US Government & Constitution — Glossary

The Articles of Confederation were the first written constitution of the United States, ratified in 1781, creating a weak union of sovereign states with a single-chamber Congress.

Baker v. Carr (1962) is the U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that federal courts may adjudicate legislative apportionment disputes under the Equal Protection Clause.

Block grants are federal funds disbursed to U.S. state and local governments for broadly defined functional areas, leaving recipients wide discretion over specific spending.

The Brandenburg incitement test holds that government may punish advocacy of force or lawless action only when it is directed to inciting imminent lawless action and is likely to produce it.

The Brandenburg test holds that government may punish inflammatory speech only when it is directed to inciting imminent lawless action and is likely to produce such action.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) is the U.S. Supreme Court decision that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.

The bully pulpit is the U.S. presidency's capacity to use its national visibility and prestige to shape public opinion and pressure Congress and other actors.

Categorical grants are federal funds given to states and localities for narrowly specified purposes, with detailed conditions and limited recipient discretion.

Civil liberties are constitutionally guaranteed freedoms protecting individuals from arbitrary governmental power, chiefly enshrined in the U.S. Bill of Rights.

Civil rights are government-secured guarantees of equal treatment and protection against discrimination, enforced through constitutional provisions, statutes, and the courts.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a U.S. federal statute outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in public accommodations, employment, and federally funded programs.

Coercive (or fiscal) federalism is a system in which the national government uses conditional grants, mandates, and preemption to compel state compliance with federal policy goals.

Compacts are formal, legally binding agreements between two or more U.S. states, or between states and the federal government, authorized under Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution.

Conditions of aid are federal spending requirements that recipient states or localities must satisfy as a precondition for receiving grant money, used to influence policy in areas Congress cannot directly regulate.

A constitutional doctrine is a judicially developed principle of interpretation that courts apply to resolve disputes about constitutional meaning, structure, and limits on government power.

Cooper v. Aaron (1958) is the U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming that states are bound by federal court interpretations of the Constitution and cannot nullify desegregation rulings.

Craig v. Boren (1976) is the U.S. Supreme Court decision that established intermediate scrutiny as the constitutional standard for evaluating sex-based classifications under the Equal Protection Clause.

The Declaration of Independence is the 1776 document by which the Second Continental Congress proclaimed the thirteen American colonies free and independent states severed from British rule.

Delegated (enumerated) powers are those authorities the U.S. Constitution expressly grants to the federal government, chiefly to Congress under Article I, Section 8.

Duverger's Law holds that single-member-district plurality electoral systems tend to produce and sustain two-party competition, while proportional representation favours multipartism.

Engel v. Vitale (1962) was a U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that official, state-sponsored prayer in public schools violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent U.S. regulatory agency, created in 1934, that regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable.

The Federal Election Commission is an independent United States regulatory agency that administers and enforces federal campaign finance law governing money in federal elections.

Framing is the deliberate selection and emphasis of certain aspects of a problem to shape how an audience interprets it and what responses appear reasonable.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) is the U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel is binding on the states, requiring courts to appoint attorneys for indigent defendants in felony cases.

Grants-in-aid are fiscal transfers from a higher tier of government to lower tiers or institutions, made under constitutional or statutory authority to support revenue or specific schemes.

INS v. Chadha (1983) is the U.S. Supreme Court decision holding the legislative veto unconstitutional because it violated the Constitution's bicameralism and presentment requirements.

Intensity denotes the degree of concentration, magnitude, or strength of a measured phenomenon per unit of reference, distinguishing qualitative force from mere quantitative scale.

Marbury v. Madison (1803) is the U.S. Supreme Court decision that established judicial review, the power of courts to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) is the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld implied federal powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause and barred states from taxing federal institutions.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) was the U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine, validating Jim Crow laws.

A political ideology is a coherent system of ideas, values, and beliefs about the proper organization of state, society, and economy that guides political action.

Popular sovereignty is the doctrine that legitimate political authority derives from the consent of the governed, making the people the ultimate source of state power.

Stability is the capacity of a political system to maintain orderly governance, predictable institutions, and continuity of authority despite internal pressures and leadership change.

The Twelfth Amendment denotes two distinct constitutional reforms: the 1804 U.S. amendment restructuring presidential-elector voting, and Bangladesh's 1991 amendment restoring parliamentary government.

A two-thirds majority is a supermajority threshold requiring at least 66.67 percent of votes, used in constitutions to entrench grave decisions against simple majorities.

United States v. Lopez (1995) is the Supreme Court decision that struck down a federal statute as exceeding Congress's Commerce Clause power for the first time since 1937.

United States v. Nixon (1974) is the U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that executive privilege is not absolute and must yield to a demonstrated need for evidence in a criminal trial.

The US Government is the federal system of the United States, established by the 1787 Constitution, dividing power among legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a U.S. federal statute that prohibits racial discrimination in voting and authorized federal oversight of elections in covered jurisdictions.

Wickard v. Filburn (1942) is the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Congress may regulate purely local, non-commercial activity under the Commerce Clause if it has a substantial aggregate effect on interstate commerce.