Government

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bicameral legislature

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divided into two houses in the US Congress and the state legislatures are bicameral except Nebraska (unicameral)

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apportionment

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the proportional process of allotting congressional seats to each state following the decennial census

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redistricting

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the redrawing of congressional districts to reflect increases or decreases in seats allowed to the states, as well as population shifts within a state

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bill

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a proposed law

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impeachment

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the power delegated to the house of reps in the constitution to charge the president, vice president or other civil officers including federal judges with treason, bribery, other high crimes and misdemeanors. first step in the constutitutional process of removing such government officials from office.

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speaker of the house

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the only officer of the house of reps specifically mentioned in the constitution: elected at the beginning of each new congress by entire house, traditionally a member of the majority party

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majority party

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political party in each house of congress with most members

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minority party

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political party in eaach house of congress with the second most members

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party caucus or confrence

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a formal gathering of all party members

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majority leader

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elected leader of the party controlling the most seats in the house of reps or teh senate, is second in authority to hte speaker of the house and in the senate and is regarded as the most powerful member

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minority leader

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elected leader of the party with 2nd highest number of elected reps. in the house of reps in the senate

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whip

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one of the several reps. who keep close contact with all members and take nose counts on key votes, prepare summaries of bills, and in general act as communication links within the party

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standing committee

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committee to which the proposed bills are referred

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joint committee

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includes members from both houses of congress, conducts investigation or special studies

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conference committee

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joing committee created to iron out differences between the senate and house versions of a specific piece of legislature

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select (special) committee

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temporary committee appointed for specific purpose such as conducting a special investigation or study

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discharge petition

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petition that gives a majority of the house of reps the authority to bring an issue to the floor in the face of committee inaction

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pork

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legistlation that allows representatives to bring home the bacon to their districts in the form of public works programs, military bases, or other programs designed to benefit their district directly

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seniority

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times of continuious service on a committee

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incumbency

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the fact that being in office helps a person stay in office because of a variety of benefits that go with that position

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trustee

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role played by electeed representatives who listen to contuitents opinions and then use their best judgment to make final decisions

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delegate

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role played by elected representaives who vote the way their constituents would want them to, regardless of their own opinions

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politico

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roled played by elected representatives who act as trustees or as delegates, depending on the issue

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divided government

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the political condition in which different political parties control the white house/congress

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logrolling

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vote trading, voting yeah to support a collegue's bill in return for promise of future support

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hold

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a tactic by which a senator asks to be informed before a particular bill is brought to the floor. this stops the bill from coming to the floor until the hold is removed.

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filibuster

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a formal way of halting action on a bill by means of long speeches of unlimited debate in teh senate

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cloture

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mechanism requiring sixty senators to vote to cut off the debate

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veto

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formal constitutional authority of the president to reject a bill passed by both houses of the legistlative body, thus preventing their becoming law without further congressional activity

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pocket veto

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if congress adjourns during the ten days that the president has to consider the bill passed by both houses of congress, without the president's signature, the bill is considered vetoed

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oversight

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congressional review of the activities of an agency, department, or office

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congressional review

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a process whereby congress can nullify agency regulations by a joing resolution of legislative disapproval

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war powers act

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passed by congress in 1973, the president is limited to the deployment of troops oversease to a sixty day period in peacetime (which can be extended for an extra thirty days to permit withdrawal) unless congress explicitly gives its approval for a longer time

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senatorial courtesy

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a process by which presidents when selecting district court judges, def to the senator in whose state the vacancy occurs

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22nd amendment

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adopted in 1951, prevents a persident from serving more than the two terms or more than ten years if he came to office v ia the death of impeachment of his predecessor

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impeachment

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the power delegated to the house of reps in the constitution to charge the president, vice president or other "civil officers" including federal judges with treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors. this is the first step in the constitutional prcoess of removing such government officials from office

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executive privledge

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an implied presidental power that allows the president to refuse to disclose information regarding confidential conversations or national security to congress or the judiciary

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us vs. nixon (1974)

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key supreme court ruling on power of the president finding that there is no absolute constitutional executive privlege to allow a president to refuse to comply with a court order to produce information needed in a criminal trial

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25th amendment

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adopted in the 1967 to establish procedures for filling vacancies in the office of president and vice president as well as providing for procedures to deal with the disability of a president

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cabinet

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the formal body of the presidental advisers who head hte 15 executive departments. presidents often add others in this body of formal advisors.

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executive agreement

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formal government agreement entered into by the president that does not require the advice and consent of the us senate

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veto power

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the formal constitutional authority of the president to reject bills passed by both houses of congress, this preventing them becoming law without further congressional action

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line item veto

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the authority o a chief executive to delete part of a bill passed by the legislature that involves taxing or spending. the legislature may overide a veto, usually with a 2/3 majority of each chamber.

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war powers act

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passed by the congress in 1973, the president is limited in the deployment of troops overseas to a sixty day period in peacetime (which can be extended for an extra thirty days to permit withdrawal) unless congress explicitly gives its approval for a longer period

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pardon

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an executive grant providing restoration of all rights and privleges of citizenship to a specific individiaul charged or convicted of a crime

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pardon

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an executive grant providing restoration of all rights and privleges of citizenship to a specific individual charged or convicted of a crime

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war powers act

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passed by congress in 1973: the president is limited to the deployment of troops overseas to a sixty day period in peacetime unless congress explicitily gives its approval for a longer period

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inherent powers

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powers of the president that can be derived or inferred from specific powers in the constitution

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new deal

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the name given to the program of relief, recovey, reform begun by franklin d. roosevelt in 1933 to bring the united states out of the great depression

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executive office of the president

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establishment created in 1939 to help the president to oversee the executive branch bureaucracy

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patronage

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jobs, grants, or other special favors that are given as rewards to friends and political allies for their support

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office of management and budget (omb)

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the office that preprares the president's annual budget proposal, reviews the budget and programs of the executive departments, supplies economic forecasts, and conducts detailed analysis of proposed buills ansd agency rules

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executive order

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a rule or regulation issued by a president that has the effect of law. all executive orders must be published in the federal register.

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bureaucracy

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a set of complex hierarchial departments, agencies, commisions, and their staffs that exist to help a chief executive officer carry out his or her duties. bureaucracies may be private organizations of governmental units

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patronage

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jobs, grants or other speical favors that are given as rewards to friends and political allies for their support

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pendleton act

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reform measure that created the civil service comission to administer a partial meriot system. the act classified the federal service by grades, to which appointments were made based on the results of the competitive examination. it made me illegal for federal political appointees to be required to contribute to a particular political party

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civil service system

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the system created by civil service laws by which many appointments law to the federal bereaucracy

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merit system

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the system to which federal civil service jobs are classified into grades or levels, to which appointment are made on the basis of performance on competitive examinations

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independent regulatory comission

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an agency created by congress that is generally concerned with a specific aspect of the economy

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hatch act

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law enacted in 1939 to prohibit civil servants from taking activist roles in partisan campaigns. this act prohibited federal employees from making political contributions, working for a particular party, or campaigning for a particular candidate

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federal employees political activities act

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1993 liberalization of the hatch act. federal employees are now allowed to run for office in nonpartisan elections and to contribute money to campaign in partisan elections.

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departments

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major administrative units with responsibility for a broad area of government operations. departmental status usually indicated a partmanent national interest in a particular governmental function, such as defense, commerce, or agriculture.

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government corporations

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buisnesses established by congress that perform functions that could be provided by private buisnesses (such as us postal service)

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independent executive agencies

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government units that closely resemble a cabinet department but have a narrower area of responsibility such as the CIA and are not part of any cabinet department

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implementation

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the process by which a law or policy is put into operation by the bureaucracy

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iron triangles

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the relatively stable relationships and patterns of interactions that occur among an agency, interest group, and congressional comittees or subcomittees

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issue networks

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the loose and informal relationships that exist among a large number of actors who work in broad policy areas

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interagency councils

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working groups created to facilitate coordination of a policy making and implementations across a host of governmental agencies

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administrative discretion

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the ability of bureaucrats to make choices concerning the best way to implement congressional intentions

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rule making

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a quaisi legislative administratiive process that has the characteristics of a legislative act

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regulations

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rules that govern the operation of a particular government program that have the force of law

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administrative adjudication

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a quasi judicial process in which bureaucratic agency settles disputes between two parties in a manner similiar to the way courts resolve disputes

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executive orders

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roles or regulations issued by the president that have the effect of law. all executive orders must be published in the federal registar.

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spoils system

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the firing of public office holders of a defeated political party and their replacmenet with loyalists of the newly elected party

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public opinion

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what the public thinks about a particular issue or set of issues at any point in time

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public opinion polls

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interviews or surveys with samples of citizens that are used to estimate the feelings and beliefs of the entire population

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straw polls

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unscientific surveys used to gauge public opinion on a variety of issues and policies

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political socialization

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the process through which an individual acquires particular political orientations: the learning process by which people can acquire their political beliefs and values

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political ideology

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the coherent set of valuesa nd beliefs about the purpose and scope of government held by groups and individuals

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random sampling

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a method of poll selection that gives each person in a group the same chance of being selected

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stratified sampling

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a variation of random sampling; census data are used to divide the country into four sampling regions. sets of counties and standard metropolitan statistical areas are then randomly selected in proportion to the total national population

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push polls

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polls taken for the purpose of providing information on an opponet that would lead respondants to vote against that candidate

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tracking polls

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continuous surveys that enable a campaign to chart its daily rise or fall in support

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exit polls

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polls conducted at selected polling places on election day

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sampling error/margin of error

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a measure of the accuracy of a public opinion poll

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political party

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a group of office holders, candidates, activists, and voters who identify with a group label and seek to elect public office officials who run under that label

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governmental party

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the office holders and candidates who run under a political party's banner

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organizational party

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the workers and activists who staff the party's formal organization

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party in the electorate

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the voters who consider themselves allied or associated with that party

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machine

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a party organization that recruits its members with tangible incentives and is characterized by a high degree of control over member activity

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direct primary

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the seletion of party candidates through the ballots of qualified voters rather than at party nomination conventions

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civil service laws

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these acts removed the staffing of the bureaucracy from political parties and created a professional bureaucracy filled through competition

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issue oriented politics

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politics that focuses on specific issues rather than on party, candidate, or other loyalties

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ticket-split

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to vote for candidates of different parties for various offices in the same election

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coalition

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a group of interests or organizations that join forces for the purpose of electing public officials

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national party platform

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a statement of the general and specific philosophy and policy goals of a political party, usually promulgated at the national convention

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national convention

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a party conclave (meeting) held in the presidental election year for the purpose of nominating a presidental and vice presidental tickt and adopting a platform

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think tank

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institutional collection of policy oriented researchers and academics who are sources of policy ideas

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party identification

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a citizen's personal affirnity for a political party usually exrpessed by his or her tendency to vote for the candidates of that party

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third partyism

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the tendency of third parties to arise with some regularity in a nominally two party system

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proportional representation

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a voting system that apportions legislative seats according to the percentage of the vote won by a particular political party

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electorate

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citizens eligible to vote

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mandate

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a command, indicated by an electorate's votes, for the elected officials to carry out their platforms

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retrospective judgement

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a voter's evaluation of the performance of the party in power

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prospective judgement

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a voter's evauation of a candidate based on what he or she pledges to do about an issue if elected

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closed primary

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election in which only a party's registered voters are eligible to vote

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primary election

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election in which voters decide which of the candidates within a party will represent the party in the general election

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open primary

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a primary in which party members independents and sometimes members of the other party are allowed to vote

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crossover voting

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participation in which the primary of a party with which the voter is not affiliated

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raiding

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an organized attempt by voters of one party to influence the primary results of the other party

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runoff primary

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a secondary primary election between the two candidates receiving the greatest number of votes in ther first primary

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non partisan primary

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a primary used to select candidates regardless of party affiliation

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general election

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election in which voters decide which candidates will actually fill elective public offices

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initiative

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an election that allows citizens to propose legislation and submit it to the state electorate for popular vote

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referendum

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an election whereby the state legislatures submits proposed legislation to the states for approval

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regional primary

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a proposed system in which the country would be divided into five or six geographic areas and all states in each region would hold their presidental rimary elections on the same days

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front loading

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the tendency of states to choose an early date on the primary calander

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unit rule

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a traditional party practice under which the majority of a state delegations can force the minority to vote for its candidate

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superdelegate

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delegate added to the democratic party's national converntion that is reserved for an elected official

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electoral college

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representatives of each state who cast the final ballots that actually elect the president

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elector

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mmember of the electoral college chosen by methods determined in each state

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party realignment

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a shifting of party coalition groupings in the electorate that remains in place for several elections

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critical election

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an election signals a party realignment through voter polorization around new issues

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secular realignment

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the gradual rearrangement of party coalitions based more on demographic shifts than on shocks to the political system

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gerrymandering

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the legislative process through which the majority party in each statehouse tries to assure that the maximum number of representatives from its political party can be elected to congress through the redrawing of legislative districts

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midterm election

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election that takes place in the middle of a presidental term

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turnout

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the proportion of the voting age public that votes

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ticket splitting

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voting for candidates of different parties for various offices in the same election

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nomination campaign

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the part of a political campaign aimed at winning a primary election

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general election campaign

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that part of the political campaign aimed at winning a general election

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personal campaign

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that part of a political campaign concerned with presenting the candidate's public image

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organizational campaign

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that part of a political campaign involved in fund riasing, literature distribution, and all other activities not directly involving the candidate

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media campaign

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that part of a political campaign in which the candidate reaches out to the voters, in person or via the media to create a positive impression and gain votes

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voter canvass

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the process by which a campaign reaches individualvoters, either by door to door solicitation or by telephone

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get out the vote

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a push at the end of a political campaign to encourage supporters to go to the polls

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campaign manager

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the individual with the candidate and coordinates the many different aspects of the campaign

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campaign consultant

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the private sector professionals and firms who sell to a candidate the technologies, services, and strategies required to get that candidate elected

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pollster

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a professional who takes public opinion surveys that guide political campaigns

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direct mailer

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a professional who supervises a political campaign direct-mail fund-raising strategies

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communication director

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the person who develops the overall media strategy for the candidate, blending the free press coverage with the paid tv, radio, and mail media

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press secretary

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the individual charged with interacting and communicatng with journalists on a daily basis

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media consultant

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a professional who produces candidates television, radio, and print advertisements

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paid media

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political advertisements purchased for a candidate's campaign

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media consultant

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a professional who produces candidates television, radio, and print advertisements

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paid media

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political advertisements purchased for a candidate's campaign

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free media

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coverage of a candidate's campaign by the news media

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positive ad

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advertising on behalf of a candidate that stresses the candidate's qualifications, family and issue positions without reference to the opponet

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negative ad

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advertising on behalf of a candidate that attacks the oppoonet's platform of character

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contrast ad

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ad that compares the records and proposals of the candidates with a bias towards the sponser

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spot ad

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television advertising on behalf of a candidate that is broadcast in a sixy, thirty, of ten second intervals

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inoculation ad

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advertising that attempts to counteract an anticipated attack fro mthe opposition before the attack is launched

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candidate debate

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forum in which political candidates face each other to discuss their platforms, records, and characters

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political action committee (PAC)

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federally mandated, officially registered fund raising comittee that represents interest groups in the political process

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hard money

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legally specified and limited contributions that are clearly regulated by the federal election campaign act and by the federal election comission

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soft money

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the virtually unregulated money funneled by individuals and political committees through state and local parties

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yellow journalism

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a form of newspaper publishing in vogue in the late 19th century that featured pictures, comics, color and sensationalized oversimplified news coverage

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muckraking

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a form of journalism, in vogue in the early 20th century concerned with reforming government and buisness conduct (digging up "dirt" on buisnesses and government)

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print press

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the traditional form of mass media, compromising newspapers, magazines, and journals

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electronic media

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the broadcast and cable media including television, radio, and the Internet

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network

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an associating of broadcast stations (radio and television) that share programming through a financial arrangement

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affiliates

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local television stations that carry the programming of a national network

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wire service

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an electronic delivery of news gathered by the enws service's correspondents and sent to all member news media organizations

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press release

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a document offering an official comment or position

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press briefing

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a relatively restricted session between a press secretary or aide and the press

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press conference

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an unrestricted session between an elected official and the press

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on background

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information provided to a journalist that will not be attributed to a named source

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deep background

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information provided to a journalist that will not be attributed to any source

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off the record

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information provided to a journalist that will not be released to the public

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on the record

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information provided toa journalist that will be released and attributed by name to the source

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new york times co. v. sullivan

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the supreme court concluded that actual malice must be proved to support a finding of libel against a public figure

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media effects

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the influence of news sources on public opinion

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content regulation

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government attempts to regulate the electronic media

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equal time rule

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the rule that requires broadcast stations to sell air time equally to all candidates in a political campaign if they choose to sell it to any

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fairness doctrine

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rule in effect from 1949 to 1985 requiring broadcasters to cover events adequately and to present contrasting views on important public issues

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social capital

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the myriad relationships that individuals enjoy that facilitate the resolution of community problems through collective action

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civic virtue

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the tendency to form small scale associations for the public good

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interest groups

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organized groups that try to influence the public policy

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disturbance theory

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political scientists david b. truman's theory that interest groups form in part to counteract the efforts of other groups

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public interest groups

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organizations that seek a collective good that will not selectively and materially benefit group members

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economic interest groups

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a group with the primary purpose of promoting the financial interests of its members

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political action comittees

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federally mandated officially registered fund raising comittees that erpresent interest groups in the political process

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lobbyist

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interest group representative who seeks to influence legislation that will benefit his or her organization through political persuasion

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trade association

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a group that represents a specific industry

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lobbying

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the activities of a group or organization that seeks to influence legislation and persuade political leaders to support the group's position

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patrons

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persons who finance groups

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collective good

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something of value that cannot be withheld from a nonmember of a group, for example, a tax write-off or a better enviornment

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free rider problem

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potential members fail to join a group because they can get the benefit or collective good sought by the group without contribution the effort