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76 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Inherent powers |
Powers that national government may exercise simply because it is government |
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Elastic clause |
Allows powers of Congress to grow |
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Reserved powers |
Constitution reserves certain powers to states |
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Seperation of powers |
A system preventing any branch from gaining too much power |
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Federalism |
Powers divided between national and state government |
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Implied powers |
Powers that national government requires to carry out the powers expressly defined in the Constitution |
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Judicial review |
Declare laws of local, state, or national government invalid |
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Articles |
1 of 7 main divisions of the body of the Constitution |
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Amendment |
A change to the Constitution |
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Appropriations |
Approval of government spending |
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Appellate jurisdiction |
Authority held by a court to hear a case that is appealed from Lower Court |
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Bicameral |
Two-house legislative body |
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Bill |
A proposed law |
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Confederacy |
A loose Union of independent states |
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Capitalism |
An economic system providing free choice and individual incentive for workers, investors, consumers, and business enterprises |
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Command economy |
An economic system in which the government controls the factors of production |
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Constitution |
A plan that provides the rules for government |
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Constituents |
A person whom a member of Congress has been elected to represent |
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Census |
A population count |
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Cloture |
A procedure that allows each senator to speak only one hour on a bill under debate |
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Conference committee |
A temporary joint committee set up when the house and the Senate have passed different versions of the same bill |
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Contempt |
Willful obstruction of justice |
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Concurrent jurisdiction |
Authority shared by both federal and state courts |
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Civil service system |
Practice of government employment based on competitive examinations and Merit |
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Civil case |
One usually involving a dispute between two or more private individuals or organizations |
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Criminal case |
One in which the state brings charges against a citizen for violating the law |
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Closed primary |
An election in which only members of a political party can vote |
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Democracy |
Government in which the people rule |
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Defendant |
The person against whom a civil or Criminal suit is brought in court |
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Dissenting opinion |
The opinion expressed by a minority of justices in a court case |
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Evolutionary theory |
The theory that the state evolved from the family |
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Elector |
Member of a party chosen in each state to formally elect the president and vice president |
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Force theory |
The theory that the state was born of force when all the people of an area were brought under the authority of one person or group |
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Filibuster |
A method of defeating a bill in the Senate by stalling the legislative process and preventing a vote |
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Gerrymander |
To draw a District's boundaries to gain an advantage in elections |
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Immunity |
Freedom from prosecution for Witnesses whose testimony ties them to Illegal Acts |
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Interest group |
A group of people with common goals who organize to influence government |
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Joint committee |
Law requiring racial segregation in such places as schools,buses, and hotels |
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Jurisdiction |
The authority of a court to rule on certain cases |
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Laissez-faire |
The philosophy that government should keep it's hands off the economy |
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Line-item veto |
The power to Veto only certain lines or items in a bill |
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Lobbyists |
Interest group representative |
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Market economy |
An economic system which allows buyer's and sellers acting in their individual interests to control the factors of production |
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Monarchy |
Autocracy in which a king, queen, or emperor exercise supreme powers of government |
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Majority leader |
The speakers top assistant whose job is to help plan the majority partys legislative program and to steer important bills through the house |
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Majority opinion |
The court's decision expressing the views of the majority of justices |
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Open primary |
An election in which all voters may participate |
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Preamble |
A statement in a constitution that sets forth the goals and purposes of government |
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President pro tempore |
The senate member, elected by the senate, who stands in as president of the Senate in the absence of the vice president |
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Pocket veto |
When a president kills a bill passed during the last 10 days Congress is in session by simply refusing to act on it |
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Pardon |
A release from legal punishment |
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Plaintiff |
Person who charges in court |
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Precedent |
A model on which to base later decisions or actions |
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Platform |
A statement of a political partys principles, beliefs, and positions on vital issues |
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Plank |
A section of a political party platform |
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Representative government |
A system of government in which people elect delegates to make laws and conduct government |
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Rider |
A provision included in a bill on a subject other than the one covered in the bill |
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Reprieve |
The postponement of legal punishment |
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Socialism |
An economic system in which the government owns the basic means of production, distributes the products and wages, and provides social services such as health care and Welfare |
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Standing committee |
A permanent committee in Congress that oversees bills that deal with certain kinds of issues |
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Treaty |
A formal agreement between the governments of two or more countries |
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Third party |
Any political party other than one of the two major parties |
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Original jurisdiction |
The authority of a trial court to be first to hear a case |
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Veto |
Rejection of a bill |
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Writ of certiorari |
An order from the Supreme Court to a lower court to send up the records on a case for review |
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Divine right theory |
Belief that certain people are either descended from gods or chosen by gods to rule |
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Social contract theory |
Theory that by contrat, people surrender to the state the power needed to maintain order and the state, in turn, agrees to protect its citizens |
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Articles of confederation |
The committee of state delegates revised and adopted john Dickinsons plan of union in 1781 |
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Federalist |
Favored the Constitution and was led by many of the founders |
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Anti-federalists |
Opposed the new constitution |
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Bill of rights |
A document that would later be very important to the American colonies |
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Court of appeals |
1982 Congress set up a special court of appeals |
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Electoral college |
A system in which each state selects electors to choose the president |
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Minority leader |
Have same responsibility as majority leader except they have no power over scheduling work in the house |
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Marbury v. Madison |
In 1803 established the precedent for federal courts to rule on the actions of the government |
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Republicans |
Believed that the states should have more power than the central government |
