Term
|
Definition
| presiding officer, generally from majority party, only votes in close decisions |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| speaker's chief lieutenant, chosen by majority party, responsible for day to day work necessary to build political coalitions |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| elected by minority party, coordinates minority party's attempts to improve or defeat majority party legislation |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| replacement of vice president when he is absent which is very frequent |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| serves as information channel linking leadership and rank-and-file |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| containing two chambers, ex: US Congress |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| fixed membership and jurisdictions, continue from one congress to the next |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| temporary committee to deal with specific issue or problem |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| achieves agreement between two chambers of Congress on wording of bill |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| majority-party member with longest continuous service in committee normally gets chair |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| bill sent simultaneously to more than one committee or divided among several committees for consideration |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| subcommittee revises, adds/deletes sections, prepares bill for report to full committee |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| one or more Senators delay bill from being considered |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| motion to end debate, requires 60 votes to pass, check on filibuster power |
|
|
Term
| unanimous-consent agreement |
|
Definition
| sets forth terms and conditions on how Senate will consider a bill, individually negotiated by leadership of each bill |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| sets terms and conditions for debate (speaking time, amendments, etc) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| congressional instructions that direct government activity or money to specific project or activity in a particular location |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| legislators cater to views of constituents |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| legislators use own judgment to decide what is best |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| president can strike down any bill presented by Congress |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Congress can override a presidential veto with 2/3 vote from each chamber |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| president and his political appointees responsible for direction executive branch of government |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| top administration officials, heads of departments in executive branch |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| title for head of department, must be approved by Congress |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| head of White House staff, has continuous direct contact with president |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| political appointees who work directly for the president, do not require congressional approval |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| President's constitutional role as head of US armed forces, can send troops without congressional permission for 60 days |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| presidential directive that has force of law but not enacted by Congress |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| engaging in intensive public relations to promote their policies to the voters and thereby induce cooperation from other elected office holders |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| use of presidential position to mobilize support through bold gestures, speeches, trips, etc |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| presidential authority inherent in executive branch but not explicitly in Constitution |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| right of president to deny Congress information on grounds that activities of executive branch are confidential; not absolute |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Constitution grants president "power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States"; exception in cases of impeachment |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| authority of president to negate parts of bill while letting the remainder stand; granted in 1996, ruled unconstitutional in 1998 |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| president doesn't sign bill 10 days or less before Congress adjourns and Congress has no chance to override veto |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| different partisanship between executive branch and one or both chambers of Congress; difficulty in passing legislature |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| time between future president winning election and inauguration, sets tone for the term |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| first few months president is in office; media, Congress and public most cooperative |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| measured by asking adult population how well they think the president is doing his job almost every week |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| majority House to impeach, 2/3 Senate to convict and remove from office |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| hierarchical organization of officials with responsibility for specific tasks, provides programs and services |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| basic organizational unit of government, assigned by Congress to carry out specific task |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| independent organizations created by Congress to fulfill functions related to business |
|
|
Term
| independent regulatory agencies |
|
Definition
| quasi-judicial regulatory responsibilities, meant to be carried out free of presidential interference, ex: Federal Reserve Board |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| government employees chosen according to education, exams, experience |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| created a civil service commission to set up qualifications, examinations, and procedures for filling many government jobs |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| barred federal employees from political campaigning and solicitation |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| jobs, contracts, favors given by politicians to friends and allies; not based on merit |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| system of government in which workers are hired on basis of party loyalty |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| head of Supreme Court, aims to produce unanimous decision |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| 8 justices on Supreme Court excluding Chief Justice |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| politicizing the nomination process of Supreme Court justice through an organized public campaign that portrays nominee as dangerous extremist |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| court to which decisions by federal district courts are appealed |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| lowest tier of federal court system, high-profile cases pass through before going to Supreme Court, 13 circuits: 11 district + DC + federal |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| in legal parlance, a court's written explanation of its decision |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| written opinion prepared by the judges who vote with the majority but wish to disagree with some aspect or elaborate on decision |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| written opinion presenting reasoning of the judges disagreeing with majority opinion |
|
|
Term
| plain-meaning-of-the-text theory |
|
Definition
| theory of constitutional interpretation based on what the words obviously seem to say |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| theory of constitutional interpretation based on ascertaining the intentions of those who wrote and ratified the Constitution |
|
|
Term
| living-constitution theory |
|
Definition
| theory of constitutional interpretation based on placing meaning of the Constitution in context with total history of the US |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| power of the courts to declare null and void laws of Congress and state legislatures they find unconstitutional |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Supreme Court gives themselves power of judicial review |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Supreme Court used judicial review for first time to declare state law unconstitutional, state law cannot impede federal government's constitutional exercise of power |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| written legal arguments presented to a court by lawyers on behalf of clients |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| document issued by Supreme Court indicating that they will consider a decision made by a lower court, requires vote of 4 justices |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| previous court decision applicable to particular case |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| reliance on consistency with precedents |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| government official responsible for presenting before the courts the position of the presidential administration |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| judicial act of interpreting and applying laws of Congress and the states, rather than the Constitution, to particular cases |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| organization of people with common interests that engages in politics on behalf of its members |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| interest group that focuses on one issue |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| people enjoy benefits of group without bearing any of the costs |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| goods enjoyed simultaneously by group without having to be divided |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| specific private goods that an organization provides only to its members |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| broad-based demand on government for action on some problem or issue |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| people willing to assume costs of forming and maintaining an organization even though others may free-ride |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| attempts by groups to influence elected officials indirectly through their constituents |
|
|
Term
| political action committee |
|
Definition
| specialized organization for raising and spending campaign funds; often associated with an interest group |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| computer generated letters, faxes, and other communications from interest groups to people asking for money and support |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| everything from sit-ins to demonstrations to rebellions to riots |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| school of thought holding that politics is the clash of groups that represent important interests in society that check and balance each other |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| discounts, jumpstarts, etc |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| consistent with one's ideals |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| election that marks emergence of new, lasting alignment of partison support within electorate |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| method of choosing party candidates that allows voters instead of office leaders to choose nominees for office |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the way in which a country's constitution or law translates popular votes into control of public offices |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| highly organized party under the control of a boss, based on patronage and control of government activities |
|
|
Term
| national nominating convention |
|
Definition
| quadrennial gathering of party officials and delegates to select presidential and vice presidential nominees and adopts party platforms |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| group of like-minded people who band together in an attempt to take control of government |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| loose aggregation of politicians, activists, and intellectuals of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who promoted reforms to clean up elections and government |
|
|
Term
| proportional representation |
|
Definition
| electoral system in which parties receive a share of seats in Parliament proportional to the popular vote they receive |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| shift occurring when pattern of group support for political parties changes in a significant and lasting way |
|
|
Term
| single member, simple plurality (SMSP) system |
|
Definition
| electoral system in which the country is divided into geographic districts and the candidates who win the most votes within their districts are elected |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| voter selection of candidates from different parties at the same election |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| 2 significant parties run for office |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| principle that asserts that single-member, single plurality system favors two parties by nature |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| assuming the party's goal is to win, and voters are arranged on a scale of one dimension, the median voter has all the power |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a cohesive set of beliefs that form a general philosophy about the government |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| ordinary people for whom politics is a peripheral concern |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| activists and officeholders who have well-structured ideologies that bind together their positions on different policy issues |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| group of people particularly affected by or concerned with a specific issue |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| error that arises from attempting to measure something as subjective as opinion |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the chance variation that arises in public opinion surveys as a result of using a representative, but small, sample to estimate the characteristics of a larger population |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| distortion caused when a sampling method systematically includes or excludes people with certain attitudes from the sample |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the end result of all the process by which social groups give individuals their beliefs and values |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| small group of people brought together to talk about issues or candidates at length and in depth |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the belief that a citizen can make a difference in politics by expressing an opinion or acting politically |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| measures that do not rely on self-report |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| statistic expressing the amount of random sampling error in a survey's results |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| allows for private voting and ticket splitting |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| powers, structure and operation of Congress |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| representative or senator who introduces a bill |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| specifies the amendments that are in order |
|
|
Term
| collective action problem |
|
Definition
| individually strategic members of Congress yield a bad collective outcome |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| provides members with federal projects and programs |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| determined that executive privilege cannot hinder criminal investigations |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| transferring implentation from state to local level |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| outsourcing implementation to private companies |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| one who brings complaint or suit against another |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| on accused of violating civil or criminal code |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| allows Supreme Court to choose cases |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| number of justices needed to grant cert |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Court declares Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, Court cannot settle issue of slavery |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| state laws regulating work hours violated right to contract |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| interest group activities intended to influence directly the decisions that public officials make |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| psychological tie to one party or another |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| direct election of senators, ends spoils system |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| specific preference on a specific issue |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| basic principles that shape a person's opinions |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| theoretically, each person has equal chance of being drawn into sample |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| aggregation of people's views about issues, situations and public figures |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| people feel pressure to give "right" answer in surveys |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Congress is suited for re-election pursuit, job security over public good |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| president's power comes not only from ability to negotiate among Washingtonians but from ability to "go public" and persuade the people directly |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| organizations fail if they don't incentivize their members with selective benefits because of collective action problems |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| framing effects make political opinions too unreliable to base policymaking on, survey results do not accurately represent public opinion |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| implicit associations can come in conflict with conscious values, affects heuristics in evaluating presidential candidates |
|
|
