Vocab Flashcards
Collective action
An action taken by a group of like-minded individuals to achieve a common goal
Government
The institutions and procedures throughout people are ruled
Prisoner’s dilemma
A situation in which two(or more) individuals cannot agree to cooperate out of fear that the other will find its interests best served by reneging on an agreement
Transaction costs
The cost associated doing political business reflected in time and effort required to compare preferences and negotiate compromises in making collective decisions
Conformity costs
Difference between a person would ideally prefer and what one would actually gets
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 American colonies
Free riding
Receive benefits without working
Supremacy clause
National laws are supreme laws of the land & take precedence over any laws adopted in states- clause in article VI
Public goods
Goods that are collectively produced and freely available for anyone’s consumption
Unitary government
System of government in which a. Single government unit holds the power to govern the nation
Confederal government
State holds all power, state delegates some power out to central government
Federal government
Authority divided between central, state and local government
Reserve powers
Political power reserved for political authority
Elastic clause
Make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the forgoing powers
Enumerated powers
Powers given by congress by constitution in article 1, section 8. Powers include: taxation, coinage of money, regulation of commerce, provision for national defense
Preemption legislation
Laws passed by congress that override or preempt states or local policies, it is derived from supremacy clause
Grants-in-aid
Funds given by congress to state or local government for a specific purpose
Unfunded mandate
Regulation that requires state or local government to perform certain actions and gov will not provide money for actions
Civil rights
The powers that are conferred on citizens by the constitution and that entitle them to make claims upon the government
Ex) discriminatory treatment
Civil liberties
Legal protections from government interference with personal rights and freedoms such as freedom of assembly, speech, and religion
13th amendment
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States and was the first of three Reconstruction Amendments adopted in the five years following the American Civil War. The 13th Amendment, passed by Congress January 31, 1865, and ratified December 6, 1865, states:
- Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
- Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
14th amendment
Citizenship clause- clause gives individual born in the United States, but especially at that time, African Americans the right to citizenship.
Due Process Clause – the due process clause protects the 1st amendment rights of the people and prevents those rights from being taken away by any government without “due process.”
Equal Protection Clause – This part of the fourteenth amendment states that there may be no discrimination against them by the law.
15th amendment
The 15th Amendment to the Constitution granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the “right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
Jim Crow laws
A series of laws enacted in late nineteenth century by southern states to institute segregation.
Ex) white only accommodations
De Facto segregation
Segregation resulting from practice rather than law
De Jure segregation
Segregation enacted by law and imposed by the government
Equal protection clause
Equal Protection Clause – This part of the fourteenth amendment states that there may be no discrimination against them by the law.
Missouri compromise
Missouri Wanted admission as Slave state, allowed for free state
Suspect classification
Suspect-race
Non-suspect- group
Quasi-suspect- gender
Rational basis test
For non-suspects(group)
Assumes law us constitutional, proof is on plaintiff, not related to legitimate state interest