Useful terms

Absentee ballot Where a voting ballot is submitted by mail before the date of an election. An absentee ballot is used where someone wishes to vote but is unable to go to the polls.

Accountability A core concept within a liberal democracy consisting of two related elements. The first is where elected representatives are answerable to the people, usually via the media. Accountability also consists of members from the executive branch of government being scrutinized by elected representatives within the legislature (i.e. via a congressional committee) and figures from the judiciary. Accountability is relatively strong within the US due to an intricate system of checks and balances. The degree of scrutiny fluctuates according to party composition within Congress, the popularity of the President, the character of the media and so on.

Activists Those who campaign for a party or candidate. Due to the federalist system activists tend to perceive their role as ensuring a local victory for a candidate rather than a nationwide victory for the party as a whole. The ability to recruit activists is clearly an important skill for politicians to have.

Adversarial system A court structure in which lawyers on both sides of a case attempt to prove their argument over their opponent’s version of the case. In a political context, this term can be used to further comprehend those cases heard in the Supreme Court (such as US v. Windsor (2013)).

Advice and consent powers Those powers held by the Senate in terms of presidential nominations and Treaties signed. The House of Representatives does not have these powers. This is one area in which the upper chamber holds greater significance than the lower chamber. Confirmation is based on a simple majority.

Affirmative action The use of quotas and other measures in order to reverse the harmful impact of discrimination. Democrats tend to support affirmative action whereas Republicans tend to oppose affirmative action. Certain states have banned affirmative action, whereas others have enthusiastically embraced the strategy. Bill Clinton once said that “affirmative action has been good for America” and that “affirmative action should be mended not ended.” Since the 1980s, the Supreme Court has often ruled quotas to be in violation of the equal protection clause.

Alter-globalization A worldwide movement of various organizations attempting to reverse the orientation of globalization. The movement seeks to change the basis of globalization away from neo-liberal economics towards serving the wider needs of humanity and in doing so facilitate social justice and the protection of the environment (Klein, 2000 and 2007; Stiglitz, 2002 and 2003).

Amendment An addition to an existing body of legislation (including the Constitution). When an amendment is ratified the Constitution is appended. In other words, it does not alter or delete what is already there. The founding fathers created a deliberately difficult process because they feared the impact of constant change driven by populist measures. In recent years a number of amendments have failed ranging from removing citizenship from children of illegal immigrants to protecting the reference to God in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Amicus curiae A Latin phrase that means “friend of the court.” An amicus curiae brief enables certain interests to be bought before the attention of the Court. It refers to an interested group or person who shares relevant information about a case to help the Court reach a decision. Participants usually register their opinions in briefs, but they may also participate in oral arguments if one of the parties in the case gives them some of their allotted time.

Antifederalists Those members of the Constitutional Convention who supported state rights over a strong role for the national government. The division between federalists and antifederalists remains a fault-line throughout American history.

Appeals courts The intermediate level of federal courts. More generally, an appeals court is any court with appellate jurisdiction.

Appellate jurisdiction A term used to describe the role of an appeals court. In all cases other than those where the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction, it acts as the highest court of appeal. Most of the activity undertaken by the Supreme Court derives from appellate jurisdiction. As the title clearly implies, the Supreme Court holds this authority over all other courts.

Apportionment The process of assigning all the seats in the House based on an increase or decrease in state population. 

Articles of Confederation Written in 1776, the Articles of Confederation marked the first attempt to create a new American government. It was later decided that the Articles placed too great a restriction upon the national government, and they were later replaced by the Constitution.

Astroturf lobbying Any lobbying method initiated by an interest group that is designed to look like the spontaneous, independent participation of many individuals.

Athenian model The earliest known example of direct democracy and something of a template for scholars of politics. As the name implies, the Athenian model was first used in Ancient Greece, where citizens met in a market-place to listen to a debate and vote on the issues raised. Town hall meetings have taken place in New England states for many years, and tele-democracy has been used in North Carolina where citizens interact during a phone-in program.

Attack ads Campaign advertising that criticizes an opponent – typically by making potentially damaging claims about the opponent’s background or record – rather than focusing on positive reasons to vote for the candidate. Candidates are free to broadcast as many adverts as they can afford. To be effective, an attack ad must play upon an existing fear (notably the notorious Willie Horton adverts against Dukakis in 1988) or exploit fears within society. Negative advertisements tend to be strongly associated with emotive issues such as reproductive rights and gun control. Opponents may have to devote time and resources in order to counter an effective attack ad.

Attack journalism A type of media coverage that focuses upon political scandals and controversies. Journalists thereby engage in sensationalism rather than substance.

Attitudinalist approach A means of understanding decisions of the Supreme Court. This may well be divided into a liberal-conservative dichotomy, or that of activism-restraint. This is always of interest to those who seek to understand the role of the judiciary within the political process.

Authority The right of some person or institution to make and implement political decisions. Authority is a key concept within politics and bears a close – but not exact – relationship with power. According to the German sociologist Max Weber there are three types of authority (traditional, charismatic and rational-legal). The degree to which a politician holds authority can fluctuate greatly. During the latter years of the President’s second-term his authority often declines and commentators routinely describe him as a lame-duck President.