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absolutist monarchy

An absolutist monarchy is a form of government where all power is given to the king or queen. It differs from a limited monarchy where the king or queen shares power with some kind of lawmaking body.

Apportionment

Apportionment is the distribution of members of the House of Representatives based on a state's population.

Appropriation

In order for the federal government to spend any money, Congress must pass an appropriation bill. As part of the budget-making process, Congress passes 13 appropriations bills each year, which state that a specific amount of money will be spent for a specific budgeted purpose.

See Also: Appropriations

Appropriations

See Also: Appropriation

Arbitrary

With respect to the government's power, arbitrary means using power whenever the government wants and without good reason. For example, the Bill of Rights protects Americans from the government arbitrarily using its powers. This means that the government can't simply use its power to crush certain rights, such as the Freedom of Speech.

Bicameral

A bicameral legislature consists of two separate houses.

Bills

A bill is a proposed law.

Budget

With respect to the government, the federal budget is an itemized list of things on which the government wants to spend money. The budget must be approved by Congress before becoming official.

Bureaucracy

In order to perform the thousands of daily tasks of government, from helping form policy to collecting taxes, the federal bureaucracy has developed. The bureaucracy includes virtually every person serving in the government who is not in the military, a judge, or an elected official.

Census

Every ten years the United States government conducts a census, which is a count of everyone living in America. This census is used for a number of reasons, including determining the number of Representatives that a state has.

Checks and balances

In order to make sure that no single branch of government became too powerful, the writers of the Constitution made sure that for every power one branch possesses, another branch has some way to check, or limit, that power. In this way, the power of the three branches are balanced.

Civil servants

Civil servants are most of the people who work for the government's bureaucracy. Bureaucratic workers are usually put into one of two categories: unclassified and classified. Civil servants are in the classified group, meaning that they have to pass a civil service exam before getting a job.

Cloture

Cloture is used to stop debates about a bill in the Senate. It requires a vote of three-fifths of the Senate. Cloture is used to end a filibuster.

Commerce

Commerce is the buying and selling of goods, usually in massive amounts. Relating to the United States government, the Constitution granted Congress and the President the ability to regulate commerce between the states.

Conference committee

Before a bill goes to the President to be signed into law, both houses of Congress must agree on its exact wording. Conference committees are temporary committees made up of equal numbers of Senators and Representatives that must iron out differences between the Senate's and House's version of a bill.

Congress

Congress is the law-making branch of the United States government. It's made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Conservative

A conservative has political beliefs that emphasize minimizing the amount of involvement the government has in the daily lives of its citizens. American conservatives often want to cut spending, reduce taxes, and limit government programs.

Constituents

Constituents are the people who are represented by an elected official, even if they didn't vote for him or her.

Deficit

With respect to the government, a deficit is the amount of money that the government owes each year. In other words, it is the amount of money that the government spends that isn't covered by money taken in taxes. Each year the deficit is added to a running total. This running total is called the debt.

Delegates

Delegates are people who are either elected or chosen to represent a group. For example, when it came time to write the Constitution, members of each state chose delegates to represent them at the Constitutional Convention.

Due process

Due process is the constitutional guarantee that the American government has to obey certain rules in creating rules and then enforcing them. Due process essentially guarantees that the government can't take away the rights of American citizens without a trial.

Electoral college

The electoral college consists of all of the electors who cast the official votes for President and Vice President. The electoral college is based on the "winner-takes-all" idea, meaning that if a Presidential candidate receives the majority of a state's popular votes, then he or she receives all of that state's electoral votes.

Executive branch

In the American governmental system, the Executive branch is responsible for enforcing the country's laws. The President is the leader of the Executive branch.

Felonies

Felonies are serious crimes that are usually punished by more than one year in prison and a large fine. Felonies include murder and rape.

Filibuster

A filibuster is a tactic used in the Senate to delay voting on a bill by prolonging debate on a bill.

House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is the part of Congress that has its membership determined by the size of a state's population. The number of Representatives isn't spelled out in the Constitution, but as of 1998 the House had 435 members.

Impeach

In order to remove an elected official or judge from office, the Constitution gives Congress the power to impeach. In order to remove someone, the House of Representatives must investigate to see if there is evidence of an elected official breaking the law. If the evidence is sufficient, then the House makes formal charges of impeachment. It is then left to the Senate to have a trial to determine if the elected official has to be removed from office.

See Also: impeachment

impeachment

See Also: impeach

Imperialism

Imperialism is an aggressive type of foreign policy that focuses on getting colonies and emphasizes military strength and international power.

Imports

Goods and materials that are made in other countries and then shipped to the United States for sale are called imports. According to the Constitution, the government has the power to tax imports but can't tax exports, goods that are made in the United States and then shipped out of the country.

Internationalism

Internationalism is a foreign policy belief that argues that American culture and values are somehow unique in the world. But unlike isolationists, people who favor internationalism think that these values are so special that it is America's duty to spread them throughout the world.

Interstate

In reference to trade, interstate means passing from one state to another. Interstate trade occurs when a company in one state ships their goods across state lines into a neighboring state.

Isolationism

Isolationism was the major American foreign policy until the 1910s, and again briefly in the 1920s and 1930s. Isolationists argue that American culture and values are special and that developing close ties with other nations allows other value systems to corrupt the American way of life. This belief was especially strong in the 1920s, when many believed that the United States had no business becoming involved in the affairs of foreign nations, but instead should devote resources to solving American problems.

John Maynard Keynes

John Maynard Keynes was an economist who created a theory that argues that government spending on projects and programs will increase employment.

Judicial branch

In the American government, the Judicial branch is responsible for determining when laws are broken and assigning punishment. The highest level of the Judicial branch is the Supreme Court, which also has the duty to determine if a law is constitutional.

Judicial review

Judicial review is the ability of the Judicial branch, especially the Supreme Court, to tell if a law or executive action is constitutional. A law or executive action is constitutional only if it doesn't violate the Constitution or the Bill of Rights.

Jurisdiction

With respect to Congressional committees, jurisdiction means that a committee has a certain area of responsibility, so they must limit their work to that area. In the legal system, jurisdiction means that a court can only hear a certain type of case.

Liberal

With respect to the Constitution, someone who has a liberal interpretation feels that the Constitution gives certain powers that aren't directly spelled out. With respect to politicians, a liberal feels that government spending will increase employment and help the economy. Liberals also feel that federal social welfare programs are needed to help lower income Americans.

Line agencies

Line agencies are the part of the federal bureaucracy devoted to actually enforcing laws and implementing policy. Executive departments, government corporations, independent agencies, and regulatory commissions all have line agencies.

Minors

Anyone who is not of a legal age is a minor. Generally, a minor is someone who is under eighteen years old.

Misdemeanor

A misdemeanor is a low level crime that is often punished only by a short stay in jail or a fine. Misdemeanors include shoplifting.

Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government based on heredity and headed by a king or queen. Monarchs usually rule along with some kind of Congress that represents the citizens.

Monopolies

A monopoly is a firm or company that has exclusive control over a product or service. Monopolies have no competition.

National republic

A national republic is a system of government in which the citizens of a country elect others to represent the public interest (add the "re" with the "public" and you get the origin of the term). Elected officials get their power from the people they represent and must act according to their wishes.

Nationalist

A nationalist believes that his or her country is far superior to others and is devoted to improving the country's position in the world. A nationalist feels that the central government should have more power than the states.

Oversight

The Legislative branch has an oversight ability. It periodically reviews the operations and policies of the Executive branch to make sure that no laws are being violated as part of the Constitution's system of checks and balances.

Pendleton Act

Passed in 1883, the Pendleton Act created a civil service system. In the civil service system, exams are given to determine qualified applicants based on ability and knowledge.

Platform

A platform is the group of ideas that a politician or political party believes in and wants to accomplish. For example, the Republican party's platform in the 1996 presidential election was based on cutting spending and balancing the budget.

Pocket veto

A pocket veto occurs when the President doesn't act on a bill within ten days and Congress is out of session. By not acting, the bill dies.

Popular vote

Popular votes are what individual Americans cast in an election. Although popular votes don't actually determine who becomes President, usually the electors give a state's electoral votes to whomever wins the popular vote in that state.

Quorum

A quorum is the minimum number of lawmakers that must be present in order for a part of Congress to take votes and conduct business. This is a simple majority of the house's members, meaning 51 members of the Senate and 218 in the House of Representatives.

Ratified

When a bill or treaty is given final approval, it is ratified. For example, treaties must be ratified, or given the Senate's approval, before they can go into effect.

Reapportionment

Reapportionment is the redistribution of seats in the House of Representatives based on the census. The number of seats in the House doesn't actually change, only the way they are divided among the states.

Revenue

Revenue is the money that the American government receives in exchange for providing services for American citizens. Individual and corporate income taxes are two sources of federal revenue.

Segregate

Based on the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson, segregation was the legal practice of keeping whites and blacks apart by creating completely separate facilities for both groups. Segregation was eventually declared illegal by the Supreme Court in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.

See Also: segregation, segregated

Segregated

See Also: Segregation, segregate

Segregation

Based on the Supreme Court casePlessy v. Ferguson, segregation was the legal practice of keeping whites and blacks apart by creating completely separate facilities for both groups. Segregation was eventually declared illegal by the Supreme Court in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.

See Also: segregated, segregate

Senate

The Senate is the part of Congress with equal representation of two Senators from every state, regardless of the size of the state's population.

Separation of powers

The Constitutional division of the government's power and duties among the three different branches is called the separation of powers.

Session

A session is the formal meeting time when Congress actually does its work. Because of the increased complexity of running the government, current sessions last nearly the entire year.

Staff agencies

Staff agencies are the part of the federal bureaucracy that is devoted to providing support information to an administrator, like the President. Executive departments, government corporations, independent agencies, and regulatory commissions all have staff agencies.

Standing committees

Standing committees are permanent committees in both houses of Congress that only deal with specific types of bills. For example, the House Agriculture Committee only looks at bills that deal with agriculture.

Subsidies

A subsidy is financial assistance given by the government to an individual or company, often to reduce costs. For example, the United States government provides subsidies for farmers in order to keep farmers producing while also reducing the costs of food for American buyers.

Succession

Succession is the system that determines who becomes President in the event that the President dies, resigns, or is unable to perform the duties of the job. In the current system of succession, the Vice President is second in line, followed by the Speaker of the House, the President pro tempore of the Senate, and then the secretaries of the cabinet departments.

Term

A Presidential term is the four years he or she holds office. A Congressional term is the two years between Congressional elections.

Treason

Treason, a crime against the federal government, can either be fighting for an enemy or providing aid to an enemy. Treason is punishable by death.

Unicameral

A unicameral legislature has only one house.

Veto

The President's ability to reject a bill is called a veto. Once vetoed, a bill usually returns to Congress, where Congress can either let the bill die, change the bill so the President will approve it, or override the President's veto with a 2/3 vote of the whole Congress.