AP Government Vocabulary
1. Democracy: free and equal representation of people.
2. Direct Democracy: A democracy in which the power to govern lies directly in the hands of the people rather than being exercised through their representatives.
3. Direct Primary: a primary election in which the candidates who will seek office as nominees of a political party are chosen directly by popular vote.
4. Initiative: a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote.
5. Referendum: a vote by the whole of an electorate on a specific question or questions put to it by a government or similar body.
6. Recall: A vote to remove someone from their political position.
7. Representative Democracy: a variety of democracy founded on the principle of elected officials representing a group of people, as opposed to direct democracy.
8. Constitutional Democracy: a system of government based on popular sovereignty in which the structures, powers, and limits of government are set forth in a constitution.
9. Constitutionalism: government by constitution: the principles or practice of government regulated by a constitution.
10. Majority rule: control by majority: control of an organization or institution according to the wishes or votes of the majority of its members.
11. Plurality rule: the excess of votes received by the leading candidate, in an election in which there are three or more candidates, over those received by the next leading candidate.
12. Theocracy: government by a god or by priests.
13. Electoral college: a select body of people who elect somebody to an office on behalf of a larger group
14. Federalism: a political system in which several states or regions defer some powers.
15. Writ of mandamus: a judicial remedy in the form of an order from a superior court, to any government subordinate court, corporation, or public authority—to do (or forbear from doing) some specific act which that body is obliged under law to do (or refrain from doing).
16. Writ of Certiorari: an order a higher court issues in order to review the decision and proceedings in a lower court and determine whether there were any irregularities.
17. Writ of Habeas Corpus: a court order that requires a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court.
18. In forma pauperis: not liable for court costs because of being identified as a poor person.
19. Amicus curiae briefs: someone who is not a party to a case who offers information that bears on the case but who has not been solicited by any of the parties to assist a court.
20. Bureaucracy: an administrative system, especially in a government, that divides work into specific categories carried out by special departments of nonelected officials.
21. Cloture: the process of closing a debate in the Senate by calling for a vote.
22. De facto segregation: segregation that happens in fact although not required by law.
23. De jure segregation: segregation that is imposed by law.
24. Ex post facto law: a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences (or status) of actions that were committed, or relationships that existed, before the enactment of the law.
25. Stare decisis: the principal that the precedent decisions are to be followed by the courts.
26. Delegated powers: expressed powers given to one branch of the government by the Constitution. They are assigned to another government agency with consent of the first.
27. Implied powers: a power that in not specifically authorized in writing, but is assumed because of similar powers which have already been granted in writing.
28. Express powers: powers that congress has that are specifically listed in the Constitution.
29. Reserve powers: a political power that a constitution reserves exclusively to the jurisdiction of a particular political authority.
30. Concurrent power: a political power exercised independently in the same field of legislation by both federal