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State and Local Politics
Vocab terms
56
Political Studies
Undergraduate 2
10/14/2008

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Term
Articles of Condederation
Definition
The country's first constitution, ratified in March, 1781
Term
Astroturf campaign
Definition
An artificial campaign orchestrated by an interest group to appear as though it is growign naturally from the grassroots.
Term
Bill of Rights
Definition
Ratified in December 1791, the first 10 amendments to t U.S. Consstitution ensure the protection of individuals and the states from teh national government.
Term
Block Grants
Definition
Fixed-sum federal grants allocated by formula giving state and local governments broad leeway in designing and implementing designated programs.
Term
Categorical grants
Definition
Grants from the federal government to states and cities that are for specific purposes defined by Congress.
Term
Caucus
Definition
Used by parties to nominate candidates, with party members informally meeting, deliberating, and casting a vote for their preferred candidate.
Term
Closed Primary
Definition
A primary nomination election in which voters registered with a political party are permitted to vote only for candidates of the party with whom they are registered.
Term
Coercive federalism
Definition
A federalist arrangement whereby the federal government spearheads and funds programs; also referred to as creative federalism.
Term
Commerce Clause
Definition
Gives Congress the power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among, the several states, and with teh Indian Tribes." Used by Congress to expand its power vis-a-vis the states.
Term
Comparative method
Definition
An approach to political analysis that entails comparing units of anaysis on more than one characteristic to help understand the relationships among those characteristics.
Term
Confederal system
Definition
also known as a confederacy, a system of governance whereby the national government is subject to teh control of subnational, autonomous governments.
Term
Contract Lobbyist
Definition
A professional lobbyist who temporarily works on behalf of a client.
Term
Cooperative federalism
Definition
A federalism arrangement whereby responsibilities for most governmental functoins are interdependent, shared between the federal and state governments.
Term
Descriptive representation
Definition
The idea that a representative should reflect the characteristics of the people who she represents. Characterisicscould include race, ethnicity, gender, and other traits related to teh identity of the representative's consitutents.
Term
Direct primary
Definition
An election in which voters select one candidate affiliated with a political party for each elected office; the party nominees later face one another in a general election.
Term
Disturbance Theory
Definition
A macro-level theory that assumes groups emerge in response to societal changes.
Term
Divided government
Definition
When two of the three legs of the legislative porcess are controlled by different parties.
Term
Dual Federalism
Definition
A system of federalism whereby governmental functions are apportioned so that the national and subnatnal governments are accoreded sovereign power within their respective spheres; sometimes referred to as "layer cake" fedralism
Term
Dual Federalism
Definition
A system of federalism whereby governmental functions are apportioned so that the national and subnatnal governments are accoreded sovereign power within their respective spheres; sometimes referred to as "layer cake" fedralism
Term
Earned media
Definition
Generating newswrorthy events or stories for free publicity.
Term
Electioneering
Definition
explicitly supporting or opposing candidates or political parties, including recruiting and endorsing candidates, fundraising, phone banking, canvassing, and advertising
Term
Federalism
Definition
The structural relationship between a national government and its constituive states
Term
Free-rider problem
Definition
When the benefit of some valuable good or service cannot be restricted to those who pay for it
Term
General Revenue Sharing
Definition
A federal grant-in-aid program that provides financial aid to subnational units, but does not prescribe how those units are to allocate funding.
Term
Gerrymander
Definition
The process of drawing governmental district boundaries for political advantage.
Term
Incorporation of the Bill of Rights
Definition
A legal doctrine whereby parts of teh U.S. Bill of Rights are applied to teh states through teh Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause
Term
In-house lobbyist
Definition
A professional lobbyist who is a permanent employee of an interest group
Term
Interest group
Definition
A formally organized body of individuals, organizaions, or public or prive enterprises sharing common goals and joining in a collective attempt to influence the electoral and policy-making process.
Term
Issue advocacy
Definition
A form of political speech focusing on issues of pubblic concern that mentions issues and the positions taken on those issues by elected officials or candidates, but stops short of expressly advocating the support or defeat of those elected officials or candidates.
Term
Judicial Review
Definition
The power of a surpreme court to judge whether a law is in violation of the state constitution and, if so, to nullify that law
Term
Legislative referendum
Definition
Legislation approved by the legislature, but referred to the voters for final approval. Some legislation, like constitional amendments or bond issues, must be referred to voters for final approval.
Term
Literacy tests
Definition
Post-Civil War rules that denied blacks the vote; literacy tests included tests designed to be too difficult for most people to pass. the test could ask people to interpret passages from the U.S. Constitution, and allowed local officials the discretion to judge if answers were right or wrong. White who would fail the tests could vote vased on a grandfather clause.
Term
Lobbying
Definition
Communicating with elected officials in general, as well as the systematic effort to shape public policy by pressuring governmental officals to make decisions in line with the goals of an organizedrest. The term lobbying comes from the fact that representatives were often approached in the lobby of legislative buildings.
Term
Majority-minority district
Definition
Legislative districts where district lines are drawn so that people from a specific minority group comprise a majority of voters in the district.
Term
Mobilization of bias
Definition
The benefiting of private, organized interests in an interest group system.
Term
Necessary and Proper Clause
Definition
Known also as the elastic clause, it grants Congress the power to make all laws that shall be "necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers," that is, the other congressional powers listed in Arictle 1, Section 8 of the Consitution
Term
Necessary and Proper Clause
Definition
Known also as the elastic clause, it grants Congress the power to make all laws that shall be "necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers," that is, the other congressional powers listed in Arictle 1, Section 8 of the Consitution
Term
Necessary and Proper Clause
Definition
Known also as the elastic clause, it grants Congress the power to make all laws that shall be "necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers," that is, the other congressional powers listed in Arictle 1, Section 8 of the Consitution
Term
No Child Left Behind Act
Definition
Signed into law by President George W. Bush in January 2002, the bipartisan act greatly expanded teh role of the federal government in K-12 public education. the law requires an annual assessments of student performance, requiring that children and schools attain adequate yearly progress
Term
Nullification
Definition
A constitutional theory, advanced most notably by John C. Calhoun and other advocates of states' rights, espousing the right of a state to declare null and void a law passed by the U.S. Congress that the state found to be unconstitutional or disagreeable
Term
Open primary
Definition
A primary nomination electoin. Any registered voter, including independents, can participate. Voters most decide which party's primary they will participate in, and can choose only among that party's canidates.
Term
Participation bias
Definition
The difference between the general population of eligible voters and the people who actually participate in elections. Bias in participation exists if participants are substantially different than nonparticipants.
Term
Party Identification
Definition
Also known as PID, it is the strength of an individual's attachment to a political party.
Term
Party-column ballot
Definition
Groups togetherall candidates running for different political offices by their party affiliation, making straight-ticket voting possible.
Term
Patronage
Definition
Favors and benefits that elected officials provide their supporters. Nineteenth century party machines used city jobs as one source of pronage to reward loyal supporters.
Term
Political ideology
Definition
A relatively coherent and consistent set of beliefs about who ought to rule, what principles ought to be used to govern, and what policies rulers ought to pursue
Term
Political institution
Definition
The rules, laws, and organizations through which and by which government functions
Term
Poll Tax
Definition
A tax or fee that must be paid in order to secure the right to registe or to vote
Term
Popular referendum
Definition
Legislation approved by the legislature that is put to a popular vote as a result of asuccessful petition for a referendum. It allows voters to ahve the finl decision on legislation written by elected officials.
Term
Potential interest
Definition
An interest that is yet to be organized but has some latent acceptance in society.
Term
Potential interest
Definition
An interest that is yet to be organized but has some latent acceptance in society.
Term
Public goods
Definition
policies or actions providing broad benefits, rather than narrow benefits to a specific group
Term
Recall
Definition
A vote to remove an elected offical from public office. Recall proposals qualify it sufficient signatures are collected.
Term
Selective Benefit
Definition
The provision by a group of some material, purposive, or solidarity incentive that can be enjoyed only by members of thh group
Term
Unfunded mandate
Definition
A public policy that requires a subnational government to pay for an activity or project established by the ederal government.
Term
Unitary system
Definition
A system of governance with a strong central government that controls virtually all aspects of its contitutive subnational governments.
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