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POLI SCIENCE > FINAL > Flashcards

FINAL Flashcards

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1
Q

Bicameral Legislature

A

a legislature consisting of two chambers or houses

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2
Q

Single-member district

A

an electoral district in which a single person is elected to a given office

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3
Q

Plurality rule

A

a method for determining an election’s winner in which the candidate who receives the most votes wins (USA)

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4
Q

Proportional representative

A

A method for allocating seats in a legislature in which the number of seats a party receives in a district or nationwide is proportional to the votes it receives in the elections. (not USA)

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5
Q

Trustees

A

Representatives who make decisions using their own judgements about what is best for their constituents

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6
Q

Delegates

A

Representatives who listen carefully to what their constituents want and make decisions based on feedback from constituents

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7
Q

Constituency service

A

A legislator directly helping a constituent in dealing with government bureaucracy

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8
Q

Incumbency advantage

A

The advantage current officeholders have in an election, in particular as it relates to the high rates at which congressional legislators win re-election.

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9
Q

Pork barrel

A

Government spending that benefits a narrow constituency in return for electoral support or some other kind of political support, including campaign donations.

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10
Q

Distributional model

A

The view that the internal institutions of the congressional chambers are designed primarily to help members of Congress secure economic benefits for only their constituents, not the general public.

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11
Q

Logrolling

A

An instance of two or more legislators agreeing to vote in favor of one another’s proposed bills or amendments.

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12
Q

Informational model

A

The view that the internal institutions of the congressional chambers are designed to help Congress make more informed decisions.

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13
Q

Partisan model

A

The view that majority-party leaders dominate the workings of Congress and ensure that most legislative benefits come to majority-party members.

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14
Q

Party discipline

A

Pressure on party members to vote on bills that have the support of the party leadership.

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15
Q

Speaker of the House

A

Constitutionally designated leader of the House of Representatives. Always the leader of the majority party.

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16
Q

Reed’s Rules

A

Guidelines used by the majority-party leadership for determining who sits on which committees, how the order of business should be decided, and how the majority party should limit the powers of the minority party.

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17
Q

Whip

A

A member of the House or Senate who is elected by his or her party to help party leaders coordinate party members’ actions, including enforcing party discipline.

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18
Q

Standing committee

A

A group of legislators given permanent jurisdiction over a particular issue area or type of policy.

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19
Q

Special (or select) committee

A

A committee appointed to consider a special issue or serve a special function that disbands once it has completed its duties.

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20
Q

Joint committee

A

A committee made up of members of both the House and Senate

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21
Q

Conference committee

A

A meeting of legislators from the House and Senate to reconcile two bills passed on the same topic.

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22
Q

Caucus

A

A group of legislators that unites to promote an agenda not pursued within the parties or the legislative committees.

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23
Q

Split referral

A

A rule that permits the Speaker to split a bill into sections and give sections to specific committees.

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24
Q

Markup

A

A committee or subcommittee process where committee members edit and amend bills.

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25
Q

Open rule

A

A provision that allows any amendment to be proposed once a bill comes to the chamber floor.

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26
Q

Closed rule

A

A provision that allows no amendments to be proposed once a bill comes to the chamber floor.

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27
Q

Restricted rule

A

A provision that allows only certain kinds of amendments to be proposed once a bill comes to the floor, typically only amendments that pertain to the original purpose of the bill.

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28
Q

Unanimous consent agreement

A

Rules under which the Senate debates, offers amendments, and votes on a given bill. All members of the chamber must agree to them, so any senator can object and halt progress on a bill.

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29
Q

Cloture

A

A rule that limits debate on a bill to a specific number of hours. Senate rules require 60 senators to support such a motion to end debate (including filibusters) and proceed to a vote.

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30
Q

Pocket veto

A

A veto that occurs automatically if a president does not sign a bill for 10 days after passage in Congress and Congress has adjourned during that 10-day period.

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31
Q

Spoils system

A

The practice of rewarding loyal partisans with government positions after they demonstrate their support during an election.

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32
Q

Divided government

A

A government in which the president is from a different party than the majority in Congress

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33
Q

Unified government

A

obvious

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34
Q

Going public

A

influence public opinion and put pressure on Congress

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35
Q

Administrative Law

A

the body of law created by executive agencies with the purpose of refining general law passed in legislation.

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36
Q

Veto threat

A

obvious, usually public.

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37
Q

Executive agreement

A

An agreement between the US and one or more foreign countries. Because it is not a formal treaty, it does not need Senate approval.

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38
Q

Signing statement

A

A public statement written by the president and attached to a particular bill to outline the president’s interpretation of the legislation.

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39
Q

Parliamentary democracy

A

A form of democracy in which the executive is elected by the legislature and government is responsible to the legislature. (not US)

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40
Q

Presidential system

A

A form of democracy in which the executive is elected independently and the government is not responsible to the legislature (US).

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41
Q

Mixed presidential system

A

A form of democracy in which the executive is elected independently and shares responsibility for the government with the legislature.

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42
Q

Line-item veto

A

a partial veto that allows the executive to strike passages from a given bill.

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43
Q

Special prosecutor

A

Independent, private-sector counsel hired by Congress to investigate government officials.

44
Q

Impeachment

A

Process by which the House of Representatives formally charges a federal government official with Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

45
Q

Government agency

A

An individual unit f the government responsible for carrying out tasks delegated to it by Congress or the president in accordance with the law.

46
Q

Cabinet departments

A

Departments within the executive branch. Secretaries in these departments are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

47
Q

Independent agency

A

An agency that exists outside the cabinet departments and is run with a larger degree of independence from presidential influence.

48
Q

Government corporation

A

A federally owned corporation that generates revenue by providing a public service. Has a higher degree of autonomy that a cabinet department or an independent agency.

49
Q

Rule making

A

the process by which governmental agencies provide details on how laws passed by elected officials will be implemented.

50
Q

Marketization

A

Government bureaucratic reform that emphasizes market-based principles of management that are common to the private sector.

51
Q

Bureaucratic drift

A

When government agencies depart from executing policy consistent with the ideological preferences of Congress or the president so as to execute policy consistent with their own ideological preferences.

52
Q

Coalition drift

A

When an ideological shift in elected branches creates disparity between the way an agency executes policy and the way new members of Congress or a new president believes the agency ought to execute policy.

53
Q

Bureaucratic capture

A

When regulatory agencies are beholden to the organizations or interests they are supposed to regulate.

54
Q

Fire-alarm oversight

A

relies on interest groups and citizens to inform representatives of unwarranted action

55
Q

Police-patrol oversight

A

Congressional oversight that consists of actively monitoring agencies through routine inspection.

56
Q

Judicial review

A

The authority of the judiciary to decide whether a law or any other government action is constitutional.

57
Q

Federal court supremacy

A

Constitutional approval for federal courts to overturn state court decisions and to decide on the constitutionality of state laws and actions.

58
Q

Criminal case

A

A case in which the government prosecutes a person for a crime against society

59
Q

Civil case

A

A case in which at least one person sues another person for violating the civil code of conduct

60
Q

Standing

A

The official status of a litigant who is entitled to have his or her case decided by the court.

61
Q

Class action

A

A lawsuit inw which the plaintiff or defendant is a collective group of individuals.

62
Q

Common law

A

A system in which the judiciary has the authority to determine how a law should be interpreted. Legal precedent established by judges informs future decisions.

63
Q

Civil law

A

Authoritative documents determine how the law is to be interpreted. Legal codes & statutes (not judges) inform future decisions.

64
Q

Stare decisis

A

The legal principle that requires judges to respect the decisions of past court cases.

65
Q

Statutory law

A

The laws passed by legislatures, or administrative agencies empowered by legislatures, and the court decisions interpreting those laws.

66
Q

Writ of certiorari

A

An order by the Supreme Court directing an inferior court to deliver the records of a case to be reviewed, which effectively means the justices of the Court have decided to hear the case.

67
Q

Moot

A

The status of a case in which further legal proceedings would have no impact on one or both parties.

68
Q

Amicus curiae

A

Letters to the court in which those who are not parties in a case provide their opinions on how the case should be decided.

69
Q

Legal model

A

A theoretical model where judicial decisions are primarily determined by the case, the plain meaning of the text from the Constitution and statutes, the intent of the framers, and/or legal precedent.

70
Q

Attitudinal model

A

A theoretical model where judicial decisions are primarily determined by the policy goals and ideological agendas of judges.

71
Q

Strategic (or rational choice) model

A

A theoretical model where judicial decisions are primarily determined by the policy goals of judges and the various constraints that stand in the way of achieving those goals.

72
Q

Concurring opinion

A

An opinion issued by a member of the majority of the Supreme Court that agrees with the decision of the majority but offers alternative legal reasoning.

73
Q

Dissenting opinion

A

An opinion issued by a member of the Supreme Court in opposition to the majority, offering legal reasoning for the decision to oppose.

74
Q

Strict constructivism

A

The legal philosophy that judges should use the intentions of those writing the law or the Constitution as guides for how to interpret the law.

75
Q

Judicial activism

A

Judicial rulings that go beyond interpreting the law in order to promote a judge’s personal or political agenda.

76
Q

National party convention

A

The meeting where the party formally nominates its presidential candidates.

77
Q

‘smoke-filled room’

A

A situation in which party elites make important decisions away from the scrutiny or influence of party membership.

78
Q

Primary election

A

An election held before Election Day to allow voters to select which candidates will appear on the ballot under a party label.

79
Q

Political machine

A

A local organization that controls the city or county government to such an extent that it can reward whole neighborhoods, wards, and percents with benefits such as jobs and government programs, in return for supporting the party’s candidates.

80
Q

New Deal Party System

A

A political alliance between southern Democrats, big-city Democrats, rural voters, and African Americans that endured for several decades after the election of Franklin Roosevelt in 1932.

81
Q

Duverger’s Law

A

A regularity that only two parties tend to compete for control of the government in countries that have single-member, plurality electoral systems.

82
Q

Confidence vote

A

A vote held in a parliamentary system that, if it fails, brings on an election and possibly a new set of party leaders.

83
Q

Median voter theorem

A

A mathematical result showing that the voter with the ideological preference in the middle of the ranking of voters must be satisfied and approve of a majority-rule winning outcome.

84
Q

Australian ballot

A

A type of ballot that lists all candidates running for each office and allows voters to cast their votes secretly and for specific individual candidates.

85
Q

Referendum

A

An election in which citizens vote directly on whether to overturn a bill or a constitutional amendment that has been passed by the legislature.

86
Q

Initiative

A

An election held to vote directly on a ballot proposition that was proposed by a group of individuals.

87
Q

Political action committee (PAC)

A

A type of organization regulated by the Federal Election Commission that raises money from donors to support the election campaigns of federal political candidates.

88
Q

Federal Election Commission (FEC)

A

The federal agency that regulates campaign donations to and spending by candidates for Congress and the presidency.

89
Q

Super PACs

A

A type of organization regulated by the FEC that can spend unlimited sums of money to advocate for the election or for the defeat of a candidate, but is prohibited from contributing funds directly to feral campaigns and parties.

90
Q

Hard money

A

Campaign funds that are given directly to candidates or parties to support a particular candidate, and thus are subject to FEC regulations.

91
Q

Soft money

A

Campaign funds that are given directly to parties or other organizations to support voter mobilization or voter education activities, and thus typically are not subject to FEC regulations.

92
Q

527s

A

Organizations that are independent of any party or candidate, and thus are not regulated by the FEC, as they advocate publicly for or against specific candidates, parties, or policies.

93
Q

Infotainment

A

Mass media programming that is intended primarily to entertain, but also provides political news.

94
Q

Gatekeeping bias

A

The tendency for the media or a particular media outlet not to report stories of a particular nature.

95
Q

Coverage bias

A

The tendency for the media or a particular media outlet not to give less attention in terms of column space or air time to certain kinds of stories or aspects of stories.

96
Q

Statement bias

A

The tendency for the media or a particular media outlet to interject opinions into the coverage of an issue.

97
Q

Popular sovereignty

A

The principle that the authority to make decisions on behalf of society belongs to the people.

98
Q

Paradox of voting

A

The notion that people still vote despite the fact that the individual costs of voting often outweigh the individual benefits.

99
Q

Voting Rights Act of 1965

A

Federal law that made major improvements in voting rights for blacks, other minorities, and the poor.

100
Q

Interest group

A

Any group other than a political party that is organized to influence the government

101
Q

Lobbying

A

An attempt to influence public officials by speaking to them directly or by pressuring them through their constituents.

102
Q

Latent interest

A

A concern shared by a group of people on which they have not yet chosen to act collectively.

103
Q

By-product

A

A political activity conducted by groups whose principal organizational purpose is the pursuit of some nonpolitical goal.

104
Q

Selective incentive

A

A benefit that a group can offer to potential members in exchange for participation as a way to encourage that involvement.

105
Q

Special donor

A

A potential participant in a group for whom the cost of participating is very low and/or the benefits of participating are very high.

106
Q

Entrepreneur

A

a leading group participant who is so committed to the group’s goals, and/or so skilled in the pursuit of those goals, that he or she does not need selective incentives.

107
Q

Pluralism

A

a large number of diverse interest groups are involved in the political process, and any given group may be influential on some occasions and not on others.

POLI SCIENCE (2 decks)

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