Final - Terms

Question 1

scope of conflict

Answer 1

The number of groups involved in a political conflict; few groups means a narrow scope of conflict and many groups mean a wide scope of conflict

Question 2

mass mobilization

Answer 2

The process of involving large numbers of people in a social movement

Question 3

civil disobedience

Answer 3

Intentionally breaking a law and accepting the consequences as a way to publicize the unjustness of the law.

Question 4

prior restraint

Answer 4

The government’s power to prevent publications, as opposed to punishment afterward

Question 5

exclusionary rule

Answer 5

A standard promulgated by the Supreme Court that prevents police and prosecutors from using evidence against a defendant that was obtained in an illegal search.

Question 6

political efficacy

Answer 6

The sense that an individual can affect what government does

Question 7

affirmative action

Answer 7

Programs of private and public institutions favoring minorities and women in hiring and in admissions to college and universities in an attempt to compensate for past discrimination

Question 8

ordinary scrutinary

Answer 8

The assumption that the actions of elected bodies and officials are legal under the constitution

Question 9

privileges and immunities

Answer 9

The portion of Article IV, Section 2, of the constitution that states that citizens from out of state have the same legal rights as local citizens in any state

Question 10

selective incorporation

Answer 10

The gradual and piecemeal incorporation of the protections of the Bill of Rights by the US Supreme court.

Question 11

strict scrutiny

Answer 11

The assumption that actions by elected bodies or officials violate constitutional rights.

Question 12

due process clause

Answer 12

The section of the Fourteenth Amendment that prohibits states from depriving anyone from of life liberty, or property “without due process of law” a guarantee against arbitrary or unfair government action

Question 13

economic liberty

Answer 13

The right to own and use property free from excessive government interference.

Question 14

civil liberties

Answer 14

Freedoms found primarily in the Bill of Rights that are protected from government interference

Question 15

habeas corpus

Answer 15

The legal doctrine that a person who is arrested mist have a timely hearing before a judge

Question 16

ex post facto law

Answer 16

A law that retroactively declares some action illegal.

Question 17

civil rights

Answer 17

Guarantees by government of equal citizenship to all social groups; guarantees of equal treatment by government officials regarding political rights, the judicial system and public programs.

Question 18

suspect classification

Answer 18

The invidious arbitrary or irrational designation of a group for special treatment by government.

Question 19

intermediate scrutiny

Answer 19

A legal test falling between ordinary and strict scrutiny relevant to issues of gender; under this test, the Supreme Court will allow gender classifications in laws if they are substantially related to an important government objective.

Question 20

Political Party

Answer 20

An organization that tries to win control of the government by electing people to office who carry the party label

Question 21

Establishment clause

Answer 21

The part of the First Amendment to the constitution that prohibits congress from establishing an official religion; the basis for the doctrine of the separation of church and state.

Question 22

interest group

Answer 22

A private voluntary association that seeks to influence public policy as a way to protect or advance some interest.

Question 23

disturbance theory

Answer 23

A theory that locates the origins of interest groups in changes in the economic, social, or political environment that threaten the well-being of some segment of the population.

Question 24

relative deprivation

Answer 24

the experience of being deprived of something to which one believes to be entitled. It refers to the discontent people feel when they compare their positions to others and realize that they have less of what they believe themselves to be entitled than those around them.

Question 25

Priming

Answer 25

the process in which the media attend to some issues and not others and thereby alter the standards by which people evaluate election candidates

Question 26

Rational Choice Theory

Answer 26

the decisions made by individual actors will collectively produce aggregate social behaviour. Thus, each individual makes a decision based on their own preferences and the constraints (or choice set) they face.

Question 27

Social Exchange Theory

Answer 27

if the costs of the relationship are higher than the rewards, such as if a lot of effort or money were put into a relationship and not reciprocated, then the relationship may be terminated or abandoned.

Question 28

Framing effect

Answer 28

The tendency for people’s choices to be affected by how a choice is framed,