American Government Final Exam

American Government Final Exam

Below are terms related to the American government.  Please define these terms as they relate to the American government.  You may use your textbook glossary or other credible sources.  Upload your completed exam to the Exam dropbox.

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1. Electorate

In a government setting, an electorate can be used to refer to someone eligible and qualified to cast his or her vote during an election.

2. New Deal

The New Deal refers to the domestic programs, projects, reforms in the financial sector, and other regulations that were developed and enacted by President Roosevelt. The New Deal was aimed at restoring America from the Great Depression.

3. Name recognition

Politically, name recognition means the ease at which a voter can identify his or her candidate of choice by name. This process is gained through an initial exposure of the electorate with the candidate during the campaign period. It also gives the voter awareness of their candidate of choice through campaign advertisements.

4. Popular vote

Popular votes occur during America’s Presidential elections. It refers to the percentage of the total number of voters who cast their votes for a particular candidate in 50 states alongside Washington. A candidate with popular vote gunners more votes from a wide national perspective.

5. Free rider

In America, a Free rider is an individual that influences someone to make payment or purchase for a particular public good to use it for him or herself. Markets have failed to produce public products due to the presence of many Free riders in the market systems, using public goods and not paying for them.

6. Iron triangle

According to Gordon Adams, an Iron Triangle refers to the relationship between interest groups, Congress, and the bureaucratic agencies. In this relationship, the three bodies work collaboratively on the specific plan and interests of the country. For a healthy and democratic country like America, the Iron triangle is vital since it ignores the common good interest and features the advancement of specified and narrow interests. For instance, Congress can focus on lowering regulations on corn production for the sake of increasing funds allocated to the Agricultural department. Through this, the bureaucratic groups will gain more DoA’s power while the agricultural interest groups will enjoy lowered regulations in their constituents.

7. Gerrymandering

This is a political practice into which electoral boundaries are set in electoral districts. This favors particular political interest groups in legislation, and as a result, the electoral districts convolute and winds instead of becoming compact. Political interest groups change voting districts for their benefits or to intentionally harm their opponents.

8. Impeachment

In the American government, impeachment is a legislative process through which legislatures from the lower house files charges against a civil government officer. This officer should have allegedly committed the specified crimes which are analogously brought before the Grand Jury for indictment. For instance, the formal house inquiry brought allegations against President Trump for soliciting interference in the 2020 presidential elections through foreign agency collaboration.  Furthermore, it was alleged that Trump tried to obstruct investigations into the matter by instructing his administrative officials to ignore any attempts for documentation and testimonials.

9. Executive privilege

This is a term that permits the president of the United States and the executive members to enjoy confidential communication about some administrative branch circumstances. It also allows these officials to refrain from subpoenas or legislative and judicial inquiries over some sensitive issues in the government. The information withheld by these government officials might be concerns about national security or the White house privacy protection.

10. Mandate

In the United States, a mandate is an order that gives authority, responsibility, action, or a constitutional imposition in local or state governments. Federal mandates are essential for countries because they give states a directive to explore policies that later would grand them grant funding. In general, a mandate is an order or authority from the government both at the state level or local level.

11. Patronage

Politically, patronage refers to a system through which the winning political party gives back to its supports a gesture of appreciation. This is through providing the supporters with chances to work in their government as civil servants since they contributed to the political victory. This serves as a way to retain the supporters into the political party system for future elections. For instance, government patronage is a practice whereby a government hires an individual due to partisan loyalty. It is a reward for loyal persons.

12. Pork barrel

This is a disgusting term in U.S politics. It is used to refer to the federal government expenditures towards specific projects that are meant to incur profits and benefit constituent representative elects. Pork is a metaphor that insinuates public projects like airports, bridges, infrastructure, or agricultural grants. It does not matter the results of the project, but as long as the federal spending and economic benefits are involved, that is pork barrel. Examples of pork barrels include but not limited to Montana State University, Big Dig High Project, and the Gravina Island Bridge.

13. Judicial restraint

This is a theory in the interpretation of the judiciary whereby the judges’ power exercise is limited. It mandates the judges to hesitate on issuing strike down of constitutional laws. Declaration of law as unconstitutional or conflicting with the constitution takes time and, thus, the reason for judicial restraint.

14. Judicial activism

This is a practice where judges or the court system are not confined to reasonably interpret the law; instead, such judges create laws through the judicial will. In so doing, the courts do not rule a dispute before them according to the regulations at hand; however, they come up with new rules and regulations and broadly apply the same on the conflict. That implies that in judicial activism, judges substitute the applicable law with their opinions and political views. In this case, they act like legislatures instead of traditional courts.

15. Civil rights

Civil rights refer to protective laws that the American government puts in place to influence and act to bring equality to American citizens positively. It is a practice that offers protections, especially to America’s minority groups like African-Americans, Hispanics, and women, among other groups. Civil rights offer Americans freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and fair trial in the judicial courts.

16. Black codes

Black codes were laws developed and enacted in 1865 and 1866 in the Southern states. These laws or codes were created immediately after the Civil war in America. They are laws meant to govern the African-American conduct and hence, restrict their freedom, forces them to work for longer hours but at lesser pay/wages.

17. Civil liberties

Civil liberties are the opposite of civil rights. These are laws put in place to protect Americans from the actions of the government. For instance, the first Amendment Bill of Rights permits the American citizens freedom of worship; therefore, the American government is restricted from interfering with this law.

18. Due process

This is contained in the 4ht and 5^th Amendment Bills in the U.S constitution. It is a clause or a statement that restricts states from depriving Americans of their life, liberty of properties. Thus, it authorizes the states to respect an individual’s legal rights at any given time. Due processes can be substantiated or procedural, but in both the types, an individual must be presented prior notice before any procedures or actions are taken against him or her.

19. Progressive tax

In the United States of America, progressive tax implies a state whereby an increase in tax rates leads to an increase in the taxable income concerning wage income earners. Examples of income tax in America include, but not limited to, Obamacare taxes, child credit taxes, and estate taxes.

20. Poverty line

According to the American Census Bureau, the Poverty line is a measure of people’s income over a given threshold. It measures the minimum income required for basic needs in a family. If a family’s or a person’s income is recorded to be below the threshold, the person or family is termed as poor