Reading Review: Vocabulary

1. Realigning Elections: an election that dramatically changes the political system.
2. Filibuster: an obstructive manner in a legislature by speaking at inordinate length.
3. Habeas Corpus: a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court.
4. Plurality: The excess of votes cast for one candidate over those votes cast for any other candidate.
5. Rule of Four: The rule of four is a Supreme Court of the United States practice that permits four of the nine justices to grant a writ of certiorari.
6. Social Capital: refers to connections within and between social networks.
7. Pocket Veto: An indirect veto of a legislative bill by the president or a governor by retaining the bill unsigned until after the legislative session is over.
8. Senatorial Courtesy: A custom whereby presidential appointments are confirmed only if there is no objection to them by the senators from the appointee's state especially from the senior senator of the president's party from that state.
9. Concurrent Powers: held by both the states and the federal government and may be exercised simultaneously within the same territory and in relation to the same body of citizens.
10. Logrolling: the exchange of support or favors, especially by legislators for mutual political gain as by voting for each other's bills.
11. Rider: A schedule or writing annexed to a document such as a legislative bill or insurance policy.
12. Standing Committee: A permanent committee that meets regularly.
13. Expressed Powers: a list of nonspecific responsibilities found in Article 1 Section 8 of the United States Constitution, which iterates the authority granted to the United States Congress.
14. Trustee: A member of the board of the foundation who takes part in the decision making process.
15. Judicial Review: Review by the Supreme Court of the constitutional validity of a legislative act.
16. Delegate: A person sent or authorized to represent others, in particular, an elected representative sent to a conference.
17. Necessary & Proper Clause: establishes the "implied powers," by which Congress has authority to pass legislation in areas not specifically listed in the Constitution.
18. Political Agenda: a set of issues and policies laid out by an executive or cabinet in government that tries to influence current and near-future political news and debate.
19. Commerce Clause: states that the United States Congress shall have power "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes".
20. Deficit: An excess of expenditure or liabilities over income or assets in a given period.
21. Issue Network: an alliance of various interest groups and individuals who unite in order to promote a single issue in government policy.
22. National Debt: The total amount of money that a country's government has borrowed, by various means.
23. Iron Triangle: a term used by political scientists to describe the policy-making relationship among the congressional committees, the bureaucracy, and interest groups.
24. Divided Government: a situation in which one party controls the White House and another party controls one or both houses of the United States Congress.
25. Due Process: Fair treatment through the normal judicial system, esp. as a citizen's entitlement.
26. Executive Privelege: The privilege, claimed by the president for the executive branch of the US government, of withholding information in the public interest.
27. Eminent Domain: The right of a government or its agent to expropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation.
28. Take-care Clause: imposes a duty on the President to take due care while executing laws.
29. Central Clearance: the sole agency charged with granting, denying, and revoking security clearance eligibility for the Army.
30. Stare decisis: The legal principle of determining points in litigation according to precedent.
31. PACs: political action committee.
32. Block Grant: A grant from a central government that a local authority can allocate to a range of services.
33. Coattail Effect: the tendency for a popular political party leader to attract votes for other candidates of the same party in an election.
34. Cloture: A procedure for ending a debate and taking a vote.
35. Incorporation: the act of forming and legally establishing a new corporation.
36. Political Efficacy: one's own influence or effectiveness on politics.
37. Devolution: The transfer or delegation of power to a lower level, esp. by central government to local or regional administration.
38. Nullification: doctrine that a state can refuse to recognize or to enforce a federal law passed by the United States Congress.
39. Political Ideologies: An organized system of political beliefs, values, and ideas.
40. Gender Gap: The discrepancy in opportunities, status, attitudes, etc. between men and women.
41. Silent Majority: an unspecified large majority of people in a country or group who do not express their opinions publicly.
42. Superdelegates: an informal term commonly used for some of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention, the presidential nominating convention of the United States Democratic Party.
43. Bully Pulpit: A public office or position of authority that provides its occupant with an outstanding opportunity to speak out on any issues.
44. Trial Balloon: A tentative measure taken or statement made to see how a new policy will be received.
45. Red tape: Excessive bureaucracy or adherence to rules and formalities, esp. in public business.
46. Laissez-faire: Abstention by governments from interfering in the workings of the free market.
47. Judicial Restraint: a theory of judicial interpretation that encourages judges to limit the exercise of their own power.
48. Judicial Activism: an interpretation of the U.S. constitution holding that the spirit of the times and the needs of the nation can legitimately influence judicial decisions.
49. Sovereign Immunity: an exemption that precludes bringing a suit against the sovereign government without the government's consent; "the doctrine of sovereign immunity originated with the maxim that the king can do no wrong"