantly less conservative than men and are more likely to support spending on social services and to oppose higher levels of military spending. | |
| 62333308 | Gerrymandering | Drawing of congressional districts by individual state legislatures to favor one political party or group over another | |
| 62333309 | Great Society | President Johnson called his version of the Democratic reform program the Great Society. In 1965, Congress passed many Great Society measures, including Medicare, civil rights legislation, and federal aid to education. | |
| 62333310 | House Appropriations Committee | It is in charge of setting the specific expenditures of money by the government of the United States. As such, it is one of the most powerful of the committees, and its members are seen as influential. | |
| 62333311 | House Rules Committee | An institution unique to the House of Representatives that reviews all bills (except revenue, budget, and appropriations bills) coming from a House committee before they go to the full House. | |
| 62333312 | House Ways and Means Committee | The House of Representatives committee that, along with the Senate Finance Committee, writes the tax codes, subject to the approval of Congress as a whole. | |
| 62333313 | Impeachment | The political equivalent of an indictment in criminal law, prescribed by the Constitution. The House of Representatives may impeach the president by a majority vote for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." | |
| 62333314 | 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 | |
| 62333315 | Independent Regulatory Agency | An administrative agency that is not considered part of the government's executive branch and is not subject to the authority of the president. Independent agency officials cannot be removed without cause. | |
| 62333316 | Interest Groups | Organization of individuals with similar policy goals who enter the political process to influence legislation that affects the organizations interests | |
| 62333317 | Iron Triangle | a close relationship between an agency, a congressional committee, and an interest group | |
| 62333318 | Joint Chiefs of Staff | high-ranking military officers who represent the Navy, Army, Air Force and Marines. They assist the civilian leaders of the Department of Defense-advise the president on security matters. | |
| 62333319 | Conference Committee | a temporary joint committee set up when the House and the Senate have passed different versions of the same bill | |
| 62333320 | Judicial Activism | A judicial philosophy in which judges make bold policy decisions, even charting new constitutional ground. Advocates of this approach emphasize that the courts can correct pressing needs, especially those unmet by the majoritarian political process. | |
| 62333321 | Judicial Restraint | Holds that the Court should avoid taking the initiative on social &pol. questions, operation strictly w/n the limits of the Constitution | |
| 62333322 | Legislative Oversight | Congress's monitoring of the bureaucracy and its administration of policy, performed mainly through hearings. | |
| 62333323 | Linkage Institution | channels through which people's concerns become political agenda, examples: elections, political parties, interest groups, media | |
| 62333324 | Lobbying | direct contact made by an interest group representative in order to persuade government officials to support the policies their interest group favors | |
| 62333325 | Media Event | Events purposely staged for the media that nonetheless look spontaneous. In keeping with politics as theater, media events can be staged by individuals, groups, and government officials, especially presidents. | |
| 62333326 | Medicaid | a federal and state assistance program that pays for health care services for people who cannot afford them | |
| 62333327 | Medicare | a program added to the Social Security system in 1965 that provides hospitalization insurance for the elderly and permits older Americans to purchase inexpensive coverage for doctor fees and other health expenses | |
| 62333328 | Midterm Elections | the period of elections for all members of the house of representatives and one third of the senators when the presidency is not up for election. | |
| 62333329 | Multiple Referral | A congressional process whereby a bill may be referred to several committees that consider it simultaneously in whole or in part. | |
| 62333330 | Narrowcasting | as opposed to traditional "broadcasting," the appeal to a narrow, particular audience by channels such as ESPN, MTV, and C-SPAN, which focus on a narrow particular interest | |
| 62333331 | National Convention | the meeting of party delegates every four years to choose a presidential ticket and write the party's platform. | |
| 62333332 | National Security Council | chaired by the president, it is the lead advisory board in the area of national and international security. The other members of the council include the vice president, secretaries of state and defense, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and chair of the joint chiefs of staff. | |
| 62333333 | Necessary and Proper Clause | Constitutional clause that gives congress the power to make all laws "necessary and proper" for executing its powers...Also called the Elastic Clause | |
| 62333334 | North American Free Trade Agreement | Agreement entered into by Canada, Mexico, and the United States in December 1992 and which took effect on January 1, 1994 to eliminate the barriers to trade in, and facilitate the cross-border movement of goods and services between the countries. | |
| 62333335 | Office of Management and Budget | Presidential staff agency that serves as a clearinghouse for budgetary requests and management improvements for government agencies. | |
| 62333336 | Office of Personnel Management | agency that administers civil service laws, rules, and regulations; incl. the Merits Systems Protection Board | |
| 62333337 | 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. | |
| 62333338 | Opinion of the Court | An opinion by the Supreme Court that reflects the majority's view and establishes precedent for future cases. | |
| 62333339 | Original Intent | A view that the Constitution should be interpreted according to the original intent of the framers. Many conservatives support this view. | |
| 62333340 | Original Jurisdiction | the authority to hear cases for the first time | |
| 62333341 | Patronage | (politics) granting favors or giving contracts or making appointments to office in return for political support | |
| 62333342 | Pluralism | A theory of government that holds that open, multiple, and competing groups can check the asserted power by any one group. | |
| 62333343 | Policy Implementation | Carrying out a policy through government agencies and courts | |
| 62333344 | Political Action Committee | Extention of an interest group that contributes money to political campaigns-financial arm of the interest group | |
| 62333345 | Political Culture | The widely shared beliefs, values, and norms concerning the relationship of citizens to government and to one another. | |
| 62333346 | Political Efficacy | The belief that one's political participation really matters - that one's vote can actually make a difference | |
| 62333347 | Political Ideology | A more or less consistent set of beliefs about what policies government ought to pursue | |
| 62333348 | Political Socialization | Complex process by which people get their sense of political identity, beliefs, and values (family, school, media, religion, national events-all help to socialize) | |
| 62333349 | Poll Tax | payment required for voting; abolished by the 24th amendment | |
| 62333350 | Pork Barrel | a government project that benefits a specific location or lawmaker's home district and constituents. | |
| 62333351 | Precedent | a ruling that is used as the basis for a judicial decision in a later, similar case | |
| 62333352 | Prior Restraint | government censorship of information before it is published or broadcast | |
| 62333353 | Probable Cause | Reasonable cause for issuing a search warrant or making an arrest; more than mere suspicion. | |
| 62333354 | Project Grant | One type of federal grants-in-aid; made for specific projects to States, localities, and private agencies who apply for them. | |
| 62333355 | Random Sampling | The Key technique employed by sophisticated survey researchers, which operates on the principle that everyone should have an equal probability of being selected for the sample. | |
| 62333356 | Reapportionment | the process of reallocating seats in the House of Representatives every 10 years on the basis of the results of the census. | |
| 62333357 | Revenue Sharing | form of federal monetary aid under which Congress gave a share of federal tax revenue, with virtually no restrictions, to the States, cities, counties, and townships | |
| 62333358 | Rider | a clause that is appended/added to a legislative bill | |
| 62333359 | Safe District | a house district in which the winner of the general election carries more than 55% of the vote | |
| 62333360 | Standing Committee | A permanent committee established in a legislature, usually focusing on a policy area | |
| 62333361 | Senatorial Courtesy | The practice of allowing senators form teh president's party who represent the state where a judicial district is located, to approve or disapprove potential nominees for the lower federal courts ONLY | |
| 62333362 | Seniority System | a system that gives the member of the majority party with the longest uninterrupted service on a particular committee the leadership of that committee | |
| 62333363 | Separation of Powers | Constitutional division of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, with the legislative branch making law, the executive applying and enforcing the law, and the judiciary interpreting the law | |
| 62333364 | Shays Rebellion | A rebellion by debtor farmers in western Massachusetts, led by Revolutionary War Captain Daniel Shays, against Boston creditors. it began in 1786 and lasted half a year, threatening the economic interests of the business elite and contributing to the demise of the Articles of Confederation. | |
| 62333365 | Soft Money | Money raised in unlimited amounts by political parties for party-building purposes. Now largely illegal except for limited contributions to state or local parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts. | |
| 62333366 | Solicitor General | The third-ranking officer in the Justice Department, who decides what cases the federal government will appeal from lower courts and personally approves every case the government presents to the Supreme Court. | |
| 62333367 | Sound Bites | Short video clips of approximately 15 seconds, which are typically all that is shown from a politician's speech or activities on the nightly television news. | |
| 62333368 | Stare Decisis | A Latin phrase meaning "let the decision stand." Most cases reaching appellate courts are settled on this principle. | |
| 62333369 | Super Tuesday | Day when several states hold their presidential primaries (usually the second Tuesday in March) | |
| 62333370 | Symbolic Speech | nonverbal communication, such as burning a flag or wearing an armband. The Supreme Court has accorded some symbolic speech protection under the first amendment. | |
| 62333371 | Talking Head | a talker on television who talks directly into the cameras and whose upper body is all that is shown on the screen | |
| 62333372 | Temporary Assistance to Needy Families | (TANF) once called "Aid to Families with Dependent Children" is the new name for public assistance to needy families. | |
| 62333373 | Reserved Powers Clause | Tenth Amendment restates the Constitution's principle of federalism by providing that powers not granted to the national government nor prohibited to the states by the constitution of the United States are reserved to the states or the people. | |
| 62333374 | Three Fifths Compromise | agreement at the constitutional Convention that 3/5 of the slaves in any state be counted in its population | |
| 62333375 | Ticket Splitting | Voting for candidates of different parties for different offices rather than voting a "party line" for all republicans or all democrats. | |
| 62333376 | Trial Balloons | An intentional news leak for the purpose of assessing the political reaction. | |
| 62333377 | Uncontrollable Spending | The portion of the federal budget that is spent on programs, such as Social Security, that the president and Congress are unwilling to cut. | |
| 62333378 | Voting Rights Act | 1965 act which guaranteed the right to vote to all Americans, and allowed the federal government to intervene in order to ensure that minorities could vote | |
| 62333379 | War Powers Act | Limits the ability of the president to commit troops to combat-48 hours to tell Congress when and why the troops were sent, they have 60-90 to bring them home if Congress does not authorize deployment | |
| 62333380 | Writ of Certiori | An order of an appellate court to an inferior court to send up the records of a case that the appellate court has elected to review. The primary method by which the U.S. Supreme Court exercises its discretionary jurisdiction to accept appeals for a full hearing. | |
| 62333381 | Writ of Habeas Corpus | A court order that the individual in custody be brought into court and shown the cause for detention. Habeas corpus is guaranteed by the Constitution and can be suspended only in cases of rebellion or invasion |
