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100 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Civil Liberties
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The legal constitutional protections against government. Although our civil liberties are formally set down in the Bill of RIghts, the courts, police, and legislatures define their meaning
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Bill of RIghts
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First 10 amendments to the US constitution, which define such basic liberties as freedom of religion, speech, and press and guarantee defendants' rights
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First Amendment
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The amendment that establishes the four great liberties: freedom of press, of speech, of religion, and of assembly
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Fourteenth amendment (also see due process clause)
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The constitutional amendment adopted after the Civil War that states, "no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the US; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without the due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws"
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Due Process Clause
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Part of the 14th amendment guaranteeing that persons cannot be deprived of life, liberty, or property by the US or state governments without due process of law
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Incorporation Doctrine
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The legal concept under which the Supreme court has nationalized the Bill of RIghts by making most of its provisions applicable to the states through the fourteenth amendment
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Establishment Clause
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Part of the First Amendment stating that "congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."
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Free exercise clause
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A First Amendment provision that prohibits government from interfering with the practice of religion
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Prior Restraint
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A government preventing material from being published (censorship). This is a common method of limiting the press in some nations, but it is usually unconstitutional in the US, according to the First Amendment and as confirmed in the 1931 Supreme Court case of Near v Minnesota
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Libel
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The publication of false or malicious statements that damage someone's reputation
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Symbolic Speech
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Nonverbal communication, such as burning a flag or wearing an armband. The Supreme Court has accorded some symbolic speech protection under the First Amendment
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Commercial Speech
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Communication in the form of advertising. It can be restricted more than many other types of speech but has been receiving increased protection from the Supreme Court
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Probable cause
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The situation occurring when the police have reason to believe that a person should be arrested. In making the arrest, police are allowed legally to search for and seize incriminating evidence
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Unreasonable searches and seizures
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Obtaining evidence in a haphazard or random manner, a practice prohibited by the Fourth Amendment. Probably cause and/or a search warrant are required for a legal and proper search for and seizure of incriminating evidence
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Exclusionary rule
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THe rule that evidence, no matter how incriminating, cannot be introduced into a trial if it was not constitutionally obtained. The rule prohibits use of evidence obtained through unreasonable search and seizure
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Fifth Amendment
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A constitutional amendment designed to protect the rights of persons accused of crimes, including protection against double-jeopardy, self incrimination, and punishment without due process of law
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Self incrimination
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The situation occurring when an individual accused of a crime is compelled to be a witness against himself of herself in court. The Fifth amendment forbids self-incrimination
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Sixth Amendment
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A constitutional amendment designed to protect individuals accused of crimes. It includes the right to counsel, the right to confront witnesses, and the right to a speedy and public trial
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Plea bargaining
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A bargain struck between the defendants lawyer and the prosecutor to the effect that the defendant will plead guilty to a lesser crime (or fewer crimes) in exchange for the states promise not to prosecute the defendant for a more serious (or additional) crime.
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Eighth amendment
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The constitutional amendment that forbids cruel and unusual punishment, although it does not define this phrase. Through the fourteenth amendment, this Bill of Rights provision applies to the sates
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Equal protection of the laws
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Part of the 14th amendment emphasizing that the laws must provide equivalent "protection" to all people
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13th Amendment
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The amendment ratified after the Civil War that forbade slavery and involuntary servitude
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Civil rights act of 1964
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The law that made racial discrimination against any group in hotels, motels, and restaurants illegal and forbade many forms of job discrimination
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Suffrage
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Legal right to vote, extended to Black by the 15th amendment, women by the 19th amendment, and people over age of 18 by the 26th amendment
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15th amendment
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1870, gave black right to vote
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Poll taxes
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Small taxes levied on the right to vote that often fell due at a time of year when poor African American sharecroppers had the least amount of cash on hand. This method was used by most southern states to exclude African Americans from voting. Poll taxes were void by the 24th amendment
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Voting rights act of 1965
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A law designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African American suffrage. Under the law, hundreds of thousands of African Americans were registered, and the number of African American officials elected increased dramatically
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19th amendment
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The constitutional amendment adopted in 1920 that guarantees women the right to vote
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Equal rights amendment
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A constitutional amendment originally introduced in Congress in 1923 and passed by congress in 1972, stating that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the US or by any state on account of sex." Despite public support, the amendment failed to acquire the necessary support from three-fourths of the state legislatures
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American with Disabilities act of 1990
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A law passed in 1990 that requires employers and public facilities to make "reasonable accommodations" for people with disabilities and prohibits discrimination against these individuals in employment
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Affirmative action
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A policy designed to give special attention to or compensatory treatment for members of some previously disadvantaged group
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16th amendment
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The constitutional amendment adopted in 1913 that explicitly permitted Congress to levy an income tax
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Federal debt
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All the $ borrowed by the federal government over the years and still outstanding. Today, the federal debt is more than $9 trillion
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Tax expenditures
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Revenue losses that result from special exemptions, exclusions, or deductions on federal tax law
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Social Security Act
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A 1935 law passed during the Great Depression that was intended to provide a minimal level of sustenance to older Americans and thus save them from poverty
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Medicare
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A program added to the social security system in 1965 that provides hospitalization insurance for the elderly and permits older Americans to purchase inexpensive coverage for doctor fees and other health expenses
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Incrementalism
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A description of the budget process where the best predictor of this years budget is last year budget, plus a little bit more (an increment). According to Aaron Wildavsky, "most of the budget is a product of previous decisions"
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Uncontrollable expenditures
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Expenditures that are determined not by a fixed amount of money appropriated by congress but by how many eligible beneficiaries there are for a program or by previous obligations of the government
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Entitlements
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Policies for which congress has obligated itself to pay X level of benefits to Y number of recipients. Social Security benefits are an example.
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House ways and means committee
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The House of Reps committee that, along with the Senate Finance Committee, writes the tax codes, subject to the approval of Congress as a whole
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Senate Finance Committee
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The senate committee, that, along with the House Ways and Means committee, writes the tax codes, subject to the approval of congress as a whole
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Congressional Budget and Impoundment control act of 1974
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An act designed to reform the congressional budgetary process. Its supporters hoped that it would also make Congress less dependent on the president's budget and better able to set and meet its own budgetary goals
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Congressional Budget Office
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Advises congress on the probable consequences of its decisions, forecasts revenues, and is a counterweight to the president's Office of Management and Budget
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Budget Resolution
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A resolution binding Congress to a total expenditure level, supposedly the bottom line of all federal spending for all programs
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Reconciliation
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A congressional process though which program authorizations are revised to achieve required savings. It usually includes a tax of other revenue adjustments
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Authorization Bill
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An act of Congress that establishes, continues, or changes a discretionary government program or an entitlement. It specifies program goals and maximum expenditures for discretionary programs
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Appropriations bill
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An act of congress that actually funds programs within limits established by authorization bills. Appropriations usually cover one year
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Continuing resolutions
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When congress cannot reach agreement and pass appropriations bills, these resolutions allow agencies to spend at the level of the previous year
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Capitalism
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An economic system in which individuals and corporations, not the government, own the principle means of production and seek profits
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Mixed Economy
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An economic system in which the government is deeply involved in economic decisions through its role as regulator, consumer, subsidizer, taxer, employer, and borrower.
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Securities and Exchange Commission
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The federal agency created during the New Deal that regulates the stock market
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Labor Union
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An organization of workers intended to engage in collective bargaining
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Collective bargaining
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Negotiations between representatives of labor unions and management to determine pay and acceptable working conditions
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Consumer Price Index
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The key measure of inflation that relates the rise in prices over times
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Monetary policy
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Based on monetarism, monetary policy is the manipulation of the supply of money in private hands by which the government can control the economy
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Monetarism
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An economic theory holding that the supply of money is the key to a nations economic health. Monetarists believe that too much cash and credit in circulation produces inflation
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Federal Reserve System
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The main instrument for making monetary policy in the US. It was created by Congress in 1913 to regulate the lending practices of banks and thus the money supply
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Fiscal policy
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The policy that describes the impact of the federal budget-taxes, spending, and borrowing-on the economy. Fiscal policy is almost entirely determined by Congress and the president, who are the budget makers
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Keynesian economic theory
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The theory emphasizing that government spending and deficits can help the economy weather its normal ups and downs. Proponents of this theory advocate using the power of government to stimulate the economy when it is lagging
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Supply-side economics
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An economic theory advocated by President Reagan holding that too much income goes to taxes so that too little money is available for purchasing and that the solution is to cut taxes and return purchasing power to consumers
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Protectionism
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Economic policy of shielding an economy from imports
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World Trade Organization
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International organization that regulates international trade
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Antitrust policy
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A policy designed to ensure competition and prevent monopoly, which is the control of a market by one company
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Food and drug administration
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The federal agency formed in 1913 and assigned the task of approving all food products and drugs sold in the US. All drugs, with exception of tobacco, must have FDA authorization
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National Labor Relations Act
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A 1935 law, also known as the Wagner act, that guarantees workers the right of collective bargaining, sets down rules to protect unions and organizers, and created the National Labor Relations Board to regulate labor-management relations
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Social welfare policies
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Policies that provide benefits to individuals, either through entitlements or means testing
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Entitlement programs
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Government benefits that certain qualified individuals are entitled to by law, regardless of need
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Means-tested programs
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Government programs available only to individuals who qualify for them based on specific needs
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Income distribution
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The "shares" of the national income earned by various groups
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Progressive tax
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A tax by which the government takes a greater share of the income of the rich than of the poor
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Proportional tax
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A tax by which the government takes the same share of income from everyone, rich and poor alike-for example, when both a rich and a poor family pay 20 percent
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Regressive tax
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A tax in which the burden falls relatively more heavily on low-income groups than on wealthy taxpayers. The opposite of a progressive tax
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Earned Income Tax Credit
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A "negative income tax" that provides income to very poor individuals in lieu of charging them federal income taxes
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Transfer Payments
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Benefits given by the government directly to individuals. Transfer payments may be either cash transfers, such as Social Security payments and retirement payments to former government employees, or in-kind transfers, such as food stamps and low-interest loans for college education
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Social Security Act of 1935
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Created both the Social Security Program and a national assistance program for poor children, usually called AFDC
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Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act
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The official name of the welfare reform law of 1996
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Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
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Once called "aid to families with dependent children," the new name for public assistance to needy families
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Simpson-Mazzoli Act
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The Reagan-era law which provided amnesty to many immigrants and toughened border controls
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Social Security Trust Fund
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The "bank account" into which social security contributions are "deposited" and used to pay out eligible recipients
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Health Maintenance Organization
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Organization contracted by individuals or insurance companies to provide health care for a yearly fee. Such network health plans limit the choice of doctors and treatments. About 60 percent of Americans are enrolled in health maintenance organizations or similar programs
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National Health Insurance
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A compulsory insurance program for all Americans that would have the government finance citizens' medical care. First proposed by President Truman, the plan was soundly opposed by the American Medical Association
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Medicaid
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A public assistance program designed to provide health care for poor Americans. Medicaid is funded by both the states and the national government
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Environmental Protection Agency
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An agency of the federal government created in 1970 that administers much of US environmental protection policy. It is the largest federal independent regulatory agency
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Superfund
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A fund created by congress in 1980 to clean up hazardous waste sites. Money for the fund comes from taxing chemical products
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Foreign policy
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Involves choice taking, but additionally involves choices about relations with the rest of the world. The president is the chief initiator of foreign policy in the US
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United Nations
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Created in 1945, an organization whose members agree to renounce war and to respect certain human and economic freedoms. The seat of real power in the UN is the Security Council
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North Atlantic Treaty Organization
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Created in 1949, an organization whose members include the US, Canada, most Western European countries, and turkey, all of whom agreed to combine military forces and to treat a war against one as a war against all.
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European Union
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A transnational government composed of most European nations that coordinates monetary, trade, immigration, and labor policies, making its members one economic unit. An example of a regional organization
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Secretary of State
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The head of the Department of State and traditionally a key adviser to the president of foreign policy
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Secretary of Defense
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The head of the Department of Defense and the presidents key adviser on military policy; a key foreign policy actor.
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Joint Chiefs of Staff
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The commanding officers of the armed services who advise the president on military policy
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Central Intelligence Agency
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An agency created after WWII to coordinate American intelligence activities abroad. It became involved in intrigue, conspiracy, and meddling as well
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Isolationism
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A foreign policy course followed throughout most of our nations history whereby the US tried to stay out of other nations' conflicts, particularly European wars. Isolationism was reaffirmed by the Monroe Doctrine
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Containment doctrine
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A foreign policy strategy advocated by George Kennan that called for the US to isolate the Soviet Union, "contain" its advances, and resist its encroachments by peaceful means if possible but by force if necessary
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Detente
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A slow transformation from conflict thinking to cooperative thinking in foreign policy strategy and policy making. It sought a relaxation of tensions between the superpowers, coupled with firm guarantees of mutual security
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Strategic Defense Initiative
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Renamed "star wars" by critics, a plan for defense against the Soviet Union unveiled by President Reagan in 1983. The Strategic Defense Initiative would create a global umbrella in space, using computers to scan the skies and high-tech devices to destroy invading missiles
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Interdependency
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Mutual dependency, in which the action of nations reverberate and affect one another's economic lifelines
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Tariff
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A special tax added to imported goods to raise the price, thereby protecting businesses and workers from foreign competition
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Balance of trade
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The ratio of what is paid for imports to what is earned from exports. When more is imported than exported, there is a balance of trade deficit
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Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
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An economic organization consisting primarily of Arab nations that controls the price of oil and the amount of oil its members produce and sell to other nations
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