Terms : Hide Images
| 443915250 | Manifest Destiny | This expression was popular in the 1840s. Many people believed that the U.S. was destined to secure territory from "sea to sea," from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. This rationale drove the acquisition of territory. Occurred at expense of Native American population. |  |
| 443915251 | American Exceptionalism | Historical argument that the development of the United States was largely individualistic and that contact with Europe was incidental to American formation. |  |
| 443915252 | Federal | A system in which a national government shares power with states, cities, counties and other jurisdictions. System used by US. | |
| 443915253 | 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. Same as separation of powers. | |
| 443915254 | Civil Society | A complex network of voluntary associations, economic groups, religious organizations, and many other kinds of groups that exist independent of government. Robert Putnam argues that involvement in this is declining in the US and other industrialized democracies. | |
| 443915255 | Robert Putnam | A political scientist who published studies suggesting fewer and fewer Americans were joining clubs, associations, churches and other groups that promote civic trust and cooperation ("social captialist". Americans, once a nation of joiners, were now as he called it "bowling alone". His thesis was known as the "bowling alone" thesis. | |
| 443915256 | relative ease | The US has been able to handle major transitions with __________ ______ when compared to other industrialized democracies. It has also been free of outside constraints. | |
| 443915257 | 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. | |
| 443915258 | Federalist Paper No. 10 | Written by James Madison, it argued that the latent causes of faction are sown in the nature of man. Warns against "the evils of faction" | |
| 443915259 | Bill of Rights | The first ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution, containing a list of individual rights and liberties, such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press. |  |
| 443915260 | Individualism | A belief in the importance of the individual and the virtue of self-reliance and personal independence, important in American political life. | |
| 443915261 | Functional apathy | Term that is used to describe the US's extremely low turnout rates which allow politicians in power to govern with more leeway when compared to that of other countries. | |
| 443915262 | New Left | Coalition of younger members of the Democratic party and radical student groups. Believed in participatory democracy, free speech, civil rights and racial brotherhood, and opposed the war in Vietnam. |  |
| 443915263 | Republican Party | One of the two major American political parties. It emerged in the 1850s as an antislavery party and consisted of former northern Whigs and antislavery Democrats. Now the party is conservative (pro-life, anti-affirmative action, anti-too much government intervention, anti-taxing on the rich, pro-death penalty |  |
| 443915264 | Democratic Party | Politic party in the US that has its roots in the 1830's. Presents itself as the party of the "little man". | |
| 443915265 | carpetbagger | Northerners who went to the South during Reconstruction. Most intended to settle in the South and make money there. Part of the radical government, they passed much needed reforms. | |
| 443915266 | New Right | Conservative political movements in industrialized democracies that have arisen since the 1960's and stress "traditional values," often with a racist undertone. A response to the liberalism of the 1960's, against affirmative action, abortion, feminism, ERA. | |
| 443915267 | Movement conservatives | Members of the religious political revival that was an answer to 60's radicalism. | |
| 443915268 | Reagan Democrat | Democratic, blue-collar workers who tended to vote Republican during the 1980s | |
| 443915269 | Conference committee | A temporary joint committee set up when the House and the Senate have passed different versions of the same bill. | |
| 443915270 | Incrementalism | Policymaking in the US tends to be slow and characterized by ________________. Otherwise defined as the limited, marginal or minor changes over time. | |
| 443915271 | Weak State | Compared to other industrialized democracies, the US has a ______ ________. This is because of the balance of powers in the governmental system. | |
| 443915272 | Judicial Review | The power of the Supreme Court to declare laws and actions of local, state, or national governments unconstitutional. NOT common in most industrial democracies. | |
| 443915273 | Unitary States | A state in which no other governmental body but the central government has any areas of power that are exclusively under its control. MOST common among liberal democracies, the US however has a federal system. Examples include: France, Italy, and the UK. |
