State & Local Test

Front 1

Constitutional Powers—name,explain/define, examples (4)

Back 1

Delegated/Expressed(belong to the national government) (Declare war, treaties, currency etc)-Reserved (states)(commerce within a state, elections, licensing laws)-Concurrent (Powers thatbelong to both state and federal governments) (Taxes, Medical insurance,welfare, transportation)-Implied (Belongs to thenational government: Congress has the right to make new laws that are withintheir jurisdiction if they are deemed “Necessary and Proper”)

Front 2

Reasons (4) power hasshifted from the states to the national government

Back 2

-Changes in Commercea. the nature of commerce: Most commercialactivity took place within the state-> This changed a lot with invention ofcars and trains, refrigeration etc. ->interstate commerceb. the interpretation of commerce: in the2nd half of the 20th century, the federal courts have ruled fairly consistencythat if any component crosses the state line, it is ruled as interstatecommerce-Fiscal Federalism: thetransfer of dollars from the national government to state and local governments(generally done through grants) 1st grant program came into existence in the 1880s By 1960, there were 44 federal grant programs By 1970, there were 379 federal grant programs By 1980, almost 26% of all money spent by state and local governments came from the national government-The ever-growing complexity of problems

Front 3

Political Parties/InterestGroupsComponents of Successfulpolitical parties (3)

Back 3

1. Party in the electorate-People who areregistered with or identify with a political party that vote in the primaryelections, and they generally support their particular party in the generalelection

2. Electoral Party- Local, state, andnational party officials, staff members, regular contributors, regularcampaigners-> these people are generally unknown but represent the blood ofthe party

3. Party in Office-People who areappointed or elected to office based on political party

Front 4

Interest Group—Definition

Back 4

Organization that seeksto influence public policy without the responsibility of running thegovernment-> Only care about their interest, not about the rest of theissues

Front 5

Main Functions of InterestGroups (4)

Back 5

1. Inform- members and decision makers inthe government

2. Represent- the interests of theirclients

3. Mobilize- their clients and supportersto action (voting, protests, write a letter, send an email, attend a meeting,demonstrations)

4. Finance- Campaigns and causes forpublicity and election purposes

Front 6

GovernorsFormal Powers (4)—Name/explainand be able to discuss how a governor can use these powers to successfullygovern her/his state

Back 6

Writes the budget-Full time position(state legislators are generally part time)-Administrative control-Veto (Line Item Veto:Governor can choose to veto just one section of the bill, leaving the rest ofthe bill intact)-Patronage: Ability toappoint numerous people to different positions

Front 7

Informal Powers(4)--Name/explain and be able to discuss how a governor can use these powers tosuccessfully govern her/his state

Back 7

Informal Powers:-In almost every state,the governor is going to be the leading vote getter in the state. -Get most media attention-Leader of the partywithin the state-Personal Characteristics

Line item vetoGovernor can choose to veto just onesection of the bill, leaving the rest of the bill intact

Front 8

BureaucracyCompeting Demands (4)

Back 8

Efficiency-trying to get the most production you can out of the resources you have available to you

Effectiveness-the degree to which you are successful at meeting the goals of your organization

Equity-try to treat people reasonably fairly-measuring fairness is highly debatable

Responsiveness-The degree to which you react to and meet the needs and desires of your constituents

Front 9

Characteristics oflarge-scale bureaucracies (5)

Back 9

1. Instill a high degree of specializationwith a division of labor- the larger the organization, the more specialized theworkers are

2. Divide labor among employees and groupsof employees in an hierarchical fashion (Pyramid structure)

3. Develop automatic procedures whichstress impersonal behavior

4. Stress written communication andbuilding of files

5. Develop a clear identity as to who theyare and to what they are responsible for

Front 10

Forms of Law (6)

Back 10

-Common Law- Based onprecedent-basis for most law systems-Statutory/Codified-Generally made by legislative law-overrides common law-Criminal Law- Deals withviolations of criminal statutes-violation is an offense against the state sothe state prosecutes-Civil Law- Generallydeals with conflict and offenses between individuals and groups rather thanwith legislation-Administrative law- Lawcreated by Bureaucratic agencies-generally involves rights, rules, rates andprocedures -Equity Law- Tries toprevent wrongs that cannot be remedied by damages after the fact-tries to stopthings from happening because some things are hard to replace

Front 11

How are judgesselected? (3) How are judgesremoved? (3)

Back 11

1. Pure Election- Some Partisan, somenon-partisan

2. Pure Selection-Governor generally picksand state legislator has to approve-> 2 states, state legislatures select

3. Merit Selection/Election- governorusually makes appointment-> Chooses a member from a list of qualifiedcandidates-> generally, justices get approved again by the legislature nexttime they come up for reelection

1. Impeachment-state senate has final say

2. Court of Last Appeal (generally thestate supreme courts)

3. Creation of Special Court-generallyused solely to remove a state supreme court justice-> generally use retiredsupreme court justices

Front 12

State/Local RevenuesFiscal Year, Fiscal Strain,Tax Effort, Tax Capacity

Back 12

-Fiscal Year- A financialyear. Typically either July 1-June 30 or October 1-September 30-Fiscal Strain- theinability to meet debt and expenditure obligations with existing revenues-Tax Effort-The degree towhich a state taxes its citizens commensurate with their wealth-Tax Capacity- the amountof revenue which COULD be collected if all tax sources were taxed at theaverage rate for that source

Front 13

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Back 13

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