-
Block Grant
- A grant given by the federal government to the
- states for use in a particular area rather than for a specific program. Ex. –
- Congress gives $50 million to Virginia
- to use for education.
-
–Categorical Grant –
- A grant given by the federal government to the states for use on a
- particular program. Ex. – Congress gives $50 million to Virginia
- to build a rain forest in Suffolk.
-
Cooperative (Marble Cake) Federalism
- A doctrine in which the national and state governments
- share responsibility and power on many issues. For example, states operate
- Medicaid programs which provide health care for the poor, and the federal
- government pays a percentage of the cost. This has been the operative model
- during the 20th and 21st centuries.
-
Devolution
- – Shifting power and responsibility from the national government to the
- states.
-
–Dual (Layer Cake) Federalism
- – A doctrine in which the national government is
- supreme in its sphere, the states are supreme in their sphere, and the two
- spheres should and could be kept separate. This model became outdated in the
- 20th century.
-
Enumerated / Express Power
- – A power specifically granted to the United States
- government by the United States Constitution. Ex. – Congress has the express power
- to declare war.
-
Implied power
- – A power which – although not specifically
- granted by the Constitution – is impliedly granted to the national government
- because it is related to one of the specifically granted powers. Ex. – Congress
- has the implied power to establish a national bank because it has the specific
- power to borrow and spend money.
-
Mandates
- – Rules imposed by the federal government on the
- states.
-
Necessary and Proper / Elastic Clause -
- The clause found in Article I section 8 that
- grants Congress implied powers to execute its express powers. Ex. – Congress
- has the implied power to establish a national bank because it has the specific
- power to borrow and spend money.
-
Reserved Power
- - A power that is not mentioned in the Constitution and which, therefore,
- belongs to the states.
-
Revenue Sharing
- – A grant given by the federal government to the states that the state
- may spend on anything it chooses. Ex. – Congress gives $50 million to Virginia with no
- restrictions on its use.
-
Supremacy Clause
- – A clause found in Article Six of the Constitution which states that
- national law is supreme over state law, for so long as the national government
- is acting within is sphere. Ex. – National law does not permit segregation.
- Some states used to require segregation. Result? The national law is supreme
- and segregation is not permitted.
-
Unfunded Mandates
- – Rules imposed by the federal government on the
- states which require the state to pay the cost of compliance (no money
- attached).
-
Civil Service Reform Laws --
- Laws that require government jobs and contract to be awarded based on
- merit, not for political reasons. Civil Service Reform laws outlawed patronage
- and were strongly supported by the Progressives in the late 1800s and early
- 1900s.
-
Critical Period
- - Periods during which a sharp lasting shift
- occurs in the popular coalition supporting one or both parties. The issues that
- separate the two parties change, and so the kind of voters supporting each
- party change.
-
National Convention
- -- A meeting of party members that takes place
- every four years where the party selects presidential and vice-presidential
- nominees and drafts a platform.
-
Nomination
- - A political party's official endorsement of a
- candidate for office.
-
Party Dealignment
- - The increasing trend of the American people to
- refuse to identify themselves with either the Democrat or Republican parties.
-
Party Platform
- - A complete statement of a party's beliefs on
- all issues. Drafted every four years at the national convention.
-
Patronage
- - Giving out a government job or contract to a
- political supporter instead of to the most qualified person or business.
- Patronage was widespread in the 1800s but is generally illegal now because of
- civil service reform laws first advocated by Progressives.
-
Political Machine (Party Machine)
- - A party
- organization that recruits its members by dispensing patronage and that is
- characterized by a high degree of leadership control over member activity.
-
Primary
- - An election in which voters decide who will be
- a party's nominee for office
-
Referendum
- - The practice of submitting a law to a popular
- vote at election time.
-
Ticketsplitting
- - Voting for one party's candidate for one
- office and another party's candidate for another office.
-
Civil Liberties
- -- The personal rights and freedoms that the
- government cannot violate. For example, the freedom of speech.
-
Due Process Clause
- – The part of the 14th amendment that
- (among other things) requires states to guarantee most – but not all - of the
- rights in the Bill of Rights.
-
Exclusionary Rule
- – Judicially created rule stating that evidence
- obtained in violation of the Constitution may not be used in court.
-
Selective Incorporation
- - A judicial doctrine holding that the Due Process Clause of the 14th
- Amendment requires states to guarantee most -- but not all – of the rights in
- the Bill of Rights.
-
Constitution
- - The set of rules that the government has to
- play by.
-
Articles of Confederation
- – The first constitution of the United States
- (1776-1787). It greatly limited the power of the national government and gave
- the states a great deal of power.
-
Faction
- – A group of people who seek to influence public
- policy in ways contrary to the public good.
-
-
Judicial Review
- – The power of the courts to declare acts of the
- legislature or the executive to be unconstitutional and hence null and void.
-
Federalism
- – A political system in which ultimate authority
- is shared between a central government and state or local governments.
-
Democracy
- – A term used to describe a political system in
- which the people rule or control the government, directly or indirectly.
-
Elite Class Theory (Elitist theory)
- – A theory that an upper class elite will always
- control government, regardless of what form the government may take.
-
Gender Gap
- – Differences in the political views and voting
- behavior of men and women. Women are more likely to be liberal than men.
-
Hyperpluralist Theory
- – A theory of government and politics that
- interest groups become so strong that the government is unable to enact
- meaningful, rational public policy
-
Individualism
- – The belief that governments should leave
- people alone and that people should take careof themselves instead of relying on government
- assistance.
-
Linkage Institution
- – Institutions such as polls, elections, media,
- interest groups and political parties that link people and government
-
Pluralism
- – A theory of government and politics stressing
- that politics is mainly a competition among groups, none of which dominates.
- Public policy is the result of competition between and compromises made among
- these groups
-
Political Ideology
- – A consistent set of views about the policies
- the government should pursue.
-
Political Socialization
- – The process by which one forms his or her
- political views.
-
Republic
- – A form of democracy in which power is vested in representatives
- selected by means of popular competitive elections.
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