PS Final

What are bureaucracies?

Large, complex organizations where employees have specific responsibilities and work within a hierarchy of authority.

What are civil liberties?

Specific individual rights that are constitutionally protected against infringement by government.

What is the difference between civil rights and civil liberties?

Civil rights refer to the right to equal protection under the law, while civil liberties are individual rights protected from government infringement.

What does dealignment refer to in political terms?

The process of moving a partial but enduring number of voters away from partisan loyalties.

What is an election campaign?

An organized effort to persuade voters to choose one candidate for political office over others.

What is an ex post facto law?

Laws that make an act illegal after it has been committed or increase the penalty for a crime after it is committed.

What is federalism?

The division of sovereignty and power among two or more governments.

What is the free-rider problem?

The inclination to enjoy the benefit of a good without paying or working for it.

How is government defined?

The legitimate use of force to control human behavior within territorial boundaries.

What are grants in aid?

Money paid by one level of government to another, to be spent for specific purposes.

What is an ideology?

A systematic body of concepts, especially about human life or culture.

Who is considered an incumbent?

An official who currently holds an office.

What is an interest group?

A set of individuals who organize to promote a shared political interest.

What is mass communication?

The process by which individuals or groups transmit information to large, widely dispersed audiences.

What does party identification signify?

An ingrained sense of loyalty to a political party.

What constitutes political participation?

Sharing in activities designed to influence public policy and leadership.

What is political socialization?

The process through which individuals develop their political beliefs and values.

What is the role of a political party?

An organized group seeking to gain power through elections and influence government policy.

What is a legal precedent?

A legal norm where justices are constrained by previous decisions.

What is a primary election?

Partisan elections used to pick candidates to represent the different parties in the general election.

What is retrospective voting?

Making a vote choice based on evaluating what the incumbent had done in office.

What is voter turnout?

The proportion of persons of voting age who actually vote in a given election.

What is a writ of habeas corpus?

An order by a court to determine if a person held in custody is being unlawfully detained.

What are advantages of candidate-centered campaigns?

Flexibility to candidates, attracts new voters, encourages responsiveness to local interests.

What are disadvantages of candidate-centered campaigns?

Stresses personality, encourages special interests, officeholders can evade responsibility, weakens citizen-government relationships.

What advantages do incumbents in the House of Representatives enjoy?

Name recognition, gerrymandering, 'pork' and casework, franking privilege, advertising, credit claiming, position taking.

What factors determine presidential success?

The force of circumstance, the state of the nation during the president's term, the president’s support in Congress, the level of public support.

What elements constitute American political culture?

Liberty, equality, democracy, civic duty, individual responsibility.

What is the rational basis test?

The minimal level of scrutiny that all government actions challenged under equal protection must meet.

What is strict scrutiny?

The highest level of scrutiny for laws challenged under the Equal Protection Clause.

What is intermediate scrutiny?

A level of scrutiny that falls between rational basis review and strict scrutiny.

What is the distributive theory of legislative organization?

A committee-based approach where committees reflect the preferences of preference outliers.

What is the informational theory of legislative organization?

A committee-based approach where committee membership is based on expertise.

What is the attitudinal model of judicial decision making?

Judicial decisions based on a justice’s policy preferences or ideology.