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| A choice that government makes in response to a political issue. A policy is a course of action with regard to some problem. |
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| Policymaking Institutions |
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| The branches of government charged with taking action on political issues. The US Constitution established three policymaking institutions-the COngress, the presidency, and the courts. Today bureacracy is considered the 4th policymaking institution. |
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| The channels or access points through which issues and people's policy preferences get on the government policy agenda. (examples: elections, political parties, interest groups, mass media) |
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| Procedures such as the initiative, the referendum, and the recall, by which voters can have a direct imapact on policy making and the political process by means of the voting booth. |
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| The means of governance by the people through elected representatives. |
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| A way of organizing a nation so that all powers reside in the central government. (example: Great Britain and Japan) |
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| a government with strong central powers (example: India) |
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| A group of confederates, especially of states or nations, united for a common purpose; a league. |
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| Government that typically select the political leader from membership in parliment (Example: Great Britain) |
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| 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 organizations. |
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| A theory of government and politics emphasizing that politics is mainly competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies. |
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| A theory of government and politics contendingthat groups are so strong that government is weakened. It is an extreme, exaggerated, or perverted form of pluralism. |
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(The Veviathan) 1615
A political theorist who believed that:
-all people are selfish and driven by a desire for power
-all people in a natural state of war
-the gov. was created to protest people from their own selfishness
-people needed authority to provide direction
-social contract: people should voluntarily give up their power to a leader who then protects them
-people elect representatives to present grievances to the monarch
-most like Hamilton (believed in strong central gov.) |
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(The Treaties of Government) 1690
A political theorist who believed that:
-all men posses ability to reason
-a need for checks and balances to prevent disolute grasp of power
-gov. formed to protect life, liberty, and property
-popular sovreignty: gov. needs the consent of the people
-social contract theory: if the gov. is bad, people have the right to overthrow it
-equality of man (and women if in household)
-most like Jefferson in belief |
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(The Spirit of the Law) 1748
A political theorist who beleived:
-3 branches of government
-separation of powers
-most like Madison |
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| Declaration of Independence |
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| The document approved by representatives of the American colonies in 1776 that stated their grievances against the British monarch and declared their independence. |
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| Articles of Confederation |
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| The first constitution of the US, adopted by Congress in 1777 and enacted in 1781. The Articles established a national legislature, the Continental Congress, but most authority rested with the state legislatures |
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| A series of attacks on courthouses by a small band of farmers led by recolutionary war Captain Daniel Shays to block foreclosure proceedings. |
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| Interst groups arising from the unequal distribution of property or wealth that James Madison attacked in Federalist Paper No. 10. (example: NCAAP) |
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| An important part of the Madisonian model that requires each of the 3 branches of government to be relatively independent of the others so that one cannot control the others. Power is shared among the 3 institutions. |
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| An important part of the Madisonian model designed to limit gov.'s power by requiring that power be balanced among the different gov. institutions. These institutions continually check one another's activities. (examples: presidential veto, judicial review) |
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| The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for representation of each state in Congress in proportion to that state’s share of the US population. |
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| The proposal a the Constitutional Convention that called for equal representation of each state in Congress regardless of the state’s population |
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| Connecticut Compromise/Great Compromise |
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| The compromise reached at the Constitutional Convention that established two houses of Congress: The house of Representatives with rep. based on population, and the Senate with equal representation |
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| A legislature divided into two houses. |
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| A legislature that is only one house |
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| Motives of the founders: Beard thesis * |
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The purpose:
-not to be close to the people
(electoral college, non-direct election of senators, house dependent on the Senate, they discussed suffrage for land-owners only) |
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| Supporters of the US Constitution at the time that states were contemplating its adoption (Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe, John Jay) |
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| Opponents of the American Constitution at the time when the states were contemplating its adoption. They argued that the Constitution was a class-based document, that it would erode fundamental liberties, and that it would weaken the power of the states. (Patrick Henry) |
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| The poer of the courts to determine whether acts of Congress, and by implicationg the executive, are in accord with the US Consitution. It was established in Marbury v. Madison. |
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| A modification in the Constitution brought about through one of four methods set forth in the Constitution (Amendments I through XXVII) |
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| Changes to the Constitution not done through Amendment but through interpretation of the Constitution as it pertains to modern times (judiciary review, political parties, presidential power, actions of congress (elastic clause)) |
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| A specific majority of votes such as 60% |
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| The doctrine that people are sovereign and the gov. is subject to the will of the people. |
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| The idea that certain things are out of bounds for the government because of the natural rights of citizens. Limited government was central to John Locke’s philosophy in the 17th century, and it contrasted sharply with the prevailing view of the divine rights of monarchs. |
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| Principle that no one is above the law |
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| A way of organizing a nation so that two levels of government have formal authority over the same land and people. It is a system of shared power between units of government. |
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| Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals. (right to vote, right to be equal under the law) |
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| Policies that manipulate opportunities through public choice. They include policies related to income and policies related to opportunity. (healthcare and educations tax-funding) |
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| A policy statement about equality holding that the rules of the game should be the same for everyone. Most of our civil rights policies over the past three decades have presumed that equality of opportunity is a public goal. (right to vote, prevent pollution) |
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| Enumerated powers/Expressed* |
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| Powers of the federal government that are specifically addressed in the Constitution; for Congress, these powers are listed in Article I, Section 8. (Power to impose taxes, coin money, and regulate its value) |
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| Powers reserved for the federal government and given to them by the Constitution (Make treaties, regulate interstate trade, punish counterfeiting, create a post office, collect import taxes, declare war, coin money, raise an army, fix standards of weight and measure, naturalize citizens, grant copyrights) |
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| Implied powers (Elastic Clause/Necessary & Proper Clause)* |
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| Powers of the deferral government that go beyond those enumerated in the Constitution. The Constitution states that Congress had the power to “make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution” the powers enumerated in Article I. Many federal policies are justified on the basis of implied powers. (Congress can make roads so it can deliver the mail, congress can control navigation of boats because it affects interstate commerce) |
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| Powers shared by the state and federal government (Collect taxes, enforce laws, fund and regulate education) |
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| Powers reserved for the states (regulate trade within a state, license professionals, regulate gambling, regulate the sale of alcoholic beverages, regulate marriage and divorce) |
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| Article VI of the Constitution, which makes the Constitution, national laws, and treaties supreme over state laws when the national government is acting within its constitutional limits |
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| The constitutional amendment stating that “The powers not delegated to the United Stated by the Constitution, now prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” |
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| I.8.3: in the Constitution that states that Congress has the power to “regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states…” |
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| Full Faith and Credit Clause |
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| A clause in Article IV, Section I, of the Constitution requiring each state to recognize the official documents and civil judgment rendered by the courts of other states. |
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| Privileges and Immunities Clause |
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| A clause in Article IV, Section 2, of the Constitution according citizens of each state most of the privileges of citizens of other states |
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| A system of government in which both the states and the national government remain supreme within their own spheres, each responsible for some policies. |
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| A system of government in which powers and policy assignments are shared between the states and the national government. They may also share costs, administration, and even blame for programs that work poorly. |
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| States compete among each other for grants and money |
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| An increase in state rights |
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| Delegation of authority or duties to a subordinate or substitute |
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| When the federal government requires state and local actions and provides to pay for the action (Medicare Act of 1965, Welfare Reform Act of 1996, USA PATRIOT Act, No Child Left Behind) |
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| When the federal government requires state and local actions but does not provides to pay for the action (Voting Rights Act of 1965, Clean Air Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, National Voter Registration Act) |
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| Money given from the federal government to the states |
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| 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. |
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| Federal grants given more or less automatically to states or communities to support broad programs in areas such as community development and social services. |
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| Federal grants given for specific purposes and awarded on the basis of the merits of applications. A type of categorical grants available to state and localities. |
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| Federal categorical grants distributed according to a formula specified in legislation or in administrative regulations. |
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| -question of how to guard against factions |
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-The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments
-means by which appropriate checks and balances can be created in government and also advocates a separation of powers within the national government |
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