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| projects designed to bring to the constituency jobs and public money for which the members of Congress can claim credit |
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| Programs of private and public institutions favoring minorities and women in hiring an d in admissions to colleges and universities in an attempt to compensate for past discrimination |
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| Courts that hear cases on appeal from other courts |
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| As applied to a legislative body consisting of two houses or chambers |
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| First 10 amendments of the US Constitution. Gives Americans liberties. |
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| Documents setting out the arguments in legal cases, prepared by attorneys and presented to courts |
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| Services performed by members of Congress for constituents |
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| The constitutional principle that government power shall be divided and that the fragments should balance or check one another to prevent tyranny |
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| Guarantees of equal treatment by government officials regarding political rights, the judicial system and public programs |
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| The political position which holds that the federal government out to play a very small role in economic regulation, social welfare and overcoming racial inequality |
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| The district of a legislator |
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| Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) |
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| An organization in the Executive Office of the President made up of a small group of economists who advise on economic policy |
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| Unequal treatment by private individuals, groups and organizations |
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| Unequal treatment based on government laws and regulations |
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| A gradual reduction in the dominance of one political party without another party supplanting it. |
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| descriptive representation |
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| Sometimes called statistical representation; means that the composition of a representative body reflects the demographic composition of the population as a whole |
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| A petition signed by at least 218 House members to force a bill that has been before a committee for at least 30 days while the House is in session out of the committee and onto the floor for consideration |
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| Control of the executive and the legislative branches by different political parties |
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| Necessary and Proper clause; gives Congress the authority to make whatever laws are necessary and proper to carry out its enumerated responsibility |
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| Elected representatives of the states whose votes formally elect the president of the United States |
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| powers given to the government specifically stated in the Constitution |
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| The section of the 14th amendment that provides equal protection of the laws to all citizens |
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| Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) |
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| Proposed amendment to the US Constitution stating that equality of rights shall not be abridged or denied on account of a person’s gender |
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| A law that retroactively declares some action illegal |
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| An agreement with another country signed by the president that has the force of law, like a treaty; does not require Senate approval |
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| Executive Office of the President (EOP) |
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| A group of organizations that advise the president on a wide range of issues; includes the Office of Management and Budget, the National Security Council and the Council of Economic Advisers |
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| An order to personnel or agencies in the executive branch, issued by the president that has the force of law, based either on the constitutional powers of the presidency or on congressional statutes |
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| A parliamentary device used in the Senate to prevent a bill from coming to a vote by “talking it to death”, made possible by the norm of unlimited debate |
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| Public subsidization of mail from the members of Congress to their constituents |
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| Redrawing electoral district lines to give an advantage to a particular party or candidate |
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| A devise that allowed whites who had failed the literacy test to vote anyway by extending the franchise to anyone whose ancestors had voted prior to 1867 |
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| A situation in which things cannot get done in Washington, usually because of divided government |
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| Describing a process by which indigents may file a suit with the Supreme Court free of charge |
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| the permanent bureaucracy associated with the presidency, designed to help the incumbent of the office carry out his responsibilities |
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| A legal test falling between the ordinary and strict scrutiny relevant to issues of gender; under this test, the Supreme Court will allow gender classifications in laws if they are substantially related to an important government objective |
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| Popular term for the system of legally sanctioned racial segregation that existed in the American south until the middle of the twentieth century |
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| judicial activism and judicial self-restraint |
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| Actions by the courts that go beyond the strict role of the judiciary as interpreter of the law and adjudicator of disputes |
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| The power of the Supreme Court to declare actions of the other branches and levels of government unconstitutional |
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| The political position that holds that the federal government has a substantial role to play in economic regulation, social welfare, and overcoming racial inequality |
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| A device used by the southern states to prevent African Americans from voting before the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which banned its use |
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| majority-minority districts |
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| Districts drawn to ensure that a racial minority makes up the majority of voters |
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| national security adviser |
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| A top foreign policy and defense adviser to the president who heads the National Security Council |
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| National Security Council (NSC) |
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| An organization in the Executive office of the president made up of officials from the State and Defense Departments, the CIA and the military |
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| The informal electoral alliance of working-class ethnic groups, Catholics, Jews, urban dwellers, racial minorities and the South that was the basis of the Democratic party dominance of American politics from the New Deal to the early 1970s |
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| Office of Management and Budget (OMB) |
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| Part of the Executive Office of the President charged with helping the president prepare the annual budget request to Congress; also performs oversight of rulemaking by executive branch agencies |
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| An election in which there is no incumbent officeholder |
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| The explanation of the majority’s reasoning that accompanies a court decision |
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| the doctrine that the courts must interpret the Constitution in ways consistent with the intentions of the framers rather than in light of contemporary conditions and needs |
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| Congressional responsibility for monitoring the actions of executive branch agencies and personnel to ensure conformity to federal statutes and congressional intent |
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| A committed supporter of a political party; seeing issues from the point of view of a single party |
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| The sense of belonging to one or another political party |
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| A tax to be paid as a condition of voting; used in the South to keep African Americans away from the polls |
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| Rulings by courts that guide judicial reasoning in subsequent cases |
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| The percentage of Americans who approve a president’s handling of his job |
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| proportional representation |
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| The awarding of legislative seats to political parties to reflect the proportion of the popular vote each party receives |
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| The process by which one party supplants another as the dominant party in a political system |
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| The reallocation of House seats among the states in proportion to the size of their populations |
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| Deferral by members of Congress to the judgment of subject-matter specialists, mainly on minor technical bills |
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| The redrawing of congressional district lines within a state to ensure roughly equal populations within each district |
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| The tradition that judicial nominations for federal district court appointments be cleared by the senior senator of the president’s party from the relevant state |
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| The principle that one attains a position on the basis of length of service |
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| separate but equal doctrine |
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| The principle articulated in Plessy v. Ferguson that laws prescribing separate public facilities and services for nonwhite Americans are permissible if the facilities and services are equal to those provided for whites |
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| Unregulated expenditures by political parties on general public education, voter registration, and voter mobilization; often used to indirectly influence campaigns for elective office, until banned after 2002 |
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| Relatively permanent congressional committees that address specific areas of legislation |
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| The legal doctrine that says precedent should guide judicial decision making |
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| The invidious, arbitrary or irrational designation of a group for special treatment by government |
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| The assumption by the Court that actions by elected bodies or officials violate constitutional rights |
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| A case brought to force a ruling on the constitutionality of some law or executive action |
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| According to the doctrine articulated by Edmund Burke, an elected representative who believes that his or her own best judgment, rather than instructions from constituents, should be used in making legislative decisions |
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| Control of the executive and legislative branches by the same political party |
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| Presidential disapproval of a bill that has been passed by both houses of Congress and can be overridden by 2/3 vote in each house |
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| A political party member in Congress charged with keeping members informed of the plans of the party leadership, counting votes before action on important issues, and rounding up party members for votes on bills |
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| A party's statement of its position on the issues of the day |
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| Each party splits along regional lines |
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| Democrats and Republicans roughly balanced |
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| National Party Committees |
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| Rarely meet and provide campaign services |
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| Congressional Campaign Committee |
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| Controlled solely by members of Congress. They are to aid members of Congress by raising money, providing media service and research |
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| A status in which same sex couples have the same legal rights, benefits and protections as married couples |
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| A court order that forces an official to act |
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| The federal system is a THREE tiered system |
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| Federal courts created by Congress under the authority of Article 3 of the Constitution |
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| Federal courts created by Congress under the authority of Article 3 of the Constitution |
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| Highly specialized federal courts created by Congress under the authority of Article 1 of the Constitution |
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| The authority of the court to be the first to hear a particular kind of case |
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| Hear cases on appeal from other courts |
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| An announcement that the Supreme Court will hear a case on appeal from a lower court |
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| Not sure what that actually means; Roles are a bit blurred and unsure |
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| Control of the executive and legislative branches by different political parties |
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| Are often times in coalition with Republicans |
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| To have the advantage over the other opponent with an aid in electoral interest |
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| An organization of the members of a political party in the House or Senate |
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| If the Speaker is like the chairman of the Board, the Majority leader is the CEO responsible for the daily operations |
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| A regional, ethnic racial or economic subgroup within the House or Senate |
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| The chief spokesperson and legislative strategist for the opposition |
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| Resulted in the court ruling that the writ of Mandamus was unconstitutional because it expanded the original jurisdiction of the court |
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| The process of revising a bill in committee |
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| Temporary committees in Congress created to conduct studies or investigation; have no power to report bills |
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| Ad hoc committees made up of members from both houses set up to reconcile differences in passed bills |
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