5

Question 1

Commerce Claus

Answer 1

A clause in Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitutions that grants Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce.

Question 2

Common-carrier role

Answer 2

The media’s role as an intermediary between the people and the government.

Question 3

Common law

Answer 3

A system of law, originally from England, in which previous decisions guide judges in interpreting the law.

Question 4

Communism

Answer 4

An extreme form of Socialism that advocates violent revolution to create a socialist state.

Question 5

Comparative politics

Answer 5

An academic discipline that compares states in order to understand how they work.

Question 6

Concurrent powers

Answer 6

Powers exercised simultaneously by the states and the federal government.

Question 7

Concurring opinion

Answer 7

An opinion issued by a judge who votes with the winning side but disagrees with the majority or plurality opinion.

Question 8

Confederacy

Answer 8

A loose relationship among a number of smaller political units.

Question 9

Confederate system

Answer 9

A system of government with a very weak central government and strong states.

Question 10

Conformism

Answer 10

A tendency for people to act the same way, watch the same television programs, read the same books, and so on.

Question 11

Constituency

Answer 11

The people in a district represented by a legislator.

Question 12

Constitution

Answer 12

A set of rules that govern how power will be distributed and used legitimately in a state.

Question 13

Constitutional democracy

Answer 13

A type of government characterised by limitations on government power spelled out in a constitution.

Question 14

Constitutional government

Answer 14

A regime in which the use of power is limited by law

Question 15

Constitutional powers

Answer 15

Powers of the president granted explicitly by the Constitution.

Question 16

Continuing resolution

Answer 16

A measure passed by Congress that temporarily funds an agency while Congress completes its budget.

Question 17

Conventional participation

Answer 17

Political participation in activities deemed appropriate by most; includes voting, donating to a campaign, and writing letters to officeholders.

Question 18

Convention delegate

Answer 18

A party member or official who goes to the national convention to vote for the party’s presidential nominee and to ratify the party’s platform.

Question 19

Cooperative federalism

Answer 19

A term used to describe federalism for most of the twentieth century (and into the twenty-first), where the federal government and the states work closely together and are intertwined; also known as marble-cake federalism.

Question 20

Corrupted practices acts

Answer 20

A series of laws in the early twentieth century that were the first attempts to regulate campaign finance.