Shared Flashcard Set

Details

AP Exam Review
Epicness
424
Political Studies
12th Grade
10/26/2010
Click here to study/print these flashcards.

Create your own flash cards! Sign up here.

Additional Political Studies Flashcards

 

 

Cards

Term
What type of judicial system do we have in the United States?
 Definition
An adverserial one.
Term
What is the task of the judge?
 Definition
The task of the judge is to apply the law to the case, determining which party is legally correct.
Term
What are the two basic kinds of cases?
 Definition
There are criminal law cases, where the government charges an individual with violating specific laws such as those prohibiting robbery. In civil law cases, there is a dispute between two parties and the court defines the relationship between them.
Term
Who are the litigants in a court case?
 Definition
There is the plaintiff, the person bringing up charges, and the defendant.
Term
What is standing to sue?
 Definition
The requirement that plaintiffs have a serious interest in a case, which depends onw hether they have sustained or are likely to sustain a direct and substantial injury from a party or an action of government.
Term
What are class action suits?
 Definition
Lawsuits permitting a small number of people to sue on behalf of all people similarly situated.
Term
What are justiciable disputes?
 Definition
A requirement that to be heard a case must be capable of being settled as a matter of law rather than on other grounds as is commonly the case in legislative bodies.
Term
What are amicus curiae briefs?
 Definition
Legal briefs submitted by a "friend of the court" for the purpose of raisin additional points of view and presenting information not contained in the briefs of the formal parties.
Term
What are constitutional courts?
 Definition
Created in the Judiciary Act of 1789, constitutional courts are lower federal courts of general jurisdiction.
Term
What are legislative courts?
 Definition
Courts for specialized purposes.
Term
Give examples of legislative courts.
 Definition
Court of Military Appeals, Court of Claims, Court of International Trade, and the Tax Court.
Term
What is original jurisdiction?
 Definition
The jurisdiction f courts that hear a case first, usually in a trial. These are the couts that determine the facts about a case.
Term
What is appellate jurisdiction?
 Definition
The jurisdiction of courts that hear cases brought to them on appeal from lower court. These courts do not review the factual record, only the legal issues involved.
Term
What are district courts?
 Definition
District courts are the 91 federal courts of original jurisdiction. They are the only federal courts in which trials are held and in which juries may be impaneled.
Term
What does the jurisdiction of district courts include?
 Definition
Federal crimes, civil suits under federal law, civil suits between citizens of different states where the amount in question exceeds $75,000, supervision of bankruptcy proceedings, review of the actions of some federal administrative agencies, admiralty and maritime law cases, and supervision of the naturalization of aliens.
Term
What is diversity of citizenship?
 Definition
Cases involving civil suits between citizens of different states or sutis in which one ofthe parties is a citizen of a foreign nation and the matter in question exceeds $75,000
Term
What are courts of appeal?
 Definition
Appellate courts empowered to review all final decisions of district courts, except in rare cases. Additionally, they also hear appeals to order of many federal regulatory agencies.
Term
How many judicial circuits are there?
 Definition
12. (W.V. is located in District 4.)
Term
What is the U.S. Court of Appeals for Federal Circuits?
 Definition
A special appeals court composed of 12 judges, which hears specialized cases.
Term
What do courts of appeal focus on?
 Definition
Correcting errors of procedure and law that occured in the original proceedings of legal cases.
Term
What is the Supreme Court?
 Definition
The pinnacle of the American judicial system. The Court ensures uniformity in interpreting national laws, resolves conflicts among states, and maintains national supremacy in the law. It has both original jurisdiction and appelate jurisdiction, but unlike other federal courts, it controls its own agenda.
Term
Where do the majority of cases heard by the Supreme Court come from?
 Definition
Lower federal courts.
Term
What falls under original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court?
 Definition
Cases involving foreign diplomates, cases between the United States and a state, cases between two or more states, cases between on state and citizens of another state, and cases between a state and a foreign country.
Term
What is senatorial courtesy?
 Definition
An unwritten tradition whereby nominations for state-level federal judicial posts are not confirmed if they are opposed by a senator of the president's party from the state in which the nominee will serve. The tradition also applies to courts of appeal when there is opposition from the nominee's state senator.
Term
The president operates under fewer constraints in nominating persons to serve on the Supreme Court than in naming persons to be judges in the lower courts. True or False.
 Definition
True.
Term
Presidents have failed how many percent of the time to appoint the nominees of their choice to the Court?
 Definition
20.
Term
Describe the process of a case in the Supreme Court.
 Definition
Case docket -- briefs and amicus curiae briefs are reviewed -- oral hearing -- write opinions -- conference -- decision
Term
What is a writ of certiorari?
 Definition
A formal document that calls up a case.
Term
Who is the solicitor general?
 Definition
A presidential appointee and the third-ranking office in the Department of Justice. The solicitor general is in charge of the appellate court litigation of the federal government.
Term
What are the functions of the solicitor general and other staff?
 Definition
To decide whether to appeal cases the government has lost in the lower courts, to review and modify the briefs presented in government appeals, to represent the government before the Supreme Court, and to submit a brief on behalf of a litigant in a case in which the government is not directly involved.
Term
What is a per curiam decision?
 Definition
A decision without explanation.
Term
What is an opinion?
 Definition
A statement of legal reasoning behind a judicial decision. The content of an opinion may be as important as the decision itself.
Term
What are dissenting and concurring opinions?
 Definition
Dissenting opinions are when justices are opposed to all or part of the majority's decision and concurring opinions are those written not only to support a majority decision but also to stress a different constitutional or legal basis for the judgment.
Term
The vast majority of cases that reach the courts are settled on the principle of "stare decisis." What is this?
 Definition
A Latin phrase meaning "let the decision stand." Most cases reaching appellate courts are settled on this principle.
Term
What is precedent?
 Definition
How similar cases have been decided in the past.
Term
What is judicial implementation?
 Definition
How and whether court decisions are translated into actual policy, thereby affecting the behavior of others. The courts rely on other units of government to enforce their decisions.
Term
What is original intent?
 Definition
A view that the constitution should be interepreted accordin to the original intent of the Framers. Many conservatives support this view. Also known as strict constructionism.
Term
What is interpreting population?
 Definition
Those who must correctly understand and reflect the intent of the original decision in their subsequent action.
Term
What is implementing population?
 Definition
Those who must enforce the Supreme Court's decision.
Term
What is consumer population?
 Definition
The consumer population must be aware of their newfound rights and stand up for them.
Term
Between the Civil War and 1937, question of the _________________ dominated.
 Definition
The federal government and the economy.
Term
Marbury v. Madison.
 Definition
The 1803 case in which Chief Justice John Marshall and his associates first asserted the right of the Supreme Court to determine the meaning of the U.S. Constitution. The decision established the Court's power of judicial review over acts of Congress, in this case the Judiciary Act of 1789.
Term
What is judicial review?
 Definition
The power of the courts to determine whether acts of Congress and, by implication, the executive are in accord with the U.S. Constitution. Judicial review was established by John Marshall in Marbury v. Madison.
Term
Describe the Warren Court.
 Definition
Few eras of the Supreme Court have been as active in shaping public policy as the Warren Court.
Term
United States v. Nixon.
 Definition
The 1974 case in which the Supreme Court unanimously held that the doctrine of executive privilege was implict in the Constitution but could not be extended to protect documents relevent to criminal prosecutions.
Term
Bush v. Gore represents what in the judicial branch?
 Definition
A high point of judicial activism.
Term
What is judicial restraint?
 Definition
A judicial philosophy in which judges play minimal policymaking roles, leaving that duty strictly to the legislatures.
Term
What is judicial activism?
 Definition
A judicial philosophy in which judges make bold policy decisions, even charting new constitutional ground. Advocates of this approach emphasize that the courts can correct pressing needs, especially those unmet by the majoritarian political process.
Term
What are political questions?
 Definition
A doctrine developed by the federal courts and used as a means to avoid deciding some cases, principally those involving conflicts between the president and Congress.
Term
What is statutory construction?
 Definition
The judicial interpretation of an act of Conress. In some cases where statutory construction is an inssue, Congress passes new legislation to clarify existing laws.
Term
What is devolution?
 Definition
Devolution is the transfer of power from a central government to subnational (state, regional, or local) authorities.
Term
Federalism
 Definition
A way or organizing a nation so that two or more levels of government have formal authority over the same land and people.
Term
Unitary government
 Definition
A unitary government is a way of organizing a nation so that power resides in the central government. In a unitary government, the states' powers are regulated by the central government and they have few powers on their own. The citizens of a unitary government vote for their central government officials.
Term
What is a confederation?
 Definition
A confederation is a union of political organizations, also known as an alliance. An example of a confederation is the United Nations, or the United States. In a confederation, the majority of the power goes to the states.
Term
Name a few countries with a federal government.
 Definition
Australia, Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Germany, Canada, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Switzerland, the United States.
Term
What is intergovernmental relations?
 Definition
The workings of the federal system - the entire set of interactions among national, state, and local governments.
Term
What is the supremacy clause?
 Definition
A clause mentioned in Article IV of the Constitution, which makes the Constitution, national laws, and treaties supreme over state laws when the national government is acting within its consitutional limits.
Term
What is the Tenth Amendment?
 Definition
An amendment in the consitution that specifically says, "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."
Term
Describe the case of McCullouch vs. Maryland.
 Definition
In 1791, the national government put a national bank in Baltimore, Maryland. In return, the state of Maryland taxed the bank $15,000. When the city of Baltimore refused to pay this, the state of Maryland sued the cashier of the bank. This lead to a court case in 1819, where Chief Justice John Marshall was presiding. The prosector argued that since nowhere in the Constitution did it state that the national government had a right to make a national bank, therefore it was unconsitutional. However, the defense argued that just because it wasn't written in constitution, it does not mean the Congress does not have the right to make a bank. The result of this court case was the definition of implied powers: which simply mean that the powers of the federal government go beyond those specifically addressed in the constitution as The Constitution states that Congress has the power to "make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution" the powers enumerated in Article I.
Term
What is the elastic clause?
 Definition
The elastic clause is addressed in the final paragraph of Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, which authorizes Congress to pass all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out the enumerated powers. Ties in with McCullouch vs. Maryland.
Term
Describe the case of Gibbons vs. Ogden.
 Definition
In the case of Gibbons vs. Ogden in 1824, the Supreme court interpreted the elastic clause very broadly and also broadly interpreted the definition of commerce, giving Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce, encompassing virtually every form of commerical activity.
Term
What is full faith and credit? What is extradition? What is priviledges and immunities in regard to the states?
 Definition
Full faith and credit is a clause in Article IV, Section 1 of the Constitution which requires each state to recognize the official documents and civil judgements rendered by the courts of other states. Extradition is a legal process where an alleged criminal offender is surrendered by the officials of one state to officials of the state in which the crime is alleged to have been committed. Privileges and immunities are a clause in Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution which accords citizens of each state most of the priviledges of citizens of another state.
Term
What is dual federalism?
 Definition
Dual federalism is a system of government in which both the states and the national government remain supreme within their own spheres, each responsible for some policies.
Term
What is cooperative federalism?
 Definition
Cooperative federalism is a system of government in which powers and policy assignments are shared between states and the national government. They may also share costs, administration, and even blame for programs that work poorly. Cooperative federalism also rests on federal guidlines - meaning that most federal grants to states and cities come with strings attached. For example, Congress spends billions of dollars to support state highway construction, for example, but to get their share, sates must adopt and enforce limits on the legal drinking age.
Term
What is fiscal federalism?
 Definition
The process of spending, taxing, and giving grants in the federal system.
Term
What are categorical grants?
 Definition
Categorical grants are federal grants that can be used only for specific purposes, or "categories," of state and local spending. They come with strings attached, such as nondiscrimination provisions. There are two types of categorical grants: projects grants (which are the most popular and based on merit) and formula grants (amount varies based on different formulas).
Term
What is a block grant?
 Definition
A block grant is a federal grant given more or less automatically to states or communities to support broad programs in areas such as community development and social services.
Term
What are some advantadges and disadvantages for democracy in federalism?
 Definition

Advantadges - more opportunities to participate in government, local problems can be solved locally, and it's harder for political parties and interest groups to dominate politics.

Disadvantages - Too much money and too many levels of government, states have different levels of service (which means each level has diff. issues to deal with), and local interest can counteract national interests.
Term
Name 6 powers given to the national government (and the national government only) by the Constitution. Then, name 2 powers denied by the constitution to the national government.
 Definition

1. Establish post offices

2. Declare war

3. Coin money

4. Regulate commerce with foreign nations and among states

5. Establish courts inferior to the Supreme Court

6. Provide an army and a navy

7. Make laws necessary and proper to carry out of the foregoing powers

 

1. Tax articles exported from one state to another

2. Violate Bill of Rights

3. Change state boundaries
Term
Name 5 powers given to both the state and national governments by the Constitution. Then, name 2 powers denied to the governments by the Constitution.
 Definition

1. Tax

2. Borrow money

3. Establish courts

4. Spend money for general welfare

5. Take private property for public purposes, with compensation

 

1. Grant titles of nobility

2. Permit slavery
Term
Name 5 powers given to the states by the constitution, and 3 powers denied by the constitution.
 Definition

1. Establish local governments

2. Regulate commerce within a state

3. Conduct elections

4. Take measures for public health, safety, and morals

5. Ratify amendments to the federal constitution

 

1. Tax imports or exports

2. Coin money

3. Enter into treaties
Term
If the federal government were to take away their money from the states, the states would have two options. What are they?
 Definition
Raise taxes or reduce services.
Term
Examples of times when the federal government has involved itself in the economic marketplace.
 Definition

1) When President Clinton proposed the Pentagon spend $600 million to fund the development of a U.S. industry in "flat-panel displays" used for laptop computers, video games, and advanced instruments.

2) In 2002, when President George W. Bush raised tariffs on imported steel-contrary to his position in favor of the open marketplace.

 
Term
Why is Federalism so important?
 Definition

It decentralizes our politics by allowing more opportunities for voters to participate in the government. Also, the electoral system. With more people wielding power, there are more points of access in government and more opportunities for interests to have their demands for public policies satisfied.

It also decentralizies our policies. Which means that the states and national government handle very different issues. States regulate drinking ages, marriage, and speed limits, as well as 90% of education. Also, states can solve problems in different ways and tend to be policy innovators (can create a new device or process resulting from study and experimentation).
Term
Where did almost every policy that national government has adopted have its beginnings?
 Definition
The States.
Term
What four key events have largely settled the issue of how national and state powers are related? Explain in detail.
 Definition
To begin with, the creation of the doctrine of implied powers, in the 1819 case of McCullouch v. Maryland, was a large events in settling how national and state powers are related. The decision of this case basically created the idea that Congress had powers in addition to those stated in the Constitution. A second event would the broad definition of commerce in the 1824 Gibbons v. Ogden case, in which the Supreme Court defined commerce so broadly that it led to Congress having control over every type of commerical activity. Also, this reintroduced the elastic clause, which stated that Congress can use all means "necessary and proper" to fulfill their responsibilities. Another event was the Civil War, and the last was the struggle for racial equality. This was debated in Brown v. Board of Education, where the Supreme Court declared segregation unconstitutional.
Term
Explain the ordeal with the Defense of Marriage Act.
 Definition
The Defense of Marriage act permits states to disregard gay marraiges, even if they are legal elsewhere in the United States.
Term
Explain the National Defense Education Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
 Definition

The National Defense Act was in 1958, and was an act that provided federal grants and loans for college students and financial support for elementary and secondary education in science and foreign languages.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act provided aid to numerous schools.
Term
What massive volume lists the federal aid programs available to states, cities, and other local governments?
 Definition
The Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance.
Term
What it is called when federal dollars in one program are used to influence state and local policy in another, such as when funds are withheld for highway construction unless states raise the drinking age to 21 or establish highway beautification programs?
 Definition
Crossover sanctions/Crosscutting requirements
Term
What is a condition on one federal grant that is extended to all activities supported by federal funds, regardless of their source?
 Definition
Crosscutting requirements
Term
On the whole, federal grant distribution follows the principle of what?
 Definition
Universalism - something for everybody
Term
What is a mandate?
 Definition
A mandate is a requirement that direct states or local governments to comply with federal rules under threat of penalties or as a condition of receipt of a federal grant.
Term
What is an underfunded mandate? Give an example.
 Definition
An underfunded mandate is when the national government gives the states requirements they must fulfill, but give them no or little funds to do so. An example is in 1990, when the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, instructing all colleges and universities to make themselves accessible to those with wheelchairs. However, no money was given to fulfill this requirement. In 1995, Congress made limiting unfunded and underfunded mandates on state and local governments a high priority. President Clinton signed a law that requires both chambers to take a separate, majority vote in order to pass any bill that would impose unfunded mandates of more than $50 million.
Term
What has led to the national government's increase in power?
 Definition
Industrialization, expansion of individual rights, and social services.
Term
What is public opinion?
 Definition
Public opinion is the distribution of the population's beliefs about politics and policy issues.
Term
What is demography?
 Definition
Demography is the science of population changes.
Term
What is a census?
 Definition
A census is a valuable tool for understanding demographic changes; the national government is required to take a census every ten years.
Term
What does the term "melting pot" mean?
 Definition
A melting pot refers to a mixing of cultures, ideas, and peoples that has changed the american nation.
Term
Define minority majority.
 Definition
Minority majority is the emergence of a non-caucasion majoriy, as compared with a white, generally anglo-saxon majority; it is predicted that by 2060, white americans will be outnumbered by other races.
Term
What is political culture?
 Definition
Political culture is an overall set of valures widely shared within a society.
Term
What is reapportionment?
 Definition
Reapportionment is the process of reallocating seats in the house of representatives every ten years on the basis of the results of the census
Term
What is political socialization?
 Definition
Political socialization is the process through which an individual acquires his/her particular political orientations; his/her knowledge, feelings, and evaluations regarding the political world
Term
What is a sample? What is a random sampling? What is a sampling error?
 Definition
A sample is a relatively small proportion of people who are chosen in a survey so as to be representative of the whole. Random sampling is the kye technique employed by sophisticated survey researchers, which operates on the principle that everyone should have an equal probability of being selected for the sample. A sampling error is the level of confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll.
Term
What is random digit dialing?
 Definition
A technique used by pollsters to place phone calls randomly to both listed and unlisted numbers when conducting a survey.
Term
What is an exit poll?
 Definition
An exit poll is a public opinion survey used by major media pollsters to predict electoral winners with speed and precision
Term
What is a gender gap?
 Definition
A gender gap is a term that refers to the regular patter 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
Term
What is political participation?
 Definition
Political participation is all the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue.
Term
What is a protest?
 Definition
A protest is a form of political participation designed to achieve policy change through dramatic and unconvential tactics.
Term
What is civil disobedience?
 Definition
Civil disobedience is a form of political participation that reflects a conscious decision to break a law believed to be immoral and to suffer the consequences.
Term
What is the census important for?
 Definition
The census is important for electoral votes, House of Representatives, and federal grants.
Term
What were the three waves of immigration in the United States?
 Definition

Wave One: The late nineteenth century, where the northwestern Europeans (Irish, Scandinavian, etc.) immigrated.

Wave Two: The late nineteenth and early twentieth century where the southeastern Europeans immigrated (Russians, Turks, Czechs, etc.)

Wave Three: Late 20th century where Asians and Hispanics immigrated.

NOTE: Only 2% of the United States is native to its land. (Indians)
Term
What is political ideology?
 Definition
Political ideology is a coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose.
Term
Random facts about Liberals & Conservatives. GO!
 Definition

Predominance over conservative rather than liberal thinking. The country is made up of about: 38% moderate, 38% conservative, and 24% liberal.

Women tend to be less conservative than men, and there is ideological variation by religion as well.
Term
How can you tell a liberal from a conservative?
 Definition

In terms of foreign policy, a liberal believes we should spend less on the military and should be less willing to commit troops into action. Conservatives believe we should maintain peace through strength and continue with military intervention throughout the world.

In terms of social policy, liberals are pro-choice, opposed to prayer in schools, and favor affirmative action, whereas conservatives are pro-life, are supportive of prayers in school, and oppose affirmative action.

In terms of economic policy, liberals want to tax the rich more, spend less on the poor, and view government as a regulator in public interest, whereas conservatives favor free-market solutions and want to keep taxes and spending low.

In terms of crime, liberals believe we should solve the problems that cause crime and believe we should guard defendents' rights them carefully. Conservatives believe we should stop "coddling criminals" and stop letting them hide behind laws.
Term
Types of ideologues - what are they?
 Definition

Idealogues: think in ideological terms.

Group Benefits voters: view politics through party or group label

Nature of the Times: view of politics based on whether times are good or bad.

No issue content: vote routinely for party or personality.
Term
Why are exit polls/regular polls criticized?
 Definition
Because many people think that polls distort the election process, because they create the bandwagon effect, where if people see that one person is in the lead, they will hop on the bandwagon and vote for that person, even if they know nothing about him. It also creates the adverse effect where people will not vote for their person if they feel they are very far in the lead and thus need so support. Exit polls are particularly criticized because they establish the wrong information such as in 2000 and 2004, where both electoral votes were incorrectly predetermined.
Term
What do polls reveal about Americans' political information? Why has there been a decline and then short uprising in government?
 Definition
Polls reveal that Americans don't know much about politics and may know their basic beliefs but not how that affects policies of the government.
Term
Detail the role of polls in American democracy.
 Definition
Polls help politicans detect public preferences, but critics say polls make politicians think more about following than leading the public, although politicians do not track opinion to make policies. Also, question wording may affect survey results.
Term
From 1990 to 2000, the rate of population growth was 24 percent in Florida, 14 percent in California, and 23 percent in Texas. Population growth in Northeast was just 5 percent.
 Definition
Florida, Texas, and California are also known as 'the sunbelt'. Over the past sixty years, much of America's population growth has been in the West and South.
Term
How did the regional shift affect California?
 Definition
It's numbers in the House of Representatives grew from just 7 to 53 after 200 census.
Term
Who invented the poll?
 Definition
George Gallup
Term
What percentage of White Americans are below the poverty line?
 Definition
11
Term
Who said that that America is not merely a nation, but a "nation of nations"?
 Definition
John F. Kennedy
Term
In 1940, there were 42 works per retiree. How many workers per retiree are there now?
 Definition
3.
Term
Describe the process of political socialization.
 Definition
In the family, children tend to have the same opinions as their parents, or adversely, the opposite opinions in order to spite their parents. In terms of media (internet, newspaper, etc.), that is the main source of news for most people. Then, in terms of education, better educated people tend to be more knowledgeable about who they are voting for. Also, the government can promote a positive image of themselves through education.
Term
What events led to the decline in the trust of government?
 Definition
Economic troubles during Carter's years, Vietnam, Watergate, Iranian hostage scandal, and Bill Clinton's affair.
Term
How do younger and older Americans compare on issues?
 Definition
Younger americans tend to be less educated about politics, less firm in their ideas, and more open to new ideas. Older people are very stubborn and taciturn in their beliefs due to having a lifetime to form them. They are less apt to favor new ideas.
Term
What percentage of African Americans live below the poverty line?
 Definition
25%
Term

What is party competition?

 

 Definition
The battle of parties for control of public offices. Ups and downs of the two major parties are one of the most important elements in American politics.
Term
What is a political party?
 Definition
According to Anthony Downs, a "team of men (and women) seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election."
Term
What is a linkage institution?
 Definition
The channels through which people's concerns become political issues on the government's policy agenda. In the United States, linkage institutions include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.
Term
What is rational-choice theory?
 Definition
A popular theory in political science to explain the actions of voters as well as politicians. It assumes that individuals act in their own best interest, carefully weighing the costs and benefits of possible alternatives.
Term
What is party image?
 Definition
The voter's perception of what the Republicans or Democrats stand for, such as conservatism or liberalism.
Term
What is party identification?
 Definition
A citizen's self-proclaimed preference for one party or another.
Term
What is ticket splitting?
 Definition
Voting with one party for one office and with another party for other offices. It has become the norm in American voting behavior.
Term
What is a party machine?
 Definition
A type of political party organization that relies heavily on material inducements, such as patronage, to win votes and to govern.
Term
What is patronage?
 Definition
One of the key inducements used by party machines. A patronage job, promotion, or contract is one that is given for political reasons rather than for merit or competence alone.
Term
What are closed primaries?
 Definition
Elections to select party nominees in which only people who have registered in advance with the party can vote for that party's candidates, thus encouraging greater party loyalty.
Term
What are open primaries?
 Definition
Elections to select party nominees in which voters can decide on Election Day whether they want to participate in the Democratic or Republican contests.
Term
What are blanket primaries?
 Definition
Elections to select party nominees in which voters are presented with a list of candidates from all the parties. Voters can then select some Democrats and some Republicans if they like.
Term
What is a national convention?
 Definition
The meeting of party delegates every four years to choose a presidential ticket and write the party's platform.
Term
What is a national committee?
 Definition
One of the institutions that keeps the party operating between conventions. The national committee is composed of representatives from the states and territories.
Term
What is a national chairperson?
 Definition
The national chairperson is responsible for the day-to-day activities of the party and is usually handpicked by the presidential nominee.
Term
What is a coalition?
 Definition
A group of individuals with a common interest on which every political party depends.
Term
What are party eras?
 Definition
Historical periods in which a mjaority of voters cling to the party in power, which tends to win a majority of the elections.
Term
What is a critical election?
 Definition
An electoral "earthquake" where new issues emerge, new coalitions replace old ones, and the majority party is often displaced by the minority party. Critical election periods are sometimes marked by a national crisis and may require more than one election to bring about a new party era.
Term
What is party realignment?
 Definition
The displacement of the majority party by the minority party, usually during a critical election period.
Term
What is New Deal coalition?
 Definition
A coalition forged by the Democrats, who dominated American politics from the 1930s to the 1960s. Its basic elements were the urban working class, ethnic groups, Catholics and Jews, the poor, Southerners, African Americans, and intellectuals.
Term
What is party dealignment?
 Definition
The gradual disengagement of people and politicians from the parties, as seen in party by shrinking party identification.
Term
What are third parties?
 Definition
Electoral contenders otehr than the two major parties. American third parties are not unusual, but they rarely win elections.
Term
What is the winner-take-all system?
 Definition
An electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded only to the candidates who come in first in their constituencies. In American presidential elections, the system in which the winner of the popular vote in a state receives all the electoral votes of that state.
Term
What is the proportional representation?
 Definition
An electoral system used throughout most of Europe that awards legislative seats to political parties in proportion to the number of votes won in an election.
Term
What is a coalition government?
 Definition
When two or more parties join together to form a majority in a national legislature. This form of government is quite common in teh multiparty systems of Europe.
Term
What is a responsible party model?
 Definition
A view favored by some political scientists about how parties should work. According to the model, parties should offer clear choices to the voters, who can then use those choices as cues to their own preferences of candidates. Once in office, parties would carry out their campaign promises.
Term
Who are the "three-headed political giants" in parties?
 Definition
The party in the electorate, the party as an organization, and the party in governemnt
Term
What tasks must political parties perform to be successful as linkage institutions?
 Definition
Pick candidates, run campaigns, give cues to voters, articulate policis, and coordinate policy making.
Term
What are Anthony Downs two arguments for the rational-choice theory?
 Definition
That voters want to maximize the chance that politicies they favor will be adopted by government and that parties want to win office.
Term
In 2008, ___ of the population called themselves Independents.
 Definition
37%
Term
As organizations, American political parties are ______________ and ________________.
 Definition
decentralized and fragmented
Term
According to John Bibby, the job of the state party is mainly to what?
 Definition
Provide technical services within the context of a candidate-centered campaign.
Term
Who holds the supreme power within each of the parties? How often does this meet? What is its main task?
 Definition
The national convention. Every four years. To write the party's platofrm and then nominate its candidates for president and vice president.
Term
Describe the first party era (1796-1824).
 Definition
America's first political party was the Federalist Party, also America's shortest-lived major party. The party quickly faded after John Adams was defeated in his reelection bid in 1800. This was due to poor organization. The party that replaced the Federalists was the Democratic-Republicans/Jeffersonians.
Term
Describe the second party era (1828-1856).
 Definition
General Andrew Jackson founded the modern American political party. During his presidency, the Democratic-Republican party soon shortened to "Democratic" party. The behind-the-scenes architect of the Democratic party was Martin Van Buren, who was president after Jackson. Their opposing party was the Whig party, mainly consisted of Northern industrialists and Southern planters.
Term
Why were the American Founding Fathers concerned about parties?
 Definition
Because they felt they would be the start of a divisive government and forums for corruption.
Term
Describe the third party era (1860-1928).
 Definition
Slavery was a major dividing issue in the 1850s. The Republicans rose in the 1850s as the anti-slavery party, replacing the Whig party as the majority party. After the Civil War, the Republican Party thrived for more than 60 years. A second Republican era was intitated with the election of 1896. They continued their majority reign until the stock market crash of 1929.
Term
Describe the fourth party era (1932-1964).
 Definition

President FDR began party realignment after Roosevelt got the country moving again. The Democrats forged the New Deal coalition. This consisted of:

Urban dwellers

Labor unions

Catholics and Jews

The poor

Southerners

African Americans

The New Deal coalition made the Democratic party the majority party for decades, until JFK's asssasination in 1964, and Lyndon B. Johnson's Vietnam War policies tore the country apart.
Term
Describe the fifth party era (1968-present)
 Definition
Started the trend of having a Republican president and Democratic Congress (with the exception of Bill Clinton's presidency from 1992-1994). With 40% of the population not identifying with either Democrats and Republicans, the country is headed towards dealignment. Divided government is currently seen in both the state and federal level.
Term
Third parties in the United States come in three basic varities. What are they?
 Definition
Parties that promote certain causes--either a controversial signle issue or an extreme ideological position such as socialism or libertarianism. Splinter parties, which are offshoots of a major party. (Examples: American Independents, Progressives, and States' Righters). And some third parties are merely an extension of a popular individual with presidential aspirations.
Term
Why scholars believe third parties are important even though they almost never win office in the United States?
 Definition
Because they bring new groups into the electorate and serve as "safety valves" for popular discontent.
Term
Advocates of the responsible party model believe candiates should meet which four conditions?
 Definition

1. Parties must present distinct, comprehensive programs for governing the nation.

2. Each party's candidates must be committed to its program and have the internal cohesion and discipline to carry out its program.

3. The majority party must implement its programs, and the minority party must state what it would do if it were in power.

4. The majority party must accept responsibility for the performance of the government.
Term
Where do American political parties fail in meeting up with the requirements of the responsible party model?
 Definition
They are too decentralized to take a single national position and enforce it, most candidates are self-selected which means they gain their nomination by their own efforts rather than the party's, and virtually anyone can vote in party primaries; thus, parties do not have control over those who run under their labels.
Term
What is the difference between interest groups and parties?
 Definition
Interest groups do not nominate candidates for office, even if they might try to sway the decision.
Term
What is "Contract of America"?
 Definition
A contract that outlined reforms that a Republican House would take if so many Republican members were elected. Created by Newt Gingrich and Richard Armey.
Term
What does rational-choice theory do?
 Definition
It seeks to explain political processes and outcomes as the result of purposive behavior. Political actors are assumed to have goals and to pursue these goals sensibly and efficiently.
Term
What does Anthony Downs argue in concern with the rational-choice theory?
 Definition
That voters want to maximize their chances of seeing the policies they favor adopted by government and parties want to win office.
Term
Where was the last party machine?
 Definition
In Chicago, owned by Richard J. Daley.
Term
What is a nomination?
 Definition
The offical endorsement of a candidate for office by a political party. Generally, success in the nomination game requires momentum, money, and media attention.
Term
What is a national party convention?
 Definition
The supreme power within each of the parties. The convention meets every four years to nominate the party's presidential and vice-presidential candidates to write the party's platform.
Term
What is a caucus?
 Definition
A meeting of all state party leaders for selecting party delegates to the national party convention. Caucuses are usually organized as a pyramid.
Term

What is a presidential primary?

 

 Definition
Elections in which voters in a state vote for a candidate (or delegates pledged to him or her). Most delegates to the national party conventions are chosen this way.
Term
What is the McGovern-Fraser Commission?
 Definition
A commission formed at a the 1968 Democratic convention in response to demands for reform by minority groups and others who sought better representation.
Term
What is a superdelegate?
 Definition
National party leaders who automatically get a delegate slot at the Democratic national party convention.
Term
What is frontloading?
 Definition
The recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in teh calendar in order to capitalize on media attention.
Term
What is a national primary?
 Definition
A proposal by critics of the caucuses and presidential primaries, which would replace these electoral methods with a nationwide primary held early in the election year.
Term
What is a regional primary?
 Definition
A proposal by critics of the caucuses and presidential primaries to replace these electoral methods with a series of primaries held in each geographic region.
Term
What is a party platform?
 Definition
A political party's statement of its goals and policies for the next four years. The platform is drafted prior to the party convention by a committee whose members are chosen in rough proportion to each candidate's strength. It is the best formal statement of a party's beliefs.
Term
What is direct mail?
 Definition
A high-tech methods of raising money for a political cause or candidate. It involves sending information and requests for money to people whose names appear on lists of those who have supported similrar views or candidates in the past.
Term
What is Federal Election Campaign Act?
 Definition
A law passed in 1974 for reforming campaign finances. The act created the Federal Election Commission, provided public financing for presidential primaries and general elections, limited presidential campaign spending, required disclosure, and attempted to limit contributions.
Term
What is the Federal Election Commission?
 Definition
A six-member bipartisan agency created by the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974. The Federal Election Commission administers and enforces campaign finance laws.
Term
What is the Presidential Election Campaign Fund?
 Definition
Money from the $3 federal income tax check-off goes into this fund, which is then distributed to qualified candidates to subsidize their presidential campaigns.
Term
What are matching funds?
 Definition
Contributions of up to $250 are matched from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund to candidates for the presidential nomination who qualify and agree to meet various conditions, such as limit their overall spending.
Term
What is soft money?
 Definition
Political contributions earmarked for party-building expenses at the grass-roots level or for generic party advertising. Unlike money that goes to the campaign of a particular candidate, such party donations are not subject to contribution limits. For a time, such contributions were unlimited, until they were banned by the McCain-Feingold Act.
Term
What are 527 groups?
 Definition
Independent groups that seek to influence the political process but are not subject to contribution restrictions because they do not directly seek the election of particular candidates. Their name comes from Section 527 of the federal tax code, under which they are governed.
Term
What are political action committees?
 Definition
Funding vehicles created by the 1974 campaign finance reforms. A corporation, union, or some other interest group can create a political action committee (PAC) and register it with the Federal Election Commission, which will meticulously miontir the PAC's expenditure.
Term
What is selective perception?
 Definition
The phenomenon that people often pay the most attention to things they already agree with and interpret them according to their own predispositions.
Term
Describe the court case of Gideon v. Wainwright (1963).
 Definition
Gideon was granted a second trial after being tried guilty in the first without any legal counsel. He won the second case, and after Gideon states had to appoint attorneys for all who could not afford them.
Term
Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
 Definition
Established the Miranda rights, which is telling the people what their rights are prior to any confession.
Term
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
 Definition
Said that as long as segregrated facilities were equal, they were consitutional.
Term
Bob Jones University v. United States
 Definition
Overruled the school's policy, which had a bolicy that barred admissions to interracial couples
Term
Schneck v. United States (1919) -
 Definition
Said rights could limited in a time of war.
Term
Texas v. Johnson (1989)
 Definition
Said burning a flag was freedom of expression.
Term
Roe v. Wade (1973)
 Definition
Said states could not regulate abortion in the first 3 months of pregnancy
Term
Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989)
 Definition
State can limit funds as it saw fit.
Term
Engel v. Vitale
 Definition
Struck down a school requirement that every student says a prayer in the morning.
Term
Lemon v. Kurtzman
 Definition
Court struck down a state law that allowed financial aid to private schools.
Term
Sheppherd v. Maxwell (1966)
 Definition
Barred certain information from being released by the press about a case that has not gone to trial.
Term
What is high-tech politics?
 Definition
A politics in which the behavior of citizens and policymakers and the political agenda itself are increasingly shaped by technology.
Term
What is mass media?
 Definition
Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, and other means of popular communication.
Term
What is a media event?
 Definition
Events purposely staged for the media that nonetheless look spontaneous. In keeping with politics as theater, media events can be staged by individuals, groups, and government officials, especially presidents.
Term
What were the seven principles that the Reagan house operated on concerning the media?
 Definition

1. Plan ahead

2. Stay on the offensive

3. Control the flower of information

4. Limit reporters' access to the president

5. Talk about the issues you want to talk about

6. Speak in one voice

7. Repeat the same message many times
Term
What are press conferences?
 Definition
Meetings of public officials with reporters
Term
What is investigative journalism?
 Definition
The use of in-depth reporting to unearth scandals, scams, and schemes, at times putting reporters in adversarial relationships with political leaders
Term
What is print media?
 Definition
Newspapers and magazines, as compared with broadcast media.
Term
What is broadcast media?
 Definition
Public television, radio, and the internet, as compared with print media.
Term
What does FCC stand for?
 Definition
Federal Communications Commission
Term
What is narrowcasting?
 Definition
Media programming on cable TV or the Internet that is focused on one topic and aimed at a particular audience. Examples include MTV, ESPN, and C-SPAN.
Term
What are chains?
 Definition
Newspapers published by massive media conglomerates that account for over four-fifths of the nation's daily newspaper circulation. Often these chains control broadcast medias as well.
Term
Who are the five major media conglomerates?
 Definition
Disney, Viacom, Bertlenhetters (sp?), News Corporation, and Time Warner
Term
What are beats?
 Definition
Specific locations from which news frequently emanates, such as Congress or the White House. Most top reporters work a particular beat, thereby becoming specialists in what goes on at that location.
Term
What are trial balloons?
 Definition
An intentional news leak for the purpose of assessing the political reaction
Term
What are sound bites?
 Definition
Short video clips of approximately 10 seconds. Typically, they are all that is shown from a politician's speech on the nightly television news.
Term
According to social science studies, is the media biased?
 Definition
No. Most stories are presented in a "point/counterpoint" format in which two opposing points of view are presented, and the audience is left to draw its own conclusions.
Term
What is a talking head?
 Definition
A shot of a person's face talking directly to the camera. Because this is visually unappealing, the major commercial networks rarely show a politician talking one-on-one for very long.
Term
What is the policy agenda?
 Definition
The issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actively involved in politics at the time.
Term
What are policy entreprenuers?
 Definition
People who invest their political "capital" in an issue. According to John Kingdon, a policy entrepreneur "could be in or out of government, in elected or appointed positions, in interest groups or research organizations".
Term
What does purposive mean?
 Definition
It means that what people see is the product of their own intentional choices.
Term
In Herbert Hoover's presidency and before, how did reporters ask the president questions?
 Definition
They submitted it in writing, if at all.
Term
What president saw the media as an "ally", and practically invented media politics?
 Definition
Roosevelt
Term
What is "yellow journalism"?
 Definition
A sensational style of reporting focused on violence, corruption, wars, and gossip with an often less-than-scrupulous regard for the truth.
Term
Wheres one newspaper sold for every 1 adult in 1960, by 2008 one paper was sold for every ____ adults.
 Definition
Five.
Term
What event signified that television had taken over newspaper as the most important form of communication in American politics?
 Definition
The Nixon-Kennedy debate in 1960, when Nixon's visual appearaance caused people to think he didn't come out on top in the debate.
Term
What three ways does the FCC regulate the airways?
 Definition

1. To prevent near monopolies of control over a broadcast market, it instituted rules to limit the number of stations owned or controlled by one company.

2. Conducts periodic examinations of the goals and performance of stations as part of its licensing authority.

3. Issued a number of fair treatment rules concerning access to the airwaves for political candidates and office holders.
Term
What four things did the study by Columbia University's Project for Excellence in Journalism show about cable news?
 Definition

1. Only 11 % of the time was taken up with written and edited stories

2. The role of the reporter was primarily to talk extemporaneously

3. Stories were repeated frequently, usually with any impotant new information

4. Coverage of the news was spotty, ignoring many important topics
Term
How do reporters and their official sources have a symbiotic relationship?
 Definition
News makers rely on journalists to get their message out at the same time that reporters rely on public officials to keep them in the know.
Term
During the 1991 Gulf War, 15 influential news organiations sent a letter to the secretary of defense complaining that the rules for reporting war were:
 Definition
Designed more to control the news to faciliate it, as the freedom of movement and observation were severely restricted during the war.
Term
What does it mean when the Pentagon "embedded" reporters during the 2003 military campaign for Saddam Hussein?
 Definition
They put them in the same unit as the military, enabling them to report on combat activity has it happens and thus have an increased ability to transmit combat footage.
Term
A content analysis by Farnsworth and Lichter found that 35 percent of major TV network stories contained combat scenes compared to just __ percent in 1991.
 Definition
20.
Term
What has happened concerning reporting since the Watergate scandal?
 Definition
News organizations have regularly sent reporters on beats to expose the uglier side of government corruption and inefficiency.
Term
What single word describes news coverage by the print and broadcast media?
 Definition
Superficial
Term
Analysis of news events rarely lasts more than a _____.
 Definition
Minute.
Term
What is the overriding bias in journalism?
 Definition
Toward stories that will draw the largest audience.
Term
What is the minimal effects hypothesis?
 Definition
Doubt that the media had more than a marginal effect on public opinion, because it didn't effect how people voted.
Term
What major impact does television media on Americans?
 Definition
It alters the priorities that American attach to a circumscribed set of problems, all of which are plausible contenders for public concern.
Term
By increasing public attention to specific problems, the media influence what?
 Definition
The criteria by which the public evaluates political leaders.
Term
The media acts as what between the people and the policy makers and have a profund impact on what?
 Definition

Key linkage institutions.

Political policy agenda.
Term
Television finds it easier to focus on who?
 Definition
Individuals as opposed to groups.
Term
What is legitimacy?
 Definition
A characterization of elections by political scientists meaning that they are almost univerally accepted as a fair and free method of selecting political leaders. When legitimacy is high, as in the United States, even the losers accept the results peacefully.
Term
What is a referendum?
 Definition
A state-level method of direct legislation that gives voters a chance to approve or disapprove proposed legislation or a proposed constitutional amendment.
Term
What is an initiative petition?
 Definition
A process permitted in some states whereby voters may put proposed changes in the state constitution to a vote if sufficient signatures are obtained on petitions callin for such a referendum.
Term
What is suffrage?
 Definition
The legal right to vote, extended to African Americans by the 15th amendment, to women by the 19th amendment, and to people over the age of 18 by the 26th amendment.
Term
What is political efficacy?
 Definition
The belief that one's political participation really matters--that one's vote can actually make a difference.
Term
What is civic duty?
 Definition
The belief that in order to support democratic government, a citizen should always vote.
Term
What is voter registration?
 Definition
A system adopted by the states that requires voters to register well in advance of Election Day. A few states permit Election Day regisration.
Term
What is the Motor Voter Act?
 Definition
Passed in 1993, this act went into effect for the 1996 election. It requires states to permit people to register to vote at the same time they apply for their driver's license.
Term
What is the mandate theory of elections?
 Definition
The idea that the winning candidate has a mandate from the people to carry out his or her platforms and politics. Politicians like the theory better than political scientists do.
Term
What is policy voting?
 Definition
Electoral choices that are made on the basis of the voters' policy preferences and on the basis of where there candidates stand on policy issues.
Term
What is an electoral college?
 Definition
A unique American institution, created by the Constitution, providing for the selection of the president by electors chosen by the state parties. Although teh electoral college vote usually reflects a popular majority, the winner-take-all rule gives clout to big states.
Term
What is retrospective voting?
 Definition
A theory of voting in which voters essentially ask this simple question: "What have you done for me lately?"
Term
What are three kinds of elections in the United States?
 Definition
Primary elections, general elections, and election on specific policy questions
Term
Describe the 1800 election.
 Definition
John Adams of the Federalist Party vs. Thomas Jefferson of the Democratic-Republicans.
Term
What are the factors that contribute to the likeliness of someone to vote?
 Definition
Education (people who are more educated vote more), Age (Older people are more likely to vote), Race (White people are more likely to vote), Gender (Females are more likely to vote), Marital status (Married people are more likely to vote), and Government employment (more likely to vote).
Term
What are the three major elements of voters' decisions?
 Definition
Voters' party identification, voters' evaluation of the candidates, and the match between voters' policy positions and those of the candidates and parties ("policy voting").
Term
What are two reasons that the electoral college is important to the presidential election?
 Definition
It introduces bias into the campaign and electoral process, and the winner-take-all rule means that candidates will necessarily focus on winning the states where the polls show that there appears to be a close contest.
Term
According to democratic theory, what two tasks do elections accomplish?
 Definition
They select the policymakers and help shape public policy.
Term
What is an interest group?
 Definition
An organization of people with shared policy goals entering the policy process at several points to try to achieve those goals.
Term
What is a pluralist theory?
 Definition
A theory of government and politics emphasizing that politics is mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies.
Term
What is an elite theory?
 Definition
A theory of government and politics contending that societies are divided along class line and that an upper class elite will rule.
Term
What is hyperpluralist theory?
 Definition
A theory of government and politics contending that interest groups are so strong that government is weakened.
Term
What is a subgovernment?
 Definition
A network of groups within the American political system that exercise a great deal of control over specific policy areas.
Term
What is a potential group?
 Definition
All the people who might be interest group members because they share some common interest.
Term
What is an actual group?
 Definition
That part of the potential group consisting of members who actually join.
Term
What is the collective good?
 Definition
Something of value that cannot be withheld from a group member.
Term
What is the free rider problem?
 Definition
The problem faced by unions and other groups when people do not join because they can benefit from the group's activities without officially joining.
Term
What is Olson's law of large groups?
 Definition
Advanced by Mancur Olson, an economist and social scientist who worked at University of Maryland, a principle stating that "the large the group, the further it will fall short of providing an optimal amount of a collective good."
Term
What are selective benefits?
 Definition
Goods that a group can restrict to those who pay their annual dues.
Term
What are single issue groups?
 Definition
Groups that have a narrow interest, tend to dislike compromise, and often draw membership from people new to politics.
Term
What is lobbying?
 Definition
According to Lester Milbrath, a "communication, by someone other than a citizen acting on his own behalf, directed to a governmental decision maker with the hope of influencing his decision."
Term
What is electioneering?
 Definition
Direct group involvement in the electoral process.
Term
What are political action committees?
 Definition
PACs are political funding vehicles created by the 1974 campaign finance reforms; used by interest groups to donate money to candidates.
Term
What are amicus curiae briefs?
 Definition
Legal briefs submitted by a "friend of the court" for the purpose of raising additional points of view and presenting information not contained in the briefs of the formal parties.
Term
What are class action suits?
 Definition
Lawsuits permitting a small number of people to sue on behalf of all other people similarly situated.
Term
What is a union shop?
 Definition
A provision in some collective bargaining agreements requiring all employees of a business to join the union within a short period, usually 30 days, and to remain members as a condition of employment.
Term
What are right to work for laws?
 Definition
A state law forbidding requirements that workers must join a union to hold their jobs.
Term
What are public interest lobbies?
 Definition
According to Jeffrey Berry, organizations that seek "a collective good, the achievement of which will not selectively and materially benefit the membership or activities of the organization"
Term
How are interest groups distinct from parties?
 Definition
Political parties fight election battles; interest groups do not field candidates for office but may choose sides. Also, interest groups are policy specialists; political parties are policy generalists.
Term
What amendment guarantees the right to make an interest group?
 Definition
The first amendment, which guarantees the right "peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Term
What are the essential arguments that the pluralist theorists offer as a group theory of politics?
 Definition

1. Groups provide a key link between people and government. All legitimate interests in teh political system can get a hearing from government once they are organized.

2. Groups compete. Labor, business, farmers, consumers, enviromentalists, and other interests constantly make competing claims on the government.

3. No one group is likely to become too dominant. When one group throws its weight around too much, its opponents are likely to intensify their organization and thus restore balance to the system. For every action, there is a reaction.

4. Groups usually play by the "rules of the game". In the United States, group politics is a fair fight, with few groups lying, cheating, stealing, or engaging in violence to get their way.

5. Groups weak in one resource can use another. Big business may have money on its side, but labor has numbers. All legitimate groups are able to affect public policy by one means or another.
Term
What is the pluralist opinion on interest groups? What is the elite opinion on interest groups? What is the hyperpluralist opinion on interest groups?
 Definition

1) Lobbying is open to all and is therefore not to be regarded as a problem.

2) Even honest lobbying is a problem, because it benefits few at the expense of many.

3) With so many more interest groups to satisify, and with many of them competing aginst one another, a cozy relationship between groups and the government is plainly more difficult to sustain.
Term
What are the arguments for elite theory and assertions it makes (mainly directed at pluralists)?
 Definition

1) One-third of top institutional positions are occupied by people who hold more than one such position. They see the rise of mighty multinational corporations as further tightening the control of corporate elities. An example would be the bailouts the government gives to big businesses.

Assertions:

1 - The fact that there are numerous groups proves nothing because groups are extremely unequal in power.

2 - Awesome power is held by the largest corporations.

3 - The power of a few is fortified by an extensive system of interlocking directorates.

4 - Other groups may win many minor policy battles, but corporate elites prevail when it comes to the big decision.
Term
What are five answers PAC directors gave to why they choose to give money to certain candidates?
 Definition
These candidates were/are 1) on committees that are important to their interests, 2) very supportive of issues important to them, 3) from a district or state they had facilities, 4) helping them with executive and regulatory agencies, and 5) in leadership positions that enabled them to influence issues that affect the PAC.
Term
What are the arguments for the hyperpluralist theory?
 Definition

1) It is a perfect script for policy gridlock, as no change is essentially made in the end.

2) Groups have become too powerful in the political process as government tries to appease every conceivable interest.

3) Interest group liberalism is aggravated by numerous subgovernments--comfortable relationships among a government agency, the interest group it deals with, and congressional subcommittees.

4) Trying to please every group results in contradictory and confusing policy.


(NOTE: Morris Fiorina is a hyperpluralist.)
Term

What is interest group liberalism?

 Definition

It refers to the government's excessive deference to groups. Interest group liberalism holds that virutally all pressure group demands are legitimate and that the job of the government is to advance them all.
Term
What are subgovernments also known as and what are the three things they are composed of?
 Definition

Subgovernments are known as iron triangles. They are composed of - key interest group leaders interest in policy X, the government agency in charge of administering policy X, and hte members of congressional committees and subcommittees handling policy X.

Also: comfortable relationships among a government agecny, the interest group it deals with, and congressional subcommittees.
Term
What factors influence a group's success?
 Definition
Smaller groups generally have more success. This is because they have organizational advantages, and do not have to deal with the free-rider problem. Also, you could use Olson's law of large groups ("the larger the group, the more it will fall short of providing an optimal amount of the collective good"). Also, their money does not have to be spread over many people like in a consumer group. The solution to the problems of large groups, according to Mancur Olson, is by selective benefits ("good the a group can restrict to members who pay their annual dues") A larger group can also be mobilized through intensity, and if it is a single-issue group, and through financial resources.
Term
Name ten of the power 25. GO!
 Definition

1. National Rifle Association

2. National Association of Manufacturers

3. National Association of Realtors

4. Chamber of Commerce

5. AFL-CIO

6. American Association of Retired Persons

7. American Medical Association

8. American Hospital Association

9. International Brotherhood of Teamsters

10. Motion Picture Association of America

11. Recording Industry

12. American Farm Bureau Federation

13. American Bankers Association

14. National Governors' Association

15. National Right to Life Committee

16. National Association of Homebuilders

17. National Federation of Independent Business

18. American Israel Public Affairs Committee

19. Association of Trial Lawyers of America

20. National Beer Wholesalers Association
Term
What is an example of when the big interests have not won?
 Definition
The Tax Reform Act of 1986.
Term
How has the number of interest groups increased between 1959 to 2007?
 Definition
From 6,000 to 22,000; the largest group is still trade, folloed by other, health, and public affairs
Term
What are the two basic types of lobbyists?
 Definition
The regular, paid employees of a corporation, union, or association, and those available for hire on a temporary basis.
Term
What did the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1996 establish? What are four ways that a lobbyist can help a member of Congress?
 Definition

Criteria for determining whether an organization or firm shoulder register their employees as lobbyists.

 

1) They are an important source of information. Members of Congress have to concern themselves with many policy areas; lobbyists can confine themselves to only one areas and can thus provide specialized expertise.

2) They can help politicians with political strategy for getting legislation through. L

3) THey can help formulate campaign strategy and get the group's members behind a politician's reelection campaign.

4) They are source of ideas and innovation.

 

Note: Lobbying works best on people already committeed to the lobbyist's policy position.
Term
What is the major aim of American union organizations?
 Definition
To press for policies to ensure better working conditions and higher wages.
Term
What is the Taft-Hartley Act?
 Definition
An act passed by Congress permitting states to adopt right-to-law laws ("state law forbidding requirements that workers join a union in order to hold their job.")
Term
What is an alternate definition for amicus curiae briefs?
 Definition
Written arguments submitted to the couts in support of one side of a case.
Term
Who spurred the consumer movement?
 Definition
Ralph Nader; he sued General Motors after they hired a private investigator to dig up dirt on him after he wrote a negative report saying they had a malfunctioning vehicle.
Term
What is Madison's solution to the problems posed by interest groups?
 Definition
To create a wide-open system in which many groups would be able to participate. In such an extended sphere of influence, according to Madison, groups with opposing interests would counterbalance one another.
Term
What do groups try to do concerning going public?
 Definition

- Cultivate a good public image to build a reservoir of goodwill with the public

- Use marketing strategies to infleunce public opinion of the group and its issues

- Advertise to motivate and inform the public about an issue
Term
What are two examples of labor unions?
 Definition
National Education Association and AFL-CIO
Term
American labor movement reached its peak when and why?
 Definition
In 1956, when the 33% of the nonagricultural workforce were in labor unions, compared to the 13% of today.
Term
What is the "K Street Project"?
 Definition
Republican leadership in Congress started to actively encourage business interest groups and PACs to hire Republicans as part of what has become known as the "K Street Project."
Term
What industry grew the most from 1967 to 2007?
 Definition
Pharmeceutial
Term
What is the biggest obstacle to the effectiveness of large groups?
 Definition
Difficulty in finding substantial collective goods.
Term
What issues do trade and product associations seek when lobbying Capitol Hill?
 Definition
Regulations that would reduce their profits, preferential tax treatments, and government subsidies and contracts.
Term
List three items environmental groups have promoted and three they have opposed.
 Definition
Promoted-
1) Pollution-control policies, 2) Animal rights, 3) Population control, and 4) Wilderness protection
Opposed:
1) Strip mining, 2) Supersonic aircraft, and 3) Nuclear power plants
Term
Why are subgovernments criticized by the hyperpluralist theory?
 Definition
Because hyperpluralists see the relations between subgovernments as being too cozy, which causes hard choices about national policy to rarely be made. Instead, they pretend there is no need to choose, therefore pleasing both sides.
Term
What are some examples of selective benefits?
 Definition
Information, insurance, representation, publications, travel discounts
Term
Congress is not only our central policy making branch but our central what branch?
 Definition
Representative.
Term
Who was the Speaker of the House in 2009?
 Definition
Nancy Pelosi (D)
Term
The typical representative is a member of how many committees and subcommittees? What about the typical senator?
 Definition
6 & 10.
Term
What is the first and foremost attraction to a job as Congressperson?
 Definition
Power.
Term
What are some benefits that members of Congress receive?
 Definition
A substantial salary of roughly $170,000, generous retirement benefits, office space in Washington & their constituencies, congressional staff, travel allowances, franking privileges, and others.
Term
What is the franking privilege?
 Definition
The free use of the mail system to communicate with constituencies and machines that duplicate a member's signature in real ink.
Term
How many members of Congress are there? Senate? House?
 Definition
535. 100. 435.
Term
What are requirements for House members? Senate?
 Definition
25 years old, American citizens for 7 years; 30 years old, American citizens for 9 years; and must be residents of the states they are elected in.
Term
What are the dominant prior occupations of a member of Congress?
 Definition
Law and business.
Term
How many members of the House are African American?
 Definition
Less than 10 percent. (Only 1 AA in the Senate.)
Term
Who is the most underrepresented group in Congress?
 Definition
Women.
Term
What can members of Congress not claim and what might they engage in?
 Definition
They cannot claim descriptive representation, which is that they represent constituents by mirroring their personal, politically relevant characteristics. They might engage in substantive representation, which is representing the interests of groups.
Term
Why aren't there more women in Congress?
 Definition
Fewer women than men become party nominees for office, women are less ambitious to run for office mainly because they have childcare responsibilities, and less likely to run when they don't think that they will win.
Term
Who wins elections?
 Definition
Incumbents.
Term
What is an incumbent?
 Definition
Those already holding office. In congressional elections, incumbents usually win.
Term
Why do Senate incumbents not get elected as much as House incumbents?
 Definition
Because the Senate is representing an entire state which is more diverse than just one district, also Senators tend to be held more accountable for their decisions, senators have less personal contact with their constituencies, and tend to draw more visible challengers.
Term
What three activities increase the probability of reelection?
 Definition
Advertising, credit claiming, and position taking.
Term
What is the main goal in advertising?
 Definition
Visibility.
Term
Morris Fiorina emphasized the close link between what?
 Definition
Service and success.
Term
What is one thing that always makes friends and never enemies for a Congressperson?
 Definition
Serving the constituency.
Term
What is casework?
 Definition
Activities of members of Congress that help constituents as individuals; cutting through bureaucratic red tape to get people what they think they deserve. Example: A Congressperson helping a constituent get their Social Security check.
Term
What is a pork barrel?
 Definition
The mighty list of federal projects, grants, and contracts available to cities, businesses, colleges, and institutions available in a congressional district. Also known as earmarks.
Term
How much of the money raised by candidates for Congress is from PACs?
 Definition
1/4
Term
How can you defeat an incumbent?
 Definition
If there is scandal or corruption, through congressional reapportionment, and major political tidal waves.
Term
What is bicameral legislature?
 Definition
A legislature divided into two houses. The U.S. Congress and every American state legislature except Nebraska's are bicameral.
Term
What is the House Rules Committee?
 Definition
A institution unique to the House of Representatives that reviews all bills (except revenue, budget, and appropriations bills) coming from a House committee before they go to the full House.
Term
What is the filibuster?A
 Definition
A strategy unique to the Senate whereby opponents of a piece of legislation try to talk it to death, based on the tradition of unlimited debate. Today, 60 members present and voting can halt a filibuster.
Term
Why doesn't the majority change the rules to prevent filibuster?
 Definition
Changing the rules requires 67 votes, which is difficult to achieve. And every senator knows they might want to use the filibuster at a later date.
Term
Who is the Speaker of the House?
 Definition
An office mandated by the Constitution, The Speaker is chosen in practice by the majority party, has both formal and informal powers, and is second in line to succeed to the presidency should the office become vacant.
Term
What are the duties of the Speaker of the House?
 Definition
Presides over the House when it is in session, plays a major role in making committee assignments, appoints or plays a key role in appointing the party's legislative leaders and exercised control over which bills get assigned to which committees.
Term
What is a majority leader?
 Definition
The principal partisan ally of the Speaker of the House or the party's manager in the Senate. The majority leader is responsible for scheduling bills, influencing committee assignments, and rounding up votes in behalf of the party's legislative positions.
Term
What are whips?
 Definition
Party leaders who work with the majority leader or minority leader to count votes beforehand and lean on waverers whose votes are crucial to a bill favored by the party.
Term
What is a minority leader?
 Definition
The principal leader of the minority party in the House of Representatives or in the Senate.
Term
Who is the president of the Senate?
 Definition
The vice-president; but his only job is to vote in the case of a tie.
Term
What are committees most important job?
 Definition
They control the congressional agenda and guide legislation.
Term
What is a standing committee?
 Definition
Separate subject-matter committees in each house of Congress that handle bills in different policy areas. Permanent.
Term
What is a joint committee?
 Definition
Congressional committees on a few subject-matter areas with membership drawn from both houses.
Term
What is a conference committee?
 Definition
Congressional committees formed when the Senate and the House pass a particular bill in different forms. Party leadership appoints members from each house to iron out the differences and bring back a single bill.
Term
What are select committees?
 Definition
Congressional committees appointed for a specific purpose, such as the Watergate investigation.
Term
Name some committees that both Senate and House have.
 Definition
Appropriations, Veterans' Affairs, and Budget.
Term
What is legislative oversight?
 Definition
Congress's monitoring of the bureaucracy and its administration of policy, performed mainly through hearings.
Term
What are committee chairs?
 Definition
The most important influencers of the congressional agenda. They play dominant roles in scheduling hearings, hiring staff, appointing subcommittees, and managing committee bills when they are brought before the full house.
Term
What is the seniority system?
 Definition
A simple rule for picking committee chairs, in effect until the 1970s. The member who had served on the committee the longest and whose party controlled the chamber became chair, regardless of party loyalty, mental state, or competence.
Term
What is a caucus (congressional)?
 Definition
A group of members of Congress sharing some interest or characteristic. Most are composed of members from both parties and from both houses.
Term
What are the three important staff agencies that Congress has and their primary functions?
 Definition
Congressional Research Service, which provides members with nonpartisan studies. The Government Accountability Office, which reviews the activities of the executive branch, and sets standards for accounting, provides legal opinions, and settles claims against the government. Congressional Budget Office, which focused on analyzing the president's budget and making economic projections about the performance of the economy.
Term
What is a bill?
 Definition
A proposed law, drafted in legal language. Anyone can draft a bill, but only a member of Congress can formally submit a bill for consideration.
Term
Where is presidential leadership of the Congress?
 Definition
At the margins, the president acts more as a facilitator. With the exception of his veto power.
Term
What is a trustee? What is a instructed delegate? What is a politico?
 Definition
A trustee is one who uses their best judgement to make policy in the interests of the people; an instructed delegate mirrors the preferences of their constituents; and the politico is a mix of the two.
Term
One a typical issue, the prime determinant of a congressional member's vote is what?
 Definition
Personal ideology.
Term
Supporters of Congress claim what?
 Definition
That it is a forum n which many interests compete for policy and is decentralized so there is no oligarchy to prevent comprehensive action.
Term
Critics against Congress argue what?
 Definition
That it is responsive to so many interests that policy is uncoordinated, fragmented, and decentralized; and that it is so representative that it is incapable of taking decisive action to deal with difficult problems.
Term
Congress and the Scope of Government.
 Definition
The more policies Congress works on, the more ways it can serve its constituents. The more programs that get created, the bigger the government gets. And contradiction in public opinion: everybody wants government programs cut, just not their government programs.
Term
Explain the process of a bill becoming a law.
 Definition
1) The bill is introduced by a member of Congress, known as the sponsor of the bill.
2) Bill is then assigned to a committee.
3) The committee puts mark ups (or amendments) on the bill, the mark ups are voted on, and gives a report.
4) The bill is put on the calendar.
5) The Bill is debated and amended upon by the chamber it was introduced in.
6) Then goes to CRO to improve the budget and engrossment bills.
7) Introducing legislation.
*) Committee work is done, there are more mark-ups and hearings and report.
9) Put on Calender
10) Debate and amended the chamber it wasn't originated in.
11) If there is an amendment, it goes back to HOR, if not, then it goes to enrollment.
12) Final approval by the president. If he vetoes, the congress can override by a 2/3 majority.
13) Law.
Term
What is the main reason that presidents have trouble getting things done?
 Definition
Other policymakers whom they deal with have their own agendas, their own interests, and their own sources of power.
Term
Because not everyone bends easily to even the most persuasive president, the president must be a _________
 Definition
leader
Term
Richard Neustadt argues that presidential power is the power to _______
 Definition
persuade
Term
To be effective, the president must have highly developed ___________
 Definition
political skills
Term
What is the most difficult task of the president?
 Definition
Living up to the expectations of the American people
Term
What two minds are Americans in about the presidency?
 Definition
They want a powerful leader, but they don't want a concentration of power.
Term
Presidential responsibility has increased substantially since when?
 Definition
The Great Depression and WWII (FDR)
Term
What are the formal requirements for someone to be president?
 Definition
35 years old. Natural born citizen. Resided in the United States for 14 years.
Term
Fun presidential facts. GO.
 Definition
Dwight D. Eisenhower
*Commander of the Allied Forces in WWII
*Never voted until he ran for president
*Conservative domestic policies
*Cool crisis management
*Enjoyed strong public approval

John F. Kennedy
*Senator from Massachusetts
*War hero
*Known for personal style
*Presided over Cuban missile crisis
*Assassinated in 1963

Lyndon B. Johnson
*Senate majority leader
*War policies proved unpopular, did not seek reelection

Richard M. Nixon
*Watergate
Term
What two ways can a president get into office?
 Definition
Either through elections or succession.
Term
What is the 22nd amendment?
 Definition
Passed in 1951, the amendment that limits presidents to two terms in office.
Term
How many presidents have served two or more full terms in office?
 Definition
13/43
Term
For more than 10 percent of American history, the presidency has actually been occupied by _____________________
 Definition
an individual who was not elected to the office.
Term
What is impeachment?
 Definition
The political equivalent of an indictment in criminal law, prescribed by the Constitution. The House of Representatives may impeach the president by a majority vote for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors"
Term
What is Watergate?
 Definition
The events and scandal surrounding a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972 and the subsequent cover up of White House involvement, leading to the eventual resignation of President Nixon under the threat of impeachment.
Term
What is the 25th amendment?
 Definition
Passed in 1967, this amendment permits the vice president to become acting president if both the vice president and the president's cabinet determine that the president is disabled. The amendment also outlines how a recuperated president can reclaim the job.
Term
What presidents have been impeached?
 Definition
Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson. If Richard Nixon had not resigned, he would have been impeached.
Term
What is the order of presidential succession?
 Definition
Vice-president, Speaker of the House, president pro tempore of the Senate, Secretary of State, Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, Secretary of Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Urban and Housing Development, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Veterans' Affairs, and Secretary of Homeland Security.
Term
What was the executive office the framers designed like?
 Definition
It had more limited authority, fewer responsibilities, and much less organizational structure than today's presidency.
Term
Constitutional Powers of the President.
 Definition
National Security Powers
*Serve as commander-in-chief of the armed forces
*Make treaties with other nations, subject to the agreement of two-thirds of the Senate
*Nominate ambassadors, with the agreement of a majority of the Senate
*Receive ambassadors of other nations, thereby conferring diplomatic recognition of other governments.

Legislative Powers
*Present information on the state of the Union to Congress
*Recommend legislation to Congress
*Convene both houses of Congress on extraordinary occasions
*Adjourn Congress if the House and Senate cannot agree on adjournment
*Veto legislation

Administrative Powers
*"Take care that the laws be faithfully executed"
*Nominate officials as provided for by Congress and with the agreement of a majority of the Senate
*Request written opinions of administrative officials
*Fill administrative vacancies during congressional recesses

Judicial Powers
*Grant reprieves and pardons for federal offenses
*Nominate federal judge, who are confirmed by a majority of the Senate
Term
Thomas Jefferson was the first ________________________. _____________ presented himself as a direct representative of the people. Abraham Lincoln _________________________. ____________ mobilized the public behind his policies. He and Woodrow Wilson set precedents for presidents to serve as __________. Wilson and __________ developed the role of the president as manager of _______.
 Definition
leader of a mass political party; Andrew Jackson; mobilized the country for war; Theodore Roosevelt; world leaders; FDR; economy.
Term
Describe the change in the view of presidential power.
 Definition
In the 50s and 60s, people favored a powerful presidency. Now, however, due to a number of factors including LBJ's war policies; Watergate; the Pentagon Policies, and more, people tend to view the president as having too much power.
Term
What are the Pentagon Papers?
 Definition
A secret history of the Vietnam War, revealed presidential duplicity.
Term
Since passage of the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, presidents have had what other important executive tool?
 Definition
The power to recommend agency budgets to Congress.
Term
The Constitution assigns the vice-president what tasks?
 Definition
Residing over the Senate and voting in the case of a tie.
Term
What is a cabinet?
 Definition
A group of presidential advisers not mentioned in the Constitution, although every president has had one. Today the cabinet is composed of 14 secretaries, the attorney general, and others designated by the president.
Term
What building houses a collection of offices and organizations loosely grouped into the Executive Office of the President?
 Definition
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
Term
What are the three major policy making bodies in the Executive Office?
 Definition
National Security Council, Council of Economic Advisers, and Office of Management and Budget
Term
What is the National Security Council?
 Definition
An office created in 1947 to coordinate the president's foreign and military policy advisers. Its formal members are the president, vice president, secretary of state, secretary of defense, and it is managed by the president's national security assistant.
Term
What is the Council of Economic Advisers?
 Definition
A three-member body appointed by the president to advise the president on economic policy.
Term
What is the Office of Management and Budget?
 Definition
An office that grew out of the Bureau of the Budget, created in 1921, consisting of a handful of political appointees and hundreds of skilled professionals. The Office of Management and Budget performs both managerial and budgetary functions.
Term
Presidents use the OMB to do what?
 Definition
Review legislative proposals from the cabinet and other executive agencies so that they can determine whether they want an agency to propose these initiatives to Congress.
Term
Most presidents choose what type of organizational pattern for their White House staff?
 Definition
A hierarchical one, with a chief of staff at the top, whose job it is to see that everyone else is doing his or her job and that the president's time and interests are protected.
Term
What president didn't use the hierarchical organizational system? What type of system did they use?
 Definition
JFK. He used a wheel-and-spokes system of White House management in which many aides have equal status and are balanced against each other in the process of decision making.
Term
President Clinton, like Carter________________
 Definition
immersed himself in the details of policy
Term
Who attained the most responsible and visible leadership position ever held by a First Lady?
 Definition
Hillary Clinton.
Term
What is a veto?
 Definition
The constitutional power of the president to send a bill back to Congress with reasons for rejecting it. A two thirds vote in each house can override a veto.
Term
What is a pocket veto?
 Definition
A veto taking place when Congress adjourns within ten days of submitting a bill to the president, who simply lets it die by neither signing nor vetoing it.
Term
Once Congress passes a bill, the president may do what?
 Definition
1) sign it making it law, 2) veto it, sending it back to Congress with reasons for rejecting it, and 3) let it become law after 10 working days by not doing anything.
Term
About how many vetoes has Congress overridden?
 Definition
4 percent.
Term
What is a line-item veto?
 Definition
Allows someone (most governors) to veto particular portions of a bill.
Term
Describe the leading up to Clinton v. City of New York in 1998.
 Definition
In 1996, Congress passed a law granting the president authority to propose rescinding funds in appropriation bills and tax provisions that apply to only a few people.In 1998, the Supreme Court declared it granted the executive branch legislative powers and voided the law.
Term
What group was frequently against their party and were known as "boll weevils"?
 Definition
Southern Democrats
Term
What is a presidential coattail?
 Definition
These occur when voters cast their ballots for Congressional candidates of the president's arty because they support the president. Recent studies show that few races are won this way.
Term
What is an electoral mandate?
 Definition
The perception that the voters strongly support the president's character and policies
Term
The president needs to bargain only if what?
 Definition
His coalition does not provide a majority.
Term
What is an important aspect of presidential legislative strategy?
 Definition
To set Congress' agenda.
Term
What are executive agreements?
 Definition
Routine negotiations that don't require the support of the Senate and deal with noncontroversial subjects.
Term
What is the War Powers Resolution?
 Definition
A law passed in 1973 in reaction to American fighting in Vietnam and Cambodia that requires presidents to consult with Congress whenever possible prior to using military force and to withdraw forces after 60 days unless Congress declares war or grants an extension. Presidents view the resolution as unconstitutional.
Term
What is a legislative veto?
 Definition
The ability of Congress to override a presidential decision. Although the War Powers Resolution asserts this authority, there is reason to believe that, if challenged, the Supreme Court would find the legislative veto in violation of the doctrine of separation of powers.
Term
What is a crisis?
 Definition
A sudden, unpredictable, and potentially dangerous event requiring the president to play the role of crisis manager.
Term
Most crises occur in the realm of what?
 Definition
Foreign policy.
Term
What are the "two presidencies"?
 Definition
One for domestic policy and one for national security policy.
Term
Who was the first "television president"?
 Definition
John F. Kennedy
Term
Much of the energy the White House devotes to public relations is aimed at what?
 Definition
Increasing public approval.
Term
Contrary to conventional wisdom, citizens seem to focus on the president's efforts and stands on the issues rather than
 Definition
on personality or simply how presidential policies affect them.
Term
What is a "rally event"?
 Definition
Events related to international relations, directly involve the United States and particularly the president, and are specific, dramatic, and sharply focused.
Term
What is the criteria with which the public evaluates presidents?
 Definition
Where they stand on complex issues, handling the economy, and whether they are "Strong" leaders
Term
Commentators on the presidency often refer to it as what?
 Definition
"Bully pulpit", implying that presidents can persuade or even mobilize the public to support their policies if they are skilled communicators.
Term
Who provides people with most of what they know about chief executives and their policies?
 Definition
The mass media.
Term
Who is the person that deals directly with the press?
 Definition
The president's press secretary
Term
Who is the person that deals directly with the press?
 Definition
The president's press secretary
Term
The news media are not systematically biased towards what?
 Definition
A particular person, ideology, or party, as measured in the amount or favorability of coverage.
Term
The Madisonian system of checks and balances is especially evident in what type of government?
 Definition
Divided government
Term
Who has said no more often to government growth as opposed to who else?
 Definition
President as opposed to Congress.
Supporting users have an ad free experience!