CLEP American Government Glossary Terms 2023/2024

527 Committee -->named after code 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, a political organization that promotes certain issues, and, as long as it if not formally affiliated with a political party and does not specifically endorse a candidate, its political advertisements are not taxed. Acting President -->the person who assumes the powers and duties of the president if he becomes incapacitated- the vice president Activist Government -->a government that creates work, employs people, and provides tax-funded benefits, which U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt argued for during the early years of the Great Depression Ad Hoc Committee -->like a select committee, a congressional committee that is organized to deal with a particular, temporary matter Administrative Discretion (1) -->the freedom of government agencies to set policies according to guidelines provided by congressional legislation Administrative Discretion (2) -->the interpretation of laws, policies, and court decisions that bureaucrats in leadership positions have Administrative Law -->rules and regulations formulated by government agencies Admiralty Courts -->established by the Sugar Act, British courts in which smugglers were tried without the benefit of a jury of their peers Advice and Consent -->an expression in the Constitution that allows the Senate to restrict the president's powers of appointment Affirmative Action -->programs that seek to compensate for past discrimination by giving special attention in hiring, and in college or university admissions, to people from the groups discriminated against Affirmed -->the action of the Supreme Court or another superior court that accepts a previous court's decision Agostini v.Felton -->a Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that the First Amendment to the Constitution requires only government neutrality toward religion, which allowed public school teachers to teach remedial, nonreligious classes at religious schools at taxpayers' expense American Bill of Rights -->the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution Amicus Curiae Brief -->a "friend of the court" brief, often submitted in a case by an interest group to persuade the court that it should decide a case a certain way Anti-incumbency -->a sentiment against elected officials currently in power Appropriations Committee -->the committee in each chamber of Congress that is concerned with the spending of federal money Appropriations Committees -->committees that had to approve the funds authorized by congressional authorization committees before they were spent in the decades following World War II Approval Ratings -->regular polls that show the extent to which the public approves of the performance of the president or other politicians April 15 -->the date on which annual tax returns are due to the government Articles of Confederation -->the national constitution written before independence had formally been declared, adopted by the Second national Congress in 1777, and ratified by all the states by 1781 Athens -->the Greek city-state that had the first known direct democracy, in which free male citizens debated and voted on every law Attack Ad -->an ad designed to create negative feelings about a candidate's opponent Attentive Policy Elites -->people who pay close attention to political matters Australian Secret Ballot -->the model of the method by which people vote privately, first introduced in Australia in the late 1800s Authorization Committees -->various committees in congress that authorized spending on different projects (such as for upgraded dams in the Midwest) in the decades following World War II Baby Boomers -->Americans who were born between 1946 and 1964 Balanced Budget Act -->a 1997 law, signed by President bill Clinton, that led not only to a balanced budget, but also to a budget surplus for the first time since the end of the 1960s Ballot -->the method by which a person casts a vote in an election Barron v. Baltimore -->the 1883 Supreme Court case in which the Court determined that the Bill of Rights applied to the federal governments and did not bind the state governments Bicameral -->refers to a Congress with two houses; in the United States, the House of Representatives and the Senate Bill -->a proposed piece of legislation introduced by a member of the House or Senate in response to an issue that needs to be addressed Bimodal Distribution -->respondents are divided almost evenly Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) -->a law passed in 2002 that attempted to control the influence of money on political campaigns for federal office; better known as the McCain-Feingold Act