Politics — Year 13

Component 3: Paper 3

Bipartisanship
Attempts within the structure of the US Congress to try and ensure that the two main parties must work together in order to fulfil Congressional functions.

Checks and balances
The division of power between the three branches of government where each branch has a direct ability to prevent action from another branch.

Codification
A constitution that is written down in one document.

Constitution
A set of rules determining where sovereignty lies in a political system, and establishing the precise relationship between the government and the governed

Entrenchment
A system by which the US Constitution is protected from change by law; in this case, by the Amendment Process of Article V

Enumerated powers
Such powers are stated explicitly in the US Constitution – for example Article 1, Section 8 provides a list of Congressional powers.

Federalism
The US system in which sovereignty is shared between a central government (federal government) and the individual states, with each having their own specific rights

Limited government
The power of the US federal government over its states and citizens is subject to limitations as laid out in the Constitution.

'Principle'
The core structural aspects of how the US Constitution was defined by the Founding Fathers when it was drafted.

Separation of powers
The three key bodies of government, legislature, executive and judiciary each have their own powers, personnel and buildings.

Crash Course Politics

Mock 1

Papers 1 and 2

Congressional caucuses
These are groups of legislators who share special interests and meet to pursue common legislative objectives, e.g. black caucus, women’s caucus, Hispanic caucus

Divided government
When the House of Representatives, Senate and presidency are not all controlled by one party.

Filibuster
When a senator gives a prolonged speech on the floor of the Senate in order to obstruct legislative progress of a bill or confirmation of appointments to the Executive or judiciary.

Gridlock
A situation in US politics where the president and Congress are equally powerful, constantly preventing each other from acting, resulting in difficulty passing legislation.

Incumbency
The current holder of a political office re House or Senate seat or presidency.

Mid-term elections
Congressional elections held mid-way through a President’s four-year term.

Oversight
The ability of one branch of government to supervise the work of another.

Partisanship
A situation in which Congressmen/women are incredibly loyal to their party, even when it means that the result is gridlock.

Unanimous consent
A senator or Congressman/woman may request unanimous consent on the floor to set aside a specified rule of procedure so as to expedite proceedings

Domestic politics
Issues within the USA that directly concern citizens, e.g. healthcare, gun control, racial issues.

Electoral mandate
An electoral mandate is the permission granted to a political leader or winning party to govern and act on their behalf, e.g. to President Obama in 2008 and 2012. The mandate is more or less in effect for as long as the government is in power.

Executive branch
The executive branch, headed by the president, is one of the three branches of government; the other two are the legislative branch (headed by Congress) and the judiciary (headed by the Supreme Court).

Executive orders
Official documents issued by the executive branch with the force of law, through which the president directs federal officials to take certain actions. Since the 1900s executive orders have been numbered and recorded in the Federal Register.

Imperial presidency
A dominant presidency with ineffective checks and balances from the other branches.

Imperiled presidency
This is the contrasting theory to that of an imperial presidency – it is claimed that the president does not have enough power to be effective.

Informal powers
Powers of the president not listed in the Constitution but taken anyway.

Powers of persuasion
This is an informal power of the president in which they can use the prestige of their job, and other bargaining methods in order to get people to do as they wish.

Unified government
Where both Houses of Congress and the presidency are controlled by people from the same political party.

Crash Course Politics

Mock 2

Papers 1, 2, 3

Conservative justice
A Justice with a strong belief in stare decisis, with a more narrow view of the Constitution, more likely to believe in a literal interpretation of the wording and believing in a generally smaller government.

Imperial judiciary
A judiciary that is all powerful and on which checks and balances are weak and ineffective.

Judicial activism
An approach to judicial decision making that holds that a Justice should use their position to promote desirable social ends.

Judicial restraint
An approach to judicial decision making that holds that a Justice should defer to the executive and legislative branches, which are politically accountable to the people, and should put great stress on the principle established in previous court decisions

Judicial review
The ability of the Supreme Court to declare acts of Congress, and acts or actions of the presidency, unconstitutional and therefore null and void.

Liberal Justice
A Justice who interprets the Constitution more broadly in order to give the people more freedom and bring about social change.

Living Constitution
The idea that the Constitution is an evolutionary document that can change over time through re-interpretation by the Supreme Court (linked to loose constructionism).

Originalism
The idea that the meaning of the US Constitution is fixed and should not be subject to interpretation.

Public policy
Legislation and judicial decisions made on any policy that affect the whole of the US population.

Stare decisis
This doctrine is built on the idea of standing by decided cases, upholding precedents and maintaining former adjudications – thus tends to favour status quo – this is the opposite of the ‘living Constitution’ approach

Strict/loose constructionist
‘Loose construction’ is a legal philosophy that favours a broad interpretation of a document's language. This term is often used to contrast with strict construction, a philosophy that favours looking solely at the written text of the law.

Swing Justice
An informal name for the Justice on the Supreme Court who falls ideologically in the centre of the nine current Justices.

Constitutional rights
The rights specifically outlined for citizens within the US Constitution, Bill of Rights and subsequent Amendments.

Racial equality
Racial equality is an equal regard to all races. It can refer to a belief in biological equality of all human races and to social equality for people of different races. In the USA, there remain calls for desegregation and voter registration in the south,

Affirmative action
A policy of favouring historically disadvantaged members of a community.

US Supreme Court Website

Paper 1

Paper 2

Paper 3

Campaign finance
Campaign finance refers to all funds raised to promote candidates, political parties or policy initiatives and their agendas during an election.

Factions
The groups (factions) that make up political parties – ideological wings, particular age and occupation groups, citizens concerned about particular issues – are now a feature of modern politics.

Invisible primary
This is the period between when a candidate announces their bid for public office and when the actual primaries take place. It is also sometimes called the ‘money primary’.

Political Action Committee (PACs)
This raises and spends money in order to elect/defeat electoral candidates, with a donation limit of $5,000 per candidate per election.

Party system
The number of parties that have a realistic chance of forming government within a political system.

Policy group
A group that attempts to influence a whole policy area, e.g. American Israeli PAC (AIPAC).

Professional group
A group that represents the economic interests of its members, e.g. American Medical Association (AMA), American Bar Association (ABA).

Single interest group
A group that advocates policy surrounding a small specific issue, e.g. National Rifle Association (NRA).

Soft money
When cash is contributed directly to a political candidate, it is ‘hard money’, which may come only from an individual or a political action committee.

Hard money
When cash is contributed to a political party with no limits attached to the amount that can be received, this is a ‘soft money’ contribution.

Super PACs
A Super-Political Action Committee (Super PAC) raises and spends unlimited amounts of money to support or oppose political candidates but without directly donating or co-ordinating with these candidates

Religious right
The movement, which generally gives support to the Republican Party, is an ultraconservative religious response to the sexual revolution and an attempt to translate this into public policy

Crash Course Politics

External A Level Examinations

Think tanks
A body of experts brought together to collectively focus on a certain topic(s) – to investigate and offer solutions to often complicated and seemingly intractable economic, social or political issues.

Democratic deficit
A flaw in the democratic process where decisions are taken by people who lack legitimacy, not having been appointed with sufficient democratic input or subject to accountability.

Lobbyists
A lobbyist is paid by clients to try to influence the government and/or MPs and members of the House of Lords to act in their clients’ interests, particularly when legislation is under consideration.

Representative democracy
A more modern form of democracy through which an individual selects a person (and/or political party) to act on their behalf to exercise political choice.

Referendum
A popular vote where the people are asked to determine an important political or constitutional issue directly.

Sectional group
A pressure group that represents a specific section of society such as a trade union or an employer's association

Promotional group
A pressure group that seeks to promote a cause rather than the interests of its own members

Rule of Law
A set of principles asserting that all citizens should be treated equally under the law, including government itself. Also means that every citizen is entitled to due process of law and a fair trial.

A State
A state refers to a country whose government's jurisdiction over a territory is recognised by other states

Elitism
A tendency for power to be monopolised by small groups of influential people. Exists mainly within business and finance groups, some trade unions, govt etc.

Liberal Democracy
A type of democracy where there is an emphasis on the protection of individual rights and liberties, where the rule of law is strictly adhered to, and where government is limited by enforceable constitutional laws.

Parliamentary Democracy
A type of representative democracy where an elected parliament is the source of all political authority and where government is drawn largely from parliament.

Direct democracy
All individuals express their opinions themselves and not through representatives acting on their behalf. This type of democracy emerged in Athens in classical times and direct democracy can be seen today in referendums.

Pressure group
An association whose purpose is to further the interests of a specific section of society or to promote a particular cause by influencing govt/public/both

Pluralism
Description of a political system where a wide range of beliefs, ideologies and ideas is tolerated and allowed to flourish. Also implies a system where power is widely dispersed and not concentrated in a few hands.

Franchise/suffrage
Franchise and suffrage both refer to the ability/right to vote in public elections. Suffragettes were women campaigning for the right to vote on the same terms as men.

Democracy
General description of various political systems that are organised on the basis that government should serve the interests of people. Also expected that government should be accountable, in various ways, to the people.

Outsider groups
Have no special links with govt but seek to influence decision makers by mobilising public opinion

citizenship
members of the political community have both rights and responsibilities

Athenian democracy
oldest form of democracy

Political Participation
Opportunities for and tendencies of the people to become involved in the political process.

Insider groups
Pressure groups that operate inside the political system through contacts with ministers, MPs, peers and official committees. Regularly consulted by govt.

Legitimacy
Refers to the degree to which the state or it government can be considered to have the right to exercise power.

Power
The ability of an individual or an institution to force people to do things, whether they wish to or not.

Authority
The right to exercise power, rather than the exercise of power itself. Authority is granted to rulers or anyone in power by those over whom power is to be exercised.

Seneca

External A Level Examinations

Rule of Law
A set of principles asserting that all citizens should be treated equally under the law, including government itself. Also means that every citizen is entitled to due process of law and a fair trial.

Parliamentary government
A political system where Parliament is a central feature. Government is draw from Parliament and is accountable to Parliament.

Uncodified constitution
A set of constitutional rules that exist, but are not contained in a single document. Therefore, the constitution may have a number of different sources. Also implies that constitutional rules are not entrenched or safeguarded.

Constitution
A set of principles that establishes the distribution of power within a political system, relationships between political institutions, the limits of government jurisdiction, the rights of citizens and the method of amending the constitution itself.

Unentrenched(entrenched)
A constitution with no special procedure for amendment.

bicameralism
a system where the legislature is divided into two houses

Fusion of powers
government has power of parliament and can dominate parliament. Implies that government is drawn from parliament and remains part of parliament.

Common law
Laws made by judges where the law does not cover the issue or is unclear. Conventions Traditions not contained in law but influential in the operation of a political system.

Statue law
Laws passed by Parliament.

Accountability
Means that the legislature can call government to account by criticising, requiring justification for policy and seeking explanations of policy.

Devolution
The dispersal of power, but not sovereignty, within a political system.

Parliament
The name given to representative bodies in many states, including the UK. Has a number of roles including, legislating, calling government to account and representing the community.

Legislature
The political institution whose main role is to pass laws

The rule of law
The principle that all people and bodies, including government, must follow the law and can be held to account if they do not.

Uncodified (codified)
A constitution not contained in a single written document.

Unitary (federal)
A political system where all legal sovereignty is contained in a single place.

Authoritative works
Works written by experts describing how a political system is run, they are not legally binding but are taken as significant guides.

House of Commons
The primary chamber of the UK legislature, directly elected by voters.

House of Lords
The second chamber of the UK legislature, not directly elected by voters.

Secondary legislation
Powers given to the Executive by Parliament to make changes to the law within certain specific rules.

Executive
The collective group of Prime Minister, Cabinet and junior ministers, sometimes known as ‘The Government’.

Seneca