17 Flashcards
national convention
A convention held by a political party every four years to nominate candidates for president and vice president and to ratify the party platform.
national debt
Money owed by a government.
national interest
Things that will benefit and protect a state.
nationalism
A belief in the goodness of one’s nation and a desire to help make the nation stronger and better.
National Security Council
A part of the White House Staff that advises the president on security policy.
nation-building
The task of creating a national identity through promotion of common culture, language, and history.
nation-state
A state that rules over a single nation.
Nazism
Political ideology from Germany that stressed the superiority of the German race, authoritarian rule by one party, military expansion, and a longing for a mythical past.
necessary and proper clause
A clause at the end of Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution that grants Congress the power to do whatever is necessary and proper to carry out its duties; also known as the elastic clause.
necessary evil
Something that is believed to be needed but is not good in and of itself; many Americans see government as a necessary evil.
negotiated rule-making
A federal rule-making process that includes those affected by the rules.
neoconservatism
A recent development in American conservatism that believes the power of the state should be used to promote conservative goals.
New Deal coalition
The supporters of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal; the coalition included labor unions, Catholics, southern whites, and African Americans; helped the Democrats dominate politics from the 1930s until the 1960s.
new federalism
An American movement, starting in the 1970s, to return power to state and local governments, thereby decreasing the amount of power held by the federal government.
New Jersey Plan
A plan at the constitutional convention that gave each state equal representation in the legislature.
