American Government Terms

American Government Terms

Brightly colored (red) links need new descriptions, and the others (blue) need improvement:

• Abington School District v. Schempp
• Administrative Agencies
• Affirmative Action
• Agenda Setting
• Amendment
• Amicus curiae brief
• Anti-Federalists
• Appellate jurisdiction
• Appointments Clause
• Appropriations Clause
• Army Clause
• Articles of Confederation
• Barron v. Baltimore
• Bicameral Legislature
• Bill
• Bill of Attainder
• Blanket Primary
• Block grants
• Borrowing Clause
• Brief
• Capital-gains Clause
• Capital-gains Tax
• Casework
• Categorical Grant
• Caucus
• Checks and Balances
• Clear and Present Danger Test
• Closed Convention
• Closed Primary
• Closed Rule
• Cloture
• Coattail effect
• Cofederal System
• Commerce Clause
• Committee Report
• Compact Clause
• Comparable Worth
• Concurrent Powers
• Concurring Opinion
• Compulsory Process Clause
• Conference Committee
• Confrontation Clause
• Congressional Review
• Congressional-executive Agreement
• Constitutional Convention
• Constitutional Courts
• Cooperative Federalism
• Copyright Clause
• Cost-benefit Analysis
• Creative Federalism
• Cross-ownership
• Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause
• De Facto Segregation
• De Jure Segregation
• Delegate
• Delegated Powers
• Deregulation
• Detente
• Discount Rate
• Discretionary Spending
• Dissenting opinion
• Domino Theory
• Double Jeopardy
• Due Federalism
• Due process
• Electoral College
• Eminent Domain
• Emoluments Clause
• Enclave Clause
• Entitlements
• Enumerated Powers
• Equal Access Rule
• Establishment Clause
• Ex Post Facto Law
• Exclusionary Rule
• Executive Agreement
• Executive Branch
• Executive Order
• Executive Vesting Clause
• Exit Pole
• Fairness Doctrine
• Fast Track Authority
• Federal Budget Deficit
• Federal Convention
• Federalist Party
• Federal System
• Federalists
• Federalism
• Filibuster
• Fiscal policy
• First Constitutional Congress
• Flat Tax
• Franking Privilege
• Free Exercise Clause
• Free Rider
• Front-loading
• Fruit of the poisonous tree
• Fugitive Slave Clause
• Full Faith and Credit Clause
• Gender Gap
• General Agreement on Tariff and Trade
• Gerrymandering
• Gitlow v. New York
• Good-faith Exception
• Government Corporation
• Grassroots Lobbying
• Great Compromise
• Gross Domestic Product
• Group of Eight
• Gregg v. Georgia
• Guarantee Clause
• Hard Money
• Hate Speech
• Heightened Scrutiny
• Implied Powers
• Impeachment Clause
• Import-Export Clause
• Incorporation Doctrine
• Independent Executive Agency
• Independent Regulatory Agency
• Interest Group
• Interstate Rendition Clause
• Issue Network
• Jim Crow Laws
• Joint Committee
• Judicial Activism
• Judicial Branch
• Judicial Restraint
• Judicial Review
• Keynesian Economics
• Laissez-faire Economics
• LAPS Test
• Leak
• Legislative Branch
• Legislative Courts
• Legislative Veto
• Lobbying
• Logrolling
• Mandate
• Mandatory Spending
• Margin of Error
• Means Test
• Navy Clause
• Necessary and Proper Clause
• New Jersey Plan
• New Deal Coalition
• New Federalism
• New States Clause
• Nonpartisan election
• North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
• Off the record
• On backround
• On deep backround
• On the record
• On backround
• On deep backround
• On the record
• Open convention
• Opinion Clause
• Original jurisdiction
• Pardon Power
• Party dealignment
• Party machine
• Party realignment
• Platform
• Plurality opinion
• Pocket veto
• Policy formulation
• Political agenda
• Political ideology
• Political socialization
• Pork-barrel legislation
• Presidential Veto
• Privileges and Immunities Clause
• Property Clause
• Proportional representation
• Random digit dialing
• Random sampling
• Reapportionment
• Recess appointment
• Recess Appointments Clause
• Recession
• Recommendations Clause
• Reexamination Clause
• Regressive tax
• Reserved powers
• Revenue sharing
• Reverse discrimination
• Revolving door
• Rider
• Right-of-rebuttal rule
• Right-to-Counsel Clause
• Rule making
• Rule of four
• Second Constitutional Congress
• Self-incrimination
• Select committee
• Senatorial courtesy
• Separation of powers
• Shield laws
• Soft money
• Sound bite
• Southern strategy
• Speech and Debate Clause
• Spending Clause
• Splinter parties
• Split-ticket voting
• Spoils system
• Stagflation
• Standard operating procedures
• Standing committee
• Stare decisis
• Straight-ticket voting
• Superdelegate
• Supply-side economics
• Supremacy Clause
• Supreme Court
• Take Care Clause
• Three-Fifths Compromise
• Treaty Clause
• Trial balloon
• Trustee
• Unemployment rate
• Unicameral legislature
• Unitary system
• Value-added tax
• Virginia Plan
• Voter turnout
• War Powers Act
• Warantless searches
• Whip
• White primary
• Winner-take-all primary
• Workfare
• Writ of certiorari
• Writ of habeas corpus

The following advanced decisions relate to the Seventh Amendment protection in civil cases that "no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law":

• Aetna Life Insurance Co. v. Ward
• Barry v. Edmunds
• Blunt v. Little
• Cooper Industries, Inc. v. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc.
• Gasperini v. Center for Humanities, Inc.
• Metropolitan Railway Co. v. Moore
• Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore
• Parsons v. Bedford
• Pullman-Standard v. Swint
• St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway Co. v. Craft
• United States v. Jefferson Electric Manufacturing Co.
• United States v. Wonson
• Weisgram v. Marley Co.
• Yellow journalism

Please add more terms relating to the United States Government!