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Majority Rule • A doctrine by which a numerical majority of an organized group holds the power to make decisions binding on all in the group. Nonetheless, the Constitution originally contained a number of provisions that limited majority rule like the electoral college, selection of state senators, and life tenure for SC justices.
Checks and Balances • The powers (as judicial review, the presidential veto, and the congressional override) conferred on each of the three branches of government by which each restrains the others from exerting too much power.
Unitary System • A sovereign state governed as one single unit in which the central government is supreme and any administrative divisions (subnational units) exercise only powers that the central government chooses to delegate.
Federalism • A form of government dividing power between a central government and regional units
Expressed Powers • Powers written down for Congress in the Constitution. Section 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.
Implied Powers • Powers that are not stated in the Constitution, but are implied by the government's need to carry out its functions. Article I, Section 8, Clause 18. Also called the "Necessary and Proper" clause, the actual sweep of the implied powers referred to here remain a point of contention among constitutional scholars to this day. Examples of the exercise of the implied powers clause include the creation of institutions not foreseen directly in the Constitution such as a national bank and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Reserved Powers • Powers not specifically granted to the national government or denied to the states. Reserved powers are held by the states through the tenth amendment.
Cooperative Federalism • National, state, and local governments interact cooperatively and collectively to solve common problems, rather than making policies separately but more or less equally or clashing over a policy in a system dominated by the national government.
Categorical Grant • Grants which may be spent only for narrowly-defined purposes. Additionally, recipients of categorical grants are often required to match a portion of the federal funds. About 90% of federal aid dollars are spent for categorical grant.
Block Grant • A consolidated grant of federal funds, formerly allocated for specific programs, that a state or local government may use at its discretion for such programs as education or urban development.
Mandates • Rules telling states what they must do to comply with federal guidelines. Unfunded mandates require state and local governments to provide services or comply with regulations without the provision of funding.
Devolution • A movement to transfer the responsibilities of governing from the federal government to state and local governments.
Political Culture • A set of widely shared political beliefs and values. America’s political culture in characterized by strong support for individual liberty, political equality, the rule of law, and limited government.
Political Socialization • The process by which individuals acquire their political beliefs and attitudes. The family is the most important agent of socialization.
Public Opinion • The collective opinion of many people on some issue, problem, etc., esp. as a guide to action, decision, or the like.
Political Ideology • A cohesive set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and the role of government.
Political Efficacy • The belief that political participation makes a difference.
Split-Ticket Voting • When you vote for candidates from different parties in the same election. Recent elections have witnessed a significant increase in split-ticket voting as the number of voters who identify themselves as independents increases.
Political Party • An organization whose aim is to gain control of the government apparatus, usually through the election of its candidates to public office.
Plurality Election • The winning candidate is the person who receives more votes than anyone else, but less than half of the total.
Single-Member District • Each district votes on one person to represent them in a legislative body. In a plurality system, a winner must earn more votes than his opponent - even if his total is fewer than 50 percent. In a majority system, there are run-offs to ensure a lead candidate receives the majority of voters’ support.
Party Era • A historical period dominated by one political party.
Critical Election • An election when significant groups of voters change their traditional patterns of party loyalty.
Party Realignment • The majority party is displaced by the minority party, thus ushering in a new party era.
Divided Government • A situation in which one party controls the White House and another party controls one or both houses of the United States Congress.
Interest Group • An organization that seeks to influence political decisions.
Political Action Committee (PAC) • A committee formed by business, labor, or other interest groups to raise money and make contribution to the campaigns of political candidates whom they support.
Free Riders • People who benefit from an interest group without making any contributions.
Power Elite Theory • Argues that a small minority, consisting of members of the economic elite and policy-planning networks, holds the most power independent of a state's democratic elections process.
Pluralist Theory • Political power in society does not lie with the electorate, nor with a small concentrated elite, but is distributed between a wide number of groups.
Hyperpluralist Theory • The theory that government policy is weakened and often contradictory because there are son many competing interest groups.
Mass Media • Means of communication such as newspapers, radio, television, and the Internet that can reach large, widely dispersed audiences.
Linkage Institutions • A social structure or system that connects people to government. Examples include the media, special interest groups, political parties, and elections.
Horse Race Journalism • The tendency of the media to cover campaigns by emphasizing how candidates stand in the polls instead of where they stand on the issues.
Congressional Redistricting • The reallocation of the number of representatives each state has in the House of Representatives.
Gerrymandering • The dividing of a state, county, etc., into election districts so as to give one political party a majority in many districts while concentrating the voting strength of the other party into as few districts as possible.
Incumbent • An officeholder who is seeking reelection. Incumbency is the single most important factor in determining the outcome of congressional elections.
Franking Privilege • The right of members of Congress to mail newsletters to their constituents at the government’s expense.
Standing Committees • Permanent committees with specified responsibilities for Congress.
Conference Committees • An ad hoc joint committee of a bicameral legislature, which is appointed by, and consists of, members of both chambers to resolve disagreements on a particular bill.
House Rules Committee • Sets the guideline for floor debate. It gives each bill a rule that places the bill on the legislative calendar, limits time for the debate, and determines the type of amendments that will be allowed.
House Ways and Means Committee • House committee that handles tax bills.
Seniority • Unwritten rule in both houses of Congress reserving committee chairs to members of the committee with the longest records of continuous service.
Filibuster • A way of delaying or preventing action on a bill by using long speeches and unlimited debate to “talk a bill to death.”
Cloture • A Senate motion to end a filibuster. Cloture requires a three-fifths vote.
Logrolling • The exchange of support or favors, esp. by legislators for mutual political gain as by voting for each other's bills.
Oversight • Congressional review of the activities of an executive agency, department, or office.
Delegate Role of Representation • When members of Congress cast votes based on the wishes of their communities.
Closed Primary • A type of direct primary limited to registered party members, who must declare their party affiliation in order to vote.
Frontloading • The recent pattern of states holding primaries early in order to maximize their media attention and political influence. Three-fourths of the presidential primaries are now held between February and mid-March.
