Terms : Hide Images
| 9631041917 | Discharge Petition | A way of getting a bill out of a congressional committee and on to the floor of the House of Senate, often without the approval of the committee chair | 0 | |
| 9631051866 | Grassroots Lobbying | Ordinary citizens raising awareness for a cause and pushing the gov't to adopt a particular policy | 1 | |
| 9631058691 | Party Caucus | Face-to-face meetings of party members at the local or state level to determine their party's candidate for office | 2 | |
| 9631064553 | Oversight | Congressional committee hearings held to determine how well an agency is doing its job | 3 | |
| 9631070247 | Dealignment | When voters no longer identify with one of the two major parties and become independent voters | 4 | |
| 9631073901 | Fiscal Policy | Impacting the economy through taxing and spending in the budget | 5 | |
| 9631078010 | General Election | An election to select the person who will hold office | 6 | |
| 9631081616 | Closed Primary | A vote by party members to determine their party's candidate for office, which is restricted to those who are registered to the party | 7 | |
| 9631091343 | Motion for Cloture | A vote by 60 senators to end a filibuster | 8 | |
| 9631093647 | Super PAC | An organization, which need not disclose its members, that can spend a vast and unlimited amount of money on a political campaign | 9 | |
| 9631098536 | Federalism | A system of gov't where power is shared between the national gov't and the states in which the states have some protected powers | 10 | |
| 9631109918 | Political Socialization | The process by which an individual develops his or her political beliefs | 11 | |
| 9631114996 | Enumerated Powers | Powers that are given to an institution of gov't directly in the Constitution, such as Congress's power to tax | 12 | |
| 9631131723 | Lame Duck Period | The time during which a president who has lost an election or has ended a second term is still in office before the new president serves | 13 | |
| 9631140926 | Midterm Election | An election in which voters select members of Congress but not the president | 14 | |
| 9631145260 | Lobbying | Efforts by an interest group or individual to contact a member of Congress and advocate for a particular policy | 15 | |
| 9631150138 | Party Polarization | When political parties move farther away from each other ideologically and also move away from the center | 16 | |
| 9631155317 | Amicus Curiae | An argument filed with a court by an individual or group who is not a party to a lawsuit | 17 | |
| 9631163547 | Judicial Activism | A philosophy that the Supreme Court should make bold new policy | 18 | |
| 9631167222 | Horse Race Journalism | The tendency of the media to focus on which candidate is ahead in the polls rather than focusing on the issues | 19 | |
| 9631178592 | Issue Network (Iron Triangle) | A relationship between interest groups, agencies, and congressional committees in a certain policy area | 20 | |
| 9631184348 | Political Party | A group of individuals who organize to run candidates for office | 21 | |
| 9631189456 | Gerrymandering | Drawing congressional district boundaries to benefit a group, usually a political party | 22 | |
| 9631193748 | White House Staff | The president's personal assistants and advisors | 23 | |
| 9631198532 | Filibuster | A procedure used in the Senate to talk a bill to death | 24 | |
| 9631201955 | Executive Order | A presidential directive | 25 | |
| 9631205861 | Pork Barrel Spending | A provision in a bill that benefits a specific congressional constituency | 26 | |
| 9631215471 | Entitlements | Promises made by the gov't to an identifiable group of people who are guaranteed benefits | 27 | |
| 9631222351 | Original Intent | Making judicial decisions by considering what the founding fathers meant in the Constitution | 28 | |
| 9631225457 | Logrolling | When members of Congress trade votes for favors in order to get the bills they support passed | 29 | |
| 9631230522 | Monetary Policy | Influencing the economy through federal interest rates, reserve rates, and the amount of money in circulation | 30 | |
| 9631237634 | Selective Incorporation | The process by which the Bill of Rights has been applied to the states on a case-by-case basis through the Fourteenth Amendment | 31 | |
| 9631246712 | Suffrage | The right to vote | 32 | |
| 9631251092 | Writ of Certiorari | A document issued by the Supreme Court if it has agreed to hear a case | 33 | |
| 9631253567 | Litigation | A lawsuit | 34 | |
| 9631256030 | Uncontrollable Spending | Expenditures that the federal gov't cannot realistically reduce because they are required by law | 35 | |
| 9631263205 | Political Efficacy | An individual's belief that his or her political participation can make a difference | 36 | |
| 9631266126 | Gender Gap | The tendency of men to support candidates from the Republican party at greater rates than women | 37 | |
| 9631270924 | Single-Member District | The electoral system used to select members of the House of Representatives | 38 | |
| 9631277006 | Pocket Veto | When a president does not sign a bill within 10 days when the Congress is not in session | 39 | |
| 9631281726 | Redistricting | Changing congressional district boundaries based on a new census | 40 | |
| 9631285209 | Independent Expenditures | Money spent on ads that are not sponsored by a candidate or party | 41 | |
| 9631293097 | Policy Agenda | Problems that have the attention of the gov't and the public | 42 | |
| 9631297181 | Cooperative Federalism | A system where the federal gov't and the states work together in funding and administering programs | 43 | |
| 9631306482 | Stare Decisis | When a court follows precedent by letting a previous decision stand | 44 | |
| 9631309716 | Demographics | The statistical characteristics of a population | 45 | |
| 9631312113 | Political Culture | The shared political values of a society | 46 | |
| 9631316571 | Divided Gov't | When the president is from one political party and one or both houses of Congress are controlled by the opposing political party | 47 | |
| 9631328484 | Open Primary | An election to determine a party's candidate for office in which that party's members and unaffiliated voters may vote | 48 | |
| 9631339195 | PAC | An organization that is registered with the Federal Election Committee and donates money to a candidate or campaign | 49 | |
| 9631345692 | Judicial Review | The power of the Supreme Court to overturn a law or executive action as unconstitutional | 50 | |
| 9631350604 | Interest Group | An organization that advocates for policies through lobbying, electioneering, grassroots mobilization and protesting | 51 | |
| 9631369015 | Pluralist Democracy | A theory of gov't in which many groups compete for policy | 52 | |
| 9631373071 | Implied Powers | Powers that are necessary to carry out an expressed power in the Constitution, like the power of Congress to establish a bank | 53 | |
| 9631379142 | Incumbent | An officeholder who is running for reelection | 54 | |
| 9631382412 | Realignment | The process through which voters leave one of the major party coalition and join the other major party's coalition | 55 | |
| 9631390109 | Direct Democracy | A system of gov't in which citizens decide on policy, rather than electing representatives | 56 | |
| 9631393930 | Republicanism | A system of gov't in which citizens elect representatives to make policy | 57 | |
| 9631399890 | Bipartisan | Having the support of both major parties | 58 | |
| 9631403145 | Exclusive Powers | Authority granted solely to the federal gov't | 59 | |
| 9631406042 | Supply-Side Economics | An economic theory that lowering taxes and decreasing regulations will stimulate economic growth | 60 | |
| 9631416066 | Equal Protection | The Fourteenth Amendment protection of the civil rights of groups | 61 | |
| 9631420296 | Linkage Institutions | The media, political parties, interest groups and elections | 62 | |
| 9631424429 | Civil Service System | Staffing the bureaucracy based on merit | 63 | |
| 9631432605 | Political Ideology | An individual's belief system about the role of gov't | 64 | |
| 9631437663 | Rule of Law | A system where no one is above the rules | 65 | |
| 9631440699 | Concurrent Powers | Powers shared by the national and state gov'ts | 66 | |
| 9631443939 | Proportional Representation | Voting for parties who will be represented in the legislature according to the percentage of votes received | 67 | |
| 9631450761 | Keynesian Economics | An economic theory that gov't spending stimulates economic growth | 68 | |
| 9631456577 | Signing Statement | When the president authorizes a law but indicates that he will not carry out some of its provisions | 69 | |
| 9631462874 | Reapportionment | Changing the number of representatives each state is awarded based on the census | 70 | |
| 9631468591 | Due Process | The Fourteenth Amendment protection of civil liberties of individuals | 71 | |
| 9631473064 | Patronage System | Exchanging governmental rewards for political favors | 72 |
