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State And Local Govt
Midterm
46
Other
Undergraduate 3
03/10/2011

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Cards

Term
Political Economy
Definition
the interaction between public policy and the economy
Term
Political Culture
Definition
People's attitudes, beliefs, expectations about what the government should do, who should participate, and what rules should govern the politcal game
Term
Ideological Spectrum
Definition
the traditionsal left-right spectrum in which liberal, or left leaning ideological positions are on the left side of the spectrum and conservative, or right leaning ideological positions are on the right side
Term
Commerce Clause
Definition
The provision in Article II, section 8, of the Constitution that grants Congress the authority to regulate interstate and international commerce
Term
National Supremacy Clause
Definition
The provision in article VI of the COnstu=ition that makes the Constitution and all legislation passed under its authority the supreme law of the land.
Term
Enumerated Powers
Definition
The powers specifically granted by Congress and/or the national government, more genrally by the Constitution
Term
Federalism
Definition
A formal or informal allocation of authority betweent eh national government and one or more levels of subnational government. Responsibilities may be clearly divided or may be shared among levels of government
Term
Grant-in Aid
Definition
A federal payment to a state or local government, or a state payment to a local government to carry out an activity or to runa program
Term
Initiative
Definition
A political device that lets voters draft legislative proposals and, if they gather enough people's signatures, put their proposals on a ballot, where they can be decided directly by the people in a referendum
Term
Political machine
Definition
A tightly knit party organization that controls the party's nominations for public office and controls many patronage jobs.
Term
Primary election
Definition
An election held to choose nominees to compete for public office in the general election
Term
Recall
Definition
a political device that allows voters to remove from office, before his or her term ends; an offical who has invoked public displeasure.
Term
Direct Action
Definition
Such political tactics as group protests, civil disobedience, strikes, sit-ins, and political violence
Term
City manager
Definition
A city chief executive who is a professionally trained administrator picked by the city council and serves at the pleasure of the council
Term
County
Definition
The general purpose local government that is the basic geographic subdivision of the state and which usually plays a major role in administering many state programs
Term
Dillion's Rule
Definition
The legal principle that city governemnt powers must be interpreted very narrowly.
Term
Municipality
Definition
A city government
Term
Town
Definition
A general purpose form of local government, which in NY state in the major subdivision of a county
Term
Special District
Definition
A government that pperforms only a single specialized function, such as a waste control commision or the Tug Hill Commission.
Term
Pluralist theory
Definition
The theory of community power that sees communities as being run through the competition of various power centers
Term
Elitist Theory
Definition
The theory of community power that sees communities as being dominated mostly by affluent business leaders and other well connected members of society.
Term
Interest Group
Definition
Any organization of people that try to inflence government decisions.
Term
Iron Law Of Oligarchy
Definition
The tendency of all groups to become less democratic over time and to fall under the dominance of a small group of leaders. Bureaucratic oligachies compete for power (money) within political systems
Term
Lobbying
Definition
The interest group tactic of trying to influence any decision of a legislature, an elected offical, or any governemnt entity
Term
Political Action Committee (PAC)
Definition
A group that collects money from various sources and uses it to make campaign contributions
Term
Political efficacy
Definition
The sense among voters that their participation in politics can have some efftct. A non voter woudl have a low sense of efficacy. ("my vote doesn't count, so why does it matter?")
Term
Constituent
Definition
A citizen that belongs in a representative's district. 'Servicing consituents' generally means responding to voter inquiries, requests, and complaints.
Term
Incumbent
Definition
An elected or appointed offical that serves in public office
Term
Civic Duty
Definition
The obligation to vote and take part in political activities
Term
Fundamental Law
Definition
The law of a constitution delineating the basic rights of citizens
Term
Statutory Law
Definition
A law enacted by State Legislature
Term
Judicial Review
Definition
The process by which judges may declare a law to be unconstitutional
Term
Gerrymander
Definition
to draw an electoral district in such a manner as to favor a particular political party in future elections.
Term
Left Side Dem
Definition
Redistrubtion, Extensive governemnt services, Preogressive taxes, Strong Governemtn, Strong citizen participation in government
Term
Right Side Repub
Definition
Distributive polices, minimal governemnt services, regressive taxes, weak government, limited citizen participation.
Term
Politics
Definition
The process of who gets what, when, and how
Term
Citizen Participation
Definition
necessary to keep the political system, the government, accountable to the people.
Term
What determines the size, scope, and character of local governemtn?
Definition
Local political economies combined with local political culture.
Term
State Consitutions
Definition
Findamental laws of a state and take precedence over statutory laws of the state. If the Statutory laws contradict the state constitution, judges wwill declare them unconstitutional and not enforce them in the courts.
Term
Problems with State Consitutions
Definition
Tend to be too long and detailed and include too many statuatory provisions. Often Amended
Term
Amend
Definition
Adding to or changing its wording. Two Step Process initiation, then ratification. State Constutions are easier to amend then federal
Term
General prinicpal around constitutions
Definition
may not set a lower standards of human rights than those established under US Constitutional Laws
Term
What influences public policy at the state level?
Definition
Federal government
Term
Major mechanisms of fed control
Definition
grants-in aid, court orders, preemptive legislation and mandates.
Term
Public opinion
Definition
Centers around issues that are very visible adn emotional, such as taxation, government services and social issues.
Term
Differnce between a city adn a village
Definition
Cities are organized and governemed according to their charters, which can differ widely among cicites, while most villages are subject to a uniform statewide Village Law.
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