GCCCD Political Science American Government and Politics Discussion

Key Terms:

Federalism

The Constitution

First Continental Congress

Second Continental Congress Articles of Confederation Shay’s Rebellion

Annapolis Convention 1786 Constitutional Convention of 1787 Virginia Plan (Related to the Constitution)

New Jersey Plan (Related to the Constitution) The Three-Fifth Compromise

Bicameral Legislative Body Checks and Balance Separation of Powers

Article I of the Constitution

Article II of the Constitution 

Article III of the Constitution

Tenth Amendment

Bill of Rights

War Powers Act of 1973

Mayflower Compact

Veto

Articles of Confederation

The Three-Fifths compromise

Jamestown, Virginia

Elections Key Terms:

Primary Elections

General Elections

Closed Primary

Open Primary

Majority System

Runoff Election

Plurality System

Electoral College

Ballot initiative

Referendum 

Incumbent

Interest Group (know the different types of interest groups)

Free riders 

Lobbying

Political Action Committee

Super PAC

Foreign Policy Key Terms:

Non-state Actors

Isolationism

Containment

Appeasement

Cold War

Monroe Doctrine

Nation States 

George Washington’s Farewell Address

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

World Trade Organization 

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Bilateral treaties

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Diplomacy

National Security

Economic Security

Human Rights

9/11

Bush Doctrine

Somalia 1992

Spanish-American War 1898

The Legislative Branch:

House of Representatives

The U.S. Senate

Constituency

Bicameral

Minimum Age of a member (from both House and Senate)

Length of Term of a U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senator

Delegate form (or theory) of Representation

Trustee form (or theory) of Representation

Term limits

Incumbency

Apportionment

Redistricting 

Gerrymandering

Patronage

Pork barrel (or pork)

Speaker of the House

Standing Committee

Select Committees 

Joint committees

Conference Committees

A bill

Cloture

Filibuster

Appropriations

Impeachment

The Presidency:

Executive agreement

Executive order

Expressed powers (look to pages 509- 510) and know the five expressed powers. 

Implied powers

Delegated powers 

Commander in chief

Veto

Pocket Veto

Executive Privilege

Richard Nixon

Gerald Ford

War Powers Resolution of 1973

Cabinet

National Security Council

White House Staff

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Lyndon Johnson

Vice-President

The Federal Judiciary:

Chief Justice John Marshall

Marbury vs. Madison

Judicial Review

Stare decisis

U.S. Supreme Court

Writ of habeas corpus

Original jurisdiction

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

Supremacy Clause

Judicial Restraint

Judicial Activism

Rule of 4

Originalist (Think of Scalia)

Living Constitution (Think of Breyer)

District Courts

Courts of Appeals

American Civil War and Emancipation

Battle of Antietam (September 1982)

13th Amendment

14th Amendment

15th Amendment

Emancipation Proclamation

Abraham Lincoln

Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy

President Carter’s 5 Principles for Rulemaking

Monopolistic theory of Bureaucracy

Weberian Theory of Bureaucracy

Acquisitive Theory of Bureaucracy

Spoils System

Pendleton Act of 1883

Interstate commerce Commission

Deregulation

Devolution

Ronald Reagan

Public Opinion:

Public Opinion

Conservativism (Conservative)

Liberalism (liberalism)

Agents of Socialization

Potential Questions for Short Answer/Essay

• What does the Federal Bureaucracy do?
• What are the major problems of regulation?
• Question: Who are the players (who makes decisions or contributes to decisions) in the American foreign policy decision-making process? (E.g. look at the Bureaucracy, Congress, and Interest Groups and of course the Presidency). How do they shape foreign policy and which is the most important player in the shaping of American foreign policy? (THIS IS THE BIG ESSAY QUESTION)***