Glossary

Numbers

44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island (1996): The Court has worked to empower corporations with the kind of freedom of expression traditionally reserved for natural persons, and corporations are taking full advantage of the leeway granted to them by the conservative majority. In this case, Justice Clarence Thomas firmly asserted in his concurring opinion that “I do not see a philosophical or historical basis for asserting that ‘commercial’ speech is of ‘lower value’ than ‘noncommercial speech.’” Many scholars applaud this view.  Chapter 64

A

Abington School District v. Schempp (1963): In this case, the Court struck down a Pennsylvania school’s daily practice of having a student read the Lord’s Prayer and a Bible passage over the school’s PA system. The Schempp’s were church-going Unitarians who objected to the practice.  Chapter 65

Adams, Abigail  (1744-1826): First Lady Abigail Adams famously wrote to her husband, John, in 1776 to “Remember the ladies” in the deliberations over independence from Britain, and also that “If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.” John Adams wrote back, with respect to giving more consideration to female interests in the laws of the new country, “I cannot but laugh.” Chapter 69

Adams, John (1735-1826):  He wrote this to Richard Henry Lee: “A Legislative, an Executive and a Judicial power, comprehend [encompass] the whole of what is meant and understood by Government. It is by balancing each one of these Powers against the other two, that the Effort in human Nature towards Tyranny can alone be checked and restrained and any degree of Freedom preserved in the Constitution.” Chapter 13

ad hominem: This literally means “against the man.” In argument, it means that we attack the person who made the argument to discredit what s/he said or wrote, instead of attacking the argument on its merits. Chapter 5

agreements, executive agreements: These are agreements that the U.S. has with another country’s head-of-state. Status of force agreements are a type of executive agreement with other heads-of-state in countries where the U.S. has stationed military personnel. Chapter 28

aggressive state voter-registration-roll purges: This practice concerns voting registration and first came to widespread attention during the 2000 presidential race in Florida. When the Supreme Court stopped the recounts, George W. Bush led Al Gore by 537 votes. What most people don’t realize is that prior to the election, Florida’s Republican Secretary of State Katherine Harris—who also served as Bush’s campaign state cochair—oversaw a purge of Florida’s voter rolls that used a company with strong Republican ties and that erroneously removed thousands of Democratic leaning voters. The list of purged voters was so flawed that the Madison County elections supervisor was surprised to find her name on it as a convicted felon. A U.S. Commission on Civil Rights analysis found that the list had at least a 14 percent error rate. With this successful Florida, experience, Republicans turned to purging voter rolls as an election strategy. When it is employed, this strategy always hides under the legitimate interest that states have of keeping their voter rolls accurate. Chapter 52

amendment process: The U.S. Constitution is remarkably difficult to amend. Because the Constitution is so incredibly difficult to amend, we are governed by a slightly modified document written by a small number of slave-owning, wealthy white men who did not have the benefit of all we know about the world nor the appreciation we have for the dignity of all people. Chapter 19

amicus curiae: Amicus curiae means “friend of the court.” Other individuals or groups who are not litigants may file what are known as amicus curiae briefs. Amicus curiae briefs are additional legal arguments filed by outside individuals or groups who are interested in a case’s outcome and who are attempting to influence the Court justices. Chapter 39

anarchy: This means the absence of government. Chapter 37

annual deficit: This is the shortfall between revenue and spending. In 2019, it was nearly a trillion dollars. Chapter 37

Anthony, Susan B (1820-1906): Anthony was leader of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Feminists were outraged when the Fifteenth Amendment left out women, so they created two organizations to fight for the right to vote: The National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association, which differed in their tactics. The two organizations merged in 1890 to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Chapter 69

Anti-Federalists: Those who opposed the Constitution. Those who supported the Constitution called themselves Federalists. Chapter 14

anti-government impulse relies on several tactics: Anti-tax crusades, deficit scaremongering, anti-government cynicism, and the myth of rugged individual freedom. Chapter 36

apolitical: This means not interested in or involved in politics. Federal civil service employees must be apolitical in their professional capacities, which is a way that bureaucratic agencies promote the rule of law. Chapter 38

appeal to majority: This occurs in making arguments when we try to use as fact the fallacy that when many people believe a claim to be true, it is evidence of its truth. Chapter 5

appellate jurisdiction: The Supreme Court’s second jurisdiction is its appellate jurisdiction, which are those cases on appeal from lower federal or state courts. Most of the Supreme Court’s caseload falls here.  When exercising its appellate jurisdiction, the Supreme Court does not act like a trial court, but instead reviews lower court rulings and either upholds them as correct or reverses them. The Court is under no obligation to take cases on appeal. Chapter 32

Apportioned: Senate seats are apportioned equally between the states, with each state getting two senators regardless of population. This enormously distorts the democratic principle of one-man, one-vote. Chapter 24

Argument: A claim plus evidence leading to a conclusion. Chapter 6

Article I, section 8 of the Constitution: These are called the enumerated powers of Congress because they are formally listed in the Constitution. These include the power to tax, borrow money, raise armies and navies, establish lower federal courts, regulate the money supply, regulate interstate and foreign commerce, and declare war. Chapter 13

Article I, section 10 of the Constitution: The Constitution clearly reduces the power of the states in this article, for example, the states would no longer have the kind of autonomy they enjoyed—but suffered with—under the Articles of Confederation. Chapter 13

Articles of Confederation: Under the Articles of Confederation, the central government’s limited power and weakness caused many problems for the new country, which is perhaps the most important thing to know about the U.S. under the Articles. Congress could not perform the following: tax people directly, raise a sufficient military force, regulate interstate or foreign commerce, establish a sound money system, and enforce treaties. Chapter 12

articles of impeachment: Articles of impeachment are essentially the specific charges against the president. The full House debates the articles of impeachment and votes. Chapter 30

artificial persons: This means that corporations and other organizations can exist by state charter. Chapter 35

astroturf lobbying: Very often, an organized interest will fake a grassroots movement by generating thousands of emails or faxes that only look like they come from ordinary people. Senator Lloyd Bentsen coined the term astroturf lobbying to describe this behavior. Narrow economic interests will often employ astroturf lobbying to make it seem like they are representing large numbers of people. Chapter 46

Atheism: This is a disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods. Chapter 11

Australian ballot: This ballot was the first reform that all U.S. states adopted by 1888. Prior to the Australian ballot, the most common way to vote in the United States was to use party ballots, which were printed by the parties themselves. The Australian ballot has three important characteristics. 1) It is printed, distributed, and counted by the state at taxpayer expense. 2) It lists all the candidates for all the offices from all parties. 3) Voters complete the ballot in private. Chapter 50

B

Bachrach, Peter (1918-2007): A neo-Marxist who, with Morton S. Bratz, in their essay, “Two Faces of Power,” analyzed the second dimension of power described as the mobilization of bias. Chapter 2.

balance the ticket: Beyond their few formal powers, vice presidents are nevertheless important in American politics. They are often chosen by presidential candidates to “balance the ticket” either geographically or politically. Chapter 26

ballot-access restrictions: These are any barriers to getting a candidate on the ballot. When ballot-access restrictions are lowered, the major parties faced significantly increased competition from third-party and independent candidates. Ballot-access restrictions include filing fees, early deadlines to declare candidacy, and signature requirements. The latter is perhaps the most onerous burden on third parties. Many states require independent and third-party candidates to secure enough signatures on petitions to get on the ballot. The more signatures required for nominating petitions, the fewer minor-party and independent candidates appear on the ballot. A third party that wants to run candidates for all the House seats across the country would have to collect millions of signatures. The Democrats and Republicans are relieved of this burden. Collecting these signatures is expensive and time-consuming. Together, filing fees and signature requirements stunt electoral competition, especially races for the House of Representatives. Chapter 44

Baratz, Morton S (1923-1998): A neo-Marxist who, with Peter Bachrach in their essay, “Two Faces of Power,” analyzed the second dimension of power described as the mobilization of bias. Chapter 2

Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755): In The Spirit of Laws (1748), legal theorist, Baron de Montesquieu argued that governmental power could be divided into three types and that they ought to be separate: Legislative: Congress, the power to make law. Executive: Presidency, the power to enforce law. Judicial: the Supreme Court, the power to interpret law, in both specific and general cases. Chapter 13

Barron v. The Mayor of Baltimore (1833): John Barron owned a wharf in the Baltimore’s eastern harbor. Beginning in 1815, Baltimore began a series of construction and paving projects that involved diverting streams. As it happened, the diverted streams came out into the harbor immediately next to Barron’s wharf. By 1822, Barron sued Baltimore city and the mayor because the newly diverted streams were causing silt to build up to such a degree that ships were no longer able to access his wharf. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Baltimore, saying that the Bill of Rights only protects people from actions of the central government, not from state and local actions. The Supreme Court said that Barron needed to seek redress from the Maryland state constitution, but there was no such provision in that document that would help Barron. The significance of the Barron decision is that it set up a dual system of civil liberties: a national one to protect individuals from the central government and widely varying standards to protect people from state and local government abuses. After the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment seemed to correct the imbalance defined in Barron by saying that no state “shall abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States.” However, the Supreme Court did not interpret the privileges and immunities clause as a corrective to Barron. Chapter 63

Bear River Massacre, 1863: In January 1863, after thousands of predominantly Mormon pioneers had entered the Southern Idaho area, the prospects of the local Shoshone people looked increasingly desperate. Unable to feed themselves, the Shoshone ended up dependent on food donations from Mormon settlers. After a Native American attack on some miners, Colonel Patrick Connor led a group of volunteers from Fort Douglas to a Shoshone encampment along the Bear River. Colonel Connor appeared to have made his decision to attack the Shoshone without any definitive proof that they were involved in the attacks, and he fully intended not to take any prisoners. The Shoshone had taken some defensive measures, but their weaponry was clearly inferior, and they were desperately short of ammunition. The troops surrounded the encampment and attacked at dawn on January 29, 1863. After a four-hour battle, the infantry and cavalry almost annihilated the Indian encampment. Connor, who was promoted to General after the battle, estimated that his men had killed between 250 and 300 men, women, and children—the deadliest massacre of Native Americans in U.S. history. One observer claimed that as many as 265 women and children were among the dead. Chapter 60

Beard, Charles (1874-1948): Beard was an historian who, in 1913, wrote one of the most famous and contentious books on the Constitution called An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. He asserted that founders who were merchants, who had money on loan to others, and who owned public bonds pushed the Constitution at the expense of farmers and debtors. Beard’s work forever changed the way we understand the American founding. No longer would we ignore that the small group of men who wrote the Constitution had economic interests and that they preferred a central government strong enough to protect those interests, but not one empowered by the will of a majority interested in different economic arrangements. Chapter 19

begging the question: In making an argument, when we beg the question, we use evidence that is essentially the same as the claim. Chapter 5

bill of attainder: This is when a legislative body acts like a judicial body by passing a law that declares a person or a group guilty of a crime and punishes them. Congress and state legislatures are forbidden from doing this. Chapter 62

Bill of Rights 1689: In England, this guaranteed, among other things, the right not to be taxed without Parliament’s approval, the right to petition the King, the right for Protestants to bear arms for self-defense, freedom from cruel and unusual punishments, freedom from excessive bail, freedom of speech in Parliament, and guarantees of a trial before having to pay fines.  Chapter 29

Bill of Rights: This is a list of rights amended to the Constitution to protect the people. The Bill of Rights consists of ten amendments. The bulk of your civil liberty guarantees are in the Bill of Rights. These include freedom of speech and the press, freedom of religion, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, procedural guarantees if you are accused of a crime, freedom from cruel and unusual punishment, and property rights. The Bill of Rights is said to have been fathered by two men: Anti-Federalist George Mason and Federalist James Madison. Other civil liberties protections are included in the body of the Constitution itself, including the privilege of habeas corpus, and prohibitions against bills of attainder, ex post facto laws, and the impairment of contracts. Chapters 14; 62

Bill of Rights features: The Bill of Rights guarantees are absolute compared to its historical and contemporary antecedents. The Bill of Rights went further than any previous document had in vigorously articulating individual liberties and freedom from an oppressive government. In that sense, the Bill of Rights is a ringing pronouncement that abstract concepts like natural rights have real meaning in our lives and that government needs to respect them. However, the liberties enunciated in the Bill of Rights are not, in fact, absolute. It is fair to say that all these liberties are subject to legislation. Chapter 14

Bill of Rights language: The majority of the Bill of Rights language, free speech, free exercise of religion, prohibitions against illegal searches, freedom of assembly, the right to counsel, etc., came from the American colonial context: Political theorist Donald Lutz clearly documents that, “The states constitutions’ and their respective bills of rights,’ not the amendments proposed by state ratifying conventions, are the immediate source from which Madison derived what became the U.S. Bill of Rights.” Delegates at state ratifying conventions proposed amendments and assertions of rights that had already been written into state constitutions. The assertions of rights were particularly important. In those early state constitutions, the assertions of rights were included as prefaces that began those documents, whereas the U.S. Bill of Rights was appended at the end of the U.S. Constitution. Chapter 14

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act: In the spring of 2002, Congress passed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, popularly known as the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill, and President Bush signed it into law despite many in his own party objecting. This law banned soft-money contributions to the national party organizations, doubled the hard money contribution limits of the Federal Election Campaign Act, and restricted advocacy ads from airing sixty days before a general election. Chapter 54

Black Codes: In the years immediately after the Civil War, Congress passed a series of laws that became known as Black Codes, which kept as many African American citizens in conditions of servitude as possible. Blacks were forbidden from self-employment, and thereby denied trades like blacksmithing, which they may have learned while they were slaves. More importantly, Black Codes required blacks to sign “annual labor contracts with plantation, mill, or mine owners. If African Americans refused or could show no proof of gainful employment, they would be charged with vagrancy and put on the auction block, with their labor sold to the highest bidder. . . [If] they left the plantation, lumber camp, or mine, they would be jailed and auctioned off.” And whites discriminated rampantly by not allowing blacks to access basic commercial businesses. Chapter 68

black/white thinking: In making an argument, black/white thinking goes by many names, the most common of which are false dichotomy and false dilemma. When we commit this fallacy, we shrink the world of possibilities down to two choices and insist that everyone must choose between them. One choice is that which we favor. The other choice is some extreme or disastrous possibility that no one in her right mind would choose. Chapter 5

blanket primary: In a blanket primary, voters can essentially split their ticket within the Democratic and Republican primaries. Chapter 50

block grants: These are the second form of federal money that state and local governments receive. Block grants are looser than categorical grants. They grant states money to use for a broad public policy area, such as the welfare block grants that replaced existing federal welfare programs in the mid-1990s. Chapter 15

blogosphere: Partisan or ideological blogs challenge politicians and sometimes hold the mainstream media to account. Often, blogs start rumors or conspiracy theories that are then picked up by corporate media. The location of all this debate and dialogue is often referred to as the blogosphere. Chapter 48

Bork, Robert (1927-2012): In 1987, President Ronald Reagan nominated Robert Bork to the Supreme Court. In nominating Bork, Reagan was seeking to replace retiring centrist Justice Lewis Powell Jr., with an activist conservative justice. The senate defeated Bork’s nomination 58-42. As far as most Democrats and a few moderate Republican senators were concerned, Bork had two strikes against him. First, Robert Bork was the Justice Department official who carried out President Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre.” Nixon had ordered his Attorney General to fire the special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal. The Attorney General refused and resigned. So did the Deputy Attorney General. Bork, who was third in command at the Justice Department, carried out Nixon’s order and fired the special prosecutor. Second, Bork’s legal opinions put him far to the right of mainstream legal thinking. Chapter 33

bounded rationality: Voters display what is known as bounded rationality, a concept political science borrowed from behavioral economics, meaning that voters are not fully rational due to the complexity of the decisions they have to reach, their own cognitive limitations, and the limited time and resources they have to devote to understanding politics. Absent full knowledge, voters’ ability to process all the needed information in the time needed to do so, results in making rational decision short cuts. Chapter 41

Bovay, Alvan (1818-1903): Bovay was one of the people who initiated the push to establish the Republican Party in 1854. He is credited with naming it “republican” to hearken back to the views of Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson. He worked on a number of radical causes, including a “vote yourself a farm” campaign, and wrote for George Evans’ Working Man’s Advocate and Young America newspapers. Chapter 42

Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969): In this case, the Court established the imminent lawless action standard in its majority opinion. The case dealt with Ohio prosecuting a Ku Klux Klan leader for publicly advocating violence. The majority ruled against Ohio and said that the First Amendment does not allow a state statute “to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force or of law violation except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless actions and is likely to incite or produce such action.” Essentially the Court said that advocacy of violence is not punishable in general, but inciting violence is punishable. Chapter 64

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954): In this case, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that segregated schools were inherently unequal, reversing the Plessy doctrine as it applied to education. Thus, de jure, by law, segregation is unconstitutional, but de facto, in fact, segregation is alive and well in America’s schools. Chapter 68

Buckley v. Valeo (1976): The Federal Election Campaign Act limited the amount of money that candidates could give to their own campaigns. The Supreme Court struck down this provision in the case of Buckley v. Valeo (1976). The Court said the limitation of self-contributions was a violation of the candidate’s freedom of speech. Chapter 54

bully pulpit: This refers to pushing an agenda. Today, we generally refer to a bully pulpit to mean any position which gives the holder the positional and rhetorical context in which to strongly advocate a position. Presidents use their rhetorical abilities and media attention to force the country to at least consider specific policy proposals. President Theodore Roosevelt recognized and used these abilities, coining the term bully pulpit to refer to his ability to push an agenda. Chapter 27

bundlers: Wealthy people often act as bundlers or people who organize and collect contributions to one campaign from a variety of other wealthy people. A candidate from the elite who knows a few other elites who are willing to act as bundlers is in a very good position indeed. Chapter 54

Burgh, James (1714-1775): The American founders were sympathetic with the arguments of Joseph Priestly, codiscoverer of oxygen and a founder of Unitarianism, and James Burgh, a Scottish minister and political writer, who both wanted the English Test and Corporation Acts to be repealed. Burgh wrote, “Away with all foolish distinctions about religious opinions. Those with different religious views are both equally fit for being employed in the service of our country.” Chapter 17

Bush v. Gore (2000): This case shows how the 2000 Presidential Election illustrates the Court majority’s animus toward democracy and the Court’s willingness to set aside its own precedents when given a chance to hand the presidency to their preferred Republican candidate who lagged behind in both the popular and electoral college vote. Democrat Al Gore was ahead of Republican George W. Bush in the national popular vote as well as the electoral college vote. In Florida, Bush was ahead by .061 of 1 percent in the initial vote tally. As per state law, Gore asked for a recount. Florida’s Secretary of State, Katherine Harris, who was also Bush’s state campaign manager, abused her office by trying to shut down the recount. The Florida Supreme Court ordered the recount to continue. The U.S. Supreme Court, at Bush’s request, stepped into the case while Harris refused to extend deadlines for recounts, and the Florida Elections Canvassing Commission certified Bush as the winner with 537 more votes than Gore. On Friday, December 8, the Florida Supreme Court again ruled in Gore’s favor and ordered Florida’s Supervisor of Elections and the Canvassing Board to continue with manual vote recounts. The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Bush v. Gore on December 7 and then again on December 11. In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court decided along ideological lines to overturn the Florida Supreme Court’s actions. Specifically, the Court said that the Florida Supreme Court’s decision failed to specify how all counties should do the recount and therefore violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause, even though the Florida Supreme Court had designated a single judge to hear all disputes, thus guaranteeing a single standard. Even worse, the majority opinion specifically said that the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of the equal protection clause was a one-off and should not be precedent setting. The solution to the Court’s ruling was simply to remand the case back to the Florida State Supreme Court and ask it to establish clear standards for the recount. Instead, the conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court stopped the recount altogether, thus handing a 537 vote and the Florida victory to Bush, which allowed him to squeak by in the electoral college by one vote. The 2000 election in Florida forever changed American politics and kicked off a new wave of GOP-led voter disenfranchisement efforts. Chapter 35

buying access: What do organized interests get for donating their money? Critics of America’s campaign finance system argue that if contributions are not actually buying votes, which would be very hard to prove, they are certainly buying access. That is, these groups’ lobbyists are likely to have the kind of close contact with congressional members and their staff that would not be afforded to other groups that had not donated. Chapter 46

C

cabinet: The Constitution says that the president “may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments.” From that prerogative, the cabinet evolved, the main role of which is to advise the president. Chapter 25

Calhoun, John C (1782-1850): Calhoun was a prominent Democrat from South Carolina who served as a vice president, a senator, and a representative once lamented that the phrase in the Declaration of Independence that all men were created equal “has become the most false and dangerous of all political errors. . . We now begin to experience the danger of admitting so great an error to have a place in the declaration of independence.” Chapter 42

capital punishment: The Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel or unusual punishment is the focus of America’s longstanding debate over capital punishment, which is when the government kills someone as punishment for a crime. Chapter 66

capital strike: Corporations and the wealthy can engage in a capital strike by withholding capital investment or moving money elsewhere until they get the government policies they want. A capital strike might take the form of layoffs, offshoring jobs and money, denying loans, or just a credible threat to do those things, along with a promise to relent once government delivers the desired policy changes. Chapter 45

categorical grants: Categorical grants are money that the federal government provides to states and local governments to spend on specific delineated categories or purposes. States or local governments receiving the grants must abide by federal nondiscrimination laws, and they may have to pay wages at certain levels. There are two types of categorical grants: project grants and formula grants. Chapter 15

Catt, Carrie Chapman (1859-1947): Chapman took over leadership of the National American Woman Suffrage Association from Susan B. Anthony. Feminists were outraged when the Fifteenth Amendment left out women, so they created two organizations to fight for the right to vote: The National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association, which differed in their tactics. The two organizations merged in 1890 to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Chapter 69

caucus: This is a meeting, or a series of meetings, at which party members gather, deliberate, and choose nominees that they support and where they often choose delegates for state or national political conventions. Chapter 50

causal hypothesis: In this hypothesis, some of the variance in one variable is being caused by the variance in the other variable. In all the other hypotheses, the two variables do not need to connect, but in a causal hypothesis, they do. Chapter 4

Central Hudson Test: Often, the Court has acted to ensure that consumers are able to get information via commercial advertisement. In Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corporation v. Public Services Commission (1980), the Court established what is known as the Central Hudson Test: Government may regulate commercial speech under the following conditions: 1) The government may regulate commercial speech that is fraudulent or misleading. 2) The government’s interest in regulating an instance of commercial speech must be substantial. 3) The regulation must directly advance the government’s asserted interest in regulating the commercial speech. 4) The regulation must be narrowly tailored to advance the government’s interest in regulating the commercial speech. Chapter 64

ceremonial laws: These laws do relatively trivial things like rename federal buildings, award medals, or designate special days. Chapter 22

Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942): The Court defined the idea of fighting words in Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942) as words that “by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of peace.” Civil libertarians worried about fighting words as a Constitutional principle, largely because it was so vague—there is no list of words and phrases that fall under it. For instance, in the Chaplinsky case, one man started a fight after he was called “a damned Fascist” and “a goddamned racketeer!”—phrases which seem quaint today. As a result, the Court backed away from fighting words as legitimate grounds for restricting speech. Chapter 64

characteristics of attractive candidates: Political parties tend to put forward candidates with name recognition, access to money, and an appealing biography. Name recognition is important, so parties look for people who are already in office, or for prominent business leaders, or people who have been active in the community. Access to money is another important characteristic: parties look for candidates who can partially self-fund their campaigns or who have vast connections to people in positions to donate to the campaign. Parties also look for candidates with an appealing biography, which might include anything from being a combat veteran to being a successful entrepreneur. Chapter 41

Charles I (1600-1649): In 1649, the English Parliament executed Charles I. During his rule, he levied taxes without Parliament’s approval, disbanded Parliament for eleven years, forced people to loan money to the government, and sent armed force into Parliament to arrest members. Chapter 29

checks and balances: This term does not appear in the Constitution, but the practice is intentionally and strategically woven throughout the document. Key checks and balances allow the three separate government institutions, Executive, Legislative, and Judicial to meddle in each other’s business. Chapter 13  

Chief of Staff: This person manages the White House staff operations and often controls access to the president. Chapter 25

Child Online Protection Act of 1998:  To replace the Communications Decency Act, Congress passed the Child Online Protection Act, which threatened prison and fines for anyone caught placing material that is “harmful to minors” on a web site available to children under the age of seventeen. The law became the focus of a legal battle for more than a decade until it died a quiet death in 2009 when the Supreme Court declined to review yet another appeal. During the legal battle, most courts were uncomfortable with the broad language of the law. In addition to the vagueness of the phrase “harmful to minors” is the problem that the law applied local community standards to the Internet. Most federal judges and Supreme Court justices were concerned that the law allowed any community—even the most rural and conservative—to define the content of the Internet for everyone in the country. In distinction to this legal morass, the Supreme Court firmly established in 1982 that bans on child pornography are constitutional, so long as the material in question depicted an actual—as opposed to a virtual—child. Chapter 64

circuit courts of appeal: The district courts are grouped into twelve circuit courts of appeal, plus there is a court of appeals for the federal circuit that handles appeals from the U.S. Claims Court, the U.S. Court of International Trade, and other national-level courts. Chapter 32

citizens’ assembly: A citizens’ assembly is a group of adult citizens chosen at random to discuss specific issues, such as automobile fuel standards, judicial appointments, and immigration reform, etc. The citizens assembly would practice deliberative democracy, which is a nonadversarial, discussion-centric form of decision making that educates the citizens in the assembly and helps them reach decisions. Chapter 55

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission: In 2010, the Court ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that key restrictions on corporate or union spending in elections were unconstitutional. Because of this decision, corporations and unions are free to make advocacy ads during the election period and are free to make unlimited independent expenditures in favor of—or opposed to—specific candidates. As the Center for Responsive Politics puts it, “Citizens United permits corporations and unions to make political expenditures from their treasuries directly and through other organizations, as long as the spending—often in the form of TV ads—is done independently of any candidate. In many cases, the activity takes place without complete or immediate disclosure about who is funding it, preventing voters from understanding who is truly behind many political messages.” As a result of the Citizens United case and another federal case called SpeechNow v. FEC (2010), outside spending has exploded. Chapter 54

civil disobedience: In the mid-nineteenth century, Henry David Thoreau coined the term civil disobedience in his essay called On the Duty of Civil Disobedience. Political philosopher John Rawls defined civil disobedience as “a public, nonviolent, conscientious yet political act contrary to law, usually done with the aim of bringing about a change in the law or policies of the government.” Chapter 59

civil liberties: These are essentially your natural rights of life, liberty, and property translated into specific guarantees by the United States Constitution, especially the Bill of Rights and the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which says that no state may “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” These guarantees were designed to protect individuals from the potentially abusive power of government, although civil libertarians today are growing increasingly concerned about large corporation’s ability to infringe on individual rights as well. The bulk of your civil liberty guarantees are in the Bill of Rights. Chapter 62

civil liberties revolution: Mankind went through a civil liberties revolution between the Medieval period and the nineteenth century. U.S. citizens continue to benefit from that revolution. This means that our entire frame of reference has changed from one that emphasized the primacy of royal and aristocratic privileges to one centered on individual liberties. It was a slow and difficult revolution, but it happened through the struggles of many people. Chapter 62

civil rights: Our modern notion of civil rights—freedom from discriminatory treatment based on some characteristic—is tied in large part to the civil rights clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which says that no state may “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Chapter 62

Civil Rights Act of 1875: To give the civil rights clause practical effect, Congress passed several Civil Rights Acts during Reconstruction (1865-1877), including the Civil Rights Act of 1875. This law stipulated that people must be allowed full and equal access to public accommodations—public facilities as well as private businesses that serve the general public, like theaters, inns, restaurants, etc.—regardless of their race or color. This was the last civil rights bill to pass Congress for eighty-two years. Chapter 68

Civil Rights Act of 1964: Civil rights leaders demanded this act for decades. It was proposed by President John F. Kennedy and pushed through by President Lyndon Johnson after Kennedy’s assassination. This act was a monumental political achievement and was truly bi-partisan legislation, with most congressional Republicans and Democrats supporting it. This Act did the following: 1) Outlawed discrimination in voter registration, but this section had poor enforcement language. 2) Established that “All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, as defined in this section, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin.” 3) Authorized the U.S. Attorney General to sue in cases where people were denied the equal protection of the laws, unequal access to public accommodations, or equal access to public schools and colleges. 4) Banned discrimination in programs that receive federal assistance. 5) Banned employment discrimination directed at “any individual because of his race, color, religion, sex or national origin.” This includes hiring, firing, conditions of employment, and compensation. 6) Created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is empowered to make prosecution recommendations to the U.S. Attorney General regarding employment discrimination. Chapter 68

Civil Rights Act of 1968: This act was primarily designed to address two issues that previous legislation had not. It applied the Bill of Rights protections on Native American reservations and afforded equal access to housing. The two main pieces are the Indian Civil Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act. Chapter 68

Civil Rights Cases (1883): Many court cases resulted directly from passing the 1875 Civil Rights Act, as African Americans continued to be refused service on account of their race at inns, hotels, railroads, and theaters around the country. Four cases reached the Supreme Court in 1883 and were decided together as the Civil Rights Cases (1883). This was an important test of the meaning of civil rights and the Fourteenth Amendment’s mandate that no state may deny any person the equal protection of the laws. In a devastating decision for those who believed in equality, eight of the nine Supreme Court justices ruled in favor of private business owners in these cases and overturned the 1875 Civil Rights Act as unconstitutional. The Court ruled that while states must not discriminate, the owners of private businesses were free to discriminate against potential customers because of race. Justice Bradley, writing for the majority, said that “Civil rights, such as are guaranteed by the Constitution against State aggression, cannot be impaired by the wrongful acts of individuals, unsupported by State authority in the shape of laws, customs, or judicial or executive proceedings.” Chapter 68

civil rights clause: The Fourteenth Amendment’s civil rights clause mandated that all people receive the “equal protection of the laws.” Chapter 68

Civil Rights Movement, American, 1955: The 1955 civil rights movement engaged in coordinated political, legal, and nonviolent direct-action strategies to overcome housing segregation, educational segregation, voter discrimination, segregation of public accommodations, and a variety of other manifestations of racism. In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to move to the “colored section” of a public bus. She was not the first to engage in this kind of protest, but she became the most famous because her action stimulated an African American city-wide boycott of Montgomery, Alabama’s bus system. The boycott’s organizers elected newcomer Martin Luther King, Jr. to coordinate and lead the effort. In another example, the Greensboro Four—Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain, and Joseph McNeil—all of whom were students at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College, sat down at a segregated lunch counter at a Woolworth’s store and refused to leave. Their actions spread to college towns across the South. Chapter 59

civil servants: Below political appointees are the millions of civil servants who perform the work of the federal government. We’re referring to civilians—not uniform military—who are not appointed by the president to their positions. Chapter 38

Civil War: The North and the South became increasingly divided over the slavery issue and the political question of whether additional states would be admitted to the United States as slave or free, which would determine the political balance in Congress. There is no space here to recount America’s slide into the meatgrinder that was the Civil War, but Republican Abraham Lincoln’s presidential election was the final straw for white southerners who benefitted economically, culturally, and psychologically from slavery. Even though Lincoln asserted often that he did not believe in the inherent equality of blacks and whites, he did say things like, “There is no reason in the world why the negro is not entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” South Carolina repealed its ratification of the Constitution on December 20, 1860 and six states met in Montgomery, Alabama, on February 4, 1861 to form the Confederate States of America. Ultimately, eleven states joined the Confederacy, and the war between them and the Union killed at least 670,000 soldiers and civilians—most by disease—freed 3.5 million slaves and crushed federal authority’s most serious challenge in American history. This war was a decisive victory for those who held that while the official name of this country is The United States of America, the states are merely administrative units of the people in whose name government operates. The Constitution begins with “We the People,” not “We the states.” Chapter 16

Civil War Amendments: After the North’s Civil War victory, Congress passed three amendments to the Constitution called the Civil War Amendments: the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery; the Fifteenth Amendment provided that citizens shall not be denied voting rights based on “race, color, or previous condition of servitude”; the Fourteenth Amendment’s civil rights clause mandated that all people receive the “equal protection of the laws.” Chapter 68

clear and present danger doctrine: This doctrine came out of Schenck v. United States (1919), which holds that speech is not protected by the First Amendment if it clearly endangers the lives, health, and property of others, or the national security of the United States. Chapter 64

clear differences: The Democratic and Republican parties show clear differences on the following policies: taxes, civil rights, female bodily autonomy, gun control, the environment, and healthcare. Chapter 43

climate strikes, 2018; Greta Thunberg: Greta Thunberg, 16-year-old Swedish student, started boycotting school on Fridays to call attention to the climate emergency. Her action blossomed into a worldwide #FridaysForFuture movement. Millions of students in 117 countries have participated in multiple iterations of this form of protest. The goal of the movement is to “Sound the alarm and show our politicians that business as usual is no longer an option.” As if to show the students how clueless politicians were, British Prime Minister Theresa May criticized the protesters and said that each demonstration “increases teachers’ workloads and wastes lesson time.”  When she was asked to speak at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in 2019, Thunberg stuck to her values and made the crossing from Sweden to New York by sailboat rather than jet plane. Chapter 59

Clinton, President Bill (1946-): The House of Representatives voted along party lines in 1998 to impeach President Bill Clinton in what is surely the most sensational sexual, political scandal ever to hit the American presidency. Clinton survived impeachment by a comfortable margin, with only fifty of the required sixty-seven senators voting to convict. Very few people outside of the president’s staunchest political allies argued that Clinton’s testimony did not constitute perjury—he clearly gave false statements under oath in a federal case. The debate in the Clinton impeachment revolved around two issues: 1) Did lying under oath in court about an embarrassing extramarital affair constitute a serious enough offense to remove the president? 2) How much damage did the salacious Clinton scandal do to the presidency’s moral authority? In the end, the broad national consensus was that Republican efforts to impeach and remove Clinton amounted to an overly moralistic and politically opportunistic overreaction to a scandal that in no way threatened the Constitutional order. Chapter 30

closed primary: Closed primary means that only people who are registered with a political party can vote in that party’s primary. Chapter 50

commander in chief: The president is commander in chief of U.S. military forces. This means that the president is a civilian in charge of the U.S. military. Generals and admirals must take orders from him. You should know these examples: 1) Without a congressional declaration of war, President Harry Truman ordered American troops into battle on June 30, 1950 to defend South Korea. 2) During the Vietnam War, an undeclared war from 1965 to 1973, both Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon involved themselves heavily in U.S. fighting force’s day-to-day tactics. 3) With congressional authorization—although not a formal declaration of war—President George H. W. Bush launched an invasion on Iraq in response to Iraq invading Kuwait. 4) Following the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush’s administration decided to invade Iraq even though that country had nothing to do with the attacks. Chapter  28

commercial speech: This refers to when corporations speak to potential consumers about products and services. This sort of advertising is not political speech. Chapter 64

Communications Decency Act: In 1996, Congress passed the Communications Decency Act, and President Clinton signed it into law. The law made it a federal crime to knowingly transmit to a minor—or post on a web site where a minor might visit—any obscene, indecent, or patently offensive picture or text. Many groups immediately sued, and the American Civil Liberties Union carried the case. In Reno v. ACLU (1997), the Court unanimously struck down the Communications Decency Act because the law would require that the Internet only carry information suitable for children. Quoting one of its earlier decisions, the Court said, “The level of discourse reaching a mailbox cannot be limited to that which would be suitable for a sandbox.” Chapter 64

commute a sentence: The president can commute a sentence, which typically allows a person to leave federal prison before completing their full sentence, but they maintain the other impacts of their federal conviction. Chapter 27

concept: A word or phrase that stands for something complex or abstract. Chapter 4

concurring opinion: Sometimes, justices agree with each other enough to create a majority vote but may do so for different legal reasons. In this case, a justice may write a concurring opinion explaining his or her unique legal reasoning for voting with the majority. Chapter 31

confederal system: In a confederal system of government, the states are very powerful relative to the weak central government. Chapter 12

conference committee: Conference committees are so important that they are sometimes called the third house of Congress and are composed of both representatives and senators who are chosen by a bill mark-up committee(s) chair and senior-minority party leader. Two bill versions can be melded into one in a conference committee called specifically for that purpose.  Chapter 22

conference meeting: After a case’s oral argument, the Chief Justice presides over the justices in a conference meeting where they reach a preliminary decision on the case. The Chief Justice speaks first, followed by the other justices in the order of their Court seniority. This conference meeting is very private, with only the justices allowed in the room. The justice with the least seniority “acts as ‘doorkeeper,’ sending for reference material, for instance, and receiving it at the door.” Chapter 31

Connecticut or Great Compromise (1787): This compromise called for a bicameral legislature and a different representational scheme for each chamber. For example, in the House of Representatives, each state would have seats proportional to its population. The original formula was one representative for every 30,000 people. The Senate would have two senators from each state, regardless of population. Representatives would be elected by popular vote, while senators would be chosen by state legislatures. The Compromise narrowly passed the convention on July 16, 1787. Chapter 13

conservatism: The terms conservatism, neo-liberalism, classical liberalism, and cultural conservatism all hang together even though those group’s adherents don’t necessarily agree with each other. Chapter 35

constituent service: This is an important congressional role often referred to as casework. Congressional staff spend much time on constituent service, which refers to troubleshooting and problem solving for their constituents. By being able to solve problems for their constituents, congressional members generate positive feelings that challengers cannot. Also, constituent service benefits ripple through many people via word of mouth. This is an advantage for incumbents that most challengers cannot match.  Chapters 21; 55

Constitutional Convention: Because of the turmoil under the Articles of Confederation—Congress called on the states to send delegates to Philadelphia in May 1787. The delegates were to gather there “for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation.” Every state except Rhode Island sent delegates to what we now know as the Constitutional Convention. Chapter 12

Constitution articulates five important core values; Constitution’s preamble: We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. The Constitution’s preamble articulates five important American core values: democratic government, effective governance, justice, liberty, and equality, which was added to the Fourteenth Amendment. Chapter 34

Constitution, particularly difficult to amend: The U.S. Constitution stands apart from other written constitutions in one important regard: Law professor Richard Albert has established that “The United States Constitution is extraordinarily difficult to formally amend, in contrast to most other less-rigid democratic constitutions.” Chapter 18

controlled experiment: This is an experiment that is carefully set up by the scientist to control the variables that might affect the outcome, thereby isolating and evaluating the variable in which she is most interested. Chapter 4

Cooperative Federalism (1930-1960s): Th period of cooperative federalism was marked by two important developments. First, the federal government and the states became partners as they solved problems associated with the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War. Secondly, the Supreme Court finally acceded to government regulating the economy and protecting civil rights and liberties. Chapter 16

corporate demand: This is another element driving the federal government to expand. Businesses benefit from the stability and predictability afforded by government regulating the economy. Chapter 37

Corporate Democrats: Still socially liberal, the Democratic party became controlled by the New Democrats, who can more properly be called the Corporate Democrats because of their connections with and deference to large corporations. Chapter 42

correlative or correlational hypothesis: This hypothesis suggests that two variables vary together. Chapter 4

corruption: The legislative process is occasionally subject to outright corruption and illegal behavior. This sometimes takes the form of bribery, in which special interests provide tangible benefits for congressmen in exchange for congressmen providing favors. Other forms of corruption are more mundane. Chapter 23

Council of Economic Advisors: Established by Congress in the Employment Act of 1946, the Council of Economic Advisors is charged with providing the president helpful domestic and international economic policy analysis and guidance. Chapter 25

counter-cyclical spending: This is an important federal government economic function that helps lessen the negative impacts of economic downturns. When the economy declines, federal welfare and unemployment insurance payments stimulate consumer spending that would otherwise decline, thereby helping people directly and the economy generally. Chapter 36

court of appeals: Sometimes, cases handled in state courts can raise questions that need to be adjudicated in federal courts; these are called courts of appeals. Chapter 32

court packing plan: Court packing allows the president to nominate new justices and expand the total number of justices on the Court. In 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt proposed to expand the number of justices by adding one for every sitting justice who was seventy- and one-half-years-old and who didn’t retire. Potentially, this move could have increased the number of justices to fifteen. Roosevelt was frustrated that the Court was thwarting his New Deal policies, which were targeted at ameliorating the effects of the Great Depression. His court packing plan was not approved by Congress, but the Court nevertheless became more amenable to an activist federal government. Chapters 16; 33

cracking: Cracking is a form of gerrymandering that involves “drawing districts in such a way as to divide a concentration of voter-specific types across several districts such that they are a minority in each one, with practically no hope of achieving representation in any of the districts.” The party doing the gerrymandering seeks to spread the opposing party’s supporters across the remaining districts, hoping to dilute their electoral weight. Chapter 53

Cult of True Womanhood; Cult of Domesticity: These phrases mean that women should be the moral cultivators of their children, should be devoted to their domestic duties, and should be morally pure, religiously pious, and submissive to men. Chapter 69

D

Dahl, Robert A (1915-2014): Dahl is a political theorist who, in his 1961 Who Governs, analyzes how elites from a variety of interests compete for decision-making power. Decision-making power is described as the “first dimension of power.” Chapter 2

Daley, Richard (1902-1976): For a time, urban political machines were key power centers in American politics, particularly for the Democratic Party. The machine built by Democrat Richard Daley helped him rule Chicago from 1955 to 1976. Chapter 41

Daughters of Bilitis (1955): This was the first postwar lesbian organization founded in San Francisco by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. They created a magazine called The Ladder. Active throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Daughters of Bilitis survived until it was broken apart in the 1970s by internal factionalism. Chapter 70

Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA): In 1996, Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined marriage for federal purposes. The Act excludes same-sex marriage and permits states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. At the time, no state allowed same-sex marriages, but it became legal in some places because of court decisions or changes in state law. Challenges to DOMA and California’s Proposition 8 worked their way up to the Supreme Court, and in 2013, the Supreme Court issued rulings on both. Chapter 70

Definitional Period of American Federalism: The U.S went through wrenching—and ultimately deadly—struggles over federal versus state power called the definitional period of American Federalism. This period was marked by several key struggles, all of which resolved in favor of central government power. Chapter 16

definition of politics: Politics is the authoritative and legitimate struggle for limited resources or precious rights and privileges within the context of government, the economy, and society. Chapter 1

de facto discrimination: This means discrimination in everyday life that is unsupported by law or policy. Chapter 68

Deism: This is the belief in a supreme being or creator—Nature’s God—who does not intervene in the universe or interact with humankind, but who disappears into the natural rules that govern all matter. Chapter 11

de jure discrimination: This means discrimination written into laws and official policies at the federal, state, local, and company levels. Chapter 68

delegate: A congressional representative who is bound to vote the way constituents want. Chapter 21

 deliberative democracy: Deliberative democracy is a non-adversarial, discussion-centric form of decision making that educates citizens in an assembly and helps them reach decisions. More technically, political scientists Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson define deliberative democracy as “a form of government in which free and equal citizens and their representatives, justify decisions in a process in which they give one another reasons that are mutually acceptable and generally accessible, with the aim of reaching conclusions that are binding in the present on all citizens but open to challenge in the future.” Chapter 55

demand-side economics: This is not really a term people use like they do supply-side economics. Rather than providing tax incentives for wealthy individuals and corporations, Democrats tend to support tax cuts for middle-class people, policies like increasing the minimum wage and social programs for poor people. Their assumption is that these people are more likely to go out and spend that money, stimulating demand, and prompting wealthy individuals and companies to invest in businesses to meet that demand. Chapter 46

Democratic-Republican Party: Jeffersonians formed the Democratic-Republican party, explicitly aiming to invoke the Revolution’s egalitarian principles, while the Hamiltonians formed the Federalist party to remind people of the Constitution’s triumphal plan. Chapter 42

Democrats: The Democratic-Republicans disagreed amongst themselves in the 1820s and formed two discrete parties: the Democrats, which have continued to the present day, and the National Republicans, which then became the Whig Party that eventually dissolved over slavery in the 1850s. Chapter 42

demographic groups: Some organized interests were created to defend or advance the interests and rights of specific demographic groups. Chapter 45

descriptive representation: This concerns the extent to which a representative resembles those being represented, such as, to what extent do our representatives resemble the population being represented. Chapter 20

dichotomous questions. This question has only two possible answers. Questions that require a yes or no answer are dichotomous, as are questions that ask you to put yourself into one of two categories, like whether you are or are not a citizen. Chapter 7

diplomatic-recognition power: Another foreign policy power is the president’s ability, spelled out in the Constitution, to “receive ambassadors and other public ministers.” This means that the president, acting without Congress’ approval, has diplomatic-recognition power. Chapter 28

directional hypothesis: This hypothesis posits a direction to the relationship in question: a positive relationship, which is the value of one variable increasing along with the value of another variable. For example, when someone says that as religious fundamentalism increases, acts of terrorism increase as well. Or the direction may posit a negative relationship, which involves the value of one variable decreasing as the value of the other variable increases, for example, someone might hypothesize that as personal income increases, willingness to support public transit will decrease. Chapter 4

discretion: When enforcing federal laws and ensuring federal regulations compliance, agencies have a certain amount of discretion in their work. This means that federal agency leaders can make choices about which violators to pursue, what penalties to seek, and on what areas of their responsibilities they want to concentrate their efforts. Discretionary spending falls into two categories, defense spending and nondefense spending. Chapter 38

discretionary spending—Discretionary spending refers to federal spending that changes year to year as Congress passes appropriation bills to fund agencies. Presidents make proposals to Congress for what they’d like to see spent, and each congressional chamber has its own budget committees. Chapter 40

discrimination: In the political arena, discrimination occurs when people who are otherwise quite similar are not receiving the equal protection of the laws or equal access to liberties based on a characteristic such as their gender, race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age, or disability. Chapter 62

dissenting opinion: The Supreme Court operates by majority vote, so decisions can be 9-0, 8-1, 7-2, 6-3, or 5-4. The decision’s legal validity and political acceptability do not depend on the Court’s vote; indeed, they depend on the winning majority’s size. Someone in the winning majority writes a majority opinion, which explains the Court’s decision in terms of its compelling legal precedent. If the Chief Justice is in the majority, he will assign who writes it; if he is not in the majority, the most senior justice voting with the majority will assign the majority opinion. Someone in the minority writes a dissenting opinion, which explains why the minority feels the majority erred in applying precedent or constitutional principle. Majority opinions carry legal weight in the form of precedent, and they also instruct legislators about how acceptable the proposed legislation is. Dissenting opinions do neither of those things, but they do become important if the Supreme Court decides later to reverse itself. Chapter 31

divided government: Divided government occurs when the president and at least one congressional chamber are from different parties. This also refers to when national-level political institutions are controlled by different parties at the same time. For example, the Republicans might control the White House and the Senate, but the Democrats have a majority in the House of Representatives. Or, a Democrat might be president, but the Senate and House are controlled by Republicans. Also, the current conservative Supreme Court majority means that Democratic victories in congressional and presidential elections can be countered by the life appointments of five conservative justices. Divided government can lead to gridlock and makes it very difficult for American political parties to translate their political programs into public policy. Chapter 41

dogmatism: This is a philosophy that says we have already arrived at the truth, so no new claims or evidence need to be entertained. Chapter 6

donate money: A prominent organized-interest strategy is to donate money to political campaigns. Lobbyists form political action committees—known as PACs—which must be registered with the Federal Election Commission. The PACs donate money to political candidates who are likely to support the group’s interests. Chapter 46

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy: In 1994, President Bill Clinton’s administration instituted a Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy in the U.S. military. The policy allowed homosexual men and women to serve in the military if they remained closeted, which was the don’t tell part of the policy. The military would not actively look for gays and lesbians in the ranks, the don’t ask part of the policy, but it would not tolerate them if they were discovered. In 2010, Democrats in the House of Representatives amended the Defense Authorization Act to end Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. Republicans led by Senator John McCain successfully filibustered it in the Senate. Later that year, a standalone bill ending Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell finally passed both chambers and was signed by President Barack Obama. Chapter 70

double jeopardy: This prohibits anyone from being prosecuted twice for substantially the same crime. When the Fifth Amendment says that no person shall “be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb,” we refer to that as the protection against double jeopardy. Chapter 66

Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857): The Supreme Court’s decision in Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) is particularly instructive. Dred Scott, a slave from Missouri, sued his owner for freedom because his owner had taken him to Illinois, a free state, and to the Wisconsin Territory, a free territory. Chief Justice Roger Taney ruled that Scott did not have standing to sue saying, “Can a negro, whose ancestors were imported into this country, and sold as slaves, become a member of the political community formed and brought into existence by the Constitution of the United States, and as such become entitled to all the rights, and privileges, and immunities, guaranteed by that instrument to the citizen?” The Court answered a resounding “No,” which was its way of saying that blacks—slave or free—could not ever expect to become full and equal members of the American political community. Chapter 68

dual federalism (1865-1932): This is commonly called Layer Cake Federalism. Despite the outcome of the Civil War, states continued to assert their prerogatives to govern exclusively in important public policy areas, and they were aided by Supreme Court rulings to that effect. The idea of dual federalism is that there are public policies over which the federal government predominates, such as foreign policy, tariffs, monetary policy, national defense, interstate commerce, and the mail. States took the lead in other areas of governmental responsibility like public safety, education, elections, business licensing, family and morals policy, inheritance and property laws, and commerce within state boundaries, including wages and working conditions. Chapter 16

due process: This is a fundamental, constitutional guarantee that “all legal proceedings will be fair and that one will be given notice of the proceedings and an opportunity to be heard before the government acts to take away one’s life, liberty, or property. . . [and] a constitutional guarantee that a law shall not be unreasonable, arbitrary, or capricious.” Chapter 66

due process clause: In the late nineteenth century, the Court begin incorporating the Bill of Rights protections using the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause instead of the privileges and immunities clause. The due process clause says that states may not “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” Chapter 63

Duverger’s Law: In the U.S. political voting system, the tendency for winner-take-all, single-member district systems to promote two parties is sometimes referred to as Duverger’s Law, after the French political scientist Maurice Duverger. Chapter 44

E

earmark: This is typically a small paragraph of very specific language inserted into a budget appropriation bill directing an agency to fund a project. Chapter 23

ecological fallacy: This refers to making conclusions about a person based on aggregate data that is relevant to that person. Aggregate data is information compiled into summaries for public reporting and cannot be used to make definitive statements about an individual.  Chapter 15.

economic interests: These are groups that coalesce around the financial interests of their members, such as corporations and business interests and labor interests. Chapter 45

Eighth Amendment: This amendment provides that excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Chapter 66

Eisenhower, Dwight (1890-1969): In his famous 1961 farewell address, President Dwight Eisenhower—who spent a lifetime in the military before becoming president—warned against the power of what he called the military-industrial complex. “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” Chapter 29

election fraud: Election fraud occurs when election officials, campaign staff, advocacy groups, or political candidates intentionally corrupt the electoral process. This happens more often than does voter fraud. According to the Justice Department, “Election fraud usually involves the corruption of one of three processes: the obtaining and marking of ballots, the counting and certification of election results, or the registration of voters.” Chapter 52

elections; voting patterns, age and education: Age is a strong and consistent predictor of voter turnout. As age increases, tendency to vote increases. In the 2016 presidential election, 43 percent of eighteen- to twenty-nine-year-olds voted; 57 percent of thirty- to forty-four-year-olds voted; 66 percent of forty-five- to sixty-four-year-olds voted; and 71 percent of people sixty years and older voted. This age ranking holds true in all recent elections. Also, formal education correlates with tendency to vote. In the 2016 presidential election, 31 percent of people without a high school diploma voted, and 85 percent of people with a graduate degree voted. This pattern holds at every increased level of education: high school graduates vote at higher rates than those who didn’t finish high school; people with college degrees vote at higher rates than high school graduates, and so on. Chapter 57

elections; voting patterns, gender gap: The gender gap refers to women’s tendency to vote for Democratic candidates and men’s tendency to vote for Republican candidates. Chapter 57

elections; voting patterns, party affiliation: Race and Ethnicity clearly impacts the tendency to vote Republican or Democratic: In general, whites tend to vote Republican, and ethnic minorities vote Democratic. In the 2016 election, according to CNN exit polls, Republican Donald Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton among whites by 20 percentage points—57 percent to 37 percent. Clinton beat Trump among African Americans by 81 percentage points—89 percent to 8 percent. Clinton beat Trump by 66 percent to 28 percent among Hispanics and by 65 percent to 27 percent among Asian Americans. Exit poll results show African American and Hispanics identifying with the Democratic party as well: African Americans by an 84 percent to 8 percent margin, followed by Hispanics with 63 percent to 28 percent. Whites are about 8 percent more likely to identify as Republican. Chapter 57

elections; voting patterns, race and ethnicity: A useful generalization about the people who do tend to turnout in American elections is that demographic variables correlate with each other. Race and ethnicity are relevant. In the 2016 presidential election, 65 percent of whites voted, 60 percent of blacks voted, and 45 percent of Hispanics voted. That ranking generally holds true over time, although in 2008 the black turnout rate did eclipse that of whites only. The Hispanic voting turnout rate has been increasing over time. In 1996 Hispanic turnout was only 38 percent. Chapter 57

elections; voting patterns, religion: Religious denomination and overall religiosity are important demographic factors in party identification and voting. Evangelical Christians—those belonging to more fundamentalist, white Protestant denominations—voted 80 percent to 16 percent for Trump over Clinton in 2016. Mormons voted 56 percent to 28 percent for Trump, with most other voters choosing an independent candidate named Evan McMullin. Overall, Mormons are much more likely to identify as Republicans. Catholics were more evenly split in 2016, with a slight tilt toward Trump. Jews voted 71 percent to 23 percent for Clinton and are more likely to identify as Democrats. Religiosity—the extent to which a person is devote and practices their religion by going to religious services—also plays a role in voting. Fifty-five percent of people who said they attend religious services weekly or more voted for Trump, while 62 percent of people who said they never attend religious services voted for Clinton. People who say they are religiously unaffiliated are significantly more likely to identify Democratic. Chapter 57

elections; voting patterns, turnout: American voting turnout is not particularly high. It bounces around depending on whether it is a presidential election year or a midterm election, meaning one in which presidential candidates are not on the ballot, but that does include the electors pledged to presidential candidates. From 1980 to 2016, voting turnout in presidential election years averaged just shy of 57 percent, meaning that for every 100 people who were of voting age, only 57 did so. From 1982 to 2018, voting turnout in midterm elections averaged just under 41 percent. (2) By international standards, voter turnout in the United States is lower than most countries to which we’d like to be compared. Chapter 57

elections; voting patterns, urban/rural: The United States has a pronounced urban/rural voting divide. The generalization to be made here is that urban areas tend to vote Democratic, rural areas tend to vote Republican, and suburban areas are more likely to be battlegrounds that could go either way. This held true in 2016. According to exit polls, voters in urban areas supported Democrat Hillary Clinton by 60 percent to 34 percent, while voters in rural areas supported Republican Donald Trump by 61 percent to 34 percent—almost a mirror image. The suburbs went for Trump by 4 percentage points. Party identity also mirrors this urban/rural divide. Chapter 57

Electoral College: The Electoral College is probably the least understood aspect of American government. As originally conceived at the Constitutional Convention, the electoral college was to be an esteemed body of men chosen according to state law who would cast votes for the president and vice president. It appears to have been a solution to two concerns—the concern that the general population would be ill suited to cast votes for president, and the concern over sectionalism. Chapter 51

elite theory: This is the theoretical perspective posed in this text, which is that a relatively small and wealthy class of individuals largely gets its way. According to this theory, the power elite either are the decision-makers, or they so influence the decision-makers that the elites get their way most of the time. Elite theory highlights the power of organized business and military interests combined with the affluent strata of society and points to many government policies that lavish benefits onto them. Business interests create interlocking and overlapping connections that reinforce their position and allow them to control the political system. Elite theorists hold that the many-interests-on-a-level-playing-field vision of the pluralists and the interest-group-chaos scenario of the hyper-pluralists fail to accurately show what is really going on: that a relatively small and wealthy class of individuals—the power elite—largely gets its way regardless of the surface appearance of political conflict. Chapters 3; 45

Ellsberg, Daniel (1931-): During the Vietnam War, Daniel Ellsberg stole a copy of a secret history of America’s involvement in that conflict. As an employee of the Rand Corporation, Ellsberg had participated in producing this secret report for the Secretary of Defense. Ellsberg gave it to Neil Sheehan, a reporter for the New York Times, which began to print the report in installments, collectively called The Pentagon Papers. It was explosive, because it revealed the extent of the morass in Vietnam, important decisions along the way, and the considerable degree to which the American people were deceived by the government. Chapter 64

empirical: Empirical, adjective, and empiricism, noun, mean that scientists base their conclusions on careful observation and experience rather than on intuition, revelation, prejudice, superstition, or anecdote. Chapter 4

enabling legislation: These are additional laws that give agencies the authority to issue regulations to solve defined problems. Executive agencies are not free agents that act on their own initiative. They are creations of Congress, and no executive agency can act unsupported by statutory authority. This means that Congress must first pass a law to create the executive agency and then pass additional laws called enabling legislation. Chapter 38

enforcing: The second important task of federal agencies is to enforce congressional statutes as well as their own rules and regulations. Chapter 38

Engel v. Vitale (1962): In this case, the Court struck down a New York law that required students to recite daily the following prayer: “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country.” Despite that the prayer was nondenominational and that students with permission from parents could opt out of reciting the prayer, the Court ruled that the practice constituted an establishment of religion. Chapter 65

English Bill of Rights (1689): This is a document forced upon England’s William and Mary as they were invited to replace James II after the Glorious Revolution. It first addressed the right of subjects to petition the King and stated that “Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law.” Seven specific protections in the U.S. Bill of Rights trace their heritage to English precedents. Chapter 14

English Petition of Right (1628): This was a petition against England’s Charles I in which Parliament prohibited quartering soldiers in civilian households against the civilian’s will. Chapter 14

entitlement spending: Mandatory spending refers to programmatic spending that is essentially automatic. Congress sets eligibility requirements and benefit formulas. If you meet the eligibility requirements, you are entitled to receive the benefit according to the formula. That’s why this category is also referred to as entitlement spending. Mandatory spending is the largest overall category of government spending, which includes Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other. Chapter 40

enumerated powers: Article I, section 8 of the Constitution is called the enumerated powers of Congress because they are formally listed in the Constitution. These include the power to tax, borrow money, raise armies and navies, establish lower federal courts, regulate the money supply, regulate interstate and foreign commerce, and declare war. Chapter 13

Epicureanism: This teaches that, man can attain the greatest good and a tranquil state, free from fear and pain, through reasoned and virtuous action. It is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BC and based on the teachings of Greek philosopher Epicurus (341-270 BC). Chapter 11

epistemic crisis: Epistemology is a branch of philosophy dedicated to understanding how we know things and what it means for something to be true or false, accurate or inaccurate. An epistemic crisis is when a society cannot agree upon who we trust or how we come to know things or what we believe we know or what we believe exists is true, has happened, and is happening. Chapter 61

Equality Act (2019): Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act, which “prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit, and the jury system.” Most Republican Representatives voted against the Equality Act on the grounds that it would not allow religious organizations and religiously minded proprietors to refuse to hire or serve those whose lifestyles they find objectionable. They are also very concerned about transsexual men and women using the restroom that matches their identity rather than the one matching their birth certificate. The bill has forty-six sponsors in the Senate, but the Republican leadership has not brought it up for a vote as of this writing. Chapter 70

Equal Rights Amendment: Alice Paul of the National Women’s Party first proposed an Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution in 1923. It read as follows: “Men and Women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction.” The proposal languished for decades in the U.S. Congress, despite being reintroduced repeatedly. A later version did pass Congress. It read “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” The Equal Rights Amendment was submitted to the states, but it came three states short of the three-quarters needed to ratify, and the deadline ran out in 1982. Chapter 69

establishment clause; free exercise clause: The First Amendment’s treatment of religion occurs in a phrase called the establishment clause because it restricts Congress’ ability to legislate regarding “an establishment of religion.” The second phrase, “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” is referred to as the free exercise clause. Taken together, the founders did not want America to become a country like England and its Church of England, with an established official religion. Interestingly, the only time religion is mentioned in the Constitution, is when it says, “No religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” This forbids the government from requiring that elected or appointed leaders be from a religion or even that they believe in God at all. Chapter 65

Ethos: This is a rhetorical appeal that centers around the author’s credibility or trustworthiness. Such credibility—or lack thereof—can be vested inside the words the author uses; this is called intrinsic ethos and refers to the author’s character and integrity. Chapter 9

euphemism: This is when a person substitutes an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant. During war, the military uses the euphemism “collateral damage,” which sounds like a tank accidentally bumped a farmer’s shed. In fact, collateral damage typically means that a military strike killed and maimed innocent men, women, and children. Political language on all sides of the ideological spectrum is full of euphemisms. Chapter 61

Evers, Medgar (1925-1963): In 1963, a white supremacist Klansman assassinated Medgar Evers, the Mississippi Field Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Evers was ambushed and shot in the back as he walked from his car to his house. He died in front of his two small children. The assassin, Byron De la Beckwith, was twice acquitted by all white juries—the fact that African Americans were routinely excluded from juries is a great example of structural violence—and congratulated by the state governor. The case was finally reopened thirty years later, and De la Beckwith was convicted of murder in 1994. Chapter 60

everyday sexism: Feminist writer Laura Bates describes Everyday-Sexism as very political in that it serves to make the public sphere—public streets, mass transit, workplaces, colleges and universities—hostile places for women. Feminists today note that women are still subject to everyday-sexism: verbal harassment and physical violence at the hands of men; women are portrayed in the media as men’s playthings; women are subject to moral double-standards not inflicted upon men; male politicians seem to be on a crusade to control women’s bodies; and women’s aspirations are often not supported by educators. Chapter 69

exclusionary rule: This rule provides that any evidence state and local police gather in violation of the Fourth Amendment must be excluded from the defendant’s trial. Chapter 63

Executive Branch: This is the Presidency branch of the U.S. government, which has the power to enforce law. Chapter 13

Executive Branch appointments: Senate must approve each appointment with a simple majority vote: Presidential appointments such as cabinet-level secretaries, other executive agencies’ high officials, and ambassadors are all subject to the “advice and consent of the Senate.” Chapter 27

Executive Office of the President: This office was created by Congress during the Franklin Roosevelt administration when the demands of modern government made it clear that the presidency needed a more extensive organization. The Executive Office of the President employs several thousand people. It comprises staff and agencies that directly support the president. Chapter 25

Executive Order #9066: Issued, February 1942—President Franklin Roosevelt authorized the Secretary of War to remove against their will over 100,000 Japanese Americans living in California, Oregon, and Washington. These people, most of whom were U.S. citizens, were placed in prison camps for the war’s duration because they constituted a security risk, even though no evidence was ever presented to that effect. Chapter 27

Executive Order #9981: Issued July 1948—President Harry Truman directed “that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin.” This order effectively desegregated the U.S. military and officially ended a long-standing practice of assigning fewer desirable duties to racial minorities. Chapter 27

Executive Order #13228: Issued October 8, 2001—President George W. Bush created the Office of Homeland Security to “identify priorities and coordinate efforts for collection and analysis of information within the United States regarding threats of terrorism against the United States and activities of terrorists or terrorist groups within the United States.” Chapter 27

Executive Order #13769: Issued January 2017—President Donald Trump issued an executive order called Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States. For 120 days it barred entry to any refugee waiting to resettle in the United States; it prohibited all Syrian refugees from entering the U.S; and it banned “the citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries—Iraq, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, and Yemen—from entering the U.S. on any visa category.” Chapter 27

executive orders: A president issues executive orders to executive branch members. By issuing an executive order, the president can direct executive branch members to do many things, so long as those actions lie within the law and do not entail appropriating new federal money. Congress can overturn an executive order if there are enough votes to do so. Chapter 27

executive privilege: Executive privilege is never explicitly mentioned in the constitution, but presidents have long held that they are entitled to withhold from Congress certain executive branch documents and deliberation’s transcripts within executive agencies. They also say that the separation of powers built into the Constitution gives presidents a certain amount of discretion when responding to the legislative and judicial branches’ orders for requests and information and that executive privilege allows them to defy congressional subpoenas to testify before oversight committees. Chapters 21; 29

executive privilege cannot do the following: Executive privilege cannot protect the president when he is acting in his personal capacity. Shield information related to presidential decisions once they have been made. Hide communications related to committing a crime. Block information Congress requires in an impeachment proceeding. Protect communications that the president or his office never received. Provide absolute immunity to congressional subpoenas. Chapter 29

ex post facto: This means “after the fact.” So, an ex post facto law is one that declares an action illegal after it has already happened and subjects the person or group who did it to arrest and trial. It would also refer to a law that increased the penalty for a crime if the legislature tried to apply the stiffer penalty to those who committed the crime before the law was passed. Chapter 62

extradition (Article IV, section 2): “A person charged in any State with Treason, Felony or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the Crime.” Chapter 15

Eyde, Edythe (1921-2015): In 1947 under the pseudonym Lisa Ben, which is an anagram of “lesbian,” Edythe Eyde wrote Vice Versa: America’s Gayest Magazine, America’s first regular homosexual publication. Chapter 70

F

Fair Housing Act: This part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 outlawed housing discrimination. The Act made it unlawful to “refuse to sell or rent after the making of a bona fide offer, or to refuse to negotiate for the sale or rental of, or otherwise make unavailable or deny, a dwelling to any person because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin.” Further, it made it unlawful to “discriminate against any person in the terms, conditions, or privileges of sale or rental of a dwelling, or in the provision of services or facilities in connection therewith, because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin.” The law also made it unlawful “to represent to any person because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin that any dwelling is not available for inspection, sale, or rental when such dwelling is in fact so available.” Chapter 68

fairness doctrine: From 1949 to 1987, public airwaves communication, such as radio and television, was governed by The Federal Communications Commission, which required licensees to serve the public interest in two ways: 1) devote a “reasonable percentage of their broadcasting time to the discussion of public issues of interest to the community served by their stations,” and 2) design programs “so that the public has a reasonable opportunity to hear different opposing positions on the public issues of interest and importance in the community.” Chapter 47

fake news: Fake news, a real phenomenon carefully crafted, is unsubstantiated false stories intended to trigger fears or stimulate anger in a target audience, which has infected our political information stream. Fake news allows politicians to label as “fake news” any legitimate story that they don’t like. Fake news stories flourish on the internet where they sow confusion and animosity, and they undercut the news media and government’s legitimacy. Chapter 48

fallacy: This is an argument that is faulty, logically invalid, or deceptive. Chapter 5

false balance: The culture of newspaper objectivity has led to false balance on some issues. False balance has been defined as “when journalists present opposing view-points as being more equal than the evidence allows. When the evidence for a position is virtually incontrovertible, it is profoundly mistaken to treat a conflicting view as equal and opposite by default.” Chapter 47

falsifiability: This is also known as testability and refers to the fact that scientific-knowledge claims are subject to being proven wrong. Chapter 4

Federal Constitution features: The constitution does not begin with a declaration of rights. Instead, the first ten amendments—and subsequent amendments over the years—are grafted onto the end of the Constitution to modify or add to the original text. Chapter 14

federal courts: Most Supreme Court cases come up through the federal district courts and then through one of the twelve federal circuit courts of appeals. Chapter 32

federal district courts: The federal court system’s lowest rung is composed of the ninety-four federal district courts. Chapter 32

Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA): Hard money contributions are regulated by the Federal Election Campaign Act, which Congress passed in 1971 and was significantly amended in 1974. Hard money refers to contributions made directly to a political campaign. FECA limited the amount of money that candidates could give to their own campaigns. The Supreme Court struck down this provision in the case of Buckley v. Valeo (1976). The Court said the limitation of self-contributions was a violation of the candidate’s freedom of speech. Chapter 54

Federal Election Commission (FEC): Enforcing federal election laws is weak. America’s weak election laws are enforced by a weak agency. The Federal Election Commission, charged with regulating America’s election and campaign finance laws, has long been referred to as “The little agency that can’t.” Structurally, the nature of the FEC produces deadlock because the Democrats and Republicans each have the same number of commissioners. The FEC is under-funded, under-staffed, making it difficult to police elections, and it has a perpetual backlog of cases so that candidates and organized interests have little fear of being prosecuted for alleged violations. Sometimes, the FEC is given a near impossible task. Take the case of coordination: outside groups are forbidden from coordinating their expenditures with political campaigns. It’s extremely difficult to prove, especially for a hobbled agency like the FEC. In many instances, campaign finance-law violators are let off with a slap on the wrist or with a plea bargain arrangement because the FEC does not have the resources to pursue the matter. And, the commission is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, which often results in paralysis. Chapter 54

Federalist Party: In the beginnings of the U.S. party systems, Hamiltonians formed the Federalist party to remind people of the Constitution’s triumphal plan. Jeffersonians formed the Democratic-Republican party, explicitly aiming to invoke the Revolution’s egalitarian principles. Chapter 42

Federalist Papers: Alexander Hamilton recruited James Madison and John Jay to help him write a series of eighty-five essays from 1787 into 1788 in favor of the Constitution. These essays were published serially in newspapers under the pseudonym Publius. Chapter 14

Federalists: Those who supported the Constitution. Chapter 14

Federalist Society:  Founded in 1982, the Federalist Society supports cultivating conservative law students and jurists. It has been funded with millions of dollars by a who’s who of deep-pocketed conservatives, and it has been key to Republicans creating a far more unified strategy with their approach to the federal judiciary. Chapter 33

Federal Register: This is a publicly available online and printed source that documents federal government behavior. Chapter 38

federal regulations: According to the Federal Register, the federal regulations code totaled 9,745 pages in 1950 and had grown to 185,484 pages by 2018. Chapter 37

federal system: This is where there is more of a power balance between the central government and the states, although in practice, the balance is often tilted in favor of the center. Chapter 12

feminism, first wave: The first wave of feminism occurred in the nineteenth century and early part of the twentieth century. It focused on attaining women’s right to vote and other changes in the law. Chapter 69

feminism, intersectionality: Feminists share many civil rights leaders and scholars’ emphasis of intersectionality, a term that legal scholar and civil rights activist Kimberlé Crenshaw coined in 1989. Intersectionality refers to “the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination—such as racism, sexism, and classism—combine, overlap, or intersect, especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups.” Chapter 69

feminism, second wave: From the early 1960s to the early 1980s, activists worked to change the law, but also saw that de facto social discrimination was equally responsible for the oppression of women.  Chapter 69

feminism, third wave: This wave began in the 1980s and appears to be a much more fragmented phenomenon. Third-wave feminists seem to have in common a willingness to see and make connections between feminists and members of other oppressed groups. Chapter 69

Fifteenth Amendment (1870): In 1870, the Republican-dominated Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment, which simply established a prohibition on the states without firmly establishing a right to vote. The Fifteenth Amendment says that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude…” There was some consideration of extending the right to vote to women, but most congressmen dismissed it out of hand. Feminists were outraged when the Fifteenth Amendment left women out. Chapters 49; 69

Fifth Amendment (1791): The Fifth Amendment has many protections for criminal defendants, stating that “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” Chapter 66

fifty-one votes: Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution says that the president appoints Supreme Court justices with the Senate’s advice and consent. The same procedure applies to seating all federal judges. The president’s nominee needs at least fifty-one votes in the Senate to take his seat on the bench. Chapter 66

fighting words: The Court defined the idea of fighting words in Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942) as words that “by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of peace.” Chapter 64

filibuster: A filibuster is an effort to prevent action in a legislature, such as the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives, by making a long speech or series of speeches. A filibuster prevents a bill from passing by dragging out the debate—if the debate does not end, there can be no vote, and without a vote, the bill cannot pass. If the Senate does not pass a unanimous consent agreement to limit a debate, some senators might filibuster a bill to kill it or to gain concessions. A cloture motion puts time constraints on a filibuster, but it only takes forty-one senators to defeat a cloture and prevent a bill from being voted on. Chapter 22

financial advantage: Incumbents, those currently holding office, often have a significant financial advantage over their challengers. Political Action Committees and wealthy individuals have numerous incentives to donate to incumbents. This has enormous implications for how a challenger might mount a campaign, since campaign commercials are expensive to produce, air time is expensive to purchase, effective websites that provide continually updated information and allow people to donate are expensive to set up and maintain, electoral consultants are expensive to hire, and so on. Chapter 55

financially uncompetitive races: A financially uncompetitive race is when more than half of House races feature one candidate spending at least $10 for every $1 spent by the challenger. “A challenger who spent less than a million dollars technically had zero chance of winning.” Chapter 55

final court of appeal: As an arbiter, the Supreme Court serves serve as the final court of appeal for lower courts—there is no appeal if someone loses in the Supreme court. Chapter 31

first dimension of power: Early twentieth century political and social theorists analyzed political decision-making power, which they described as the first dimension of power. Chapter 2

formula grants: These are a type of categorical grant and are pots of money that get distributed to state and local governments based on some preestablished formula, which might entail giving money based on population, per capita income, chance of being hit by terrorists, or some other reasonable criteria. Chapter 15

foundational sins: America has a history of committing foundational sins such as genocide—the near extermination of all native American peoples, and slavery—250 years of institutionalized slavery inflicted upon people abducted from Africa and their decedents. Chapter 10

Fourth Amendment (1791): The Fourth Amendment provides  that “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Chapter 66

frames: The news is portrayed through frames that embed events in a linguistic or situational context. An episodic frame emphasizes individual events or cases, one after another. This frame predominates in television and newspaper news coverage. Episodic news often focuses on the story’s sensational details at the expense of asking, “Of what is this an example?” or “How is this related to that?” or “What is the broader context for this event?” A thematic frame reverses the emphasis by looking at the broader context of an issue and relationships between the day’s or week’s happenings. Chapter 48

franking privilege: Since the beginning of the republic, congressional members have enjoyed the franking privilege, which means that they can send mail for free to their constituents. Chapter 55

free exercise clause; establishment clause: The First Amendment’s treatment of religion occurs in a phrase called the establishment clause because it restricts Congress’ ability to legislate regarding “an establishment of religion.” The second phrase, “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” is referred to as the free exercise clause. Chapter 65

free market: Any free market economy that is more sophisticated than familial or tribal barter is the result of government action. The value of money must be regulated for a free market to work. This power was given to Congress in Article I of the Constitution, and government was empowered to punish counterfeiting because that practice undermines people’s faith in the money supply. Free markets also need a legal infrastructure such as laws, courts, and police powers. Chapter 36

Friedan, Betty (1921-2006), The Feminine Mystique (1963): Many people argue that the second wave of feminism was launched by the 1963 publication of Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, in which she argues that women—especially educated women—are unfulfilled by the social requirement of subsuming their identities under their domestic duties’ demands as wives and mothers. Chapter 69

Full Faith and Credit Clause (Article IV, section 10): This clause states that “Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.” Chapter 15

Furman v. Georgia (1972: Due to the arbitrary and racially biased way that capital punishment was meted out across the United States, in Furman v. Georgia (1972), the Supreme Court essentially invoked a moratorium on applying capital punishment. Two of the justices—Thurgood Marshall and William Brennan—opined that the death penalty violated the Constitution’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments, regardless of procedural issues. Chapter 66

G

Galtung, Johan (1930-), three forms of political violence: A Swedish sociologist named Johan Galtung made important contributions to understanding political violence. His three forms of violence characterize any political system’s treatment of violence. Galtung calls these forms direct violence, structural violence, and cultural violence. Galtung referred to direct violence as a discrete event, structural violence as a process, and cultural violence as a permanence that legitimizes and renders acceptable the other two. Chapter 60

Gandhi, Mohandas (1869-1948): In 1893 while serving as a lawyer in South Africa, Mohandas Gandhi took up the cause of discrimination against Indians. Gandhi refused to move from a first-class railroad car when a white passenger objected. He was thrown off the train at the next stop. After the end of World War I, Gandhi emerged as a leader of India’s independence movement against colonial British rule. At the Massacre of Amritsar in 1919, colonial forces opened fire on unarmed demonstrators and killed 400 of them. Gandhi organized marches, boycotts, walkouts and tax protests. Gandhi’s most famous act of defiance was the Salt March of 1930. The British had imposed laws against Indians collecting or selling salt and had imposed a tax that fell heavily on poor Indians. Gandhi walked for twenty-four days over 240 miles from his home to the coast where he broke the law by gathering salt from evaporated seawater. Gandhi was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year in 1930. India and Pakistan gained independence in 1947. Gandhi was assassinated in 1948 by Hindu nationalist Nathuram Godse, who did not like Gandhi’s tolerance of Muslims. Chapter 59

Garland, Merrick (1952-): In February of 2016, sitting Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia died unexpectedly. President Barack Obama nominated centrist Merrick Garland to fill that Court seat. Garland had served for twenty years as chief judge of the D.C. Circuit Court and had never had one of his decisions overturned by the Supreme Court. Flouting Constitutional norms, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his fellow Republican senators said they would not meet with Garland, hold confirmation hearings, or hold a vote. The Republicans argued that they did not have to hold hearings or a vote on a president’s nominee and that the voters should speak in the 2016 presidential election before the seat was filled. So, the Republicans kept the seat vacant for over a year. When President Trump won the election, McConnell and his colleagues promptly approved Trump’s nominee, a conservative originalist named Neal Gorsuch, to fill the empty seat. Chapter 33

Gerber, Henry (1892-1972): In 1924, Gerber formed the Society for Human Rights in Chicago, which was the first gay rights group in America. The society set out to publish a journal and make connections with European gay rights groups, but its leaders were quickly arrested and prosecuted by Chicago police. The cost of defending himself at three separate trials bankrupted Henry Gerber, even though the charges were ultimately dismissed. He lost his job at the Postal Service, and the society didn’t survive Gerber’s prosecution. Chapter 70

gerrymander: In 1812, state legislative supporters of Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry created a salamander-like electoral district that slithered its way from Marblehead through Danvers and Lynnfield and up to Salisbury, Massachusetts. The district was lampooned in local papers as a gerrymander, and the name has stuck ever since, referring to any manipulation of election districts to serve the interests of one party or group over others. Gerrymandering has become a real problem in the House of Representatives in the last few decades, as political parties have been able to combine massive demographic databases with geographic information systems software. These tools have allowed unprecedented levels of slicing and dicing of the electorate to suit political interests. Chapter 53

Gettysburg Address, 1863: During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address to dedicate a cemetery on the site of a great battle between the North and South in Pennsylvania. In light of this text’s conversation about federalism, Lincoln’s famous passage is best articulated in a way that emphasizes that government is for people and not states: “that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Chapter 16

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824): This case centered on interpreting Congress’ power to “regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes,” which is also known as the commerce clause. Chapter 16

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) This case deals with the Sixth Amendment’s provision that criminal defendants have a right to counsel for their defense. In this case, the Supreme Court also incorporated the Sixth Amendment into the Fourteenth Amendment and required that states provide counsel to indigent defendants. This is an important procedural guarantee, but one that often falls short in practice. Gideon essentially put an unfunded mandate on the states to provide and pay for lawyers for the 80 percent of defendants who can’t afford to pay for their own counsel. Chapters 63; 66

Glorious Revolution (1688-1689): England’s king, James II was forced from power in the Glorious Revolution when Anglicans feared that his son’s birth would establish a Catholic dynasty in England. Instead, they asked his Protestant daughter, Mary, and her husband, William of Orange, to rule. Chapter 28

going-public: Organized interests often use the going-public strategy to further their interests. This is a catch-all category of activities in which the group generates or demonstrates public support for its cause. An example is mobilizing the grassroots, which is getting ordinary people or members of the group to write letters. Chapter 46

government employees: Between 7 and 8 million people directly owe their livelihoods to a federal government paycheck, out of a population of over 330 million people. Chapter 37

government interests: This term means that state, city, and local government interests have coalesced into organized groups. Most states and major cities have paid lobbyists in Washington. Chapter 45

grand juries: The Fifth Amendment provides for grand juries, which are panels of citizens who hear evidence and decide if there is sufficient evidence to proceed with a prosecution. Chapter 66

Great Compression: This is the period from 1937 to the early 1970s is when middle- and lower-income people gained more from economic growth than did the rich. Chapter 10

Green, Victor H (1892-1960): In 1937, Victor H. Green, a New York City postman, created the first Green Book, a reference guide to tell African Americans where they could safely go in the New York Metropolitan area. He updated and expanded the Green Books every year, encompassing more and more of the country. The first edition was fifteen pages long, and the final edition in 1967 was ninety-nine pages long. The book even listed private residences who would welcome black travelers to stay in areas where there were no welcoming hotels. Chapter 68

Gregg v. Georgia (1977): States that practiced capital punishment rewrote their statutes, and in Gregg v. Georgia (1977), the Court upheld capital punishment again, although justices Marshall and Brennan again argued that it was inherently cruel and unusual punishment that cannot be tolerated under the Eighth Amendment. Chapter 66

gridlock: Perhaps the legislative processes’ biggest pathology—gridlock—is the ability to stop something that the American people desire. There are a thousand and one ways for this to happen in Congress. Chapter 24

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965): In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that married couples had a right to privacy with respect to reproductive issues, thereby striking down a Connecticut law that forbade anyone from selling contraceptive devices or instructing anyone on their use. This right-to-privacy finding was then used in Roe v. Wade (1973), which granted a fundamental right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy in the first trimester. Chapter 69

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): This is the total value of goods and services produced in the United States in one year. Since the 1970s, federal government spending has hovered between 20-24 percent of GDP. Chapter 37

growth in the American government: The reasons for growth in the American government are war, corporate demands, popular demands, and social density and complexity. These operate on governments all over the world, so the U.S. federal government is not unusual in this respect. These factors operate on liberal democracies and authoritarian regimes alike. Chapter 37

guide to spotting the three dimensions of power: 1) First Dimension of Power—Look for situations where people who have authority to directly impact the course of an issue have a say in making key decisions. 2) Second Dimension of Power—Look for biases in the rules of the game and in procedures that favor one side over another. Look for people or groups whose stories are told by others. 3) Third Dimension of Power—Look for people who have had the wool pulled over their eyes, who are apparently acting against their own interests, or who take on the viewpoint of others. Look for people who possess resources and access to media or educational tools with which to manipulate attitudes and opinions. Chapter 2.

H

habeus corpus: Habeus corpus literally means “you have the body,” and refers to a court ordering state or federal authorities to bring a detained person to the court and show cause for their detention or incarceration. Chapter 62

Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918): Congress passed the Keating-Owen Act in 1916, regulating commerce involving goods produced by children. It banned interstate sale of goods made by children under the age of fourteen and by children under sixteen if they were working more than sixty hours a week. But, in Hammer v. Dagenhart, the Supreme Court struck down Keating-Owen as unconstitutional, which rendered the federal government powerless to ban or regulate child labor. Writing for the Court, Justice William Day said that manufacturing itself was not interstate commerce. Since the children were only involved in manufacturing—in this case, cotton—but not involved in transporting the goods once they were manufactured, the federal government had no power to legislate. The Tenth Amendment, said Day, reserved states’ powers, and that among these was the power to regulate manufacturing, even if the goods were intended to be shipped across state. Chapter 16

hard money: Hard money contributions are regulated by the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), which Congress passed in 1971 and was significantly amended in 1974. Hard money refers to contributions made directly to a political campaign. Chapter 54

Harlan, Justice John Marshall (1833-1911): This justice was the lone dissenter in the Civil Rights Cases who argued that the states were complicit in the so-called private discrimination of businessmen. He wrote, the “keeper of an inn is in the exercise of a quasi-public employment. The law gives him special privileges and he is charged with certain duties and responsibilities to the public. The public nature of his employment forbids him from discriminating against any person asking admission as a guest on account of the race or color of that person.” Harlan was alone among the justices in being many decades ahead of his time. The decision in the Civil Rights Cases sent a huge message to businessmen that the United States Constitution would not stand in the way if they wanted to refuse service to blacks. Many did just that—and this behavior was not limited to the South, nor was it only targeted at African Americans. Chapter 68

Hatch Act of 1939: In 1939, Congress passed “An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities,” otherwise known as the Hatch Act of 1939—named for Senator Carl Hatch of New Mexico. The Hatch Act provides that no person may “intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or to attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce, any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as he may choose, or of causing such other person to vote for, or not to vote for, any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, or Member of the Houses of Representatives.” Federal employees are forbidden from using their “official authority for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the election or the nomination of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, or Member of the House of Representatives.” Chapter 38

hate speech: Many people argue that the First Amendment shouldn’t protect hate speech. The American Library Association says that hate speech doesn’t have a formal legal definition, but that it refers to “any form of expression through which speakers intend to vilify, humiliate, or incite hatred against a group or a class of persons.” Hate speech is disgusting because no one wants to hear people say things that are racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, and otherwise bigoted, but such utterances in a public forum are protected by the First Amendment if they are intended to make a political point. Chapter 64

Hay, Harry (1912-2002): In 1951, Hay led a group to establish the Mattachine Society, which was dedicated to changing the public’s mind about homosexuals’ “deviancy.” Founded in Los Angeles, the group took its name from Mattacino, an Italian theatrical jester character who spoke the truth to the king from behind a mask. Chapter 70

hearings: When writing legislation, standing committees go through three stages, one of which is a hearing. The committee or subcommittee chairman invites interested individuals to testify at the hearing. People who commonly testify are executive department heads, technical experts and scholars, and interest-group representatives. Chapter 22

hierarchy: This means a “chain of subordination” and is very important to conservatives. As Edmund Burke wrote when criticizing the French Revolution, hierarchy is very important to conservatives. They believe that some people are fit to rule others in the political sphere as well as private spheres of families, farms, factories, and offices. Political scientist Corey Robin states that “Conservatism is the theoretical voice of . . . animus against the agency of the subordinate classes. It provides the most consistent and profound argument as to why the lower orders should not be allowed to exercise their independent will, why they should not be allowed to govern themselves or the polity. Submission is their first duty, and agency the prerogative of the elite.” Chapter 35

Hill committees: These refer to the congressional committees on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. In the House of Representatives, there are the Republican and Democratic Congressional Committees, composed of each party’s various Representatives. In the Senate, there are the Republican and Democratic senatorial committees, composed of each party’s U.S. Senators. While Hill committees have been in existence for many years, the increase in congressional partisanship has elevated their importance. Chapter 41

Hobbes, Thomas (1588-1679): He is a social contract theorist. Hobbes along with John Locke imagined how people might live in a state of nature that would allow mankind absolute freedom, where there is no authority to limit individual behavior. But they believed that his state of nature would essentially lead to anarchy in which there was no government. Hobbes argued in Leviathan that the state of nature would result in a war of all against all, and that people’s lives would be “solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short.” Their solution was that people could avoid this fate by using their reason to construct a civil society. Chapter 11

homophily: This is the tendency for individuals to associate with similar others, and it is one of the most persistent findings in social network analysis. For example, adolescents who share certain prior attributes in common tend to associate with each other and tend to influence each other as the result of continued association. Chapter 56

Hoover, Herbert (1874-1964): The Great Depression began with the stock market crash in October 1929 and marked the death-knell for Republican’s long-held dominance of national politics. Many people concluded that reckless pro-business Republican policies of the 1920s caused the Depression and were convinced that President Herbert Hoover’s conservative response to the crisis was insufficient. Chapter 42

House Rules Committee: When a bill comes out of the House committee, the bill must first make a stop at the House Rules Committee, which has been called “the majority leadership’s traffic manager” for floor debate. Like other committees, the majority party has the most rules-committee seats, and these members are very likely to have the party leadership trust. The Rules Committee attaches a special rule to each bill that specifies the debate’s nature. Chapter 22

Hustler Magazine v. Jerry Falwell (1988): Hustler Magazine ran a cartoon ad spoof indicating that Jerry Falwell’s first sexual experience was with his mother in an outhouse. Rather than pay Falwell damages for the false, malicious cartoon, Hustler publisher Larry Flynt took the case to the Supreme Court and won. In this case, the Court held that the allegedly libelous statement had to be a statement of fact, and not a joke. This decision protected magazines, websites, and comedy shows that poke fun at public figures. Chapter 64

hyper-pluralism: The theory posits that the government has essentially been captured by the demands of interest groups. Rather than being an arbiter of the struggle between organized interests, the government tries to put into effect the wishes of them all to the detriment of the country. The hyper-pluralism system more closely resembles a free-for-all and is often used interchangeably with the label “interest-group liberalism.” Chapters 3; 45

hypothesis:  This is a research question—an inquiry that asks how the political world operates or why it works the way it does. The hypothesis posits an answer to the research question that you then test by conducting studies or experiments. Chapter 4

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ideological groups: Ideological groups are interested in a variety of political issues and have a clear ideological bias that governs the kind of policies the group endorses. Chapter 45

imminent lawless action standard: In Brandenburg v. Ohio, the Court established the imminent lawless action standard in its majority opinion. The case dealt with Ohio prosecuting a Ku Klux Klan leader for publicly advocating violence. The majority ruled against Ohio and said that the First Amendment does not allow a state statute “to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force or of law violation except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless actions and is likely to incite or produce such action.” Essentially the Court said that advocacy of violence is not punishable in general, but inciting violence is punishable. Chapter 64

impeach; articles of impeachment: Articles of impeachment are essentially the specific charges against the president. Chapter 30

impeached and removed:  Historically, the founders were aware that neither ancient Grecian or Roman societies had figured out how to peacefully remove a chief executive who was abusing his office—often assassination or uprisings were the only remedy. Chapter 30

impeachment process: The full House debates the articles of impeachment and votes. A successful majority vote on one of the charges means that the president has been impeached. Then the process moves to the Senate, where the president is put on trial. The senators determine whether the president is “guilty” of the offenses in the articles of impeachment. The House Judiciary Committee comes to the Senate to present the case against the president. The president’s lawyers mount a defense. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides over the trial. The Constitution requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate to convict and remove the president. Thus far, no American president has been impeached by the House and removed by the Senate. Chapter 30

Imperial Presidency: This classic 1973 book, written by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., warned that the growth of presidential power—particularly in response to national security concerns—threatened to warp the country’s constitutional fabric. Chapter 29

incorporating the Bill of Rights protections: The Bill of Rights protects you against abuses from all levels of government, but this has not always been true. In the case of Barron v. The Mayor of Baltimore (1833) the Supreme Court ruled that the Bill of Rights protects people from actions of the central government, not state and local actions, but there was no such provision in state constitutions at the time. After the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment seemed to correct the imbalance defined in Barron by saying that no state “shall abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States.” However, the Supreme Court did not interpret the privileges and immunities clause as a corrective to Barron. Instead, in the late nineteenth century, the Court begin incorporating the Bill of Rights protections using the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause instead of the privileges and immunities clause. The due process clause says that states may not “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” Many people see this as an odd way of nationalizing the Bill of Rights and other broad liberties. In specific cases, the Court incorporated individual Bill of Rights protections into the due process clause by limiting states’ ability to infringe upon them. The Court did this selectively and patiently, waiting for individuals to challenge their state from infringing on specific civil liberties. The process of incorporation lasted into the early twenty-first century as cases came to the Court. Chapter 63

incumbent: An incumbent is a current officeholder who is seeking to be reelected to that office. Incumbent congressmen have excellent odds of being reelected. This is especially true of Representatives. Chapter 55

Independents: People may support the Democratic or Republican parties—or one of the third parties—without formally registering as a party affiliate. Independents, the largest “party” in the United States, are those who either intentionally refuse to commit to one of the parties or who have turned away from partisan politics altogether. However, even these Independents tend to favor the political positions of one party over another. Chapter 43

Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968: This part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 applied most of the Bill of Rights and Constitutional protections to Native Americans living under the various tribes’ jurisdiction. It stipulated that no Indian tribe shall prohibit free exercise of religion, free speech, free press, or the right of people to assemble peaceably and petition for redress of grievances. Further, no Indian tribe shall violate the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable and warrantless searches and seizures. Indian tribes were forbidden from conducting unreasonable and warrantless searches and seizures, taking of private property without just compensation, violating fair trial procedures, and inflicting cruel and unusual punishments.  Chapter 68

Indian boarding schools, American (1860-1978): Native American Indian children were shipped off to American Indian boarding schools, the goal of which was to destroy indigenous language and culture, as kids were taken from their parents and assimilated into Anglo culture. Colonel Richard Henry Pratt, director for twenty-five years of one of these schools, famously said that his goal was to “Kill the Indian, save the man.” Chapter 60

Indian Removal Act of 1830: This is one of the most aggressively imperialistic laws in American history. This Act euphemistically sought to “provide for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for their removal west of the river Mississippi.” According to President Andrew Jackson, the Removal Act “will place a dense and civilized population in large tracts of country now occupied by a few savage hunters.” Cherokee leaders addressed the United States and said that “We wish to remain on the land of our fathers. We have a perfect and original right to remain without interruption or molestation.” Chapter 60

in forma pauperis: Normally, a Supreme Court petitioner must pay a fee and meet paperwork requirements to petition for a writ of certiorari, but indigent petitioners can file in forma pauperis, which waves the fee and many of the paperwork requirements. Congress has recently tightened regulations regarding in forma pauperis petitions. Chapter 31

insider trading: It is against federal law to use information not available to the public when executing securities trades. This is another form of corruption regarding securities fraud that sometimes ensnares congressional members. Chapter 23

Inspector General: This is an independent, non-partisan organization established within each executive branch agency assigned to audit the agency’s operation to discover and investigate cases of misconduct, waste, fraud and other government procedural abuses that occur within an agency. For cabinet-level agencies, inspectors general are appointed by the president and approved by the Senate. They can be removed by the president. While the inspectors general are not congressional employees, the Inspector General Act put them in place to assist Congress with oversight. Chapter 38

Institute for Sexual Research: Magnus Hirschfeld directed the Institute for Sexual Research in Berlin. In 1912, the institute surveyed 17,160 people and documented that the rate of homosexuality was 2.29 percent. Chapter 70

Insurrection Act 1807: This law requires Congress to authorize the military to undertake any domestic policing functions. The Insurrection Act was used by President Eisenhower in 1957 to send federal troops to desegregate Little Rock High School and by President George H. W. Bush in 1992 to send the military in to quell the Los Angeles riots that erupted after Los Angeles police officers were acquitted for beating Rodney King. The Insurrection Act is impressive in its scope. Chapter 27

intentionalism: This is another convention of statutory interpretation which attempts to take into consideration the legislation’s broad intent. Intentionalism can be used as an alternative to textualism but is primarily employed as a supplement when the plain meaning rule doesn’t apply. For example, a justice wanting to rely on intentionalism would want to consider the congressional deliberations that occurred when the bill was debated, its legislative history, and the broad goal or goals that Congress was trying to achieve. Chapter 34

interest on the debt: Because the federal government fails to take in enough tax revenue to cover its spending, every year we spend hundreds of billions of dollars to service our debt—that is, we pay interest to wealthy people, institutional investors, and banks who lend the U.S. government money by buying Treasury bonds. Chapter 40

Internet revolution: The Internet is a network of networks that gives people all over the globe the capability of emailing, webpage browsing, chatting, and file sharing. It grew out of the Defense Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) and the National Science Foundation’s NSFNet. The World Wide Web, the most visible part of the Internet, began when researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) created the first few web pages. There are well over 4 billion regular users of the Internet worldwide. This revolution has been transforming the face of American politics by campaign mobilization and fundraising, political advertising, and blogs. Chapter 48

iron triangle: This term refers to the triangular relationship organized interests form with executive agencies and congressional decision makers. Political scientists refer to this mutually reinforcing relationship as an iron triangle because it often seems impervious to outside influence. The triangle seems to operate as a sub-government unto itself. Chapter 46

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Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826): One of the founding fathers and third president of the U.S., Jefferson substituted “pursuit of happiness” for “property” in the Declaration of Independence. Chapter 11

Johnson, Andrew (1808-1875): When Johnson removed Secretary of War Edwin Stanton without the Senate’s approval and replaced him with Lorenzo Thomas, the House voted to impeach him for the clear violation of the Tenure of Office Act. They also impeached him for very derogatory statements he made about Congress, specifically that he “did attempt to bring into disgrace, ridicule, hatred, contempt and reproach to the Congress of the United States.” That’s not a crime, although they impeached him for it anyway. After a three-month trial in 1868, President Johnson’s opponents came one vote short of a two-thirds majority to remove him from office. He served out the remainder of his term. Interestingly, the Tenure of Office Act was repealed in 1887, and then the Supreme Court definitively ruled in Meyers v. United States (1926) that the president does not need Senate approval to fire executive branch officials. Chapter 30

journalistic culture of objectivity: This means that journalism is committed to reporting news objectively. In the early twentieth century, the nineteenth century partisan press began to fade, and professional journalism schools graduated journalists committed to reporting the news without intentionally slanting their coverage to suit party politics or ideology. This began a new format to separate newspaper pages between news stories, editorials, columns, and letters to the editor. Chapter 47

Judicial Branch: The Supreme Court branch of the U.S. government, which has the power to interpret law, both generally and in cases. Chapter 13

judicial federalism: This refers to the dual federal and state court systems operating in the United States. State courts handle most United States’ criminal and civil cases, while federal courts handle federal criminal and civil statutes, regulations, and constitutional provisions. Chapter 32

judicial review: As arbiter, the Supreme Court exercises judicial review, which refers to examining the actions of Congress, the executive branch, and the states to determine whether they are constitutional. Chapter 31

Judiciary Act of 1789: Congress initially established a six-member Supreme Court, with a Chief Justice and five associate justices. After the Civil War, Congress gradually expanded the number of justices to ten. Then, to limit President Andrew Johnson’s powers, Congress reduced the number of justices through retirement down to seven. In 1869, Congress raised the number of justices to nine, where it has stayed ever since. Chapter 33

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kairos: Kairos is the rhetorical appeal that refers to taking advantage of or creating a perfect moment to deliver a message, such as saying or writing the right thing at the right time. Chapter 9

Kavanaugh, Brett (1965-): When justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement in 2018, it afforded President Trump an opportunity to replace a swing-voting centrist with a solid conservative, thus tilting the court even more to the right. Trump appointed conservative Brett Kavanaugh. During the confirmation process, Kavanaugh’s high school classmate Christine Blasey Ford came forward with sexual assault allegations that had allegedly happened when the two were in school together. Kavanaugh vehemently denied the allegations and launched partisan invective at the Democratic Judiciary Committee senators. Classmates who knew Kavanaugh at Yale University made similar allegations, but they were not heard at the hearings, and the FBI did a superficial job of investigating them. Kavanaugh’s opponents raised credible allegations during the confirmation process that he had perjured himself on multiple topics. Nevertheless, the Republicans were not of a mind to seriously probe those allegations. Kavanaugh was approved by a vote of 50-48. Chapter 33

killings of Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner, Mississippi, 1964: Three young men, Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner, were working on voter registration, education, and civil rights when they were stopped for speeding and taken to the Neshoba County sheriff’s office. They disappeared after that. After six weeks of searching—during which the bodies of nine young black men were found in the nearby woods and swamps, the bodies of Goodman, Chaney, and Schwerner were found buried in an earthen dam. Eighteen white men were indicted, and eventually seven were convicted and served time. Chapter 60

King, Jr, Martin Luther (1929-1968); Letter from Birmingham Jail; how to recognize just and unjust laws: While confined in Birmingham City Jail in 1963 for civil disobedience targeting that city’s segregationist policies, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote a letter in response to a letter in local papers from eight local clergy who criticized the actions of the civil rights movement of which King was a leader. In his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, King argued that unjust laws must be opposed, even if it means breaking the law. (5) He then made arguments regarding how to recognize just and unjust laws. “A just law is a manmade code that squares with the moral law or with the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. An unjust law is a code that a majority inflicts on a minority that is not binding on itself. An unjust law is a code that is inflicted upon a minority which that minority had not part in enacting or creating because they did not have the unhampered right to vote. There are some instances when a law is just on its face and unjust in its application.” Chapter 59

Kinsey, Alfred (1894-1956): As early as 1948, with the publication of Kinsey’s Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, the medical community knew that 4 percent of men were exclusively homosexual throughout their lives. In 1953, Kinsey published Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, which documented that 1 percent of women were exclusively homosexual throughout their lives. Chapter 70

Know Nothing Party: This was the nativist American Party, a U.S. political party in the 1850s, that took over the state legislature in Massachusetts, elected the mayor of Chicago, captured 40 percent of Pennsylvania’s vote, and had short-term successes elsewhere. The Know Nothings directed their hatred particularly at Catholic immigrants. The party fragmented over slavery, with the pro-slavery Know Nothings tending to end up in the Democratic party and the anti-slavery Know Nothings aligning with the Republicans. Chapter 10

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44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island (1996): The Court has worked to empower corporations with the kind of freedom of expression traditionally reserved for natural persons, and corporations are taking full advantage of the leeway granted to them by the conservative majority. In this case, Justice Clarence Thomas firmly asserted in his concurring opinion that “I do not see a philosophical or historical basis for asserting that ‘commercial’ speech is of ‘lower value’ than ‘noncommercial speech.’” Many scholars applaud this view. Chapter 64

laboratories of democracy: The idea that federalism has many advantages was suggested by Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis in 1932 when he wrote that “It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.” Chapter 15

laissez-faire economic policies: Since the 1970s, both political parties have pursued clear laissez-faire economic policies. Laissez-faire is French for “allow to do,” and refers to a hands-off approach to economic policy that leaves corporations to do as they please with limited tax and regulatory burdens. Chapter 43

Lasswell, Harold D (1902-1978): Laswell is a political scientist who came up with a concise definition of politics that we use as a starting point for this course. He said that politics can be defined as “who gets what, when, and how. Chapter 1

leadership positions: The party with the most seats in each chamber gains considerable power, not just from their numerical majority, but also from their ability to select the leadership positions in each chamber. Chapter 56

leading questions: These are questions that are intentionally or unintentionally phrased to elicit a particular response. Chapter 56

legal briefs: Legal briefs are written legal documents arguing why precedent supports their client’s case and potential victory. When the Supreme Court accepts a case, the litigant’s lawyers file legal briefs for the justices to examine. Chapter 31

legal realism: An argument against originalism comes from legal realism, which is a political science and legal school-of-thought, arguing that justices use contrivances such as originalism, textualism, intentionalism, and other interpretive methods to support their own policy preferences. Chapter 34

Legislative Branch: This is the congressional branch of the U.S. government that has the power to make law.Chapter 13

Lemon Test: An important milestone in how the Constitution interpreted the establishment clause developed in Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971). Rhode Island was subsidizing private religious schools for money spent on teacher salaries, and Pennsylvania was reimbursing private religious schools for money spent on teacher salaries. In both states, these provisions were part of larger, general state statutes that supported elementary and secondary education. The Court struck down these practices as a violation of the establishment clause. And in doing so, it set forth the Lemon Test for government laws concerning religious organizations: 1) The statute “must have a secular legislative purpose.” 2) Its “principal or primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion.” 3) It must not foster “an excessive government entanglement with religion.” Chapter 65

Letter from Birmingham Jail; how to recognize just and unjust laws: While confined in Birmingham City Jail in 1963 for civil disobedience targeting that city’s segregationist policies, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote a letter in response to a letter in local papers from eight local clergy who criticized the actions of the civil rights movement of which King was a leader. In his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, King argued that unjust laws must be opposed, even if it means breaking the law. (5) He then made arguments regarding how to recognize just and unjust laws. “A just law is a manmade code that squares with the moral law or with the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. An unjust law is a code that a majority inflicts on a minority that is not binding on itself. An unjust law is a code that is inflicted upon a minority which that minority had not part in enacting or creating because they did not have the unhampered right to vote. There are some instances when a law is just on its face and unjust in its application.” Chapter 59

libel: Libel is a written defamation of another person, especially of public figures, and is not protected by the First Amendment, but the Court has set high standards for victims to win libel cases. Chapter 64

liberal arts and sciences: Many Americans are woefully unknowledgeable and ideologically unsophisticated. If you are getting a college degree, make sure that it has a robust general education component that will give you broad knowledge in the liberal arts and sciences, by which we mean arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Chapter 61

lies, big lies, obvious lies: Beware of big lies and obvious lies, repeatedly told. In Mein Kampf, Adolph Hitler articulated “the sound principle that the magnitude of a lie always contains a certain factor of credibility,” and that people “more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a little one.” The same can be said of an obvious lie. When a politician tells a big or an obvious lie, particularly when he tells it repeatedly and publicly, some people tend to believe it simply because it is told so openly. Chapter 61

Likert-response scale: In survey research, this is one of the major survey question types. For Likert-response scale questions, the respondent is probed for his or her agreement level with a statement such as, “The death penalty is justifiable in some circumstances: strongly disagree; disagree; neutral; agree; strongly agree.” Chapter 7

Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865): Lincoln was the Republican’s second presidential candidate. He won the very divided election of 1860 with only 40 percent of the popular vote. The land reform that Alvan Bovay and George Evans advocated in the 1850s was pushed by Lincoln and became the Homestead Act of 1862, which distributed land in the West to settlers who would “improve” it. Chapter 41

Lincoln, Abraham; 1861 State of the Union letter to Congress: In this letter, Lincoln warned against giving capitalists too much power and threatened to usurp labor as the primary government consideration. He said “Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.” He then issued a warning to working men that they should not surrender “a political power which they already possess, and which if surrendered will surely be used to close the door of advancement against such as they and to fix new disabilities and burdens upon them till all of liberty shall be lost.” Chapter 60

litigants: These are the people or groups involved in a court case. Chapter 31

litigation: Organized interests frequently use litigation—taking the matter to court—to achieve their ends in addition to lobbying the legislative and executive branches. This can be an expensive strategy but can pay off well if they prevail in court and set precedent in their favor. The organized interest can bring the lawsuit directly, or they can finance lawsuits brought by others, or file amicus curiae briefs in favor of one side in another case to which the organized interest is not a direct party. Chapter 46

Ludlow Massacre, 1914: In 1913, thousands of Colorado miners went on strike for better wages and working conditions and to protest the feudal conditions they suffered in company-owned towns. When labor organizer Mother Jones came to Colorado to support the miners, she was arrested and deported from the state. Evicted from their shacks by the mining companies, thousands of miners and their families set up shanty towns in the Colorado hills. The largest of these tent settlements was at a place called Ludlow. On April 20, 1914, the National Guard, called in by Colorado’s governor at the behest of the Colorado Fuel & Iron Corporation, which was owned by the Rockefeller family, opened up on the camp with machine guns and then set fire to the tents. Twenty-six people were killed, including eleven children and two women. More violence followed. In total, sixty-six people were killed. No one was indicted for the crime. Chapter 60

Lukes, Steven M (1941-): Lukes is a political and social theorist, who, in his book, Power: A Radical View, put forward a “third dimension of power” described as shaping perceptions. Chapter 2

lobbying: This term comes from the centuries-old British House of Commons tradition where constituents petition their member of Parliament (MP) in the building’s lobby. Since lobbyists cannot participate directly in work on the House or Senate floor, they interact with Representatives and Senators—figuratively speaking—in the Capitol building’s lobbies. Chapter 46

Locke, John (1632-1704): Locke is an English philosopher and social contract theorist. In his Letter Concerning Toleration (1689), Locke argued in favor of religious toleration and tried to “distinguish exactly the business of civil government from that of religion, and to settle the just bounds that lie between the one and the other.” Chapters 11; 17

logos: This rhetorical appeal has to do with the logic, evidence, or factual data that is used to persuade an audience. Chapter 9

logrolling: This means trading votes for something desired: A congressman votes on something he doesn’t really care about, in exchange for something in return. Chapter 23

lynching: This term refers to the extra judicial killing by persons or a mob that is incited to take the law into its own hands. Chapter 60

Lyon, Phyllis (1924-2020): In 1955 San Francisco, along with Del Martin, Lyon founded the Daughters of Bilitis, the first postwar lesbian organization. They also created a magazine called The Ladder. Active throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Daughters of Bilitis survived until it broke apart in the 1970s by internal factionalism. Chapter 70

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macho, brutal language: Pay attention when politicians frequently need to show how strong they are by using macho, brutal language. Do they encourage their supporters to assault their political opponents? Do they threaten to bomb other countries back to the stone age? Do they bully their opponents and expect complete submission from their supporters? Do they—like domestic abusers—use a “you made me do it” language style that blames the victims of their abuse or policies? People who are frequent users of that kind of language are unlikely to uphold democratic principles while in office. Chapter 61

Madison, James (1751-1836): A Federalist, he is considered to be the second father of the Bill of Rights. He came reluctantly to the task, because he originally thought such a listing of liberties was unnecessary—he called them “parchment barriers” to government tyranny in a letter to Thomas Jefferson. Chapter 14

Magna Carta, 1215: This was an historical settlement between England’s King John and his barons. King John of England—after disastrous foreign policy and domestic power abuses—was forced to accept the Magna Carta, or Great Charter. The Magna Carta limited the king’s power vis a vis the nobility and the clergy. This agreement, which was forced upon King John by the aristocracy, said that “No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.” The Magna Carta was not a statement of liberties for ordinary people, but it was nevertheless historically significant for firmly establishing due process for free men. Four specific rights in the American Bill of Rights can be traced to the Magna Carta: due process, jury trials, prohibiting unlawful seizures, and prohibiting excessive fines. Chapters 14; 29; 66

majority opinion: The Supreme Court operates by majority vote, so decisions can be 9-0, 8-1, 7-2, 6-3, or 5-4. The decision’s legal validity and political acceptability do not depend on the Court’s vote; indeed, they depend on the winning majority’s size. Someone in the winning majority writes a majority opinion, which explains the Court’s decision in terms of its compelling legal precedent. If the Chief Justice is in the majority, he will assign who writes it; if he is not in the majority, the most senior justice voting with the majority will assign the majority opinion. Someone in the minority writes a dissenting opinion, which explains why the minority feels the majority erred in applying precedent or constitutional principle. Majority opinions carry legal weight in the form of precedent, and they also instruct legislators about how acceptable the proposed legislation is. Dissenting opinions do neither of those things, but they do become important if the Supreme Court decides later to reverse itself. Chapter 31

mandates, federal; mandates, unfunded: Federal mandates command that states undertake certain public policies or enforce certain restrictions. Unfunded mandates are those that require the states to pay for what is essentially a decision made in Washington, D.C. Examples are the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which enforced new performance standards on individual schools and school districts. States complained that the federal government did not provide nearly enough money to restructure curricula, target struggling students, administer tests, and hire qualified teachers. Unfunded mandates also affect private companies, such as the Clean Air Act, which requires energy companies to buy expensive equipment to mitigate their pollution. Chapter 15

manufactured consent: Manufactured consent means that an interest controls the media, what issues get addressed, and how they are framed. For example, political consent is manufactured through election campaigns that focus on superficial considerations and frightening or getting people angry. Similarly, consumer demand for products is manufactured by the public relations industry. Chapter 3

Mapp v. Ohio (1961) This case involved the Fourth Amendment’s provision that people be protected from unreasonable searches and seizures. Additionally, the Mapp case applied the exclusionary rule to the federal government and to state and local police, which means that any evidence they gather in violation of the Fourth Amendment must be excluded from the defendant’s trial. Chapters 63; 66

Marbury v. Madison (1803); Marbury, William (1762-1835): This is an important case because of its role in establishing judicial review, where for the first time, the Supreme Court voided a congressional law. It is considered one of the most important Supreme Court cases because since it was decided, no one has seriously questioned the Court’s power of judicial review. Democratic-Republican, Thomas Jefferson defeated incumbent Federalist, President John Adams. With Jefferson’s win, the Federalists lost their congressional majority. In 1801, Federalist Marbury was commissioned a judgeship, but it was undelivered, so Marbury filed suit straight in the Supreme Court and asked the Court to issue a writ of mandamus—an order to Secretary of State James Madison to deliver the commission so Marbury could take his place as a federal judge. Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 specifically gave the Supreme Court original jurisdiction to issue such writs. But Marbury made a mistake in bringing his case straight to the Supreme Court instead of appealing from a lower court. Thus, in Marbury v. Madison (1803), Supreme Court Justice James Marshall said that due to this legal technicality, he couldn’t help Marbury. Marshall went further and declared that section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 violated the Constitution and therefore was void. This was exactly the remedy the Democratic-Republicans wanted, so they went along with Marshall in exerting Supreme Court power to strike down congressional legislation that had been passed and signed into law by the president. Marshall, a Federalist, thought the decision would set the Court up to be a check on future Democratic-Republican policies. In his majority opinion, Marshall wrote that “it is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is,” and that arguments that “courts must close their eyes on the Constitution, and see only the law would subvert the very foundation of all written constitutions.” Chapter 31

March on Washington, 1963: Civil rights groups staged the March on Washington in 1963, filling the National Mall with approximately 250,000 peaceful protesters. Famously, it was at that march that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. Chapter 46

March, Women’s March on Washington D.C 2017: This march occurred the day after Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration. But, the idea for this march began as a Facebook post by a Hawaiian grandmother the day after Trump was elected. The post ballooned into what was referred to as “one of the largest and significant demonstrations for social justice in America’s . . . history.” The turnout of 500,000 people dwarfed the turnout for Trump’s inauguration itself, and altogether 2.6 million people marched in all fifty states and thirty-two countries. Chapter 46

margin of error: In public opinion surveys, the margin of error refers to the variability amount that a poll will have from its true result, which would be that the entire population were surveyed. Margin of error comes with a confidence interval. Thus, “A margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level means that if we fielded the same survey 100 times, we would expect the result to be within 3 percentage points of the true population value 95 of those times.” Always look for polls that publish the margin of error. Chapter 56

mark-up sessions: During several congressional meetings, committee members edit a bill’s language. In pre-computer days, congressmen literally marked-up paper bills with pens. Mark-up sessions often attract lobbyists whose clients pay them to favorably influence the legislation’s wording. Chapter 22

Marshall, Chief Justice John (1755-1835): Marshall was the U.S. Supreme Court chief justice who clarified for a unanimous Court the Necessary and Proper Clause’s meaning and its relationship to the enumerated powers. Chapter 13

Martin, Del (1921-2008): In 1955 San Francisco, along with Phyllis Lyon, Martin founded the Daughters of Bilitis, the first postwar lesbian organization. They also created a magazine called The Ladder. Active throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Daughters of Bilitis survived until it broke apart in the 1970s by internal factionalism. Chapter 70

Mason, George (1725-1792): An Anti-Federalist, he is sometimes called the father of the Bill of Rights because he wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776 and constantly criticized the U.S. Constitution for omitting this important feature. Chapter 14

Materialism: This philosophical idea espouses that nothing exists except matter, its movements, and modifications—matter is all that there is, that it is composed of atoms, that matter has always existed, that it cannot be created out of nothing, that it cannot be destroyed, that it is continually transformed and recycled into different forms, and that the universe is infinite. Chapter 11

Mattachine Society, 1951: Harry Hay led a group to establish the Mattachine Society, which was dedicated to changing the public’s mind about homosexuals’ “deviancy.” Founded in Los Angeles, the group took its name from Mattacino, an Italian theatrical jester character who spoke the truth to the king from behind a mask. Similar societies were created in large cities across the country. In its mission statement, the Mattachine Society pledged to unify “homosexuals isolated from their own kind,” to educate homosexuals and heterosexuals toward “an ethical homosexual culture,” and to assist “our people who are victimized daily.” The Society published a homophile magazine called One, which was initially banned by the Post Office. The Supreme Court ruled in 1958 that the ban violated the Mattachine Society’s first amendment rights. The Society was very influential in the gay rights movement in the 1960s but became eclipsed in the 1970s by more militant groups. It finally disbanded in 1987. Chapter 70

McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill: In the spring of 2002, Congress passed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, popularly known as the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill, and President Bush signed it into law despite the objections of many in his own party. This law banned soft-money contributions to the national party organizations, doubled the hard money limits of the FECA, and restricted the airing of advocacy ads sixty days before a general election. Chapter 54

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819): This was a tremendously important case because it set the stage for central government to expand power. Much of what the central government does is tied to its ability to use the Necessary and Proper Clause to extend the reach of one of its enumerated powers. In 1816, the federal government chartered the Second Bank of the United States. States objected to establishing the second Bank of the United States. The state of Maryland did not like the Bank of the United States competing with their state-chartered banks. So, Maryland placed a prohibitive tax on “any bank not chartered within the state” in an attempt to drive the Bank of the United States out since it was the only bank operating in Maryland that had not been chartered there. Instructed by his superiors, James McCulloch, Bank of the United States Baltimore branch cashier, refused to pay the tax. Maryland brought the case to tax to a state court and won—and even won on appeal—but lost when McCulloch appealed those lower decisions up to the Supreme Court. Two important issues were contested: 1) Since “establish a national bank” is not one of the enumerated powers in the Constitution, can Congress even do that? 2) Can a state tax an activity of the U.S. government? The Supreme Court ruled that states could not tax federal operations and that Congress had broad implied powers when its enumerated powers were combined with the Necessary and Proper Clause. Chapters 13; 15; 16

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) ruling: In this case, Chief Justice John Marshall, clarified for a unanimous Court the Necessary and Proper Clause’s meaning and its relationship to the enumerated powers. He wrote “let the ends be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adopted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consist with the letter and spirit of the constitution, are constitutional.” In other words, if Congress can legitimately tie its new exercise of power to one of the enumerated powers and if the new exercise of power is not expressly forbidden in the Constitution, then it is constitutional. Thus, it was constitutional for Congress to establish a Bank of the United States. Then Marshall went on to write that the “power to tax is the power to destroy,” and that the Supremacy Clause meant that the states could not nullify and destroy legitimate exercise of federal authority. Maryland lost, and both the Necessary and Proper Clause and the Supremacy Clause were clarified in ways that expanded the central government vis-a-vis the states. Chapter 13

McDonald v. Chicago (2010) The most recent Bill of Rights incorporation case occurred in 2010 and involved the Second Amendment’s guarantee of the right to bear arms. In McDonald v. Chicago, 2010, the Supreme Court decided (5-4) in McDonald’s favor, and incorporated the individual right to bear arms into the Fourteenth Amendment. The ruling, therefore, made it applicable to states and cities across the United States. The Court made it clear, however, that the individual right to bear arms was subject to regulation. In the D.C case, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote: “Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited. . . [N]othing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.” He was also clear that the list of restrictions he just mentioned was not “exhaustive.” Chapter 63

mean; median: The mean is defined as the average in a value range. You get the mean by adding up all the variables’ values and divide by your data set values. The median is defined as the middle value in a range: the value that has the same number of values above it as it has below it. Chapter 7

merit system: A merit system in government bureaucracies means that people are hired and promoted to ever greater responsibilities due to their qualifications and their capabilities. A merit system contrasts with what is known as a spoils system, which is one where the winning political party stocks the bureaucracy with their own people. Because of the Pendleton Civil Service Act, the merit system provides protection to federal civil servants from being fired or punished when a presidential administration of one party takes power from an administration of a different party. Federal civil servants can only be fired “for cause,” meaning that they can be fired for not adequately performing their job, but not for extraneous or political reasons. Chapter 38

militarized policing: The United States has a problem with its militarized approach to policing, which is a function of three things. America is a heavily armed society, with more personal firearms than there are people to carry them. This means that police have to go into every situation with the knowledge that the person they encounter could very well be armed; pervasive war metaphors have taken over our cultural understanding of the relationship between the police and society. Since the late 1960s, our politicians have led us into waging twin wars on crime and drugs, and our movies are rife with scenes of uncivilized criminals kept at bay only through the armed response of police; and America’s imperialist and warlike approach to global relations has ensured a steady stream of military equipment and tactics that are made available to police forces around the country. Chapter 60

military-industrial complex: In his famous 1961 farewell address, President Dwight Eisenhower—who spent a lifetime in the military before becoming president—warned against the power of what he called the military-industrial complex. “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” Chapter 29

Milk, Harvey (1930-1978): In November 1977, Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Upon officially taking office in 1978, he became the first openly gay man elected to public service. Ten days after the election, he recorded three tapes that he gave to friends and to his lawyer to be listened to in the event he was assassinated. He said, “I fully realize that a person who stands for what I stand for—a gay activist—becomes the target or potential target for a person who is insecure, terrified, afraid, or very disturbed themselves.” He sponsored a bill banning sexual orientation discrimination in San Francisco, and Mayor George Moscone signed it into law. On November 27, 1978, Dan White, a former member of the Board of Supervisors, who had recently resigned his position and then asked to be reinstated, assassinated Moscone and Milk with a .38 revolver. Chapter 70

Miller v. California (1973); Miller Test: In this case, the Court articulated a set of criteria by which lower courts could determine whether something was officially obscene. Popularly known as the Miller Test, these standards have been incorporated into federal and state statutes. A work—e.g., a novel, magazine, video, play, or statue may be declared obscene if it passes all three of the following: 1) The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to a prurient interest in sex. 2) The work depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way as specifically defined in an applicable law. 3) The work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. If a work is determined to be obscene, it can be banned. However, many juries have difficulty coming to consensus about obscenity, given the difficulty of passing the Miller Test. Chapter 64

Miller v. Johnson (1995): After passing the 1965 Voting Rights Act, several states practiced “affirmative gerrymandering,” or designed districts intended to elect members of racial minorities to the House. In Shaw v. Hunt (1993) and then Miller v. Johnson (1995) the Supreme Court decided that race could not be a predominant factor in creating election districts. Chapter 53

Miranda v. Arizona (1966); Miranda rights: To ensure that people fully exercise their freedom from self-incrimination, the Supreme Court acted in Miranda v. Arizona (1966). In a tight 5-4 decision, the majority threw out Ernesto Miranda’s kidnap and rape conviction because he gave his confession without understanding that he had a right to remain silent and had a right to have a lawyer present at his interrogation. Now, As a result, police must inform you of your Miranda rights: that you have a right to remain silent, that anything you say can be used in a case against you, that you have the right to have a lawyer present, and that if you cannot afford a lawyer one will be appointed for you. Chapter 66

Mitbestimmungsrecht: Corporations, particularly those that are large and cross state and country boundaries, can dictate much of our lives on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. Corporate power is taken for granted in the United States because workers are often in a poor bargaining position. Fifty years ago, one-third of workers belonged to a union; now only 7 percent of private-sector workers belong to a union. The United States doesn’t structurally empower workers like some other countries do. For example, Germany’s Mitbestimmungsrecht—or codetermination—requirement, which dates back to the 1920s, says that “depending on the size of a German limited company, a third or even half of the members of its supervisory board are voted in by its employees.” This kind of power for workers has helped support German wages, working conditions, and the vitality of Germany’s manufacturing sector. Chapter 67

mobilizing the grassroots: Organized interests often use the going-public strategy to further their interests. This is a catch-all category of activities in which the group generates or demonstrates public support for its cause. Examples include mobilizing the grassroots, which is getting ordinary people or members of the group to write letters. This can be very effective if it is genuine. That is, if the interest group can really get thousands of people to call, write, or email their congressman all expressing one side of an issue, it tends to get legislators’ attention. Chapter 46

money, American elections: Most money contributions in American elections comes from corporations and the wealthy. According to data from the Federal Election Commission, corporations and wealthy individuals contribute at least two-thirds of federal-election money. Chapter 54

money, bundlers: Wealthy people often act as bundlers or people who organize and collect contributions to one campaign from a variety of other wealthy people. A candidate from the elite who knows a few other elites who are willing to act as bundlers is in a very good position indeed. Chapter 54

money, candidate spending: The candidate who spends the most money tends to win. If you were a betting person and the only information you had about a particular race for the House of Representatives or the Senate was the amount of money the candidates were spending, you would be wise to bet on the candidate who was spending the most money. Chapter 54

money, conservative, right politics: Money in American elections pushes politics to the right. Because corporations and the wealthy are the principal sources of most campaign money, the entire campaign finance system is biased in favor of conservative candidates and against candidates who would like to see real progressive changes. Corporations and the wealthy are beneficiaries of the current system, so it is typically not in their interest to support candidates who would shake up the status quo. Chapter 54

money, dark: A special kind of soft money is called dark money. Under sections 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(6) of the tax code, politically active nonprofit organizations can raise unlimited money and spend it to support or oppose candidates. The most interesting thing about these organizations—and the reason they are called “dark”—is that they don’t have to disclose the sources of their money. These organizations are supposed to be primarily social-welfare groups rather than overtly political, but neither the IRS nor the FEC has cracked down on them. Conservative dark money organizations funnel corporate and elite money to promote presidential, congressional, and judicial candidates who fight against increasing the minimum wage, organizing rights for workers, worker safety laws, universal health care, background checks for gun purchases, environmental regulations, policies to fight the climate emergency, and many more. Chapter 54

money, hard: Hard money contributions are regulated by the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), which Congress passed in 1971 and was significantly amended in 1974. Hard money refers to contributions made directly to a political campaign. Chapter 54

money, investment approach: Back in 1995, political scientist Thomas Ferguson coined the phrase the investment approach to American party politics, in which he argued that ordinary voters cannot afford the costs of paying attention to political issues, researching candidates, watching what they do once elected, and rewarding or punishing them if they don’t pursue policies beneficial to those ordinary people. Who can afford those costs? Corporations and wealthy people have the resources to monitor politics, donate to candidates to reward them for good behavior when in office, and punish them if they don’t follow the wishes of the elites. Moreover, these individuals and corporations have much to lose if the politicians don’t act the way they would like, so they invest in those that will. Chapter 54

money, never-ending race: Because elections are so expensive, and we don’t publicly finance campaigns, politicians appear to be in a never-ending money race. It typically takes a couple of million dollars to win a race for House of Representatives and anywhere from two to ten times more than that to win a Senate race. In presidential races, the candidates together spend in the billions of dollars—not counting outside spending by organized interests on behalf of one candidate or the other. Chapter 54

money primary: Money is so central to a person even considering whether they could enter politics that political scientists and journalists often speak about the money primary, by which they mean “the competition of candidates for financial resources contributed by partisan elites before the primaries begin.” Money is the ticket to success in American politics. You must either have enough to finance your own campaign, come from the elite strata where you have friends, contacts, and supporters with disposable wealth to donate to your campaign, or you must ingratiate yourself to the elites who can fund your campaign. Chapter 54

money, soft: Soft money originally referred to contributions to political parties that were supposed to be used for “party building measures,” but instead, were used to help elect candidates. Because there are no limits on soft money contributions, corporations especially began to flood the parties with soft money. Soft money now refers to largely unregulated independent expenditures by parties and organized interests to support or oppose candidates. These organizations buy advertisements, establish phone banks, pay for people to go door to door for a candidate, and so forth. Chapter 54

money, Supreme Court strikes down reigning in money: Supreme Court has stricken down many attempts to reign in money in American elections, for example, Buckley v. Valeo (1976): Overall campaign spending, personal spending on one’s own campaign, and independent expenditures cannot be capped. FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life (2007): The government cannot stop outside groups from spending on political advertising in the period before an election. Citizens United v. FEC (2010): The government cannot place limits on the amount of outside spending, and corporations can spend directly to support or oppose campaigns. Arizona’s Free Enterprise Club’s Freedom PAC v. Bennett (2011): Public financing systems cannot use escalating matching funds. American Tradition Partnership v. Bullock (2012): The Court struck down Montana’s ban on corporate spending on state elections that dated back to 1912. McCutcheon v. FEC (2014): A donor’s overall spending on federal campaigns cannot be capped. Chapter 54

motion of cloture: This is a motion to place a time limit on a filibuster. At least sixty senators must agree to the cloture, and then a bill-vote is allowed. Chapter 22

Mott, Lucretia (1793-1880): American feminist Mott, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, created the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. Eight years earlier, Mott and Stanton attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London as representatives of American abolitionist organizations, but the mostly male delegates refused to allow the female delegates seats. Due to that snubbing, the two women watched the proceedings from the balcony. That experience helped convince them that women, as well as slaves, needed emancipation. Chapter 69

muckraker: This is a progressive-minded writer who investigates and reports on power abuses and on the ways that government serves powerful interests at ordinary people’s expense. The early twentieth-century muckrakers were pioneers of the kind of investigative journalism that continues to challenge the politically and economically powerful. The term “muckraker” was an epithet coined by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 but has become something of a badge of honor among investigative journalists. Chapter 47

multi-party system: This political system features three or more parties with a viable shot of participating in government. Chapter 44

multiple-choice questions: In survey research, these questions offer three or more defined choices from which the respondent can choose. Chapter 7

N

name recognition: Incumbents benefit greatly from name recognition and positive media coverage. Incumbents usually enjoy a name recognition advantage over their challengers. Chapter 55

National American Woman Suffrage Association, 1890: Feminists were outraged when the Fifteenth Amendment left out women, so they created two organizations to fight for the right to vote: The National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association, which differed in their tactics. The two organizations merged in 1890 to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Carrie Chapman Catt took over leadership of the Association from Susan B. Anthony. Chapter 69

national committees: These committees conduct the party’s business in between the quadrennial national conventions and are composed of prominent members of each state’s party organizations. Chapter 41

National Emergencies Act of 1976: When a president declares an emergency, the National Emergencies Act of 1976 and other statutory provisions opens all sorts of new presidential powers. The Brennan Center for Justice catalogued 136 emergency powers available to a president, ninety-six of which “require nothing more than [the president’s] signature on the emergency declaration” to go into effect. The president can “shut down many kinds of electronic communications inside the United States or freeze American’s bank accounts.” Emergency declarations are supposed to last less than one year, but emergency declarations are often renewed “for years on end.” Chapter 27

nationalists, broad; nationalists, narrow: The delegates at the Constitutional Convention did not want to establish a unitary system, but they agreed that the weak central government under the Articles of Confederation needed to be strengthened. They differed on how much power to give to the central government. Political scientist David Brian Robertson distinguishes between the narrow nationalists and the broad nationalists. Broad nationalists include James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, James Wilson, and Gouverneur Morris, who wanted to give the national government more expansive powers. The narrow nationalists includeRoger Sherman, Oliver Ellsworth and most of the delegates from the small states like Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey. They wanted to give the national government limited and well-defined powers. Chapter 15

National Security Act of 1947: This act consolidated the Department of War and the Navy Department into the Department of Defense, creating a rhetorical shift from War to Defense; it’s easier to support large expenditures year after year for “defense” rather than “war.” The Act created the National Security Council to advise the president on foreign affairs and security. The Act also created the Central Intelligence Agency, which was designed to gather intelligence and engage in covert operations around the world. Chapter 29

National Security Council: The National Security Council was established in 1947 by the National Security Act. Its responsibility is to advise the president and coordinate American security and foreign policy. Chapter 29

nativism: This is a more organized political philosophy that is opposed to immigration; it favors limiting the power of and opportunities for immigrants. Chapter 10

natural experiment: This experiment is an observational study in the real world where the scientist does not control the variables, but where natural processes or social events provides an opportunity to see the effect of a variable in action. For example, over a four-year period, researchers found that states that had expanded Medicaid reduced their mean annual mortality rate by 9.3 percent, meaning that the fourteen states that did not take advantage of the ACA to expand Medicaid had 15,600 people die who would not have died had the states expanded Medicaid. This natural experiment shows the variable’s impact at the state level—Medicaid expansion on people’s health—yes or no? Chapter 4

natural persons: Actual living, breathing human beings, distinct from artificial persons, i.e., corporations and other organizations allowed to exist by state charter. Chapter 35

natural rights: These are rights that stem from the state of nature, and thus pre-date the government established by the social contract. Philosophers say that natural rights are granted by nature’s God or by virtue of being born. The important thing to remember is that government does not give you your natural rights, as when it establishes a Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights merely recognizes and specifies your preexisting natural rights. Chapter 11

Necessary and Proper or Elastic Clause: At the end of the enumerated powers is the Necessary and Proper or Elastic Clause, which states, “To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.” This has historically been a very important phrase in the Constitution because it has allowed the national government to expand its powers into a variety of areas that were not anticipated by the founders. For example, Congress has forbidden child labor, set maximum-hour laws, and established a minimum wage, none of which are explicitly mentioned in the Constitution. All these measures have been justified with the Elastic Clause, combined with the enumerated power to regulate interstate commerce. When Congress does expand its powers, it justifies its new role by saying that it is only “carrying into execution” one of its enumerated powers. Following the precedent of McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the federal courts have usually agreed with Congress. Chapter 13

negative relationship: Used in surveys and studies, negative relationship is the value of one variable decreasing as the value of the other variable increases. Chapter 4

Neo-feudalism: This refers to the idea that our society resembles the feudalism that existed in the Medieval period in which most ordinary people had very limited freedom and in which economic, political, and legal structures dictated an aristocracy’s privileged position. However, under neo-feudalism, the privileged position in our society is occupied by the wealthy corporate elite. Chapter 67

net neutrality: The term net neutrality means that internet service providers should charge basic access fees to the Internet but otherwise not discriminate between those who would post web pages, video, or email. This has been the norm on the Internet. However, in the United States, telecommunication giants such as AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast, who own the “pipelines” through which the emails, videos, files, and web pages flow, want to charge big companies like Google and Yahoo large fees to guarantee that their content gets to customers at higher speeds. Those who could not pay for more than a simple connection would be relegated to whatever slow service was available after the large commercial content providers had used and paid for their share. In other words, there’d be an elite toll road alongside a free but crowded interstate.” A coalition of consumer’s groups, small businesses, and ideological groups from the left and the right argue that net neutrality should remain the standard practice. Chapter 48

New Deal:  The period of 1932 to the late 1960s, known as Cooperative Federalism, was marked by increased federal power. Due to the Great Depression and Post World War II, the Democrats in Congress and the Roosevelt administration passed New Deal economic regulations and instituted social welfare policies that had never been seen at the U.S. national level. The national government regulated the banking industry, supported agricultural prices, set the first federal minimum wage, created unemployment insurance, established social security for the elderly, supported the right of workers to unionize and collectively bargain, and put people to work building schools, hospitals, and roads. Chapter 16

New Deal Coalition demise: The success of the Civil Rights Movement, the cultural turmoil of the late 1960s, and the stridency of the Democratic party’s anti-Vietnam War wing fractured the New Deal coalition and hurt many Democratic candidates’ electoral chances. The New Deal coalition had been built upon the economic interests of the common man regardless of race or religion. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, however, the Republicans became increasingly successful in attracting support from whites opposed to racial desegregation, from men and women who were disconcerted by women’s liberation, from rural voters concerned about gun control, and from voters who disdained the perception of pacifism in American foreign policy. Moreover, the Roe v. Wade (1973) decision legalizing abortion and the rise of the gay rights debate handed Republicans two social issues that were instrumental in courting Catholics, evangelical Protestants, and Mormons. Chapter 42

New Deal; New Deal Coalition: The period of 1932 to the late 1960s, known as Cooperative Federalism, was marked by increased federal power. Democrats in Congress and the Franklin Roosevelt administration passed New Deal economic regulations and instituted social welfare policies that had never been seen at the U.S. national level. Roosevelt used government’s power to alleviate suffering, regulate the economy, and put people back to work. The overall policy, known as the New Deal, included Social Security, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the Works Progress Administration, among many others. The Democrats dominated national politics from 1933 to the end of the 1960s, largely because of what has become known as the New Deal Coalition. They cobbled together a coalition of unionized workers, farmers, Jews, white-collar professionals, African Americans, and urban immigrants who were predominantly Catholics. The New Deal programs were popular enough that the 1950s Republican Eisenhower administration left them in place and the Democratic Lyndon Johnson administration built on them somewhat. Chapter 42

New Federalism: This period, which began in the late 1960s, is sometimes called the Era of Devolution because of the ways that governmental power seems to have devolved back on to states. A defining factor in this modern period is that in the thirteen presidential elections held between 1968 and 2016, Republicans have “won” eight of them. Two of those victories—Bush in 2000 and Trump in 2016—were the result of the electoral college giving the presidency to the popular vote loser. The disproportionate number of Republican presidents in this period have loaded up the Supreme Court and the federal courts with a disproportionate number of appointees who would be very comfortable if the United States were to go back to the bad old days of dual federalism and have the national government be powerless to act in many areas of public policy, particularly economic, worker safety, and environmental regulation. For example, four Supreme Court justices were ready to strike down the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate as an unconstitutional extension of Congressional power, and it was only Chief Justice John Roberts’ uncharacteristic decision not to join them that saved the law in 2012. Earlier, in 1995, the Court ruled that the interstate commerce clause could not be stretched far enough by the elastic clause to constitutionally cover Congress’ attempt to pass a Gun Free Schools Act and ban handguns near schools. Chapter 16

news deserts: America is pockmarked bynews deserts, areas that receive little or no substantive public affairs or community-interest news coverage. Chapter 48

New York Times v. Sullivan (1964): In this case, the Court announced guidelines that the public figure needs to establish in court if s/he is to win a libel case. In that case, the New York Times was sued in an Alabama court by a police commissioner named Sullivan, who claimed that an advertisement taken out by the Committee to Defend Martin Luther King had libeled him by implication. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the New York Times and said in what is known as the Sullivan Test that the victim must show: 1) that the information printed about them was false, 2) that the publisher either knew it was false or the statements “were made with a reckless disregard for the truth,” 3) the information was written due to malice, and 4) publication of the inflammation damaged the victim. The Court set the standard high to avoid public officials being able to escape public criticism by threatening lawsuits against newspapers and magazines. Chapter 64

New York Times v. United States (1971): In this famous case, the Court  interpreted freedom of the press to mean that government should not be able to engage in what is known as prior restraint, which is when the government prevents publication of something that it finds to be objectionable or illegal. During the Vietnam War, Daniel Ellsberg stole a copy of a secret history of America’s involvement in that conflict. As an employee of the Rand Corporation, Ellsberg had participated in producing this secret report for the Secretary of Defense. Ellsberg gave it to Neil Sheehan, a reporter for the New York Times, which began to print the report in installments, collectively called The Pentagon Papers. It was explosive, because it revealed the extent of the morass in Vietnam, important decisions along the way, and how the American people were deceived by the government. Even though most of the deception had occurred under Democratic administrations, Republican President Richard Nixon wanted The Pentagon Papers suppressed. The government got a federal court to issue an order to the New York Times to desist from further publication, arguing that publication violated the Espionage Act’s prohibition against willfully communicating information it “knew or had reason to believe. . . could be used to the injury of the United States. . . to persons not entitled to receive such information.” In a 6-3 decision, the Court ruled that the government had not met its “heavy burden of showing justification” for prior restraint of The Pentagon Papers. Chapter 64

Nineteenth Amendment (1920): After a long, difficult struggle to secure women’s right to vote, feminists finally won the right to vote regardless of sex when the Nineteenth Amendment passed in 1919 and was ratified in 1920. Chapters 49; 69

Nixon-Kennedy 1960 presidential debates: Televised presidential debates began in the 1960 election, and it immediately became clear that a candidate benefited from being telegenic. In the first of the four Nixon-Kennedy 1960, presidential debates radio listeners thought that Nixon bested Kennedy, while television viewers came to the opposite conclusion. The reason? The radio listeners couldn’t see that with no make-up and sporting a five o’clock shadow, Nixon looked horrible compared to the tanned, make-up-wearing Kennedy. No presidential candidate has ever made Nixon’s mistake again. Chapter 47

Nixon, President Richard (1913-1974): On June 17, 1972, agents of President Richard Nixon’s Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CREEP) were caught breaking into the Democratic Headquarters in the Watergate office and residential complex. Nixon immediately tried to cover up the incident. The cover-up did not work. Nixon did everything he could to forestall the inevitable. In the famous Saturday Night Massacre, Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Archibald Cox, who was serving as the independent special prosecutor in the case. Richardson resigned rather than carry out the order. Nixon then ordered Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to fire Cox. Ruckelshaus also refused to do it and resigned instead. Then Nixon asked Solicitor General Robert Bork to fire Cox, and Bork complied. The scandal that started with the Watergate break-in expanded to reveal shocking corruption in the Nixon administration. Nixon had a taping system in the White House that recorded his conversations with everyone who came into his office. Nixon refused to turn over the tapes in the face of a congressional subpoena until forced by a unanimous Supreme Court decision. The United States v. Nixon (1974) established that while the president had the right to confidentially record conversations with his advisors, executive privilege did not extend to refusing to turn over records pertinent to a criminal proceeding. Nixon resigned the presidency on August 9, 1974, just before the full House had a chance to vote on accepting three articles of impeachment. The House impeached him. Chapter 30

Noble, Elaine (1944-): In 1974, Noble became the first openly lesbian woman elected to public office. She won a seat in the Massachusetts state House of Representatives. In an interview, Noble said that her first campaign was “ugly,” with gunshots through her windows, and people visiting her house and campaign office were harassed. Once, while in office, feces were left in her desk. She won re-election in 1976. Chapter 70

non sequitur: This means “it does not follow,” and refers to an argument in which the evidence and conclusion don’t match the original claim. Chapter 5

Northwest Ordinance (1787): This ordinance concerned the territories located in the Old Northwest, what is today north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River. The ordinance allowed territories to enter the Union as states on the same equal legal footing as the original thirteen states. Chapter 12

null hypothesis: A null hypothesis essentially asserts that there is no relationship between two variables. Chapter 4

Nullification Crises: The perilous and unsettled nature of federal and state relations during the 1789 to 1865 Definitional Period of American Federalism was exemplified by state attempts to nullify federal laws. States effectively said, “We do not recognize this federal law as operable on us.” In 1798, President John Adams signed the Alien and Sedition Acts. Kentucky and Virginia both passed resolutions nullifying the law in their states and asserted the right to disregard the federal laws with which they disagreed. The Kentucky resolution, secretly written by Thomas Jefferson, said that since the Constitution was created by the states, each state has “the unquestionable right to judge of its infraction,” which is a way to say that Kentuckians get to determine whether a law is unconstitutional. This nullification crisis didn’t boil over because the Democratic-Republican Jeffersonian victory in the 1800 election resulted in states repealing the offending federal legislation. Chapter 16

O

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015): James Obergefell and John Arthur married in Maryland right after the Windsor case was decided; they then sued the state of Ohio, their state of residence, when it refused to recognize their union. By the time the case reached the Supreme Court in 2015, it had been joined with three other similar cases from different jurisdictions around the country. The Court ruled 5-4 in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) that state prohibitions against same-sex marriages were unconstitutional, as was the portion of the Defense of Marriage Act that allowed states to refuse to recognize gay marriages performed in other states. Chapter 70

obligation of contracts: Congress and state legislatures are also forbidden from impairing the obligation of contracts. For example, if I render services to you and you owe me a great deal of money according to the contract that we both signed, you might be tempted to go to your friends in Congress and get them to pass a law saying that you do not have to pay me. That is not allowed. Chapter 62

obscenity: Obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment, but the Court has set the bar high for defining obscenity. Chapter 64

Office of Management and Budget. Originally created in 1921 as the Bureau of the Budget in the Treasury Department. The OMB is a powerful agency within the executive branch. According to the White House, the OMB assists the president with the following: Developing and executing the budget. Managing agency performance and oversight, human capital, Federal procurement, financial management, and information technology. Coordinating and reviewing all significant executive agencies’ federal regulations policy. Coordinating the Legislative branch and providing them clearance. Coordinating Executive Orders and Presidential Memoranda. Chapter 25

Office of the United States Trade Representative: Established by Congress with the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the Office of the United States Trade Representative is responsible for coordinating U.S. trade policy and negotiating international trade agreements. Chapter 25

one-party system: This is a political system in which other parties are either banned or so hobbled that they can’t compete with the ruling party. Chapter 44

open-ended questions: In conducting survey research, these questions provide the respondent with much freedom to structure the answer for themselves by asking the respondent what they think about something. Chapter 7

open primary: In an open primary, voters can vote in the party primary of their choice, but not in both. Chapter 50

opinion leadership: This refers to political leaders’ ability to change the opinions of many people, mainly because on many issues, individuals do not have strongly formed opinions. If a political leader who they respect and with whom they share party affiliation comes out forcefully in favor of a different approach to a policy, many people will shift their opinion to that of the political leader. Chapter 65

oral argument: After briefs have been filed, the Supreme Court picks an oral argument date. Oral arguments take place in public sessions on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from October to May, and there is a public gallery, so visitors can watch the Court work. Normally, petitioner and respondent’s lawyers are each allowed thirty minutes to present their case to the assembled justices. Chapter 31

organized interests: This term refers to political interests that have a specific organizational unit that works to influence public policy in numerous ways, short of running actual election candidates. This organizational unit requires money and staff simply to exist, plus additional money to influence policy. Organized interests can be categorized into economic, citizens groups or non-economic, and government groups. Chapter 45

originalism: Originalism is the interpretive convention of the Constitution that argues that the Constitution should mean now what it meant to the people who wrote it. Chapter 34

original jurisdiction: Original jurisdiction refers to those cases that are heard first in the Supreme Court. The paths to the Supreme Court are conditioned by its jurisdiction. Jurisdiction refers to the scope or mandate of a court, meaning what kinds of cases it can hear and how it hears them. The Supreme Court has the broadest jurisdiction of any federal court, but its mandate is divided into its original and appellate jurisdictions. According to Article III of the Constitution and federal statute, the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in the following kinds of cases: controversies between two states; all actions or proceedings to which ambassadors, other public ministers, consuls, or vice consuls of foreign states are parties; all controversies between the United States and a state; all actions or proceedings by a state against the citizens of another state or against aliens. Chapter 32

oversight: A final important congressional role is performing executive-agency oversight. Standing committees and their subcommittees hold hearings to inquire into executive agencies’ operations to see how programs and regulations are working and what impacts federal laws have once they go into effect. Chapter 21

overt city ordinances: This is a significant form of housing discrimination in American history. Many cities used overt city ordinances that divided the town into racial zones and mandated that residential property in “white” areas be purchased by whites, while property in “black” areas be purchased by nonwhites. The Supreme Court ruled these kinds of city ordinances unconstitutional in 1914, but the practice continued as a matter of custom. Chapter 68

P

PAC, favor incumbents: PACs give most of their money to incumbents, or those who are in office and are running for reelection, as opposed to challengers. There are three reasons why PACs favor incumbents. 1) Incumbents tend to win. It’s a safe bet to give money to an incumbent who already votes favorably to your organized interest. 2) Incumbents have Washington experience and might sit on important committees. Committee and subcommittee chairmen tend to receive a great deal of PAC money. 3) Incumbents have a voting track record on national issues, so they are often more of a known commodity than are challengers. Chapter 54

packing: Packing involves “the practice of drawing particular districts in such a way as to ensure that another party’s candidate wins that seat by a tremendous margin.” The party doing the gerrymandering wants to concede this district and pack as many of the other party’s supporters in there as possible, which will make neighboring districts more competitive. Chapter 53

PAC, leadership: A leadership PAC is established or controlled by a political candidate or a person who holds federal office to raise and give money to other politicians. Leadership PACs are separate from the candidate or office holder’s election or reelection committee. Congressional members often have leadership PACs to raise money and support candidates or other congressional members with whom they share ideology, party affiliation, or policy positions. Chapter 54

PAC, political action committee: The only legal way for organized interests to donate money directly to campaigns is for them to create a political action committee, or PAC, which is an FEC-recognized entity that can legally engage in campaign finance. There are different types of PACs that give directly to campaigns. Two of them are traditional PACs and leadership PACs. Chapter 54

PAC, super: As a result of the Citizens United case and another federal case called SpeechNow v. FEC (2010), outside spending has exploded. The vehicles for much outside spending are super PACs, a new kind of organization that falls under the soft money category. Where traditional and leadership PACs donate money directly to campaigns, super PACs cannot do so, but they can spend unlimited amounts of money on behalf of one candidate or another. They must do so independently of the candidate they are supporting, meaning they cannot coordinate their activities with the campaign they are supporting. They can raise unlimited amounts of money from corporations, unions, and individuals, but they must disclose their donors to the FEC. Chapter 54

PAC, traditional: Traditional PACs are entities created by organized interests, such as corporations, unions, and interest groups, as vehicles to raise money and funnel it to candidates. Chapter 54

Palmer Raids, 1919-1920: U.S. Attorney General Alexander Palmer, fearing insurrection from leftist radicals, directed a series of red-scare raids, called Palmer Raids, that rounded up around 10,000 Communists, Socialists, and Anarchists, mostly Italian and Eastern Jewish immigrants with alleged leftist ties. Over 500 of them were deported. Chapter 60

pardon, controversial: The presidential pardon power is absolute in the sense that neither Congress nor the Supreme Court can countermand a presidential pardon. Controversial presidential pardons that have occurred in modern history: In 1974, President Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon for any crimes committed while in office. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter granted a blanket amnesty to all Vietnam-era draft evaders. In 1992, President George H. W. Bush issued controversial pardons to several high Reagan administration officials who had been involved in the Iran-Contra Scandal. In 2001, President Bill Clinton pardoned billionaire financier Marc Rich, who fled the country in 1983. In 2017, President Barak Obama used the pardon power most controversially when he commuted the remaining sentence of Chelsea Manning, an American activist, whistleblower, and former U.S. Army soldier. In 2017, President Donald Trump issued the first of several controversial pardons. Trump pardoned Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who had been found guilty of defying a judge’s order to stop detaining and harassing Latino residents of Maricopa County, Arizona. In 2019, Trump pardoned an Army officer and a Navy SEAL who had been convicted of committing war crimes—one for murder and obstruction of justice and the other for posing with the corpse of an enemy combatant. Trump also pardoned another Army officer who was awaiting trial for murdering a detainee in Afghanistan. Trump’s pardons disregarded the recommendations of the Pentagon leadership, who felt that they would undermine a general and admiral’s ability to maintain proper order. Chapter 27

pardon, two limitations on pardon power: Presidents can only pardon people who have been charged with a federal (not state) crimes, and presidents cannot pardon someone in the executive or judicial branches whom Congress has impeached. The president can issue a full pardon, which restores the recipient’s full rights so they can run for office, serve on juries and purchase firearms, or a conditional pardon, which restores partial rights. Pardons do not imply that the person is innocent, nor do they expunge the original conviction. The president can also commute a sentence, which typically allows a person to leave federal prison before completing their full sentence, but they maintain the other impacts of their federal conviction. Chapter 27

partisan conservative media ecosystem’ rise: The most recent development in political media’s history is the rise of the partisan conservative media ecosystem. The demise of the fairness doctrine in 1987 allowed corporations and wealthy libertarians to develop an especially insular media empire centered on conspiracy theories and partisan news. Chapter 47

partisan gerrymandering: This is when the majority party in a state draws legislative districts to make it difficult for the opposition party to win seats in the state legislature or U.S. House of Representatives. The Supreme Court majority said that the partisan gerrymandering issue was a “political question” for state legislatures to resolve. It is primarily majority parties in state legislatures that are causing the problem, so the Court’s decision amounts to giving a pass to this anti-democratic practice. Chapter 35

partisan press: The nineteenth century was the golden era of the partisan press. Most newspapers didn’t worry about objectively printing the day’s or week’s events; they were often openly tied to political parties or movements and tilted the news accordingly. Competition in the business was stiff, and publishers often went for scandal and sensationalism to sell newspapers. Chapter 47

party ballots: Before 1888, the most common way to vote in the United States was to use party ballots, which were printed by the parties themselves. When ready to vote, you would go to the voting place, pick up a ballot that only listed one party’s nominees for all the offices, and drop it into the ballot box. Party ballots were color-coded, so it was very easy for your neighbors to see which party you supported, and it was easy to stuff the ballot box at the end of the day. No one would know the difference between a legitimate vote and a fraudulent one. Chapter 50

party identification: This refers to a voter’s self-identification with one party or another, whether they are formally party members or not. Chapter 43

party in government: This refers to elected and appointed public officials who identify with one party or another. As with party organization, this is a relatively well-defined universe of people that can be subdivided into precise groups like members of the House of Representatives or U.S. Senators. Chapter 43

party in the electorate: This refers to the voters who support each party. People may support the Democratic or Republican parties—or one of the third parties—without formally registering as a party affiliate. The largest “party” in the United States are those who either intentionally refuse to commit to one of the parties or who have turned away from partisan politics altogether. Chapter 43

party organization: This refers to people who hold offices or volunteer positions in a political party at the local, state, or national level. They tend to be quite dedicated, devoting considerable time and effort promoting the party, its policies, and its candidates. Chapter 43

party platform: The party platform lays out the party’s position on various issues of the day and is adopted at the national convention. Chapter 41

pathos: This rhetorical appeal refers the author’s appeal to the audience’s sense of identity, their self-interest, and their emotions. Chapter 9

peer-reviewed journal: A magazine that publishes only peer-reviewed articles. Scientists publish their findings in peer-reviewed journals. The peer-review is a blind process in which a journal article is reviewed by others in the same field. The author of the manuscript does not know who is reviewing it, and the reviewers do not know who wrote the manuscript. Chapter 4

Pendleton Civil Service Act, 1883: This Act set the U.S. federal government on the path to a merit system. The merit system provides protection to federal civil servants from being fired or punished when a presidential administration of one party takes power from an administration of a different party. Federal civil servants can only be fired “for cause,” meaning that they can be fired for not adequately performing their job, but not for extraneous or political reasons. Chapter 38

The Pentagon Papers:  In this famous case, New York Times v. United States (1971), the Supreme Court  interpreted freedom of the press to mean that government should not be able to engage in what is known as prior restraint, which is when the government prevents publishing something that it finds to be objectionable or illegal. During the Vietnam War, Daniel Ellsberg stole a copy of a secret history of America’s involvement in that conflict. As an employee of the Rand Corporation, Ellsberg had participated in producing this secret report for the Secretary of Defense. Ellsberg gave it to Neil Sheehan, a reporter for the New York Times, which began to print the report in installments, collectively called The Pentagon Papers. It was explosive, because it revealed the extent of the morass in Vietnam, important decisions along the way, and the considerable degree to which the American people were deceived by the government. Even though most of the deception had occurred under Democratic administrations, Republican President Richard Nixon wanted The Pentagon Papers suppressed. The government got a federal court to issue an order to the New York Times to desist from further publication, arguing that publication violated the Espionage Act’s prohibition against willfully communicating information it “knew or had reason to believe. . . could be used to the injury of the United States. . . to persons not entitled to receive such information.” In a 6-3 decision, the Court ruled that the government had not met its “heavy burden of showing justification” for prior restraint of The Pentagon Papers. Chapter 64

petitioner: The petitioner is the person or group who brings a case or appeal to court, and the respondent is the person or group who answers. Chapter 31

Phillips, David Graham (1867-1911): Graham was a journalist who wrote a nine-installment series called “Treason of the Senate” in 1906 for Cosmopolitan Magazine. He documented corporate manipulation and corrupt process of selecting U.S. Senators, which galvanized the reform movement that eventually resulted in ratifying the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, which mandated that senators be elected directly by the people. Chapter 47

physical infrastructure: The U.S. economy depends on the nation’s physical infrastructure. The National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956 started one of the largest infrastructure projects in American history: the creation of the interstate highway system, benefitting individual people and commercial businesses alike. Chapter 36

plain meaning rule: Supreme Court justices apply what is known as the plain meaning rule, which is simply to say that if the statutory language is plain and unambiguous, it must be followed and applied to the case at hand. Chapter 34

plain view: During traffic stops, police can examine that which is in plain view—e.g., on your dashboard or sitting on the back seat—without reasonable suspicion or probable cause, but they would need probable cause to search further without your permission. Anything incriminating that is in plain view can be grounds for probable cause. Police can ask you to step out of the car and can frisk you with reasonable suspicion, which presumably they already have if they legally stopped your vehicle. Chapter 66

plea bargaining: This means to admit guilt to obtain a reduced sentence, which has, in fact, been abandoned in a few jurisdictions in the United States but is growing around the world. A former attorney for the United States Department of Justice, Ralph Adam Fine argued back in 1987 that plea bargaining was a double evil: “It encourages crime by weakening the credibility of the system on the one hand and, on the other, it tends to extort guilty pleas from the innocent. Chapter 66

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896); Plessy, Homer (1862-1925): In 1890, the Louisiana legislature passed the Separate Car Act requiring that all trains operating in the state be segregated by race and forbidding people from “going into a coach or compartment to which by race he does not belong.” On June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy was arrested after he purchased a first-class ticket on the East Louisiana Railroad train running from New Orleans to Covington, Louisiana, and took a seat in a car reserved for whites only. Plessy, a married shoemaker whose heritage was African and French, was one-eighth black. Indeed, press accounts of the time indicate that the train conductor had to ask Plessy his race before he was arrested for being in the “wrong” car. The Committee of Citizens hoped that the Supreme Court would rule in favor of Plessy, for surely this state law that mandates segregating train passengers according to race was a violation of the civil rights clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. But the Supreme Court upheld the law as constitutional, arguing that no civil rights clause violation had taken place because the passengers were all treated equally, albeit in a segregated fashion. This reasoning became known as the separate but equal doctrine and was the rationale to officially sanction segregation for the next six decades. Justice John Marshall Harlan was the lone dissenter; he argued that, “In respect of civil rights, common to all citizens, the Constitution of the United States does not, I think, permit any public authority to know the race of those entitled to be protected in the enjoyment of such rights.” His argument did not carry the day, and the precedent set by Plessy allowed separate but equal to characterize American life. Chapter 68

pluralism: American politics is marked by a rich diversity of organized interests. Pluralism is the theory that allows ordinary Americans to be free to start or join any organized interest groups with the intent that their respective wishes will be translated into government policy. The theory being that a variety of possible interests makes for a more-or-less level playing field. Chapters 3; 45

plurality of votes: In the United States’ winner-take-all, single-member district voting system, the most votes out of those cast are called the plurality of votes. Chapter 44

political advertising: This can involve everything from yard signs to YouTube ads, from radio spots to micro-targeted messages on social media. Chapter 41

political advertising types: The following are several political advertising types that candidates use to get their message out. Negative campaign ads seek to associate an opponent with events or actions that are portrayed as horrendous in the extreme. Backfire ads use the words and images of the opponent against them. Candidate’s biography ads are sentimental and often sappy reviews of the candidate’s life. Ads featuring endorsements by average folks or celebrities present the viewer with real people who praise and/or endorse the candidate. Chapter 48

political appointee: Cabinet-level agencies are headed by a Secretary—Secretary of Labor, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and so on—who is a political appointee, meaning that they are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate and that they are expected to carry out the president’s program with respect to the agency. Similarly, the agency leadership’s top layer are also political appointees, with titles like Assistant Secretary, Deputy Assistant Secretary, General Counsel, and so forth. Chapter 38

political efficacy: Formal education tends to promote what is known as political efficacy, or a person’s belief that she can influence public policy through her political behaviors, like voting, demonstrating, donating to candidates, and organizing collectively for action. Chapter 56

political imagination: Political imagination is our ability to envision new and creative ways to make the political system work for ordinary people and to ask “What if” questions. Chapter 1

political participation; attend a demonstration: A moderately active form of political participation is to attend a demonstration for a cause in which you believe. Political demonstrations’ effects range from inconsequential to earth shaking. A good demonstration broadly raises the publics’ awareness of a cause, making the news and bringing the issue to people who may never have considered that the issue was even a problem. When thousands or tens of thousands or millions of people gather in one location or in cities and towns across the country or world, that tells other people and politicians that the issue is salient. For every person who attends the demonstration, typically there are many more who think the same way. Politicians pay attention to that show of support. Chapter 58

political participation; attend a townhall meeting:  A form of political participation is to attend a townhall meeting, which is an open forum where lawmakers give a speech and answer questions from the audience. A tele-townhall meeting is an online or conference call meeting with more restricted participation. Some politicians only hold tele-townhall meetings because they are afraid to fully defend their positions to their constituents. Check your politician’s website for information about upcoming meetings or call the staff in the local office. The Townhall Project can connect you with events, and it keeps track of congressional members who do not meet with their constituents. The Townhall Project encourages you to organize an empty chair townhall meeting and invite your congressional member to fill that chair. If they don’t come, have the meeting anyway and educate the attendees about the congressman’s voting record. Chapter 58

political participation; organize: A form of political participation is to get together with like-minded people and organize yourselves into a group that can exert more influence. Join an already existing organization. Get to know people in your local or state chapters, and work on meaningful projects. There are myriad state and national-level political organizations working to influence public debate, organize protests, lobby legislators, and make life better for millions of Americans. When you have extra money, donate some to that organization. If not, give your time. If an organization doesn’t exist that specifically addresses your political interest, start a new organization. The Internet and social media can be great resources in this regard. This is not slacktivism. This is using the connectivity afforded us by modern technology to organize people and to communicate a common purpose. Chapter 58

political participation; political parties: Get involved with a political party or campaign: Getting involved with a political party or campaign offers myriad ways for you to get involved in politics, such as volunteering, certifying the accounts, putting up yard signs, being a county-level leader, or staffing a phone bank. Parties need a cadre of long-term volunteers who can be counted on for a variety of projects and initiatives over time. Volunteers help develop networks and deepen the party’s resources. Run for political office. People do it often. It can be an extremely valuable and empowering experience. Volunteering is also a great way to gain experience before you run for office. There are websites and books that can guide you through the process. Chapter 58

political participation; write op-ed pieces for publication, tips: When writing your op-eds, keep them short. Make one central point. Write one sentence that strongly addresses your central point. Make this be the first sentence or two. Tell readers why they should care. Offer specific recommendations. Use the active voice. Showing is better than discussing. Acknowledge the other side. Make your ending a winner. Chapter 58

political participation; write to an elected official, tips: To write to an elected official, look at the website for your Congress members and find the contact form, which will allow you to paste your text and submit your letter. Keep it brief. State who you are and what you want up front. Hit your three most important points. Personalize your letter. Personalize your relationship. Be courteous, to the point, and firm. Spell-check your letter before sending it. Chapter 58

political parties provide candidates with expertise and data: The benefits of political parties are that they provide candidates with expertise and can hook them up with consultants and make mailing lists and past election results available to them. Chapter 41

political program: Responsible party government needs parties that develop a political program which is a set of policies on issues facing the country. This program should be prominent and well-publicized, because voters vote for the party that best advances their interests. Voters can’t do that if the parties are unclear about their political program. The party also must be strong enough to carry out the program once it is in power. The party must be able to control its own politicians sufficiently to guarantee that the program will be translated into bills that can pass the legislature and become policy. When parties have sufficient power and coherence to translate political programs into policy, voters can easily see which party is responsible for what policies, and this is essential information as they head into the voting booths. Voters reward politicians from the party they support and punish the politicians from the party they oppose. Chapter 41

political socialization: This means the process by which people acquire their political attitudes, beliefs, opinions, and behaviors, which include four areas: 1) it is in part a hard-wired component of our personality; 2) conservatives and progressives have an innate difference in threat perception; 3) conservatives have a higher tolerance for ambiguity and a lower tolerance for disorder than progressives; 4) progressives see fairness as accessing basic resources, and conservatives see fairness as getting what one deserves based on effort. Chapter 56

politicized partisanship: This refers to a highly politicized time with respect to the federal judiciary. Congressional partisanship has not only led to contested nominations, but it has spilled over into the judiciary, such that battles lost in Congress manifest themselves as wars in the federal courts. It is also clear that Republicans have been particularly aggressive and successful in packing the courts with conservative judges. This is accomplished via the following three mechanisms: 1) Creating a conservative judicial strategy: In recent decades Republicans have been far more unified and strategic with their approach to the federal judiciary than have Democrats; 2) stalling judicial nominations; 3) rushing nominations through the judicial approval process. Chapter 33

polity: A political organization, which includes individuals, groups, corporations, unions, politicians, and so on. Chapter 1

poll taxes: A poll tax is a fee one must pay to vote. The Twenty-fourth Amendment effectively outlawed poll taxes, which Southern states had passed early in the 1900s primarily to suppress blacks and poor people from voting. Chapter 49

popular demand: The federal government has grown by popular demand because the people have demanded that it solve real problems. Chapter 12

pork barrel spending: The phrase, “bringing home the bacon,” is related to pork barrel spending. The practice of congressmen dipping into the national treasury to fund local projects came to be known as them dipping into the pork barrel, and the name and the practice have continued ever since. Chapter 22

positive relationship: In using the scientific method to make observations, positive relationship is the value of one variable increasing along with the value of another variable. Chapter 4

post hoc ergo propter hoc: In making an argument, this fallacy is often used and literally means “after this, therefore because of this.” We assert that A caused B simply because A preceded B. Chapter 5

power elite: This the theory that a relatively small and wealthy class of individuals largely gets its way. According to this theory, the power elite either are the decision-makers, or they so influence the decision-makers that the elites get their way most of the time. Elite theory highlights the power of organized business and military interests combined with the affluent strata of society and points to many government policies that lavish benefits onto them. Business interests create interlocking and overlapping connections that reinforce their position and allow them to control the political system. Chapters 3; 45

power of seniority and experience: The power of seniority and experience applies to campaigns in which an upstart challenger is up against a congressional veteran incumbent who stresses the importance of his seniority and experience in Washington. This is a powerful argument because it is true that seniority in Congress results in more power, better committee assignments, and greater ability to get bills passed, or the greater ability to stop unfavorable bills. All this power can translate into a larger voice for the state or district being represented by the incumbent. Chapter 55

power, political:  In politics, power is the struggle over resources, rights, or privileges: the struggle for who gets what. Chapter 2

precedent: When the Supreme Court makes a definitive ruling on a matter of law, that decision sets a precedent for other courts to follow in subsequent cases. Two caveats apply to precedent-power in lower court decisions. 1) The case at hand must be similar enough to the one that set the precedent. 2) A later Supreme Court can always decide to change precedent by overturning a previous Supreme Court’s decision. Chapter 31

preclearance: The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was designed to shore up a weakness of the Civil Rights Act, which was that it was insufficient in defending the right of all people to vote regardless of race. One section of the Voting Rights Act that was originally passed in 1965 required that states with a documented history of voting discrimination receive “preclearance” from the Justice Department or the United States District Court in Washington, DC, before implementing changes to their election laws. This applied heavily to mostly Southern states that had worked overtime for nearly a century to deny voting rights to African Americans. The purpose of preclearance was to ensure that states would not revert to election practices that overtly discriminated or that had discriminatory effects. Chapters 35; 68

Pregnancy Discrimination Act (1978): In 1976, the Supreme Court ruled that discrimination against pregnant women was not a form of sex discrimination that was forbidden by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because not all women are pregnant. Congress responded in 1978 and passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which banned discrimination “on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions” in medium- and large-sized companies.  Chapter 69

presidential elections: The American president is not elected by the people. Instead, presidents are elected by the Electoral College. Popular vote does not determine who sits in the White House. The electors’ vote is determinative. It is difficult to call a country’s political system fully “democratic” when majority vote does not select the president. Chapter 19

presidential signing statements: These are written statements that presidents have issued when they sign a bill into law. Regarding unitary executive theory, the president can go beyond merely executing the law, he can execute the law as he interprets it. Chapter 29

Presidential Succession Act of 1947: This act has been amended several times. This law spells out the succession order if the president and vice president are both killed or otherwise incapacitated. Chapter 26

President of the Senate: One of the vice president’s few formal powers is to be the President of the Senate, which is mostly a formality. The vice president isn’t even allowed to participate in Senate debates. As President of the Senate, vice presidents only have two formal Senate roles that are meaningful: they preside over the electoral college vote-counting, which takes place in a joint session of Congress, and the vice president can cast a tie-breaking vote if one is needed in the Senate. Chapter 26

Priestly, Joseph (1733-1804): The American founders were sympathetic with the arguments of Joseph Priestly, codiscoverer of oxygen and a founder of Unitarianism, and James Burgh, a Scottish minister and political writer, both of whom wanted the English Test and Corporation Acts to be repealed. Burgh wrote, “Away with all foolish distinctions about religious opinions. Those with different religious views are both equally fit for being employed in the service of our country.” Chapter 17

primary: This is an election before the general election in which people vote for one of several possible nominees.  Chapter 50

primary goal of a political party: The primary goal of a political party is to determine government policies by having its candidates win elections and become decision makers.  Chapter 41

prior restraint: The Court has interpreted freedom of the press to mean that government should not be able to engage in what is known as prior restraint, which is when the government prevents publishing something that it finds to be objectionable or illegal. The most famous case involving this principle was New York Times v. United States (1971). Chapter 64

privileges and immunities (Article IV, section 2):  This article states that “The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.” This clause meant that as free men and women traveled out of their state, other states were obligated not to discriminate against them with respect to civil rights. But the nondiscrimination terms were set by the state being visited. In the late nineteenth century, the Supreme Court begin incorporating the Bill of Rights protections using the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause instead of the privileges and immunities clause. The due process clause says that states may not “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” Chapters 15; 63

probable cause:  Probable cause is the standard used when judges issue warrants or when police operate in what are known as exigent circumstances. Reasonable suspicion is a lower standard than probable cause. In Terry v. Ohio (1968), the Supreme Court ruled that police may stop and frisk people on the street if they have a reasonable suspicion that the person has committed a crime, is in the process of committing a crime, or is about to commit a crime. The Court also ruled that even if police do not have reasonable suspicion to stop and frisk someone, if that person has an outstanding warrant, police can use anything they find in court. Chapter 66

professional conferences: These are conferences where scientists present their findings to their peers and where they challenge each other, share new ideas and data sets, and develop common research interests around which they can collaborate. Chapter 4

Progressivism: This philosophy holds that the truth is real and that we are on a never-ending journey towards it. Chapter 6

progressivism: The terms liberalism, progressivism, social-welfare liberalism, and democratic-socialism all hang together even though those group’s adherents don’t necessarily agree with each other. This includes democratic socialists but does not include true socialists whose aim is to dismantle capitalism. Chapter 35

project grants: These are a type of categorical grant and are open on a competitive basis. They often require an elaborate application process. Many entities such as state governments, city governments, and colleges employ people to draft grant applications. Chapter 15

property qualifications:  That a person needed property qualifications to vote was a practice that America inherited from England, where these restrictions had been in place since the Middle Ages. The idea behind property qualifications restrictions was that only men who freeheld enough property could be determined to be independent, which means not dependent on others as women, servants, slaves, free blacks, children, and others were. By being independent, they simultaneously possessed a stake in society. Chapter 49

Proposition 8: California’s Proposition 8 was a ballot initiative that passed with 52 percent of the vote in 2008 to amend the California state constitution to forbid gay marriage. The proposition was upheld by state courts but challenged in federal courts. In 2010, a federal district court ruled that Proposition 8 was an unconstitutional violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process and equal protection clauses. The state of California refused to participate in this decision’s appeal, so the case, Hollingsworth v. Perry (2013), was appealed to the Supreme Court by the original private proponents of Proposition 8. However, the Court ruled on technical grounds that the private proponents of Proposition 8 did not have standing to bring the appeal, and that decision left in place the lower federal court’s ruling that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. Both Hollingsworth v. Perry (2013) and United States v. Windsor (2013) were decided by narrow 5-4 decisions. Chapter 70

pseudo-event: A pseudo-event is an event that exists solely to generate media coverage and has little or no substance of its own. Chapter 48

public interest groups: These groups are also known as good-government groups; they claim to represent America’s broad interests. Some of these interest groups include Common Cause, the Center for Public Integrity, Citizens Against Government Waste, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Public Citizen, and the Center for Responsive Politics. Chapter 45

public opinion poll, public opinion survey, and survey research: These terms are used interchangeably to mean scientifically rigorous solicitations and aggregations of individual political views. Chapter 56

public policy, issue salience: Four conditions are the most important for allowing ordinary Americans’ opinions to influence public policy. “Policy tends to move in the same direction as public opinion most often when the opinion change is large and when it is stable, which means it is not reversed by fluctuations.” Large and stable shifts in public opinion can result in public policy change. “Similarly, policy congruence [with public opinion] is higher on salient than on non-salient issues.” Issue salience refers to its prominence in the public sphere—are people talking about it, are they writing about it on news sites, is the issue important to many people? A third condition is the intensity with which people hold their opinions. If a significant enough plurality of people holds very intense opinions about an issue—e.g., gun rights, abortion, or civil rights—that translates into letters to Congress, votes on election day, demonstrations, and other forms of political behavior that can move elected officials to act. The fourth condition that determines whether public opinion can influence policy is whether elites are divided about the issue. When elites are divided on a salient political issue, at least one side of that division has an interest in enlisting public opinion as an argument for why their side of the policy debate should win. Chapter 56

push poll: This poll combines a survey with biased information designed to get the results the sponsoring organization or candidate is looking for. A push poll is a form of negative advertising in the guise of a survey. Push polls have been denounced by all legitimate survey research organizations. Chapters 7; 56

Q

qualitative evidence: In making an argument, qualitative evidence means words, such as political speeches, national constitutions, journalists’ and commentators’ writings, interviews with average people, behavior observations, historical events, and so forth. Chapter 6

quantitative evidence: In making an argument, quantitative evidence means numbers, such as voting statistics, campaign finance figures, public opinion survey results, government revenue and spending, economic data, and so forth. Chapter 6

question’s wording: In conducting survey research, the question’s exact wording must be published when you see a  public opinion poll cited in the media; if you don’t, you should be suspicious and look for the original survey so that you can check the wording. Chapter 7

R

racial or religious covenants: A form of housing discrimination was called restrictive racial or religious covenants, which were agreements entered into between buyer and seller that restricted the future sale of the property to only certain kinds of people. The Supreme Court ruled against these kinds of covenants in 1948, but it was very difficult to enforce the Court’s ruling until the Fair Housing Act passed in 1968. Chapter 68

random sample: In conducting survey research, because it is not feasible to survey large populations, the researcher instead selects a random sample out of the larger population and gives them the survey. Chapter 7

ranking-list questions: In conducting survey research, ranking-list questions present the respondent with an items-list and asks him or her to rate the item’s importance. Chapter 7

reapportionment: Every ten years, the Census figures out how many people are in the United States and where they are living, forcing the reapportionment of the 435 House of Representative seats. Some states gain House seats after reapportionment, and some states lose them. Each time that happens, the district boundaries are redrawn. Chapter 53

reasonable suspicion: In Terry v. Ohio (1968), the Supreme Court ruled that police may stop and frisk people on the street if they have a reasonable suspicion that the person has committed a crime, is in the process of committing a crime, or is about to commit a crime. Reasonable suspicion is a lower standard than probable cause, which is the standard used when judges issue warrants or when police operate in what are known as exigent circumstances. The Court also ruled that even if police do not have reasonable suspicion to stop and frisk someone, if that person has an outstanding warrant, police can use in court anything they find. Chapter 66

red herring: Like the straw man fallacy, in making an argument, we commit the red herring fallacy when we bring up a nonrelated issue to make our case. Chapter 5

Red Republicans (1854): Many early Republicans were so progressive that they were referred to as Red Republicans. They pledged to fight the “twin relics of barbarism”—slavery and polygamy. Early Republicans had a vision of America as a land free not only from slavery, but from wage slavery as well, meaning the business of exploiting laborers for-hire. They celebrated autonomous workers, primarily independent farmers and the self-employed, and feared the power of capitalists, regardless of whether they were plantation owners in the South or factory owners in the North. Chapter 42

Red Scare: This term refers to a hyped fear of socialists and communists and a movement to silence their voices and any progressives or leftists. Elites were terrified at the prospect of a successful social and political revolution in the United States. Three years following the 1917 Russian Revolution, government leaders created a Red Scare and went after socialists. Aided by the Espionage and Sedition Acts of 1918, “Hundreds of Socialist leaders and other radicals were convicted of sedition and antiwar activities, and party newspapers across the U.S. were suppressed and barred from the mails.” Another Red Scare took place from 1947 to 1957 and is most closely associated with Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin. Earlier, in 1940, Congress had passed the Smith Act, which made it a crime to “knowingly or willfully advocate, abet, advise or teach the duty, necessity, desirability or propriety of overthrowing the Government of the United States or of any State by force or violence, or for anyone to organize any association which teaches, advises or encourages such an overthrow, or for anyone to become a member of or to affiliate with any such association.” In 1947, Democratic President Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9835, which established loyalty oaths for government employees. The House Un-American Activities Committee issued subpoenas and hauled people in to testify about their political affiliations or to rat out their co-workers and colleagues. Thousands of people—from blue-collar union workers to Hollywood stars and writers—lost their jobs. McCarthyism had a chilling effect on people advocating leftist ideas such as universal healthcare. Chapter 65

reductive fallacy: In making an argument, we commit this fallacy when we try to address complex issues with simple solutions. For example, someone might say that the key to solving poverty is to “make lazy people work.” Chapter 5

register to vote: The final state-level reform that affects today’s politics is the requirement that citizens register to vote sometime prior to election-day. Chapter 50

regulatory capture: This is an issue with respect to the federal agency’s ability to fully serve the public interest, which happens when wealthy corporations, industrial sectors, and financial interests are able to use their close relationships with executive agencies to get them to work for their interests rather than those of ordinary Americans. Chapter 39

relativism: This philosophy posits that there is no ultimate truth, so there is no basis to reject one argument in favor of another. Chapter 6

religion, establishment clause, free exercise clause: The First Amendment’s treatment of religion occurs in a phrase called the establishment clause because it restricts Congress’ ability to legislate regarding “an establishment of religion.” The second phrase, “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” is referred to as the free exercise clause. Chapter 65

religious expression: To mobilize conservative voters over a false issue, some on the far right have argued that the Court has indeed banned prayer from public schools. The Supreme Court has not banned prayer or other religious expression from public schools. There are forms of religious expression that are and are not allowed in public schools. Chapter 65

Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA): This Act was designed to reverse the Employment Division v. Smith (1990) decision and other restrictions on religious practice. In the Smith decision. the Court ruled against Native Americans who had been fired and denied state unemployment benefits because they used peyote as part of an off-duty religious ceremony. The RFRA prohibited state and federal governments from limiting a person from exercising their religion unless it was in the government’s compelling interest to do so and unless the regulation in question is the least restrictive way to achieve the government interest. Chapter 65

remarkable similarities: The Democratic and Republican parties show remarkable similarities on numerus policies including mass incarceration, governmental and private sector population surveillance, and a campaign finance system that puts corporations and the wealthy in the driver’s seat. Chapter 43

Reno v. ACLU (1997): In this case, the Court unanimously struck down the Communications Decency Act because the law would require that the Internet only carry information suitable for children. Quoting one of its earlier decisions, the Court said, “The level of discourse reaching a mailbox cannot be limited to that which would be suitable for a sandbox.” In 1996, Congress passed the Communications Decency Act, and President Clinton signed it into law. The law made it a federal crime to knowingly transmit to a minor—or post on a web site where a minor might visit—any obscene, indecent, or patently offensive picture or text. Many groups immediately sued, and the American Civil Liberties Union carried the case. Chapter 64

reporting out: Reporting out is one of the stages that standing committees go through when writing legislation. If the committee votes to approve a bill, it is reported out to the main chamber along with a report describing the bill and its rationale. The bill’s supporters and opponents can include their views in the report. Chapter 22

representation: Congressional representation is closely related to the legislative role. Congressmen are elected to represent their constituents’ interests. Chapter 21

Republican Party: In the mid-1850s, northern Whigs joined some antislavery Democrats and members of the antislavery Free Soil Party to create the modern Republican Party. Chapter 42

research and data gathering: Once a Federal agency has been given statutory authority to regulate a given issue, the first step is usually research and data gathering, which means that the agency researches the current state of the problem, the solutions, and the costs. This research and data gathering stage of the rule-making process can take years of careful study before a sound regulation can be written. Chapter 38

respondent: The petitioner is the person or group who brings the case or the appeal to court, and the respondent is the person or group who answers. Chapter 31

responsible party government theory: This theory posits a mechanism that is fundamental to the operating a democracy, namely, that public preferences are translated into governing policy and that there is a continual process for the public to hold those policy-makers accountable when their wishes are not followed. Chapter 41

revolving door: The phrase, “government-to-lobbyist revolving door,” is often just shortened to the “revolving door,” which refers to when people move from government positions in the legislative and executive branches to positions within the industries that need to be regulated for the public good. This is a problem with respect to congressional members as well as political appointees and civil servants in executive branch agencies leaving public service to lobby for wealthy industries. Chapter 39

revolving door, three ways the government-to-lobbyist revolving door threatens the government’s integrity: 1) Public officials may be influenced in their official actions by the implicit or explicit promise of a lucrative job in the private sector with an entity seeking a government contract or to shape public policy. 2) Public-officials-turned-lobbyists will have the access to lawmakers that is not available to others, access that can be sold to the highest bidder among industries seeking to lobby. 3) The special access and inside connections that former officials-turned-lobbyists have to sitting government officials comes at a hefty price tag; wealthy special interests who can afford to hire such revolvers are provided with powerful means to influence government, which is unavailable to the rest of the public. Chapter 39

Reynolds v. United States (1878): In this case, a man named Reynolds was married to more than one wife, which was part of his religious beliefs. Even though plural marriage was part of Reynolds religious beliefs, the Supreme Court upheld a federal law banning polygamy. This case was particularly important because the Court made the distinction between religious beliefs, which the government could not regulate, and religious practices, which the government could regulate. Without this distinction, the Court argued, people could hide all sorts of outrageous and/or dangerous behavior behind the curtain of religion. Chapter 65

right to counsel: The Sixth Amendment provides that criminal defendants have a right to counsel for their defense. Chapter 63

rise of the national security state. Much of the executive/presidential power’s growth can be attributed to what scholars and critics refer to as the rise of the national security state. This concept suggests that the exigencies of protecting the United States from real or imagined external enemies inflates the power of the military, the intelligence agencies, and the internal security agencies—all of which are directed by the president. The founders feared this sort of development because it inevitably eroded democracy and the civil liberties they cherished; they continually warned against a large standing army in peacetime. Chapter 29

Roe v. Wade (1973): In this case, the Supreme Court granted women a fundamental right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy in the first trimester. The ruling granted progressively greater state power to regulate abortion in the second trimester, and even more state control in the third trimester. Chapter 69

Roosevelt, President Franklin (1882-1945); New Deal: The 1932 election brought Democrat Franklin Roosevelt to power, and his administration used government’s power to alleviate suffering, regulate the economy, and put people back to work. The overall policy is known as the New Deal, which included such features as Social Security, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the Works Progress Administration, among many others. Chapter 42

Roosevelt, Franklin; “fireside chats”: An early twentieth century development that changed the news media forever was the radio. By the 1920s, radio was becoming commonplace and had an immediacy and presence that newspapers couldn’t replicate. Politicians could speak directly to people, unmediated by journalists and newspaper editors. The most effective early use of radio was Franklin Roosevelt’s “fireside chats,” which began in 1933 and ran to 1944. These broadcasts helped him explain his policies and decisions directly to millions. Chapter 47

Rucho v. Common Cause (2019): The Supreme Court has thus far decided to sidestep the issue of partisan gerrymandering. In 2019, it reviewed a challenge to a Democratic gerrymander in Maryland and a challenge to a Republican gerrymander in North Carolina. In a narrow decision along ideological lines, the Court ruled that the issue was out of its hands. Writing for the five conservatives on the Court, Chief Justice John Roberts said in Rucho that partisan gerrymandering presents “political questions beyond the reach of federal courts.”  In her blistering dissenting opinion, Justice Elena Kagan wrote, “The partisan gerrymanders here debased and dishonored our democracy, turning upside-down the core American idea that all governmental power derives from the people. Of all the times to abandon the court’s duty to declare the law, this was not the one. The practices challenged in these cases imperil our system of government.” Chapter 53

rulemaking: The first important task of federal agencies is rulemaking, which refers to creating new regulations and revising existing regulations. The rulemaking process is governed by the Administrative Procedure Act, which was originally passed in 1946. Once the research and data gathering stage is finished, the Act requires the following steps: publish planning documents, engage stakeholders, write and publish a regulatory proposal, accept public comment, and publish the final rule or regulation. Chapter 38  

rule of four: The most common way to appeal to the Supreme Court is to petition for a writ of certiorari, which is a formal request to review a lower court’s decision. Such petitions are governed by an informal rule of four, whereby four or more justices must agree to take the case. Chapter 31

rule of law: This phrase refers to the related ideas that no one is above the law, that all of us are equally subject to the laws that we collectively make together, and that decisions are reached by following pre-established procedures. It is a cherished ideal that people around the world have struggled to achieve and one that authoritarian leaders seek to undermine. It is essential that citizens demand that elected and appointed office holders as well as government staff uphold the rule of law in all that they do. Chapters 29; 38; 61

Rules of the House: This is a document that is passed in a new congressional term’s first week that expresses how the majority party wants to conduct business. Chapter 22

runaway slaves (Article IV, section 2): This article states that “No person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to who such Service or Labour may be due.” This is one of three places in the Constitution that refers to slaves and slavery without using those words. This clause not only forbid Northern states from freeing a slave who had fled from the South, it pledged to give the slave back to his/her master if the master came to claim the slave. Chapter 15

S

sacrifice zones: America’s economy is characterized by regional booms and busts, and many locations around the country have become, in journalist Chris Hedges’ words, “sacrifice zones for America’s brand of exploitative capitalism, places where the project of endless exploitation of natural resources and human labor manifests itself in the form of agricultural fields where laborers endure near slave-like conditions to produce cheap food for American tables; fulfillment centers crammed with low-wage workers, and robots process cheap goods for American front porches; and abandoned industrial centers where jobs disappeared over the horizon to places with lower wages and fewer regulations.” Chapter 67

safe seat: Many House races are uncompetitive because of the incumbent’s financial advantages and because many districts have been gerrymandered to produce safe seats for one party or the other. A safe seat is one that is securely in the hands of one party as long as that party puts forward a reasonable candidate. Candidates in safe seats win with 67 percent or more of the vote in the district. Chapter 55

Salt March, 1930: Mohandas Gandhi’s most famous act of defiance was the Salt March of 1930. The British had imposed laws against Indians collecting or selling salt and imposed a tax that fell heavily on poor Indians. Gandhi walked for twenty-four days over 240 miles from his home to the coast where he broke the law by gathering salt from evaporated seawater. Gandhi was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year in 1930. India and Pakistan gained independence in 1947. Gandhi was assassinated in 1948 by Hindu nationalist Nathuram Godse, who did not like Gandhi’s tolerance of Muslims. Chapter 64

Sand Creek Massacre: In November 1864, a group of Arapahoe and Cheyenne camped along Sand Creek in eastern Colorado, thinking they were under the protection of soldiers at Fort Lyon. Instead, Major Scott Anthony and Colonel John Chivington planned an attack on the peaceful encampment. Captain Silas Soule, Lieutenant Joseph Cramer, and Lieutenant James Connor protested, saying that “It would be murder in every sense of the word” and a violation of pledges of safety that had been given to the tribes. The Sand Creek Massacre was a war crime, pure and simple. The encampment set no watch and was attacked by 700 soldiers at first light while its occupants slept. The cavalry, led by Chivington, killed 133 people, 80 percent of whom were women and children. Many were scalped or otherwise brutalized. Chapter 65

Sanger, Margaret (1879-1966): Sanger was a New York City nurse who ministered in the 1910s to poorly housed, poorly paid women who wanted to regulate their family size. She defied the law to educate women about contraception. In 1914, Sanger distributed her pamphlet, Family Limitation, which led to an arrest warrant, so she fled to Europe to avoid prosecution. In 1916 after charges were dropped, she returned to continue her work advocating birth control into the 1950s. The birth-control movement was rejected by the medical establishment. Oral contraceptives were developed in the 1960s, which revolutionized sexual relationships by giving women greater choices and control over whether and when to have children. States continued to try to limit access to birth control devices. The Supreme Court ruled in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) that married couples had a right to privacy with respect to reproductive issues, thereby striking down a Connecticut law that forbade anyone from selling contraceptive devices or instructing anyone on their use. Chapter 69

Saturday Night Massacre, 1973: This phrase refers to how President Richard Nixon tried to cover up his agents breaking into the Democratic Headquarters in the Watergate office and residential complex. Archibald Cox was serving as the independent special prosecutor in the case. Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Cox. Richardson resigned rather than carry out the order. Nixon then ordered Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to fire Cox. Ruckelshaus also refused to do it and resigned instead. Then, Nixon asked Solicitor General Robert Bork to fire Cox, and Bork complied. Chapter 30

scab: This term refers to a worker—often one who was unemployed or who had no prior connection to a company—who is willing to cross a picket line and work. Chapter 60

scapegoating: This term refers to improperly placing blame on a person or group for bad things that have or are happening, either to fit a political narrative or to displace blame from the real culprit. Chapter 61

Schenck v. United States (1919): The clear and present danger doctrine came out of Schenck v. United States. This doctrine held that speech is not protected by the First Amendment if it clearly endangers the lives, health, and property of others, or the national security of the United States. In the Schenck case, socialists were prosecuted for distributing flyers during World War I that encouraged men to avoid service in the army. The Court upheld their prosecution because it considered their actions to be a threat to American national security. In his opinion, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes argued hypothetically that someone could not shout “Fire!” falsely in a crowded theater, and then hide behind the First Amendment. That kind of utterance imperils the lives of others as well as the theater owner’s property, because the crowd will stampede to get out. The clear and present danger standard essentially still applies, although the Court does not explicitly rely on it. Note that it refers to speech that is essentially lawful, but that in certain contexts crosses the line. If the theater really is on fire, shout “Fire!” Or, pull the fire alarm. Chapter 64

Schlesinger, Arthur Jr (1917-2007): In his classic 1973 book, The Imperial Presidency, Schlesinger warned that the growth of presidential power—particularly in response to national security concerns—threatened to warp the country’s constitutional fabric. The book was especially timely given the Nixon administration’s abuses, but its theme has continued to resonate to the present. Chapter 29

school to prison pipeline: This pipeline refers to the way in which students are identified as struggling or disruptive in school and funneled out of schools to juvenile detention and criminal justice systems. The school to prison pipeline affects young black and brown people more than it does whites. Facing disproportionately more suspensions, expulsions, and arrests in schools, and often excluded from honors or college-track courses, black and brown students are more likely to enter juvenile justice systems, which further limits their opportunities, often resulting in their incarceration as adults. Chapter 60

Scientific-Humanitarian Committee (1897): One of the first organizations dedicated to promoting gay and lesbian equality was the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee founded in 1897 by Magnus Hirschfeld in Berlin. This committee dedicated itself to removing Paragraph 175 from Germany’s legal code, which penalized male homosexuality: “A man who fornicates with another man or lets himself be so abused will be punished with imprisonment.” Chapter 70

scientific method: The scientific method is a systematic, logically driven process used to gather information and make conclusions about natural and social phenomena. Chapter 4

scope: The federal government’s scope is the range of things that it does. Some, but not all categories include social welfare, war-making, diplomacy, justice and law enforcement, commerce, fiscal and monetary issues, infrastructure, and human services, to name a few.  Chapter 37

Second Bill of Rights: In 1945, President Franklin Roosevelt gave his last state of the union speech in which he called for a Second Bill of Rights that would have guaranteed employment with a living wage, adequate housing, medical care, social security, and a good education.  Chapter 35

second dimension of power: The power of mobilization of bias is described as the second dimension of power. Mobilization of bias that exists in the political system being analyzed are “the dominant values, the myths, and the established political procedures and rules of the game” as well as “which persons or groups . . . gain from the existing bias and which . . . are handicapped by it.” Chapter 2

secular compact: This is the understanding that in an orderly society, the state guarantees people freedom to believe or not believe whatever they want, and in exchange, all citizens agree to limit their religious practices to those that do not violate the law or disrupt society. People can believe whatever he or she wants but can only act on those beliefs that don’t hurt others or destabilize society. Chapter 17

secularism’s advantages: Religion, atheism, and agnosticism all tend to thrive in secular republics, perhaps because secularism separates state authority from the dominant religion and all sects equally. Chapter 17

Sedition Act of 1798: Congress passed, and President John Adams signed the Sedition Act, generally considered to be a great threat to the United States free press. This Act was basically a case of Federalist politicians attempting to stifle the voices of opposition newspapers. Chapter 47

Senate elections: In the original Constitution, senators were not popularly elected. Instead, the founders wanted senators chosen by their respective state legislatures. Thus, the Senate was doubly insulated from the popular will. This defect was remedied in 1913 when the Constitution’s Seventeenth Amendment was ratified, which said that senators would henceforth be “elected by the people” of each state. Chapter 19

Senate Majority Leader: This Senate Majority Leader is elected by the majority party and schedules and manages all the Senate’s business. It is a powerful position. Chapter 22

Seneca Falls Convention, 1848: This convention was the creation of Lucretia Mott (1793-1880) and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902). Eight years earlier, Mott and Stanton attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London as representatives of American abolitionist organizations, but the mostly male delegates refused to allow the female delegates seats. Due to that snubbing, the two women watched the proceedings from the balcony. That experience helped convince them that women, as well as slaves, needed emancipation. Chapter 69

Seneca Falls Declaration, 1848: This was the first national call for women’s suffrage. The Seneca Falls Declaration was modeled after the Declaration of Independence, asserting that, “All men and women are created equal,” and leveled a series of charges against men, such as they have denied women the right to vote, the right to own property, education, employment opportunity, and that women are held to a different moral standard than men. Organizations like the National American Women Suffrage Association employed tactics such as petitions, marches, speeches, court cases, debates, picketing at the gates of the White House, and prison hunger strikes. The White House gate protest involved over 5,000 women during its two-year run and has been described as “the first high-visibility nonviolent civil disobedience in American history.” Chapter 49

separate but equal doctrine: In 1890, the Louisiana legislature passed the Separate Car Act requiring that all trains operating in the state be segregated by race and forbidding people from “going into a coach or compartment to which by race he does not belong.” On June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy was arrested after he purchased a first-class ticket on the East Louisiana Railroad train running from New Orleans to Covington, Louisiana, and took a seat in a car reserved for whites only. Plessy, a married shoemaker whose heritage was African and French, was one-eighth black. Press accounts of the time indicate that the train conductor had to ask Plessy his race before he was arrested for being in the “wrong” car. The Committee of Citizens hoped that the Supreme Court would rule in favor of Plessy, for surely this state law that mandates segregating train passengers according to race was a violation of the civil rights clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. But the Supreme Court upheld the law as constitutional, arguing that no civil rights clause violation had taken place because the passengers were all treated equally, albeit in a segregated fashion. This reasoning became known as the separate but equal doctrine and was the rationale to officially sanction segregation for the next six decades. Justice John Marshall Harlan was the lone dissenter; he argued that, “In respect of civil rights, common to all citizens, the Constitution of the United States does not, I think, permit any public authority to know the race of those entitled to be protected in the enjoyment of such rights.” His argument did not carry the day, and the precedent set by Plessy allowed separate but equal to characterize American life. Chapter 68

separate sovereigns doctrine: A notable exception to the double jeopardy protection concerns is the separate sovereigns doctrine, which means that the federal government state governments are separate units under our federal system. Therefore, state governments and the federal government can prosecute you separately for the same crime. Chapter 66

separation of powers: The U.S. Constitution is organized according to a principle known as the separation of powers. John Locke argued for the separation of the legislative and executive powers, and in The Spirit of the Laws (1748) the Baron de Montesquieu similarly argued that governmental power could be divided into three types and that they ought to be separate. Legislative: Congress, the power to make law. Executive: Presidency, the power to enforce law. Judicial: the Supreme Court, the power to interpret law, both generally and in cases. The separation of powers provides two beneficial results. 1) It tends to slow legislation down; democracy requires time for deliberation, argumentation, and compromise. 2) It helps avoid tyranny; a government of separated powers is structurally unresponsive to large, sudden changes in popular will and can stay afloat even though tyrannical leaders take over one branch. Presumably, the other two institutions would stand up for liberty. Chapters 13; 19

Seventeenth Amendment (1913): This changed the Senate selection process by having the people directly elect senators. Chapter 24

shared sovereignty: The U.S. Constitution created the first modern federal system. Up until 1787, the political philosophy of shared sovereignty, which is the federal ideal that states and the central government would share authority over the same territory, hadn’t previously been considered. Chapter 15

Shaw v. Hunt (1993): After passing the 1965 Voting Rights Act, several states practiced “affirmative gerrymandering,” or designed districts intended to elect members of racial minorities to the House. In Shaw v. Hunt (1993) and then Miller v. Johnson (1995), the Supreme Court decided that race could not be a predominant factor in creating election districts. Chapter 53

Shays’ Rebellion, 1786-87: In Massachusetts, farmers unable to make payments on their property and bitter that they were faced with increased taxes and scarce money due to the state legislature’s policies in Boston, Massachusetts, did what they were supposed to in a republic: they peacefully petitioned the state legislature for redress. As historian Joseph Ellis has written, “The ultimate irony of Shays’ Rebellion is that what began as a rural protest against centralized government actually ended up strengthening the advocates for a new U.S. Constitution, which consolidated political power at the federal level in precisely the fashion that the rebels regarded as a betrayal of the American Revolution.” Chapter 12

Shelby County v. Holder (2013): In this case, Shelby County, Alabama, sued the U.S. Attorney General, arguing that the preclearance provision was unconstitutional. Preclearance refers to one section of the Voting Rights Act that was originally passed in 1965 and required that states with a documented history of voting discrimination receive “preclearance” from the Justice Department or the United States District Court in Washington, DC, before implementing changes to their election laws. This applied heavily to mostly Southern states that had worked overtime for nearly a century to deny voting rights to African Americans. The purpose of preclearance was to ensure that states would not revert to election practices that overtly discriminated or that had discriminatory effects. In the Shelby case, the conservative justices on the Court agreed with Shelby County in a 5-4 decision and said that the preclearance provision was out of date and unconstitutional. Combined with the Court’s disinterest in the negative effects of restrictive state voting laws, Shelby County has signaled that the Court will allow a variety of attempts to reduce the number of minorities, college students, and poor people from exercising their voting privileges. This opened the gates for many Republican-led state legislatures to pass without Justice Department review onerous voter I.D. laws that fell heaviest on the poor, the elderly, and people of color. Writing in dissent, Justice Ginsberg argued that “Throwing out preclearance because it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.” A study by the Brennan Center for Justice found that states that had previously been required to preclear their voting law changes, purged voters off their election rolls at a significantly higher rate than other states in the wake of the Shelby County decision. In 2016, for the first time in twenty years, the black voter-turnout rate dropped in a presidential election. Chapters 35; 68

Sheridan, General Philip (1831-1888): Sayings such as U.S. General Philip Sheridan’s “The only good Indians I ever saw were dead,” typified the culture of the colonists. Pushed to ever marginal lands and reservations, the way of life of one tribe after another changed forever. As the invaders took the lands of Native Americans by theft, deception, and treaty, they also took steps to establish property rights and the rule of law for themselves and their descendants in the Wild West. Chapter 65

shield laws: Many states have shield laws that protect journalists from having to reveal their sources, but the federal government does not. In 2005, New York Times reporter Judith Miller was jailed by a federal court for eighty-five days for refusing to reveal her sources in a story about the Bush Administration, which revealed the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Chapter 64

Sinclair, Upton (1878-1968): Sinclair was a freelance journalist and muckraker commissioned by Appeal to Reason to write a series about exploiting factory workers and their hardships. He focused on the meatpacking industry in Chicago and wrote a serial novel about it. The novel, published as The Jungle, described the life of meatpacking industry workers through the character of Jurgis Rudkos and his family, as they experienced corruption, injury on the job, unsanitary work conditions, jail, and homelessness. Sinclair, a Socialist, was disappointed that the public focused on the poor quality and unhealthy meat-packing process instead of on the laborers’ poor working and living conditions. The publication of The Jungle did add fuel to the movement to pass the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. Chapter 47

single-issue groups: These are groups that tend to concentrate on one issue or one area of public policy. For example, the Sierra Club, the National Rifle Association, the NARAL Pro-Choice America, and the National Right to Life Committee. The narrow focus of these groups tends to attract highly motivated members, which can help the group maintain its power and role in the political system. Members are called upon to donate money, write emails to congressmen, and show up at demonstrations. Chapter 45

single-member districts. In such a system, a single person represents each electoral district for the House or Senate and gets that distinction by receiving the most votes of those cast, even if he did not receive the majority votes. Chapter 44

Sixth Amendment (1791): The Sixth Amendment provides that in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence. Chapter 66

size of the federal government; spending: One way to put the federal government’s size in perspective is to see how much it spends relative to the overall size of the American economy, and also how its spending compares to that of state governments. Since the 1970s, federal government spending has hovered between 20-24 percent of Gross Domestic Product—the total value of goods and services produced in the United States in one year. According to the Treasury Department, in 2019, the federal government spent about $4.4 trillion and took in about $3.5 trillion in revenue. Chapter 37  

slacktivism: The Cambridge Dictionary defines slacktivism as “activity that uses the Internet to support political or social causes in a way that does not need much effort, for example by creating or signing online petitions.” Slacktivism feels good because you get to add your voice to potentially thousands of other people whom you’ve never met. The Internet and social media have sorted people into like-minded groups who speak to each other, share news stories of interest to each other, and serve as the same insular audience for online petitions and boycott drives. There is a preaching to the choir effect in slacktivism. Slacktivism “does not lead to increased meaningful support for social causes.” Chapter 58

slate of electors: Sometime prior to the November election, each party with a presidential candidate on the ballot will select a slate of electors who are pledged to vote for that party’s nominee. Chapter 51

Snyder v Phelps (2011): In this gut-wrenching hate speech case, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Westboro Baptist Church whose members picketed funerals of U.S. servicemen and women, carrying signs that said, “You’re Going to Hell,” “Fag Troops,” and “Semper fi Fags.” Chapter 64

social class: This refers to a group of people in a society with similar levels of income, wealth, education, and type of job. Chapter 59

social contract:  This is a philosophy where the people agree to certain government-enforced restrictions on their liberties in exchange for a measure of security. Chapter 11

social desirability bias: Polling can sometimes be undermined by social desirability bias, which is “the concept that people won’t tell pollsters their true intentions for fear of being stigmatized or being politically incorrect.” Chapter 56

societal density and complexity:  Governments expand in the United States and virtually everywhere depending on the density and complexity of the society. The earliest political states organized within dense people-groupings who engaged in the radically complex, up to then, practice of growing food and domesticating animals. For thousands of years, government size has reflected the types of societies they governed: While agrarian societies were vastly more socially dense and complex than hunter-gatherer life, they pale in comparison to the scale and complexity of the industrialized and urbanized societies that developed in America after the Civil War. In 1880, 50 percent of the American population worked on farms, but by 1920, only 25 percent did. Also, by 1920, most Americans lived and worked in urban centers. According to the Census Bureau, the American population exploded from 50 million in 1880 to 106 million in 1920. Chapter 37

Society for Human Rights: In 1924, Henry Gerber formed the Society for Human Rights in Chicago, which was the first gay rights group in America. The Society set out to publish a journal and make connections with European gay rights groups, but its leaders were quickly arrested and prosecuted by Chicago police. The cost of defending himself at three separate trials bankrupted Gerber, even though the charges were ultimately dismissed. He lost his job at the Postal Service, and the Society didn’t survive its leaders’ prosecution. Chapter 70

Sodomy: The American colonists followed the precedent of their English cousins and outlawed sodomy, by which they meant all forms of nonprocreative sex, whether by individuals, heterosexual couples, or homosexual couples. Over time, laws against sodomy were used more against homosexual activity, and specifically, anti-gay laws also went into effect. Chapter 70

soft money: Soft money originally referred to contributions to political parties that were supposed to be used for “party building measures,” but instead, were used to help elect candidates. Parties were not supposed to use soft money to directly help individual candidates, but in the 1990s, both parties violated the law, especially in presidential races, and used the money for candidates’ campaign commercials. Because there are no limits on soft money contributions, corporations began to flood the parties with soft money. Soft money now refers to largely unregulated independent expenditures by parties and organized interests to support or oppose candidates. Chapter 54

solicitor general: Despite whether the U.S. government is the petitioner or the respondent, the solicitor general handles the case; this is a Justice Department position dedicated to this function. Chapter 31

Solid South: The Democrats maintained a stronghold in the South and strong support among Northern-city Catholic immigrants and small Mid-western farm owners. Later, the South became known as the Solid South because Democrats dominated there until after the mid-1960s when Republicans began to rise. Chapter 42

sortition: This refers to drawing lots, where we get the term lottery, and so means selecting our members of Congress by some sort of random process that resembled a lottery. In ancient Athens, magistrates, members of the Boule (council), and jurists were chosen via sortition. Chapter 55

sound bite: The incredible shrinking sound bite in politics is a short selection of what a candidate or sitting politician says in a speech or interview. Media editors use their judgment to select such clips to represent what they believe to be the politician’s most important or relevant point. Chapter 48

Southern Strategy: Beginning in the 1960s, Republicans pursued what most people call the Southern Strategy—a conscious and largely successful attempt to capture the South by playing on white’s fears of the Civil Rights movement. The Southern Strategy was really a broader strategy linking the South with suburban and rural areas across the United States, aimed at white fears of racial integration, urban crime, and economic insecurity. Chapter 42

Speaker of the House: This is Congress’ preeminent leadership position. In the House of Representatives, the Speaker of the House is elected by the majority party and serves as both the House’s partisan and administrative leader. Chapter 22

Spin: This term refers to the biased portrayal of events that is designed to favor one set of interests over another. Spin happens in any mass communication setting, including political communication. Chapter 48

Spiritualism: This is the doctrine that the spirit exists as distinct from matter and is the only reality. Spiritualists argue that the spiritual world governs the material and is essentially unknowable except through faith and revelation. Chapter 11

split-ticket voting: This type of voting is when you divide your votes among different parties for different offices. For example, you might vote Democratic for president and Republican for representative. The prevalence of split-ticket voting peaked in the early 1970s and has steadily declined since as the two major political parties polarized. Chapter 50

spoiler candidate: The so-called Green spoiler candidate can pull enough votes away from the Blue candidate to ensure that Red wins the seat. Chapter 44

spoils system: This is a system where winning political parties stock the bureaucracy with their own people. A spoils system contrasts with what is known as a merit system. Chapter 38

standing committees: These are called such because they persist over time and do much work in Congress. The Speaker of the House refers bills to a standing committee. Or, the Senate majority and minority leaders negotiate between themselves to decide who refers a bill to a standing committee. The House of Representatives has twenty standing committees and the Senate has sixteen. And, there are about a dozen joint committees in both chambers, such as the Joint Taxation Committee, or there are select committees, such as the Select Intelligence Committee. Most standing committees are organized around topics such as agriculture, defense, foreign relations, taxation, and so on. Committees, in turn, are divided into subcommittees. Chapter 22

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady (1815-1902): American feminist Stanton, along with Lucretia Mott, created the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. Eight years earlier, Mott and Stanton attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London as representatives of American abolitionist organizations, but the mostly male delegates refused to allow the female delegates seats. Due to that snubbing, the two women watched the proceedings from the balcony. That experience helped convince them that women, as well as slaves, needed emancipation. Chapter 69

stare decisis: The Supreme Court decides relatively few cases per year. Their decisions carry weight due to the principle of stare decisis, which literally means “to stand by that which is decided.” Lower courts must make decisions that are consistent with similar cases’ past decisions. Chapter 31

state courts: The state court system is where most U.S. cases occur, for example, people on trial for murder, rape, robbery, burglary, embezzlement, fraud, civil lawsuits, and so on. These cases can go straight through the state court system and on to the Supreme Court, but that is not a common path. Chapter 32

State of the Union Address: The State of the Union Address is given by the President before a national television audience. The president addresses a joint session of Congress in January or February, accentuates his administration’s accomplishments, and argues for measures he would like Congress to pass. Chapter 27

state organization: The larger political parties have a state organization in each of the fifty states. State party organizations have become more institutionalized professional organizations in the last several decades. Still, state and local parties rely on countless volunteer work.  Chapter 41

status quo: This means “the situation as it is now” in any given realm. Chapter 8

statutory interpretation: This means that the Supreme Court authoritatively defines ambiguous words and phrases in federal laws as they apply to specific controversies between litigants. Once the Court has defined such a word or phrase, that interpretation becomes binding on all lower courts should future disputes arise. Chapter 34

Steffens, Lincoln (1866-1936): Steffens, a muckraker, was an editor and writer for McClure’s Magazine, where he wrote a series of investigative reports called “The Shame of the Cities” and “The Shame of the States,” focusing on political corruption and efforts to fight it. Chapter 47

Stonewall Rebellion, 1969: The watershed event in the history of the American gay liberation movement is the Stonewall Rebellion. The Stonewall Inn was a gay bar in Greenwich Village, New York. Eight police officers raided the inn after midnight on June 28, 1969. This was not an unusual occurrence, but on that night, the police met considerable resistance from Stonewall patrons and others in the neighborhood. More police arrived, beating protesters, who, in turn, were throwing bottles and rocks. Eventually, hundreds of police officers were battling a few thousand protesters. The rioting lasted three nights. This was the first time that numerous homosexuals resisted police action, and it energized and revitalized an already-forming national gay-liberation movement. Activists founded new groups such as the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance and employed traditional political tactics such as marches, demonstrations, strikes, boycotts, lobbying, campaigning, and fund-raising. Chapter 70

straw man: In making an argument, a fallacy called the straw man tactic involves distorting an opponent’s position by stating it in an oversimplified or extreme form, and then refuting the distorted position instead of the real one. Chapter 5

strict scrutiny: The First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution says that “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press. But this does not mean that you are free to say or print anything you want and remain protected by the First Amendment. The clear and present danger doctrine, which came out of Schenck v. United States (1919), holds that speech is not protected by the First Amendment if it clearly endangers the lives, health, and property of others, or the national security of the United States. However, the Supreme Court often applies a standard known as strict scrutiny to cases where government attempts to restrict overtly political or ideological speech. This means that limiting speech is presumptively unconstitutional unless the government can show that the law is narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling government interest. Chapter 64

strict voter-identification laws: Allegations of voter fraud, which is not a real problem, are often used as a reason to implement strict voter-identification laws. In principle, there’s nothing wrong with ensuring that the person who is casting a vote is the person he says he is and is eligible to vote. The question is whether the onus is on the person or on the state. Some states require potential voters to prove their identification. These are almost always states with Republican majorities in state legislatures and/or Republican governors. Chapter 52

strike busting: This term refers to when workers resort to strikes because corporate owners will not negotiate or make concessions on wages or working conditions. In the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, companies often used their own guards or hired outsiders to beat and harass strikers. They hired what striking workers called scabs to break strikes. Chapter 60

Stromberg v. California (1931): A controversial area of free speech case law surrounds symbolic speech, which we define as nonverbal or nonwritten behavior or symbols that convey a political viewpoint. Since the 1930s, the Court has recognized the right of Americans to engage in symbolic speech. In this case, the Court struck down a California law that banned displays of red flags targeted at Socialists and Communists. Chapter 64

substantive laws: These are laws that make a change in federal law or that authorize spending taxpayer dollars. Chapter 21

substantive representation: This is about whether representatives advance the policy preferences that serve the interests of the represented. Chapter 20

Sullivan Test: In New York Times v. Sullivan (1964), the Court announced guidelines that the public figure needs to establish in court if s/he is to win a libel case. In that case, the New York Times was sued in an Alabama court by a police commissioner named Sullivan who claimed that an advertisement taken out by the Committee to Defend Martin Luther King had libeled him by implication. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the New York Times and said in what is known as the Sullivan Test that the victim must show: 1) that the information printed about them was false, 2) that the publisher either knew it was false or the statements “were made with a reckless disregard for the truth,” 3) the information was written due to malice, and 4) publication of the inflammation damaged the victim. The Court set the standard high to avoid public officials being able to escape public criticism by threatening lawsuits against newspapers and magazines. Chapter 64

superpower: Following World War II, the United States was a superpower, a nation-state able to project military, economic, and cultural power across the globe. Its only rival from 1945 to 1991 was the Soviet Union, and the United States under both parties pursued an aggressive policy of trying to contain and push back against perceived communist advances around the world. Even beyond the U.S.-Soviet rivalry, America took on the role of the world’s policeman.  Chapter 43

supply-side economics: Democrats and Republicans generally subscribe to two different economic policies. Conservatives tend to be advocates of what is known as supply-side economics. Supply-siders argue that economic growth is best promoted by lowering tax rates on wealthier individuals and corporations. The primary assumption of supply-side economics is that the recipients of these tax breaks will invest their extra money to expand existing businesses and create new ones. This, in turn, will put more people to work, and the workers will spend their paychecks to purchase goods and services. Chapter 43

supremacy clause in Article VI: This clause means that states could not nullify and destroy legitimate exercise of federal authority. This clause eliminates any doubts that the power balance in the new federal system would be tilted in the central government’s favor: “This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.” Chapter 13

Supreme Court: The paths to the Supreme Court are conditioned by its jurisdiction. Jurisdiction refers to the scope or mandate of a court, such as what kinds of cases it can it hear and how it hears them. The Supreme Court has the broadest jurisdiction of any federal court, but its mandate is divided into its original and appellate jurisdictions. Original jurisdiction refers to those cases that are heard first in the Supreme Court. Chapter 32

Supreme Court and election money: The Supreme Court has stricken down many attempts to reign in money in American elections: Buckley v. Valeo (1976) Overall campaign spending, personal spending on one’s own campaign, and independent expenditures cannot be capped. FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life (2007) The government cannot stop outside groups from spending on political advertising in the period before an election. Citizens United v. FEC (2010) The government cannot place limits on the amount of outside spending, and corporations can spend directly to support or oppose campaigns. Arizona’s Free Enterprise Club’s Freedom PAC v. Bennett (2011) Public financing systems cannot use escalating matching funds. American Tradition Partnership v. Bullock (2012) The Court struck down Montana’s ban on corporate spending on state elections that dated back to 1912. McCutcheon v. FEC (2014) A donor’s overall spending on federal campaigns cannot be capped. Chapter 54

Supreme Court appeals: Supreme Court cases come on appeal, but the Court is under no obligation to hear all appealed cases. The most common way to appeal to the Supreme Court is to petition for a writ of certiorari, which is a formal request to review a lower court’s decision. Such petitions are governed by an informal rule of four, whereby four or more justices must agree to take the case. If the rule of four condition is met, then the Supreme Court issues a writ of certiorari—an announcement that the court is taking a case as well as an order to the lower court to send up the case’s records. Since certiorari, is difficult to pronounce, people normally say or write that “cert has been granted,” or “cert has been denied” by the Court. Normally, a petitioner must pay a fee and meet paperwork requirements to petition for a writ of certiorari, but indigent petitioners can file in forma pauperis, which waves the fee and many of the paperwork requirements. Congress has recently tightened regulations regarding in forma pauperis petitions. Chapter 31

Supreme Court nominations: Justices who sit on the Supreme Court and make enormously significant decisions about the constitutionality of state and federal laws and regulations are insulated from the popular will. They are nominated by the president, who may or may not be in office due to the will of the people and are approved by the undemocratic Senate. Further, they hold their seats for life. Chapter 19

surveillance capitalism: The very notion of privacy undermines the insatiable corporate need for our private information, and our political leaders have allowed this to happen. Author Shoshanna Zuboff describes our predicament as surveillance capitalism: “a new economic order that claims human experience as free raw material for hidden commercial practices of extraction, prediction, and sales.” Reflect on the fact that your labor is worth something to corporations; they must pay for it if they want to produce value, but almost all the information about you is freely available to corporations who buy and sell it between themselves, aggregate it, and compile it to expand their profits. Chapter 67

survey, legitimate: A legitimate survey must follow two simple rules regarding the population samples about which they want to make a statement. The survey must be based on a random sample drawn from the population about which you wish to make a statement. Survey researchers go through several practices to ensure that the people they contact are truly random. All people in the population need to have an equal chance of being in the sample. Above all, pollsters want to avoid selection bias, which is when some members of the population who have particular characteristics have an increased or decreased chance of being sampled. Chapter 56

swing states: The Electoral College forces presidential campaigns to focus on swing states, which are states that are narrowly balanced between Republicans and Democrats, so they could go either way. Swing states are competitive states; they are also referred to as battleground states. The winner-takes-all principle means that it is smart for presidential campaigns to devote considerable resources to getting every possible popular vote in those states because even a slim victory results in winning all that state’s electors. Chapter 51

symbolic speech: Symbolic speech is defined as nonverbal or nonwritten behavior or symbols that convey a political viewpoint. Since the 1930s, the Court has recognized Americans’ right to engage in symbolic speech. Chapter 64

T

Tammany Hall: For a time, urban political machines were key power centers in American politics, particularly for the Democratic Party. Tammany Hall dominated New York City politics for much of the nineteenth century, providing immigrants with food, coal, patronage jobs, and a decidedly Democratic political orientation. Chapter 41

Tarbell, Ida (1857-1944): A muckraker, Tarbell investigated the Standard Oil Trust for McClure’s Magazine and wrote a series of articles in 1902-03 exposing the secret bookkeeping, bribery, sabotage, conspiracy, and other machinations of the Standard Oil monopoly. Chapter 47

tax compliance costs: This refers to the time, accountants, software, lawyers, and other expenses that individuals, families, nonprofit organizations, and businesses need to complete their taxes. Chapter 37

Telecommunications Act of 1996. The congressmen who voted for this law, and President Clinton, who signed it, promised that it would create more media competition, more diversity, lower prices for things like cable service, and more jobs in the media and telecommunications industries. According to Common Cause, however, the law brought the public “more media concentration, less diversity, and higher prices.” Chapter 48

Tenure of Office Act of 1867: Congress passed this act in 1867, which said that the president could not remove the holders of any appointed positions unless the Senate concurred. Chapter 30

Terry v. Ohio (1968): In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that police may stop and frisk people on the street if they have a reasonable suspicion that the person has committed a crime, is in the process of committing a crime, or is about to commit a crime. Reasonable suspicion is a lower standard than probable cause, which is the standard used when judges issue warrants or when police operate in what are known as exigent circumstances. The Court also ruled that even if police do not have reasonable suspicion to stop and frisk someone, if that person has an outstanding warrant, police can use anything they find in court. Chapter 66

Test and Corporation Acts (Corporation Act 1661; Test Act 1673): These acts prohibited all non-Anglicans from holding office in England. The American Revolution and the writing of the Constitution happened during the same period as a fight in England against the Test and Corporation Acts. Chapter 17

Texas v. Johnson (1989): At the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas, Gregory Johnson was arrested for burning a U.S. flag while making a speech condemning the Reagan administration. He filed suit, claiming his freedom of speech was violated. In a narrow 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court agreed with Johnson and ruled that flag burning is protected by the First Amendment as a form of symbolic speech. Chapter 64

textualism: This term refers to the desire to rely on the plain meaning of words when interpreting federal law. Textualism puts a burden on the legislature to be clear when writing bills so that there will be no ambiguity when that statute is applied by the executive branch. Chapter 34

theoretical perspectives: These are concepts, definitions, and a body of well-developed scholarly literature developed over time. Chapter 4

thermometer-scale questions: In conducting survey research, these questions are called “feeling thermometers” because they are usually used to probe the respondent’s affect toward a certain subject or person. Chapter 7

third dimension of power: The power of shaping a person’s perceptions is described as the third dimension of power. Chapter 2.

Thomas, Justice Clarence (1948-): The Court has worked to empower corporations with the kind of freedom of expression traditionally reserved for natural persons, and corporations are taking full advantage of the leeway granted to them by the conservative majority. Justice Thomas firmly asserted in his concurring opinion in 44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island (1996) that “I do not see a philosophical or historical basis for asserting that ‘commercial’ speech is of ‘lower value’ than ‘noncommercial speech.’” Many scholars applaud this view. Chapter 64

Thomas, Justice Clarence (1948-) Confirmation Hearing: In 1991, President George H. W. Bush appointed Clarence Thomas to replace Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall who had retired from the Supreme Court due to failing health. An important point to note is that while both justices are African American, Marshall was a prominent liberal with an historically long progressive interpretation of the Constitution. Thomas was an up and coming conservative originalist. Thomas’ Senate confirmation hearings became a national television event. Anita Hill, who had worked for Thomas when he led the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), accused him of pestering her for dates, sexually harassing her, and creating a hostile workplace environment replete with crude references to sex and pornography. Keep in mind that the EEOC is charged with investing federal sexual harassment cases. The Republican Senators who went after Hill in the hearing showed how out of touch they were on sexual harassment issues. Thomas was approved by a 52-48 vote. Chapter 33

Thoreau, Henry David (1817-1862): In 1846, Henry David Thoreau coined the term civil disobedience in his essay called On the Duty of Civil Disobedience. Political philosopher John Rawls defined civil disobedience as “a public, nonviolent, conscientious yet political act contrary to law, usually done with the aim of bringing about a change in the law or policies of the government.” Thoreau’s essay On the Duty of Civil Disobedience has been one of the most globally influential pieces of political writing by an American who wasn’t a politician. Disgusted with slavery and the war with Mexican, which he saw as an unjust attempt to extend slavery to new territory, Thoreau refused to pay his Massachusetts poll tax and spent a night in jail. He said that prison was “the only house in a slave-state in which a free man can abide with honor.” His friends paid his tax without his consent and he was released. When his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson asked him why he had gone to jail, Thoreau reportedly replied “Why did you not?”  Chapter 59

Three-fifths Compromise, 1787: A dispute related to state representation: If a state’s population determined House of Representative seat numbers, the question whether to count slaves or not became an important issue. The three-fifthscompromise resolved the dispute to the South’s advantage. Essentially, one slave would be counted as three-fifths of a person.  Chapter 13

Three Forms of Political Violence; Johan Galtun (1930-): Swedish sociologist Johan Galtung made important contributions to our understanding of political violence by describing three forms of violence that can characterize any political system. Galtung referred to direct violence as a discrete event, structural violence as a process, and cultural violence as a permanence that legitimized and rendered acceptable the other two. Direct violence refers to a specific destructive act by a definable actor that limits the bodily or mental potential of the persons who are the object of the act. Murder, rape, assault, torture, and verbal abuse have physical as well as mental effects. American history has been rife with direct violence: assassinations, bombings, lynching, riots, military campaigns, and the like. Structural violence refers to the same limitations of bodily or mental potential, but that result from the way political, social, or economic systems are organized, instead of via direct action by a specific individual or group. Often, there is no readily definable actor in structural violence, but people are nevertheless being hurt, killed, or mentally anguished. It’s called structural violence because violent outcomes appear to be built into the structure of the system; people are hurt because the system operates the way it does. For example, when one husband beats his wife there is a clear case of personal [direct] violence, but when one million husbands keep one million wives in ignorance, there is structural violence. Correspondingly, in a society where life expectancy is twice as high in the upper class as in the lower classes, violence is exercised even if there are no concrete actors one can point to directly attacking others, as when one person kills another. Cultural violence refers to cultural symbols of religion, ideology, language, art, and science that can be used to justify or legitimize direct or structural violence.  Chapter 60

Thunberg, Greta (2003-); Climate Strikes, 2018: Greta Thunberg, 16-year-old Swedish student, started boycotting school on Fridays to call attention to the climate emergency. Her action blossomed into a worldwide #FridaysForFuture movement. Millions of students in 117 countries have participated in multiple iterations of this form of protest. The goal of the movement is to “Sound the alarm and show our politicians that business as usual is no longer an option.” As if to show the students how clueless politicians were, British Prime Minister Theresa May criticized the protesters and said that each demonstration “increases teachers’ workloads and wastes lesson time.” When Thunberg was asked to speak at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in 2019, she stuck to her values and made the crossing from Sweden to New York by sailboat rather than jet plane. Chapter 59

Tillman Act of 1907: The U.S. has a long history of trying to regulate money in politics. The Tillman Act of 1907 banned corporations from making direct campaign contributions, and this prohibition was extended to unions in 1943. Over time, laws and court decisions have created confusing rules and allowances. Generally, the U.S. divides campaign finance into hard money and soft money. Chapter 54

Tinker v. Des Moines School (1969): During the Vietnam War, the Court confronted the issue of symbolic speech again when students in Iowa protested the war by wearing black armbands to school. The students were peaceful and did not disrupt classes, but the school board had banned wearing armbands to head-off the students’ protests. Several students sued when they were suspended for wearing the armbands, and the Court ruled that such peaceful symbolic speech was protected even for minors. Chapter 64

tolerance: This is a willingness to accept behavior and beliefs that are different from your own, although you might not agree with or approve of them. Chapter 61

Trail of Tears, 1838-1839: Up to 100,000 indigenous men, women, and children were removed from their lands in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama and forced to march during the winter of 1838-39 to new lands west of the Mississippi River. About half of the Cherokee, Muskogee, and Seminole perished along the way, and about 15 percent of the Chickasaws and Choctaws also died during the march. Chapter 60

treaty power: In foreign affairs, the president has treaty power, or the ability to negotiate and sign formal agreements with other countries. Chapter28

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, 1911: The first major female-led labor strike took place in 1909-1910 among low-paid garment workers in New York City. The strike collapsed when male garment workers went back to work in 1910. The next year, a massive fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. Because management had locked the fire escapes, 146 workers, mostly women, perished in the blaze. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire was a watershed in both the women’s movement and the worker-safety movement. Chapter 69

Trump, President Donald (1946-): In late 2019, the House of Representatives impeached Trump on a party-line vote because a whistle-blower came forward with a claim: Trump’s months-long conspiracy to use his office and taxpayer resources for his personal political benefit to get Ukraine to announce that it sought to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Trump refused to release any relevant documents—except a summary of two calls between Trump and the Ukrainian president—or to allow any administration personnel to testify to the House Intelligence Committee about the matter. The house passed two articles of impeachment: 1) Abuse of power by soliciting foreign interference in the 2020 election and compromising the national security of the United States. 2) Obstruction of Congress by the categorical and indiscriminate defiance of lawful Congressional subpoenas for information and testimony in an impeachment investigation. All Republicans except for Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) voted “not guilty” on both articles of impeachment, and all Democrats voted “guilty” on both articles of impeachment—a result that fell far short of the two-thirds vote needed to remove Trump from office. Two legacies of the Trump impeachment are likely to have long-term consequences. The first centers on the Trump administration getting away with obstructing a congressional inquiry. Republican senators seemed not to care about Congress’ institutional need to have Trump or any future president honor its subpoenas for documents and testimony. Alan Dershowitz, one of Trump’s lawyers, said on the floor of the Senate that “Every public official that I know believes that his election is in the public interest. If a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.” This was an astounding argument that lacked any support in the scholarly or judicial record. According to this line of thinking, a president could exercise his legal authority to declassify national security secrets for another country in exchange for that country’s help with his re-election. It is a way of thinking that subsumes the national interest of the United States underneath the personal political interest of the president. Chapter 30

trustee: This is a representative who is directed by his or her own judgment rather than their constituents’ views. This can be politically risky if the politician votes in direct opposition to what the majority of his or her constituents want. Chapter 21

Twelfth Amendment (1804): The Twelfth Amendment altered the way electors cast ballots for the president and vice president. In the original Constitution, electors cast two ballots, and the person who got the most votes became president while the person with the next most votes became the vice president. Today, presidents and vice presidents run on a ticket together. Chapter 26

Twenty-fifth Amendment (1967): When a sitting vice president becomes president, she nominates someone to be vice president. According to the Twenty-fifth Amendment, that nominee needs both the House and the Senate majority approval. The Twenty-fifth Amendment also has two provisions that deal with presidential incapacity. First, the president can inform the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House that he is unable to fulfill the powers and duties of the office. In an additional section of the Twenty-fifth Amendment, the vice president and a cabinet majority can inform the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House that the president is unable to fulfill the powers and duties of the office, and then the vice president would become the Acting President.   Chapter 26

Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964): In 1964, sufficient states ratified the Twenty-fourth Amendment, which states that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.” This effectively outlawed poll taxes, which Southern states had passed early in the 1900s primarily to suppress poor people from voting. Chapter 49

Twenty-second Amendment (1951): In 1951, the Twenty-second Amendment came into effect. It states that “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.” Chapter 25

Twenty-sixth Amendment (1971): The final national-level expansion of the right to vote happened in 1971 when the Twenty-sixth Amendment was ratified. This amendment set a national voting age at eighteen. The Vietnam War was raging, and the campaign for the Twenty-sixth Amendment argued that if people were old enough to fight, they were old enough to vote. When the Twenty-sixth Amendment was submitted to the states, it was ratified in a record 100 days, the fastest of any constitutional amendment. Chapter 49

two-party system: Because of the two major parties’ dominance, political scientists classify the United States as a two-party system, even though we have many political parties.Chapter 44

two primary mechanisms: Corporate dominance operates through two primary mechanisms. One is by participating in the political system very much as people do. The second mechanism is the cultivation of fear, for fear breeds conservative responses. Chapter 45

typology: A smart beginning to conducting any political analysis is to organize information into a typology. This is a visual device that allows you to systematically classify types that have common characteristics. Use a basic typology to sort things by how they score on two important dimensions. Chapter 7

U

unanimous consent agreement: Regarding a bill, senators must first agree on debate rules, called unanimous consent agreements, which set a debate time, a debate time limit, and may limit the amendments allowed. To be accepted, however, a unanimous consent agreement requires all 100 senators to agree to those debate rules—and that might not happen. Chapter 22

unicameral: At the national level, the government under the Articles of Confederation had no president or supreme court, as we understand them today. The central institution was a unicameral, meaning a one-chambered Congress in which each state has one vote. Nine of the thirteen states needed to consent for most congressional actions, and amendments to the Articles required unanimous congressional approval. Chapter 12

Uniform Congressional District Act: Gerrymandering has long been a problem in American politics. It stems from a few basic historical facts. 1) the Constitution mandates that the number of House seats a state receives be apportioned based on population. 2) The Apportionment Act of 1842 requires that congressional districts be compact and contiguous and that states with enough population be split into more than one single-member district. In 1967, Congress passed the Uniform Congressional District Act that mandated single-member House districts. Now, every ten years the Census figures out how many people are in the United States and where they are living, forcing the reapportionment of the 435 House seats. Some states gain seats in the House of Representatives after reapportionment, and some states lose them. Each time that happens, the district boundaries are redrawn. Chapter 53

unitary executive theory: Proponents of this theory argue that the president has broad inherent powers that are implied by the Constitution’s executive authority vestment with the presidency. The president, these theorists argue, can act without legislative authorization and is virtually without check in the realm of national security. The theory also holds that the president can go beyond merely executing the law, he can execute the law as he interprets it. Chapter 29

unitary system: Historically, confederacies tend not to survive, either because they are defeated by external enemies or because they fragment internally. A unitary system is the opposite of a confederal system, in that the central government is very powerful relative to the states. Often, the states exist merely as central government administrative units with little autonomy to conduct their own policies. Most world governments today are unitary. Chapter 12

United States v. Nixon (1974): This case established that while President Richard Nixon had the right to confidentially record conversations with his advisors, executive privilege did not extend to refusing to turn over records pertinent to a criminal proceeding. The Supreme Court ruled against Nixon, a decision that sealed his presidency’s fate because the tapes were damning. But it also gave some credence to the executive-privilege idea. Nixon resigned the presidency on August 9, 1974, just before the full House had a chance to vote on accepting three articles of impeachment, which they did, and the House impeached him. Chapters 29; 30

United States v. Windsor (2013): In this case, the Court invalidated those portions of the Defense of Marriage Act that denied federal benefits to same-sex marriage partners. The New York Times summarized the case this way: two New York City women, Edith Windsor and Thea Clara Spyer, married in 2007 in Canada. Ms. Spyer died in 2009, and Ms. Windsor inherited her property. The federal law did not allow the Internal Revenue Service to treat Ms. Windsor as a surviving spouse, and she faced a tax bill of about $360,000, which a spouse in an opposite-sex marriage would not have had to pay. In a 5-4 decision, the progressive justices pulled Justice Anthony Kennedy onto their side, and the Court ruled in favor of Ms. Windsor. The Defense of Marriage Act’s provisions regarding the federal definition were declared unconstitutional. Chapter 70

unit rule: In every state except Maine and Nebraska, electors are awarded according to a unit rule, meaning that the candidate whose slate has the most votes, even if it is not a majority, gets all the electors. The unit rule means that in forty-eight states, the Electoral College is a winner-takes-all situation. Chapter 51

untestable claim: In conducting scientific, empirical, formalized methodologies, an untestable claim is a theory that cannot be refuted, meaning that it is not falsifiable through any observation or experiment. Chapter 4

V

Valentine v. Chrestensen (1942): Commercial speech refers to when corporations speak to potential consumers about products and services. This sort of advertising is not political speech. As David Schultz wrote for the First Amendment Encyclopedia, for much of American history corporate commercial speech “had been subject to significant regulation to protect consumers and prevent fraud,” and courts had generally upheld such regulations. In Valentine v. Chrestensen, the Court ruled that unlike political speech, which is presumptively constitutional and difficult for government to regulate, “the Constitution imposes no such restraint on government as respects purely commercial advertising.” Chapter 64

variable: A concrete concept that we can measure. Chapter 4

Veterans Benevolent Association, 1945: This association formed in New York in 1945 and attempted to secure G. I. Bill benefits for homosexual veterans who had been dishonorably discharged. It failed. Chapter 70

veto, pocket veto, and regular veto:  The word “veto” is Latin for “I refuse.” When Congress sends a bill to the president, he can sign the bill, and it becomes law. If the president does not sign the bill, it will become law anyway after ten working days. If Congress happens to adjourn in the ten-day period, the president must consider the bill. If the president does not sign the bill, this is called a pocket veto. Also, a president can veto a bill by sending it back to Congress with a veto message about why it should not become law. This is called a regular veto. Congress can override a regular veto with a two-thirds vote in both chambers. One important difference between a regular veto and a pocket veto is that Congress cannot override a pocket veto. Chapter 27

voter fraud: Voter fraud occurs when a voter intentionally corrupts the electoral process resulting in distorting the “one-person, one-vote” principle. Voter fraud is a federal crime, punishable by heavy fines and the possibility of jail time. Chapter 52

voter good character clauses; voter literacy tests; poll taxes: Despite the Fifteenth Amendment passing in 1870 guaranteeing the right to vote regardless of race, Southern Democrats regained control over state legislatures and undertook several measures to keep blacks from voting. A form of discrimination was literacy tests. Potential voters were required to take an often-subjective “test” of their literacy, their knowledge of the federal or state constitution, or their knowledge of completely arcane bits of information. Literacy tests were combined in some cases with good character clauses in which people needed to be certified as being of good character to register to vote. Poll taxes were also used to discourage blacks from voting.  Chapter 68

voter grandfather clauses: Before the Fifteenth Amendment passed in 1870, these clauses automatically registered anyone white whose male ancestors were eligible to vote. Chapter 68

voter intimidation: Despite the Fifteenth Amendment passing in 1870 guaranteeing the right to vote regardless of race, Southern Democrats regained control over state legislatures and undertook several measures to keep blacks from voting. One measure was extralegal and consisted of outright intimidation. Groups like the Ku Klux Klan lynched blacks, shot those who were politically active, bombed their houses, got them fired from their jobs, burned crosses to frighten communities, and spied on civil rights organizations. Chapter 68

voter registration drives; voter turnout efforts: Political parties help people from specific neighborhoods or from specific demographic groups register to vote. Political parties also make sure as many of their partisans as possible vote in the election. This may entail organizing party workers to contact potential voters directly or to drive people to the polling stations. Chapter 41

voting, no positive right to vote: The original Constitution never articulated an affirmative right to vote to anyone, and instead, left the vote-granting privileges to states. Initially, states granted voting privileges to the minority of property-owning white men. Through amendments to the Constitution, we have extended the “right to vote” to people of color, to women, and to people who are eighteen years and older. Chapter 19

voting, racial gerrymandering; white primaries: Despite the Fifteenth Amendment passing in 1870 guaranteeing the right to vote regardless of race, Southern whites used racial gerrymandering to design election districts that bisected African Americans’ populations, thereby diluting their numbers should they actually register to vote. Southern states also instituted white primaries in which nonwhites were barred from voting. This was important because the South was solidly Democratic at the time, meaning that the primary race was often of greater significance than the general election in November. Chapter 68

Voting Rights Act (1965): The Voting Rights Act was designed to shore up a weakness of the Civil Rights Act, meaning that it was insufficient in defending the right of all people to vote regardless of race. One section of the Voting Rights Act that was originally passed in 1965 required that states with a documented history of voting discrimination receive “preclearance” from the Justice Department or the United States District Court in Washington, DC, before implementing changes to their election laws. This applied heavily to mostly Southern states that had worked overtime for nearly a century to deny voting rights to African Americans. The purpose of preclearance was to ensure that states would not revert to election practices that overtly discriminated or that had discriminatory effects. Chapters 35; 68

W

wage slavery: Early 1820 Republicans had a vision of America as a land free not only from slavery, but from wage slavery as well, meaning the business of exploiting laborers for-hire. They celebrated autonomous workers, primarily independent farmers and the self-employed, and feared the power of capitalists, regardless of whether they were plantation owners in the South or factory owners in the North. Chapter 42

Walker, Rebecca (1969-): Third-wave feminism has been most forcefully articulated by women from ethnic minority groups, who have intimately felt oppressed on account of their gender as well as their race. In 1992, the same year as the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings, feminist, activist, and writer Rebecca Walker exemplified this phenomenon when she coined the term ‘third wave’ in her Ms. Magazine article, “Becoming the Third Wave.” Chapter 69

war: War is one impetus for governments to expand; prosecuting and financing warfare expands government growth. U.S. federal spending spiked during the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and the War on Terror. Chapter 37

War on Terror: President George W. Bush declared a “war on terror” following the events of September 11, 2001. Spending on the military and other security operations increased, intelligence and law enforcement operations of the CIA, the NSA, and the FBI became more aggressive, and President Bush asserted broad executive authority in the name of national security. Chapter 29

War Powers Resolution: Congress passed this resolution in 1973 over President Nixon’s veto. The Resolution stipulates that 1) presidents consult with Congress when possible before committing U.S. military forces to action, 2) forces be withdrawn after sixty days unless Congress either declares war or grants a use-of-force extension, and 3) Congress can pass a concurrent resolution ending American use-of-force at any time. Chapter 28

warranted inference: In making an argument, warranted inference means under what conditions are we warranted or justified in accepting a conclusion or inference? Chapter 6

Washington, President George (1732-1799): At the Constitutional Convention, the delegates adopted a secrecy rule. When someone carelessly left a copy of the Virginia Plan outside the meeting chamber, George Washington rose to “entreat the gentlemen to be more careful, least our transactions get into the newspapers and disturb the public repose by premature speculations.” Chapter 47

Washington, President George, farewell address: President George Washington warned against political parties, particularly those based on geographic loyalties, saying that partisanship “serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another; foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passion.” Nevertheless, political parties became entrenched in the political system. Chapter 42

Watergate, 1972: On June 17, 1972, agents of President Richard Nixon’s Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CREEP) were caught breaking into the Democratic Headquarters in the Watergate office and residential complex. Nixon immediately tried to cover up the incident by ordering hush money payments and telling the Federal Bureau of Investigation to not investigate it. The cover-up ultimately did not work. The Watergate break-in revealed shocking corruption in the Nixon administration. Nixon and his subordinates were responsible for, among other things, extorting money from rich individuals and corporations; spying on American citizens because they disagreed with the president’s policies; trying to use the Internal Revenue Service to destroy “enemies” of the president; selling government favors in exchange for campaign contributions; seriously contemplating the murder of a journalist; and breaking into psychiatrists’ offices looking for dirt on opponents. Chapter 30

Wells, Ida B (1862-1931): Wells was Born into slavery and become a journalist and African American and women’s rights crusade organizer. She wrote the pamphlet Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases, in which she referred to lynching as “that last relic of barbarism and slavery.” Chapter 47

Wesberry v. Sanders (1964): In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that House districts that are grossly unequal in population violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause.  Chapter 53

what if question: In From What Is to What If, environmentalist Rob Hopkins writes that one of our most important challenges is “we need to be able to imagine positive, feasible, delightful versions of the future before we can create them.” Occasionally throughout this text, you are asked to respond to “What if” questions, which will make great conversation topics with your classmates, family, and friends. The key to a better politics is our ability to transcend the status quo and envision a system that consistently serves us all. Chapter 1

Whig Party: TheDemocratic-Republicans disagreed amongst themselves in the 1820s and formed two discrete parties: the Democrats, which have continued to the present day, and the National Republicans, which then became the Whig Party that eventually dissolved over slavery in the 1850s.Chapter 42

Whistleblowers; Whistleblower Protection Act, 1989: Inspectors general are not congressional employees, but the Inspector General Act put them in place “to assist Congress in its oversight role.” Inspectors general often rely on information from whistleblowers, who are people who come forward with information about maladministration, corruption, waste, or abuse of office within the agency. Whistleblower Protection Act forbids agency leaders from retaliating against the whistleblower or threatening retaliation. Chapter 38

white-collar crime: These crimes are defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation this way: Reportedly coined in 1939, the term white-collar crime is now synonymous with the full range of frauds committed by business and government professionals. These crimes are characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust and are not dependent on the application or threat of physical force or violence. The motivation behind these crimes is financial—to obtain or avoid losing money, property, or services or to secure a personal or business advantage. There are two main reasons why the federal government fails when it comes to white-collar crime while heavily enforcing other kinds of criminal activity: Resource imbalance and a higher bar for white-collar criminal liability. Chapter 38

The White Rose, 1943: Numerous people resisted the German Nazi regime. People in extermination and work camps committed sabotage; some people tried to assassinate Adolph Hitler; some helped Jews and others escape persecution. One resistance movement was called the White Rose, which consisted mostly of young people who abhorred the regime’s racism and antisemitism as well as the destruction unleashed when Germany invaded western and eastern Europe. Among the leaders of the White Rose were siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl and college students Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell, and Willi Graf. Kurt Huber, a Munich University professor, acted as a mentor to the group. The White Rose wrote graffiti on buildings in Munich—e.g., Hitler Mass Murderer, Freedom—and printed thousands of leaflets that they secretly left in university buildings and elsewhere. On February 18, 1943, the Scholls were seen distributing leaflets at the university, and the group’s leadership was rounded up. Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl, and Christoph Probst were found guilty of treason four days later and were beheaded. Schmorell, Graf, and Huber were also later executed, and ten other members were sentenced to prison. The British Royal Air Force got ahold of the last leaflet printed by the White Rose and dropped hundreds of thousands of copies of it over Germany. Chapter 59

White House staff: This group comprises key aides and support personnel who do not require Senate approval. Among these are the president’s secretarial staff, who are responsible for correspondence and calendaring;  the White House Legal Counsel, who advises the president on what he can and cannot do with respect to constitutional and statutory powers; the White House Press Secretary, who is responsible for all communications with the news media; the National Security Advisor, who coordinates security policy and the various agencies involved with those matters; the Office of Legislative Affairs, which is concerned with getting the president’s agenda through Congress; plus a variety of other offices dedicated to presidential trips, intergovernmental affairs, communication, economic policy, domestic policy, and so forth. Chapter 25

Wilde, Oscar (1854-1900): In 1895 England, Wilde, a celebrated playwright, was convicted and imprisoned for “gross indecency with other male persons” and for corrupting young men. The trial made famous this euphemism for homosexuality: “The love that dares not speak its name.” Wilde eloquently defended his behavior: “There is nothing unnatural about it,” he said on the stand. Oscar Wilde’s trial and conviction “provided the stamp of legitimacy for the suppression of any public mention of same-sex love and served as a warning to its adherents.” Chapter70

William and Mary: The founders of the U.S. constitution were cognizant of what history had to teach about checking executive power. For example, in England, James II’s Protestant daughter, Mary, and her husband, William of Orange, were asked to rule England and forced to accept the 1689 Bill of Rights, which guaranteed, among other things, the right not to be taxed without Parliament’s approval, the right to petition the King, the right for Protestants to bear arms for self-defense, freedom from cruel and unusual punishments, freedom from excessive bail, freedom of speech in Parliament, and guarantees of a trial before having to pay fines. Chapter 29

winner-take-all elections: A structural element causing the United States to have a two-party system is our winner-take-all elections. Chapter 44

Wollstonecraft, Mary (1759-1797): In 1792 England, Mary Wollstonecraft, who was the mother of Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, wrote the extremely influential book, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, as an explicit attack on liberal theories that argued for liberty and equality only among men. She emphasized that women and men were both capable of developing their mental faculties through education, but that women were denied that opportunity. She wrote that, “To render . . . the social compact truly equitable . . . women must be allowed to found their virtue on knowledge, which is scarcely possible unless they be educated by the same pursuits as men. For they are now made so inferior by ignorance and low desires, as not to deserve to be ranked with them.” Chapter 69

World Wide Web: This is the most visible part of the Internet and began when researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) created the first few web pages. There are well over 4 billion regular users of the Internet worldwide. Chapter 48

writ of certiorari: This is an announcement that the Supreme Court is taking a case, as well as an order to the lower court to send up the case’s records. Chapter 31

writ of habeus corpus: If a state defendant has exhausted her state options, she may seek a writ of habeus corpus from a federal court. Habeus corpus literally means “you have the body,” and refers to the court ordering state or federal authorities to bring a detained person to the court and show cause for the detention or incarceration. Chapters 32; 62

writs of mandamus: These writs were well established in English common law. They allowed courts to order government officials to do their jobs. Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 specifically gave the U.S. Supreme Court the ability to issue such writs. In Marbury v. Madison (1803), Supreme Court Justice James Marshall declared that section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 violated the Constitution and therefore was void. Chapter 31

X

Xenophobia: This is a fear of foreigners. Chapter 62

Y

yellow journalism: This term means nonobjective newspaper printing, which was openly tied to political parties or movements and tilted the news accordingly. Competition in the news business was stiff, and publishers often went for scandal and sensationalism to sell newspapers. In the nineteenth century, yellow journalism was perfected through the rivalry of the New York World, published by Joseph Pulitzer, and the New York Journal, published by William Randolph Hearst. Both Hearst and Pulitzer stirred up stories of Spanish atrocities in Cuba and implicated Spain in the explosion that destroyed the U.S.S. Maine in Havana harbor, which may have helped prime their audiences for America to intervene. Chapter 47

Z

Zenger, John Peter (1697-1746): Zenger began publishing the New York Weekly Journal in 1733 and almost immediately printed critical articles of New York colony governor William Cosby, accusing him of “schemes of general oppression and pillage, schemes to depreciate or evade the laws, restraints upon liberty and projects for arbitrary will.” The paper went on to say that Cosby’s rule was so corrupt that the people of New York might soon revolt against the government. Zenger was arrested in 1734 and tried for seditious libel. The jury found him not guilty because the critical stories were factual and so did not constitute libel. Chapter 47