Political Science Vocab Quiz #1

Front 1

Politics

Back 1

Deciding who gets what, when, and how.

Front 2

Government

Back 2

Organization extending to the whole society that can legitimately use force to carry out its decisions.

Front 3

Social Contract

Back 3

The idea the government originates from an implies contract among people who agree to obey laws in exchange for the protection of their natural rights.

Front 4

Gross Domestic Product

Back 4

Measure of economic performance in terms of the nation's total production of goods and services for a single year, valued in terms of market prices.

Front 5

Democracy

Back 5

Governing system in which the people govern themselves; from the Greek term meaning "rule by the many."

Front 6

Totalitarianism

Back 6

Rule by an elite that exercises unlimited power over individuals in all aspects of life.

Front 7

Political Culture

Back 7

Widely shared views about who should govern, for what ends, and by what means.

Front 8

Capitalism

Back 8

Economic system asserting the individual's right to own private property and to buy, sell, rent, and trade that property in a free market.

Front 9

Class Conflict

Back 9

Conflict between upper and lower social classes over wealth and power.

Front 10

Conservatism

Back 10

Belief in the value of free markets, limited government, and individual self-reliance in economic affairs, combined with a belief in the value of tradition, law, and morality in social affairs.

Front 11

Liberalism

Back 11

Belief in value of strong government to provide economic security and protection for civil rights, combined with a belief in personal freedom from government intervention in social conduct.

Front 12

Fascism

Back 12

Political ideology in which the state and/or race is assumed to be supreme over individuals.

Front 13

Communism

Back 13

System of government in which a single totalitarian party controls all means of production and distribution of goods and services.

Front 14

Socialism

Back 14

System of government involving collective or government ownership of economic enterprise, with the goal being equality of results, not merely equality of opportunity.

Front 15

Constitution

Back 15

The legal struture of a political system, establishing governmental bodies, granting their powers, determining how their members are selected, and prescribing the rules by which they make their decisions. Considered basic or fundamental. It cannot be changed by ordinary acts of governmental bodies.

Front 16

Tariff

Back 16

Tax imposed on imported products (also called a customs duty).

Front 17

Checks and balances

Back 17

Constitutional provisions giving each branch of the national government certain checks over the actions of other branches.

Front 18

Judicial Review

Back 18

Power of the U.S. Supreme Court and federal judiciary to declare laws of Congress and the states and actions of the president unconstitutional and therefore legally invalid.

Front 19

Bill of Rights

Back 19

Written guarantees of basic individual liberties; the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Front 20

Amendments

Back 20

Formal changes in a bill, law, or constitution.

Front 21

Federalism

Back 21

A constitutional arrangement whereby power is divided between national and subnational governments, each of which enforces its own laws directly on its citizens and neither of which can alter the arrangment without the consent of the other.

Front 22

Home Rule

Back 22

Power of local government to pass laws affecting local affairs, so long as those laws do not conflict with state or federal laws.

Front 23

Implied Power

Back 23

Powers not mentioned specifically in the Constitution as belonging to Congress but inferred as necessary and proper for carrying out the enumerated powers.

Front 24

Reserved Powers

Back 24

Powers not granted to the national government or specifically denied to the states in the Constitution that are recognized by the 10th Amendment as belonging to the state governments. This guarantee, known as the Reserved Powers Clause, embodies the principle of American federalism.

Front 25

Grant-in-aid

Back 25

Payment of funds from the national government to state or local governments for a specified purpose.

Front 26

Devolution

Back 26

Passing down of responsibilites from the national government to the states.

Front 27

Preemption

Back 27

Total or partial federal assumption of power in a particular field, restricting the authority of the states.

Front 28

Mandates

Back 28

Perceptions of popular support for a program or policy based on the margin of electoral victory won by a candidate who proposed it during a campaign; direct federal orders to state or local governments requiring them to perform a service or to obey federal laws in the performance of their functions.

Front 29

Public Opinion

Back 29

Aggregate of preferences and opinions of individuals on significant issues.

Front 30

Halo Effect

Back 30

Tendency of survey respondents to provide socially acceptable answers to questions.

Front 31

Generation Gap

Back 31

A difference of opinion on issues or vote preference between men and women detected by opinion polling.

Front 32

Suffrage

Back 32

Legal right to vote.

Front 33

Poll Taxes

Back 33

Taxes imposed as a prerequisite to voting; prohibited by the 24th Amendment.

Front 34

Civil Disobedience

Back 34

Form of public protest involving the breaking of laws believed to be unjust.