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89 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
Alexis de Tocqueville
Tocqueville toured the United States to determine what made the country work politically and to determine whether or not American democracy could work in his home country of France. Democracy in America is the title of a two part book Tocqueville wrote. Cf. core American values.
Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990
federal law which prohibits unjustified discrimination based on disability.
apportionment
the assigning Congressional seats for states based on their relative population
capitalism (market, free market, free enterprise)
system in which the three economic questions of what to produce, how to produce and how to distribute are answered by producers and consumers



I.E:Anyone who gets paid for his work and gets to keep the income he generates, whether he is an entrepreneur or an employee, is a capitalist.

census
a count of all of the people in the United States every 10 years; mandated by Article I, Section 2; used as the basis for determining how many Representatives states get in the House of Representatives.
civic duty
a responsibility citizens owe to their country;



(i.e: serving on a jury when called upon, paying taxes, obeying the law. Non-civic; voting)

civil disobedience
Deliberate refusal to obey law or comply with orders of public officials as a means of expressing political opposition and being willing to face the consequences of your actions.
Civil Rights Act of 1960
established federal inspection of local voter registration polls and introduced penalties for anyone who obstructed someone's attempt to register to vote.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

banned discrimination in employment and public accommodations; gave the Justice Department the power to bring lawsuits to enforce school desegregation

class consciousness
an awareness that society is divided into socio-economic sets (classes) with certain benefits accruing to members of the upper classes
communism
economic system in which the three economic questions of what to produce, how to produce and how to distribute are answered by the workers
congregationalism
refers to the policy among Protestant churches in the British colonies of allowing direct democracy when determining issues in individual congregations; gave many colonists active experience of direct democracy
Congressional district
State legislatures draw congressional districts for Congressional elections



(cf. Baker v Carr and especially Wesberry v Sands and Reynolds v Sims for state legislatures.)

conservatism
a system of political beliefs which includes, among other ideas, limited government, capitalism, and a strong national security program.
constituents
the people whom an elected official represents



(i.e; voter, citizens in a state)

core American values

liberty: freedom and equality


individualism: the idea that individuals can handle their own problems without undue government influence


democracy: government system in which the people rule


rule of law: everyone must follow the law


tolerance: acceptance of many political ideas and beliefs


work ethic: the belief in the moral benefit and importance of work and its inherent ability to strengthen character

culture war
a conflict over social and political issues, often focusing on so-called cleavage issues



(Censorship, Homosexuality, Recreational drug use, Separation of church and state, Abortion, etc)

demographics
the science of population change; the study of the characteristics of populations.



(education, religion, gender, race)

demography
the study of statistics such as births, deaths, income, or the incidence of disease, which illustrate the changing structure of human populations.



( i.e; United States population in 2013 was 50.8 percent female.)

direct democracy

sub-type of democratic government type where in all eligible voters are allowed to vote on all issues.

eligible electorate
the population which is entitled to vote
equal opportunity
stipulation that all people should be treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers or prejudices or preferences.
exit poll
public opinion surveys used by major media pollsters to predict electoral winners; typically 1 out of 10 voters are polled after they leave the voting booth
factors impacting political participation
education, religion, race, ethnicity, age, gender
franchise
the right to vote
free enterprise
capitalism
gender gap
the tendency of women to vote for Democratic
gerrymandering
The drawing of legislative district boundaries to benefit a party, group, or incumbent.



(i.e; creation of a smaller voting district to take away votes from a particular candidate.)

Racial gerrymandering
The drawing of election districts so as to ensure that members of a certain race are a minority in the district; ruled unconstitutional in Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960).



(i.e; removing/spreading out a certain race in a district from gaining power to vote for desired party)

grandfather clause

allowed potential white voters to circumvent literacy tests, poll taxes, and other tactics designed to disenfranchise African-Americans; allowed those who were able to vote before 1867 and those whose father or grandfather could vote before 1867 to skip the tests.

hyperpluralism
theory of government and politics contending that groups are so strong that government is weakened or unable to function.
ideologue
someone who is unwilling to question their own politic beliefs
white primaries
primary elections in which only white citizens could vote based on political party rules; the Supreme Court decision of Smith v Allwright (1944) ruled that the law violated the protections of the Constitution because the state allowed a discriminatory rule to be established by the Democratic Party.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
a law designed to end formal and informal barriers to African American suffrage. Led to a significant increase in both the number of African American’s registering to vote as well as the number of African Americans elected to public office.
voter apathy
the “I don’t care” attitude exhibited by many voters and potential voters
three economic questions
what to produce, how to produce and how to distribute; different economic systems answer them differently; cf. capitalism, communism and socialism
straw poll
a survey which serves the purpose of getting respondents’ opinions but has no meaning beyond that
socialism
economic system in which the three economic questions of what to produce, how to produce and how to distribute are answered by government
sampling error
the level of confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll.
sample
a relatively small proportion who are chosen in a survey so as to be representative of the whole
rugged individualism
describes a person who can take care of their responsibilities without undue assistance from the government
representative sample
A sample is said to representative if the statistics computed from it accurately reflect the corresponding population parameters
representative democracy
a form of democracy in which voters choose others to act or speak for the voters; aka republic
redistricting
changing the boundaries of an election district, such as a House of Representatives district
recall elections
a procedure that allows voters to call for a special election for a specific official in order to throw that official out of office before the end of the official’s term. Only allowed in 17 states and seldom used due to the costs and disruptiveness of elections.
reapportionment
The assigning by Congress of congressional seats after each census.
reactionaries
those who are on the far right of the political spectrum and seek to bring about change in government policy, sometimes through violent means
randomness, random sampling
the key technique employed by sophisticated survey researchers, which operates on the principal that everyone should have an equal probability of being selected for the survey
random-digit dialing
a technique used by pollsters to place telephone calls randomly to both listed and unlisted numbers when conducting a survey
radicals
those who are on the far left of the political spectrum and seek to bring about change in government policy, sometimes through violent means
push poll
a public opinion poll designed to elicit support for particular policies or candidates by wording questions in a manner that leads the person being polled to certain conclusions
public opinion
the distribution of the population’s beliefs about politics and policy issues
protest
a way of expressing dissent with government decisions or policies; may include peaceful or violent elements
progressive
originally a movement that responded to the pressures of industrialization and urbanization by promoting reforms. In 21st century political terms this term refers to a segment of liberal-thinking people
populism
political movement which posits that politics pits the common people against the political elite, including and especially those in elected office and the economically and political powerful
poll taxes
Tax required to vote; prohibited for national elections by the Twenty-Fourth Amendment (1964).
polling techniques
methods of surveying the public to ascertain their views; the telephone poll is the most commonly used technique
political tolerance
willingness to extend basic constitutional rights -- the right to speak, to publish, to run for office -- to offensive groups and ideas.
political spectrum
the range of political ideologies from the far left (radical) to liberal to moderate to conservative to the far right (reactionary)
political socialization
the process through which a young person acquires political orientations as they grow up, based on input from parents, teacher, the media and friends.
political participation
all the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue, e.g., voting, joining political parties or interest groups, campaigning for candidates
political ideology
a set of ideals, principles and doctrines that explains how society should work, and offers some political and cultural blueprint for a certain social order.
political efficacy
the level of personal belief in whether or not your actions will have an effect; the higher the level of political efficacy, the higher the likelihood of being involved in political activity; the more you think your participation matters, the more you will participate
political culture
an overall set of values widely shared within a society
political agenda
a set of issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and others and the policies laid out to deal with these issues

pluralism

a theory of government and politics emphasizing that politics is mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies.

partisanship
supporting a single political party or ideology
parochials
politically active only in local issues
orthodox
someone whose political participation is done in normative ways.



(e.g. voting or joining a political party)



Motor Voter Act, 1993
The National Voter Registration Act (Motor Voter Act) allow voters to register when applying for a driver’s license and at state agencies such as welfare and unemployment offices
minority majority
the emergence of a non-Caucasian majority as compared with a White, generally Anglo-Saxon majority. ~ 2045 it is predicted that Hispanic Americans, African Americans and Asian Americans together will outnumber White Americans.
Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, 2009
Congress established procedures for absent uniformed services voters and overseas voters to request, and states to send, voter registration applications and absentee ballotapplications by mail and electronically.
melting pot
a mixing of cultures, ideas and peoples
mass media
means of communication that are reaching the public, including newspapers and magazines, radio, television (broadcast, cable, and satellite), films, recordings, books, and electronic communication.
libertarian
someone who holds an ideology that cherishes individual liberty and insists on minimal government, promoting a free market economy, a noninterventionist foreign policy, and an absence of regulation in moral, economic, and social life.
liberalism
A belief that government can and should achieve justice and equality of opportunity
legitimacy
the Framers considered that only a form of democracy was the acceptable type of government.
ideology
a system of ideas which form a person’s political view.

Baker v. Carr, 1962

"One man, one vote." Ordered state legislative districts to be as near equal as possible in population; Warren Court's judicial activism.

Wesberry v. Sanders (1963)
Ordered House districts to be as near equal in population as possible (extension of Baker v. Carr to Congressional districts).

19th Amendment

Passed in 1920 that extended suffrage to women

23rd amendment

Passed in 1961 that extended suffrage to people in Washington D.C

24th amendment

Passed in 1964, outlawed poll taxes

15th amendment

Passed in 1870, extended suffrage to African Americans (males)

26th amendment

Passed in 1971, extended suffrage to 18 year olds.

Breedlove v. Suttles

Upheld Georgia poll tax as constitutional



State leguslatures later amended constitution banning poll taxes (24th amendment)

Guinn v United States

Grandfather clause deemed unconstitutional

Reynolds v Sims

Both houses of bicameral STATE legislatures had to be apportioned on a population basis.

Smith v Allright

Held that white primaries were unconstitutional. "All white ain't all right"