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A system of government in which power is shared by national and state governments. |
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| The practice of states spending federal money to help administer national programs. |
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| A term used to describe federalism for most of the twentieth century (and into the twenty-first), where the federal government and the states work closely together and are intertwined; also known as marble-cake federalism. |
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| A grant-in-aid with few restrictions or rules about how it can be spent. |
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| Money given for a specific purpose that comes with restrictions concerning how the money should be spent. There are two types of categorical grants: project grants and formula grants. |
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| A mandate for which the federal government gives the states no money. |
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| The process of the national government giving responsibilities and powers to state, local, or regional governments. |
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The science of population changes. |
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| The process by which political culture is passed on to the young. |
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| The set of beliefs, values, shared myths, and notions of a good policy that a group of people hold. |
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| The belief that the government listens to normal people and that participation can make a difference in government. |
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| A term that refers to the regular pattern by which women are more likely to support democratic candidates. Women tend to be significantly less conservative than men and are more likely to support spending on social services and to oppose higher levels of military spending. |
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| A legislative district that sends only one person to the legislature |
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| By redrawing district boundaries after a state loses or gains seats in the House of Representatives. |
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| The term used to describe the process by which the party that controls the state government uses redistricting to its own political advantage. |
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| An election that marks the advent of realignment. |
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| A dramatic shift in the balance of the two parties that changes the key issues dividing the parties. |
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| The loosening of party ties as more voters see themselves as independents. |
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| : It is a situation in which one party controls the presidency, while the other controls at least one house of Congress. |
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| A primary in which a person can participate in any party’s primary as long as he or she participates in only one party’s primary. |
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| A primary when the voter must belong to the party in which he or she participates. |
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| A gathering of political leaders to make decisions, such as which candidate to nominate for an office; set policy; and plot strategy. |
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| An election contest between all party nominees and independent candidates; the winner becomes a member of Congress. |
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| A congressional election that does not coincide with a presidential election. |
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| An organization usually allied with an interest group, that can donate money to political campaigns. |
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officially known as "independent-expenditure only committees," which can raise unlimited sums from corporations, unions and other groups, as well as individuals, may not coordinate its activities with campaigns or candidates, have to tell where they got their money. |
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spending by political action committees, corporations, or labor unions that is done to help a party or candidate but is done independently of them, spend money on behalf of the candidate. |
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Issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actively involved in politics at the time. |
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a practice which journalist and reporters use in regards to government coverage and campaign coverage with emphasis on who is gaining or losing, not on what is being done about issues. |
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Issue network (iron triangle) |
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A collection of actors who agree on a policy and work together to shape policy. An alliance of groups with an interest in a policy area: bureaucrats from the relevant agency, legislators from appropriate committees, and interest groups affected by the issue. |
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An alliance of like-minded people who work together to win elections and control of the government.
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Indicated by votes in which a majority of voting Democrats oppose a majority of voting Republicans. |
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An organization of people who share a common interest and work together to protect and promote that interest by influencing the government. |
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The view that society contains numerous centers of power and many people participate in making decisions for society. |
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Attempting to persuade government officials through direct contact via persuasion and the provision of material benefits; also known as the inside game. |
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influencing government decision makers though indirect pressure (usually in the form of letters, emails, phone calls) from large numbers of constituents. This is also called indirect lobbying. |
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The specific powers given to Congress or the president by the Constitution; also called the enumerated powers. |
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Powers given to the national government by the necessary and proper clause. |
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The ability of members of Congress to mail letters to their constituents free of charge by substituting their facsimile signature (frank) for postage. |
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Legislation that gives tangible benefits to constituents in several districts or states in the hope of winning their votes in return. |
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A Senate tactic; a senator in the minority on a bill holds the floor (in effect shutting down the Senate) until the majority backs down and kills the bill. |
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| Work done by a member of Congress or his or her staff on behalf of constituents. |
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Congress’s powers to make sure laws are being properly enforced. |
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A motion to end debate in the Senate, it must be approved by sixty votes. |
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a person currently holding office. Tendency of those alrady holding office to win reelection due to advgs b/c they already hold the office. |
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The powers inherent to the national government because the United States is a sovereign nation. |
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The people with whom the president works every day. |
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An unusual type of presidential veto: When the president neither signs nor vetoes a bill, after ten days the bill dies if Congress is not in session. |
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A politician who is still in office after having lost a reelection bid. |
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Literally, a “friend of the court” brief. A brief submitted to the court by a group not involved in the case; it presents further arguments for one side in the case. |
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The rule of precedent, whereby a rule or law contained in a judicial decision is commonly viewed as binding on judges whenever the same question is presented. |
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A judicial philosophy that states that judges should seek to interpret the law and the constitution in line with the intent of the founders. |
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is when people go to court in order to get a positive ruling for their cause. If there is a law that hurts a certain group of people, they can go to court and say that it is unlawful, and that it impinges on their rights. Civil rights groups like the NAACP use litigation to force lawmakers to bring forth fair regulations as guaranteed in the constitution. |
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The power of the courts to declare laws and presidential actions unconstitutional. |
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A judicial philosophy that argues courts must take an active positive role to remedy wrongs in the country. |
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The legal document, issued by the Supreme Court, that orders a lower court to send a case to the Supreme Court for review. |
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The portion of the federal budget that is spent on programs, such as Social Security, that the president and Congress are unwilling to cut. |
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A program under which the federal government is obligated to pay a specified benefit to people who meet certain requirements. Programs such as unemployment insurance, disaster relief, or disability payments that provide benefits to all eligible citizens. |
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Required by law to spend the money on entitlements such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security veterans pensions etc. |
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An economic policy that seeks to control the supply of money in the economy. |
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How the government influences the economy through taxing, borrowing, and spending. |
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Forcing states to abide by only parts of the Bill of Rights, not the whole thing. |
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The right to vote; also called the franchise. |
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