World Politics
This theory argues that states act primarily in pursuit of power and national interest in an anarchic system.
What is realism?
This clause in Article I gives Congress the authority to pass laws necessary to carry out its enumerated powers.
What is the Necessary and Proper Clause?
This test is applied when a law discriminates based on race or fundamental rights.
What is strict scrutiny?
This international body prosecutes individuals for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
What is the International Criminal Court?
This term refers to unwritten rules and norms that shape political behavior.
What are democratic norms?
This concept refers to a situation in which actions taken by a state to increase security provoke insecurity in others.
What is the security dilemma?
This independent executive agency is often at the center of debates over environmental regulatory authority and judicial deference.
What is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)?
This amendment was originally intended to protect formerly enslaved people but later became central to incorporation doctrine.
What is the Fourteenth Amendment?
This term describes the immunity enjoyed by diplomats under international law.
What is diplomatic immunity?
This concept describes the gradual expansion of rights through judicial interpretation rather than amendment.
What is judicial activism?
This international relations theory emphasizes cooperation through institutions, trade, and interdependence.
What is liberal institutionalism?
This term describes when courts defer to an agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous statute.
What is Chevron deference?
This doctrine prevents Congress from delegating its legislative power to executive agencies without clear guidance.
What is the nondelegation doctrine?
This doctrine permits humanitarian intervention to prevent mass atrocities.
What is the Responsibility to Protect (R2P)?
This theory argues that policy outcomes primarily reflect the preferences of economic elites.
What is elite theory?
This term describes a global system dominated by a single powerful state.
What is hegemony?
This process allows the Senate to block legislation by extending debate indefinitely.
What is the filibuster?
This doctrine limits federal courts to hearing actual, ongoing cases rather than hypothetical disputes.
What is justiciability?
This convention governs the rights and responsibilities of states in maritime zones.
What is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)?
This political scientist coined the concept of “polyarchy.”
Who is Robert Dahl?
This theory focuses on how ideas, identities, and norms shape international politics rather than material power alone.
→ What is constructivism?
This type of executive action directs federal agencies without congressional approval.
What is an executive order?
Which constitutional amendment went into effect on January 16, 1919—just weeks after New Year’s Day—and fundamentally altered alcohol regulation in the U.S.?
What is the 18th Amendment?
This legal principle requires states to act in good faith when fulfilling treaty obligations.
What is pacta sunt servanda?
This term refers to the erosion of democratic institutions without a formal coup.
What is democratic backsliding?