AP US Government Vocabulary Flashcards

5649662068	Amicus curiae	An argument filed with a court by an individual or group who is not a party to a lawsuit	0
5649662069	Block Grants	Federal money given to the states with few restrictions about how it should be spent	1
5649662070	Casework	When congressional staff help a constituent solve a problem	2
5649662071	Categorical Grants	Money given by the federal government to the states to be used for a narrowly defined purpose	3
5649662072	Caucus	Face-to-face meetings of party members at the local or state level to determine their party's candidate for office	4
5649662073	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	5
5649662074	Cooperative Federalism	A system where the federal government and the states work together in funding and administering programs	6
5649662075	Critical Elections	An election where new coalitions of voters have formed, beginning a new party era	7
5649662076	Dealignment	When voters no longer identify with one of the two major parties and become independent voters	8
5649662077	Demographics	The statistical characteristics of a population	9
5649662078	Devolution	A process by which the national government gives more power and authority to the states	10
5649662079	Divided Government	When the president is from one political party and one or both houses of Congress are controlled by the opposing political party	11
5649662080	Entitlements	Promises made by the government to an identifiable group of people who are guaranteed benefits	12
5649662081	Executive Order	A presidential directive	13
5649662082	Expressed Powers	Powers that are given to an institution of government directly in the Constitution, such as Congress's power to tax	14
5649662083	Federalism	A system of government where power is shared between the national government and the states in which the states have some protected powers	15
5649662084	Filibuster	A procedure used in the Senate to talk a bill to death	16
5649662085	Fiscal Federalism	The use of spending by the national government through the grant process to influence state policies	17
5649662086	Fiscal Policy	Impacting the economy through taxing and spending in the budget	18
5649662087	Franking Privilege	The free mail and electronic signature system used by members of Congress	19
5649662088	Gender Gap	The tendency of men to support candidates from the Republican party at greater rates than women	20
5649662089	General Election	An election to select the person who will hold office	21
5649662090	Gerrymandering	Drawing congressional district boundaries to benefit a group, usually a political party	22
5649662091	Grassroots Lobbying	Ordinary citizens raising awareness for a cause and pushing the government to adopt a particular policy	23
5649662092	Horse Race Journalism	The tendency of the media to focus on which candidate is ahead in the polls rather than focusing on the issues	24
5649662093	Implied Powers	Powers that are necessary to carry out an expressed power in the Constitution, like the power of Congress to establish a bank	25
5649662094	Incumbent	An officeholder who is running for reelection	26
5649662095	Independent Expenditures	Money spent on ads that are not sponsored by a candidate or party	27
5649662096	Inherent Powers	Powers that are naturally derived from the duties of a specific government position, such as Thomas Jefferson's power to purchase the Louisiana Territory	28
5649662097	Interest Groups	An organization that advocates for policies through lobbying, electioneering, grassroots mobilization and protesting	29
5649662098	Issue Network (Iron Triangle)	A relationship between interest groups, agencies, and congressional committees in a certain policy area	30
5649662099	Judicial Activism	A philosophy that the Supreme Court should make bold new policy	31
5649662100	Judicial Review	The power of the Supreme Court to overturn a law or executive action as unconstitutional	32
5649662101	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	33
5649662102	Litigation	A lawsuit	34
5649662103	Lobbying	Efforts by an interest group or individual to contact a member of Congress and advocate for a particular policy	35
5649662104	Logrolling	When members of Congress trade votes for favors in order to get the bills they support passed	36
5649662105	Uncontrollable Spending	Expenditures that the federal government is obligated to make, like entitlements and interest on the national debt	37
5649662106	Mid-term Elections	An election in which voters select members of Congress, but not the president	38
5649662107	Monetary Policy	Influencing the economy through federal interest rates, reserve rates, and the amount of money in circulation	39
5649662108	Motion for Cloture	A vote by 60 senators to end a filibuster	40
5649662109	Open Primary	An election to determine a party's candidate for office in which that party's members and unaffiliated voters may vote	41
5649662110	Original Intent	Making judicial decisions by considering what the founding fathers meant in the Constitution	42
5649662111	Oversight	Congressional committee hearings held to determine how well an agency is doing its job	43
5649662112	PAC	An organization that is registered with the Federal Election Committee (FEC) and donates money to a candidate or campaign	44
5649662113	Party Polarization	When political parties move farther away from each other ideologically and also move away from the center	45
5649662114	Pluralism	A theory of government in which many groups compete for policy	46
5649662115	Pocket Veto	When a president does not sign a bill within 10 days when Congress is not in session	47
5649662116	Policy Agenda	Problems that have the attention of the government and the public	48
5649662117	Political Culture	The shared political values of a society	49
5649662118	Political Efficacy	An individual's belief that his or her political participation can make a difference	50
5649662119	Political Socialization	The process by which an individual develops his or her political beliefs	51
5649662120	Pork Barrel Spending	A provision in a bill that benefits a specific congressional constituency	52
5649662121	Realignment	The process through which voters leave one of the major party coalition and join the other major party's coalition	53
5649662122	Redistricting	Changing congressional district boundaries based on a new census	54
5649662123	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	55
5649662124	Single-member Districts	The electoral system used to select members of the House of Representatives	56
5649662125	Stare decicis	When a court follows precedent by letting a previous decision stand	57
5649662126	Suffrage	The right to vote	58
5649662127	Super PAC	An organization which need not disclose its members that can spend a vast and unlimited amount of money on political campaign	59
5649662128	Mandatory Spending	Expenditures that the federal government cannot realistically reduce because they are required by law	60
5649662129	Unfunded Mandate	A federal requirement that forces the states to spend their own money	61
5649662130	White House Staff	The president's personal assistants and advisors	62
5649662131	Writ of Certiorari	A document issued by the Supreme Court if it has agreed to hear a case	63
5649662132	Political Party	A group of individuals who organize to run candidates for office	64