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72 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Federalism |
Balance of power between national and state governments. |
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Unitary governments |
All power resides in the central government. |
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Intergovernmental relations |
Interactions among state, national, and local governments. |
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Supremacy clause |
Article VI lists the supreme law of the land: 1. The Constitution 2. National government 3. Treaties |
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Tenth Amendment |
Advocates for states' rights, only gives national government powers that are specifically assigned by the Constitution. |
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McCulloch v. Maryland |
Supreme Court decision that established the supremacy of the national government over state governments. |
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Enumerated powers |
Powers of the national government that are specifically stated in the Constitution. |
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Implied powers |
Powers of the national government that are not specifically stated in the Constitution but can be assumed. |
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Elastic clause |
Gives Congress the power to pass all laws "necessary and proper" |
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Gibbons v. Ogden |
Supreme Court case that defined commerce to include every form of commercial activity |
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Full faith and credit |
Requires states to recognize peoples' records from every other state. |
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Extradition |
A state must return a person charged with a crime to the state where the crime was committed. |
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Privileges and immunities |
States cannot discriminate against citizens of other states. |
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Dual federalism |
National and state governments have individual powers over specific things and do not interfere with each other. |
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Cooperative federalism |
Powers and policy assignments are shared between states and the national government. |
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Devolution |
Transferring responsibility for policies from national government to state/local governments. |
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Fiscal federalism |
National government influences state governments through distribution of federal funds. |
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Categorical grants |
Federal grants to state and local governments that can only be used for specific purposes. |
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Project grants |
Type of categorical grant that is competitive and based on merit. |
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Formula grants |
Type of categorical grant that is given to state/local governments and measured based on a formula (population, per capita income, etc.) |
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Block grants |
Given automatically to states or communities to support broad programs that decide how to spend it. |
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Judicial review |
Power of the courts to decide whether Congress is following Constitution. |
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Marbury v. Madison |
Case that decided Supreme Court is in charge of interpreting the Constitution. |
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Party competition |
Battle of the parties for control of public offices |
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Political party |
Group of people seeking to gain control of the government |
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Linkage institutions |
Channels through which people get their concerns on the political agenda of the government. |
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Rational-choice theory |
Explains the actions of voters and politicians. Assumes that individuals act in their own best interest.
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Party image |
How a voter sees what the parties stand for. |
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Party identification |
A citizen's preference for one party over the other. |
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Ticket splitting |
Voting for different parties for different offices |
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Party machines |
Political party organization that relies on spending money to win. |
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Patronage |
Jobs, contracts, and promotions that are given for political reasons instead of basing it on merit. |
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Closed primaries |
Elections to select nominees for people who have registered in advance. |
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Open primaries |
Open to voters without requiring them to be affiliated with one party. |
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National party convention |
Supreme power within parties. Meets every four years to nominate candidates for president and VP. |
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National committee |
Made up of state representatives that keep the political party operating between conventions |
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National chairperson |
Responsible for day-to-day activities of the party. |
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Coalition |
Group of people who support a party. |
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Party eras |
Historical periods in which a majority of voters identify with the party in power. |
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Critical election |
"Earthquake" where new coalitions replace old ones, new issues emerge, and the majority party may be replaced by the minority. Sometimes marked by a national crisis. |
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Party realignment |
New coalition gains control of the government. |
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New Deal coalition |
Hoover brought together a large group of Democrats after the Great Depression which gave them the majority in office. |
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Party dealignment |
Disengagement of people from parties, shrinking party identification. |
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Third parties |
Parties that are not Republican or Democrat. |
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Winner-take-all |
Whoever gets the most popular votes gets all of the electoral votes. |
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Proportional representation |
Used in Europe, awards legislative seats to political parties based on the number of votes won in an election. |
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Coalition government |
Used in Europe, when two or more parties join to form a majority. |
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Responsible party model |
How parties should work, wish that they could carry out their promises. |
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Blue Dog Democrats |
Conservative Democrats from the South who are against liberals in power and increasing the scope of government. |
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Interest group |
Organization of people with shared policy goals. |
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Pluralism |
Believe that many interest groups bring representation to all. |
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Elitism |
Believe that upper-class run the government. |
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Hyperpluralism |
Too many interest groups are getting what they want and it's weakening the government. |
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Iron triangles |
Subgovernments that are made of: - Key interest group leaders interested in a policy - The government in charge of administering the policy - The members of congressional committees handling the policy |
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Potential group |
People who might be interest group members because they share a common interest. |
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Actual group |
People in the potential group who choose to join an interest group. |
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Collective good |
Something that cannot be withheld from anyone. |
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Free-rider problem |
Not joining an interest group because you can benefit still benefit from their work without being involved. |
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Selective benefits |
Things that an interest group can restrict to those who actually join. |
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Single-issue groups |
A group that has a narrow interests and dislikes compromise. Members are usually new to politics. |
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Lobbying |
An interest group communicating with a government official hoping to influence their decisions. |
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Electioneering |
An interest group's direct involvement in the electoral process (funding campaigns, getting members to work, forming committees) |
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Political action committees (PACs) |
Groups that raise money for interest groups to support candidates. |
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Union shop |
Requires all employees of a business to join the union and stay as long as they work there. |
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Right-to-work laws |
State law forbidding requirements that workers must join a union. |
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Public interest lobbies |
Organizations that do things for a collective good instead of the organization. |
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Ex post facto law |
Prohibited by the Constitution, it is a law that was originally legal but becomes illegal after someone has committed it and is being tried for it. |
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Writ of habeas corpus |
Bringing a prisoner to court to determine whether or not their imprisonment is valid. |
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Bill of attainder |
Declaring a person guilty and punishing them without a trial. |
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Interstate commerce clause |
Congress can regulate business that crosses states. |
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Amicus curiae briefs |
Written arguments submitted to courts by people who will try to influence a court's decision with interest groups. |
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Class action lawsuits |
A group of people with similar complaints combine their grievances into a single lawsuit |
