Flashcard Deck 1/21-1/31
A theory suggesting voters make decisions based on their self-interest, weighing the costs and benefits of their choices.
Rational Choice Voting
Platform
A political party’s formal set of principles, goals, and positions on key issues, presented during an election campaign.
Powers reserved solely for the federal government, such as regulating interstate commerce and conducting foreign affairs.
Exclusive Powers
Rights inherent to all people, as proposed by Enlightenment thinkers like Locke, including life, liberty, and property. These rights are fundamental and cannot be taken away without consent.
Natural Rights
New Jersey Plan
Proposed by William Paterson, it emphasized state sovereignty, with a unicameral legislature where each state had one vote, regardless of population.
Federal funds given to states for broad purposes, allowing them flexibility in spending within general guidelines.
Block Grants
War Chest
The funds accumulated by a candidate or political party to use during campaigns, reflecting their financial readiness.
Rational Choice Voting
A theory suggesting voters make decisions based on their self-interest, weighing the costs and benefits of their choices.
A concept where national, state, and local governments interact cooperatively to solve common problems, blurring the lines of authority among the levels of government.
Cooperative Federalism
The process of formally approving the Constitution, requiring conventions in each state. It needed nine states to go into effect and included compromises to secure approval.
Ratification
Horse Race Journalism
A style of reporting that focuses on polling data and public perceptions of candidates rather than their policies, treating elections as a contest to determine who is “winning” or “losing.”
A British philosopher who, in his Second Treatise of Civil Government, proposed that natural law grants all people the right to life, liberty, and property. He emphasized that governments must respect the consent of the governed, and citizens have a duty to rebel against governments violating these rights.
John Locke
Adversarial Press
Media outlets that are critical of government or political figures, acting as watchdogs and questioning authority.
Citizens United v. FEC (2010)
A Supreme Court decision that allowed corporations and unions to spend unlimited money on political campaigns, ruling that such spending is a form of free speech.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
A Swiss-born philosopher who, in The Social Contract, argued for the social contract as an agreement among free and equal people to form a government for the general good. He envisioned popular sovereignty, where the people are the ultimate ruling authority.
The practice of targeting media content to specific segments of the public based on their political or ideological preferences, as seen with cable news channels like Fox News and MSNBC.
Narrowcasting
Opponents of the Constitution who feared a strong national government, believing it would infringe on states’ rights and individual freedoms. They advocated for a Bill of Rights and smaller, state-centered governance.
Anti-Federalists
A theory where voters make decisions based on the anticipated future actions or policies of candidates.
Prospective Voting
A measure of public support for a political figure or institution, often expressed as a percentage.
Approval Rating
The act of interest groups attempting to influence policymakers by providing information, organizing grassroots campaigns, or directly interacting with legislators.
Lobbying
Popular Sovereignty
The principle that the ultimate authority resides with the people, as reflected in the Declaration of Independence and other Enlightenment philosophies.
A situation in which individuals benefit from resources or services provided by a group without contributing to the costs, which can undermine the efforts of collective action.
Free Rider Problem
The funds accumulated by a candidate or political party to use during campaigns, reflecting their financial readiness.
War Chest
Efforts by ordinary citizens to create change or influence policymakers by mobilizing public opinion, often through protests or campaigns.
Grassroots Movements
A political party’s formal set of principles, goals, and positions on key issues, presented during an election campaign.
Platform
A government where sovereign states unite to address national concerns while citizens elect officials to represent their interests.
Representative Republic
A government that is controlled by laws, checks and balances, and separation of powers. It protects individual liberties and intervenes only as necessary to resolve conflicts.
Limited Government
Political Culture
The set of attitudes, beliefs, and sentiments that shape political behavior and the functioning of political systems.
Representative Republic
A government where sovereign states unite to address national concerns while citizens elect officials to represent their interests.
The impact of major historical events on the political attitudes and behaviors of individuals from specific age cohorts.
Generational Effects
Grassroots Movements
Efforts by ordinary citizens to create change or influence policymakers by mobilizing public opinion, often through protests or campaigns.
Coalition Building
The process of forming alliances among different groups or parties to achieve a common political goal.
A style of reporting that focuses on polling data and public perceptions of candidates rather than their policies, treating elections as a contest to determine who is “winning” or “losing.”
Horse Race Journalism
Ratification
The process of formally approving the Constitution, requiring conventions in each state. It needed nine states to go into effect and included compromises to secure approval.
Thomas Hobbes
An English philosopher who argued in The Leviathan that in a “state of nature” without governance, human life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” To avoid this, he advocated for a social contract in which individuals surrender some freedoms to an absolute sovereign for societal order.
A 1995 Supreme Court case that limited Congress’s use of the commerce clause, ruling that carrying a gun in a school zone does not substantially affect interstate commerce.
United States v. Lopez
Dark Ads
Targeted political advertisements on social media that are not visible to the general public, often designed to influence specific voter groups.
Random Sample
A polling method where every individual in a population has an equal chance of being selected, ensuring unbiased results.
Virginia Plan
Proposed by Edmund Randolph, it called for a strong national government with three branches, a bicameral legislature, and national supremacy over states. It set the framework for the U.S. Constitution.
Block Grants
Federal funds given to states for broad purposes, allowing them flexibility in spending within general guidelines.
A French philosopher who, in The Spirit of the Laws, advocated for the separation of powers into executive, legislative, and judicial branches to ensure political liberty and limit government authority.
Baron de Montesquieu
McCulloch v. Maryland
A landmark Supreme Court case in 1819 that established the principles of implied powers under the necessary and proper clause and federal supremacy over state laws.
Anti-Federalists
Opponents of the Constitution who feared a strong national government, believing it would infringe on states’ rights and individual freedoms. They advocated for a Bill of Rights and smaller, state-centered governance.
Federalist No. 51
Written by James Madison, this essay argues for a system of checks and balances and separation of powers to ensure liberty and prevent abuses of power.
The media’s role in determining which stories are covered and prioritized, influencing public discourse and political agendas.
Gatekeeper
Free Rider Problem
A situation in which individuals benefit from resources or services provided by a group without contributing to the costs, which can undermine the efforts of collective action.
Watchdog
The media’s role in scrutinizing government actions and exposing corruption, scandals, or inefficiency, holding those in power accountable.
Critical Elections
Elections that reveal sharp, lasting changes in party loyalties, often due to social, economic, or political crises. These elections often lead to party realignment.
Allows changes to the Constitution through a two-stage process: proposal (by Congress or a convention of states) and ratification (by state legislatures or conventions). This ensures flexibility while maintaining a high threshold for change.
Amendment Process (Article V)
Electoral College
A compromise for presidential elections where states decide how their electors are chosen. Each state has electors equal to their total number of Congress members, and electors vote for the president, reflecting an elite model of democracy.
Gatekeeper
The media’s role in determining which stories are covered and prioritized, influencing public discourse and political agendas.
Proposed by William Paterson, it emphasized state sovereignty, with a unicameral legislature where each state had one vote, regardless of population.
New Jersey Plan
Categorical Grants
Federal funds provided for specific purposes, such as building highways or funding education programs, often with strict requirements.
An Anti-Federalist essay warning against the dangers of a large republic, emphasizing that citizens would be disconnected from their government and that the federal system would become too powerful, risking individual liberties.
Brutus No. 1
Concurrent Powers
Powers shared by both the national and state governments, such as the ability to tax, build roads, and establish courts.
The first U.S. constitution, creating a loose confederation of states with a weak national government that could not tax, maintain a military, or regulate commerce effectively.
Articles of Confederation
Federalism
A system of government where power is divided between a national government and state governments. It balances unity with regional autonomy.
A government that assumes responsibility for providing a minimum standard of living for its citizens, including healthcare and income support.
Welfare State
Supporters of the Constitution who believed in a strong national government to protect individual and state rights. They argued that the diversity of a large republic would prevent any single faction from dominating.
Federalists
Media outlets that are critical of government or political figures, acting as watchdogs and questioning authority.
Adversarial Press
Checks and Balances
A system where each branch of government can limit the powers of the other branches, ensuring accountability and preventing tyranny.
Declaration of Independence
A foundational document asserting the colonies’ separation from Britain, emphasizing natural rights, self-rule, and popular sovereignty. It outlined grievances against British rule and justified independence.
Limited Government
A government that is controlled by laws, checks and balances, and separation of powers. It protects individual liberties and intervenes only as necessary to resolve conflicts.
