The Basics
Institutions that make public policy for a society
What is government?
A bipartisan body charged with administering campaign finance laws
What is the Federal Election Commission?
The process of removing an elected official from office for high crimes or misdemeanors
What is impeachment?
A proposed law
What is a bill?
This group feared that the new Constitution was a class-based document that would erode fundamental liberties
Who were the Anti-federalists?
A plan the government makes in response to some issue on its agenda
What is public policy?
A party's statement of its goals and policies for the next four years
What is a party platform?
A committee appointed for a specific purpose and a specific time
What is a select committee?
People who already hold office
Who are incumbents?
According to James Madison these arise due to an unequal distribution of wealth but remain in check due to the concept of federalism found in the Constitution
What are factions?
The list of subjects or problems to which people inside and outside government are paying serious attention at any given time
What is the policy agenda?
A party's official endorsement of a candidate for office
What is a nomination?
Information leaked to the media to see what the political reaction will be
What is a trial balloon?
The title given to the day to day leader of the U.S. Senate
Who is the Majority Leader?
A plan submitted at the constitutional convention calling for three branches of government and a two-house Congress
What is the Virginia Plan?
Who gets what, when, and how
What is politics?
A state's decision to move their presidential caucuses and primaries earlier in the nomination season to capitalize on media attention
What is frontloading?
A hiring and promotion system based on knowing the right people
What is patronage?
The process of monitoring the bureaucracy and its administration of policy
What is legislative oversight?
The deal struck at the constitutional convention providing for a two-chamber Congress with the lower house representing states based on their populations and equal representation among the states in the upper house
What is the Connecticut Compromise?
These arise when people disagree about a problem or about the choices made to combat a problem
What are political issues?
Delegates to the Democratic party's national convention who obtain their seats based on their positions within the party structure
Who are superdelegates?
The entry point for most federal litigation; trial courts at the federal level
What are district courts?
The "traffic cop" in the House of Representatives, it decides when bills will be debated on the House floor and for how long
What is the Rules Committee?
This concept of detailing governmental power along the lines of what is and is not permissible, dating all the way back to the Magna Carta, can be found in Article I, section 9 of the Constitution
What is the concept of limited government?