Midterm Flashcards
(113 cards)
electoral college
A body of electors in each state, chosen by voters, who formally elect the president and Vice President of the United States. Each state’s number of electoral votes equals its representation in Congress; the District of Columbia has three votes. An absolute majority of the total electoral vote is required to elect a president and Vice President.
Necessary and proper Clause
The last clause of Article 1, Section 8, of the constitution. This clause grants Congress the authority to make all laws that are “necessary and proper” and to execute those laws”
Enumerated powers
The explicit powers given to congress by the constitution in article 1 section 8. These include the powers of taxation, coinage of money, regulation of commerce, and provision for the national defense
Prisoner’s Dilemma
A situation in which two (or more) actors cannot agree to cooperate for fear that the other actor will find its interest best served by reneging on an agreement.
Political Institution
In a democracy, an organisation that manages potential conflicts between political rivals, helps them to find mutually acceptable solutions, and makes and enforces the society’s collective agreements. Among the prominent federal political institutions in the United States are Congress, the Presidency and the Supreme Court
Collective good
A good that is collectively produced and freely available for anyone’s consumption. i.e. it is non-excludable.
Free-rider problem
A situation in which individuals can receive the benefits from collective activity whether or not they incurred the cost of producing/consuming it meaning there is a reduced incentive to contribute to the activity .
“Take Care” Clause
The provision of Article II Section 3, of the constitution instructing the president to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”
Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments of the US constitution which were included in the constitution in 1791 to safeguard the population against the tyranny of the government. Madison announced the inclusion of these 10 amendments in the first congress of the new constitution.
(The bill of rights came as a result of ‘anti-federalists’ who convinced the ‘federalists’ that such important matters could not be “left to inference”).
Black Codes
Laws enacted by southern legislatures after the Civil War that prevented former slaves from voting and holding certain jobs, among other prohibitions.
Block grants
A road grant of money given by the federal government to a state government. The grant specifies the general area (such as education) in which the funds may be spent but leaves it to the state to determine the specific allocations.
Split-ticket voting
The act of voting for candidates from different political parties for different offices.
Grants-in-aid
Funds given by congress to state or local governments for a specific purpose.
Also known as “categorical grants”
Checks and balances
A constitutional mechanism giving each branch of the government some oversight and control of the other branches . Examples are the presidential veto, Senate approval of presidential appointments, and judicial review of presidential and congressional actions.
civil Liberties
Constitutional and legal protections from govt interference with personal rights and freedoms such as freedom of assembly, speech and religion.
Civil rights
The powers or privileges that are conferred on citizens by the Constitution and the courts and that entitle them to make claims upon the governement. Civil rights protect individuals from arbitrary or discriminatory treatment at the hands of the government.
Shays’s rebellion
Uprising of 1786.
Led by Daniel Shays, a former captain in the Continental army and a bankrupt Massachusetts farmer, to protest the state’s high taxes and aggressive debt collection policies.
The rebellion demonstrated a fundamental weakness of the Articles of Confederation–its inability to keep the peace–and stimulated interest in strengthening the national government, leading to the Philadelphia convention that framed the constitution
Commerce Clause
The clause in Article I Section 8 of the Constitution that gives Congress the authority to regulate commerce with other nations and among the states.
Divided government
A term used to describe government when one political party controls the executive branch and the other party control one or both of the houses of the legislature.
Dual federalism
A system of govt in which the federal gvt and state gvts each have mutually exclusive spheres of action.
unitary gvt
A system of government in which a single gvt unit holds the power to govern the nation.
Grandfather clauses
Statutes stating that only those people whose grandfather had voted before Reconstruction could vote, unless they passed a literacy or wealth test. After the Civil War this mechanism was used to disenfranchise African Americans.
The great comrpomise
The agreement between large and small states at the Constitutional Convention (1787) that decided the selection and composition of Congress. The compromise stipulated that the lower chamber be chosen by direct popular vote and that the upper chamber be selected by the state legislatures. Representation in the House would be proportional to a state’s population; in the Senate each state would have 2 members.
Home Rule
Power given by a state to a locality to enact legislation and manage its own affairs locally. Home rule also applies to Britain’s administration of the local colonies.
