POLS 207 Test 2

Cause lobbyist

A person who works for an organization that tracks and promotes an issue

Closed primary

A nominating election in which only voters belonging to that party may participate

Contract lobbyists

Lobbyists who work for different causes for different clients

Crossover voting

Voting by a member of one party in another party's primary. This process is not allowed in all states

Factional splits

Groups that struggle to control the message within a party; for example, a party may be split into competing regional factions.

The Democratic Party as we know it today evolved from factional splits in the earliest days of the American Republic (Federalists & Democratic Republicans)

General elections

Decisive elections in which all registered voters cast ballots for their preferred candidates for a political office.

In primary elections, voters select the candidates who will represent the parties in general elections

Nonpartisan ballots

Ballots that do not list candidates by political party; still often used in local elections.

Open primary

A nominating election that is open to all registered voters regardless of their party affiliations

Party conventions

Before primary elections became common, parties picked their nominees through \__________,

which are meetings of party delegates called to nominate candidates for office and establish party agendas

every state now has a system in place to nominate candidates through primaries (no longer rely heavily on \_____________)

Political Machines

Political organizations controlled by small numbers of people and run for partisan ends. In the 19th and 20th centuries, these organizations controlled party nominations for public office and rewarded supporters with government jobs and contracts

Runoff primary

An election held if no candidate receives a majority of the vote during the regular primary. The top two finishers face off again in a runoff to determine the nominee for the general election.

Super PACs

can spend unlimited funds on behalf of political candidates but cannot directly coordinate their plans with those candidates.

PAC abbreviation

Political Action Committee

Caucus

All the members of a party - Republican or Democrat - within a legislative chamber;
also refers to meetings of members of a political party in a chamber

At the beginning of a session, each house votes in its speaker. This is may be picked beforehand by a caucus

Coalition building

The assembly of an alliance of groups to pursue a common goal or interest

Committee

A group of legislators who have the formal task of considering and writing bills in a particular issue area.

Constituent service

legislators help residents in their voting districts sort out problems with the state government

Districts

The geographical areas represented by members of a legislature.

Apportionment

The allotting of districts according to population shifts

Filibuster

A debate that under U.S. Senate rules can drag on, blocking final action on the bill under consideration and preventing other bills from being debated.

13 states allow

Gerrymanders

Districts clearly drawn with the intent of pressing partisan advantage at the expense of other considerations.

Logrolling

A practice in which a legislator gives a colleague a vote on a particular bill in return for that colleague's vote on another bill

Majority-minority districts

Districts in which members of a minority group, such as African Americans or Hispanics, make up a majority of the population or electorate.

Malapportionment

drawing the boundaries of legislative districts so that they are unequal in population, violating equal representation

Override

The process by which legislative chambers vote to challenge a gubernatorial veto; often requires a supermajority of two-thirds.

The last time a veto was overridden in Texas was in 1979. It is so difficult in TX bc we have a part-time legislature, and the governor can wait until lawmakers go home to veto bills, and only the governor has the power to call a special session to hold a veto override vote.

Oversight

The legislature's role in making sure that the governor and executive branch agencies are properly implementing the laws.

Most oversight comes through budget reviews and occasional committee hearings

Police Patrol vs. Fire Alarms

Professionalized legislatures

The process of providing legislators with the resources they need to make politics their main career, such as making their positions full-time or providing them with full-time staff.

4 states don't have a professionalized legislature

The reality is that a legislature is pretty cheap to operate - in no state does it cost more than 0.5 percent of the state budget

Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Texas

What 4 states don't have a professionalized legislature

Rank-and-File Members

Legislators who do not hold leadership positions or senior committee posts

Riders

Amendments to a bill that are not central to the bill's intent
Can be used to derail a bill

Veto

A governor's rejection of legislation passed by the legislature

Appointment powers

A governor's ability to pick individuals to run state government, such as cabinet secretaries

Formal powers

powers explicitly granted to a governor (5):

appoint, prep state budgets, veto, grant pardons, call special sessions

Impeachment

legislature can remove from office for corruption or other reasons

Informal powers

powers based on personality or position:
Popular Support, Party Support in the Legislature, Ability to Communicate

Plural-executive system

A state government in which the governor is not the dominant figure in the executive branch but, instead, is more of a first among equals, serving alongside numerous other officials who were elected to their offices rather than appointed by the governor.

Recall election

A special election allowing voters to remove an elected official from office before the end of his or her term

supermajority, simple majority, 6

Most states require a \____________ to override a veto. What do other states require? How many states do the latter?

Appeal

A request to have a lower court's decision in a case reviewed by a higher court

Bench trial

A trial in which no jury is present and the judge decides the facts as well as the law

Civil cases

Legal cases that involve disputes between private parties

Contract attorneys

Private attorneys who enter into agreements with states, counties, or judicial districts to work on a fixed-fee basis per case or for a specific length of time

Oregon

What state does not require unanimous verdicts in felony criminal cases?

(felony) Criminal Cases

A majority of states continue to require 12-member juries to make unanimous rulings in \_______________, but seven states use 6-member or 8-member juries for noncapital felonies

En banc

Appeals court sessions in which all the judges hear a case together

Grand jury

A group of between 16 and 23 citizens who decide if a case should go to trial

What happens if the grand jury decides that a case should go to trial?

An indictment, a formal criminal charge, is issued

Intermediate appellate court

A court that reviews court cases to find possible errors in their proceedings.

Today, only 11 states and the District of Columbia still have only one level of review

Merit selection

A hybrid of appointment and election that typically involves a bipartisan judicial nominating commission whose job is to create a list of highly qualified candidates for the bench from which the governor or legislature appoints judges

Panels

Groups of (usually) three judges who sit to hear cases in a state court of appeals.

Plea bargain

An agreement in which the accused in a criminal case admits guilt, usually in exchange for a promise that a particular sentence will be imposed.

Precedent

In law, the use of the past to determine current interpretation and decision making.

Prejudicial error

an error that affects the outcome of a case

Prosecutor

A government official and lawyer who conducts criminal cases on behalf of the people.
'pushes the accusation'

Most prosecutors are elected to four-year terms
- Chief prosecutor, district attorney, state's attorney

The authority to prosecute comes from the state, but prosecutors' offices are essentially local

They handle more than 2 million felonies and 7 million misdemeanors a year

Public defender

- fulfill the constitution's 6th amendment requirement to provide defense services for those who are poor
- average time spent with a client is often less than 6 minutes

Pure appointive systems

Judicial selection systems in which the governor alone appoints judges, without preselection of candidates by a nominating commission

3 states - California, Maine, and New Jersey - the governor appoints state court judges without a nominating commission

Retention election

An election in which a judge runs uncontested and voters are asked to vote yes or no on the question of whether they wish to retain the judge in office for another term.

Rocket docket

Court schedule that fast-tracks cases that often have limited, specific deadlines for specific court procedures.

Settlement

A mutual agreement between parties to end a civil case before going to trial.

State supreme court

The highest level of appeals court in a state.

Trial court

The first level of the court system

When these courts are "general jurisdiction", they hear any civil or criminal cases that have not been assigned to a special court.

When Limited Jurisdiction, hear cases that are statutorily limited by either the degree of seriousness or the types of parties involved.

Bureaucracy

Public agencies and the programs and services they implement and manage.

Public schools "are the single largest form of bureaucracy in the United States

Bureaucrats

Employees of public agencies

Contracting out

Government hiring of private or nonprofit organizations to deliver public goods or services.

Collective bargaining

process in which employers negotiate with labor unions about hours, wages, and other working conditions

Affirmative action

A set of policies designed to help organizations recruit and promote employees who are members of disadvantaged groups.

Policy Implementation

\_______ is the process of translating the express wishes of government into action

The first job of bureaucracy is to do whatever the government wants done

Professionalization

The rewarding of jobs in a bureaucratic agency based on applicants' specific qualifications and merit

Rulemaking

The process of translating laws into written instructions on what public agencies will or will not do

Rules are necessary because most laws passed by legislatures express intention, but they do not specify the details of how to make that intention a reality

Street-level Bureaucrat

A lower-level public agency employee who actually takes the actions outlined in law or policy.

street-level bureaucrats have the discretion, or ability, to make choices about what actions they do or do not make

History of major political parties

The Federalists: favored a strong central government; Alexander Hamilton•
The Democratic-Republicans: argued for states' rights; Thomas Jefferson - Dominated through first half of 19th century

Eventually the Democratic Party split over the issue of slavery.- Northern Democrats: Opposing slavery- Southern Democrats: Supporting the expansion of slavery

The Republican Party was formed in 1854 in opposition to slavery.

Superdelegates

Is an unpledged delegate to the Democratic National Convention who is seated automatically and chooses for themselves for whom they vote.
Nowadays can only vote if there's a tie.

California Democratic Party vs. Jones (2000)

California's blanket primary violates a political party's First Amendment right of association.

Blanket primary: all candidates from all parties are listed on a single ballot, and voters are allowed, in effect, to mix and match the primaries they participate in.

Jungle Primary

Louisiana: where all candidates run in the same primary regardless of party and will have a runoff between the top two if no one reaches a majority. (If one candidate does get a majority, they win the election outright.)

Top Two Primary, Washington State & California

\_______________ and \_______________ voters in recent years have established '\_____________' primary systems, in which candidates from all parties appear together on a single primary ballot, and the top two finishers regardless of party, proceed to the general election

Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission (2010)

1st Amendment - corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited, making it possible for lightly regulated independent groups to spend unlimited sums on political campaigns

Lobbying efforts in state capitals

Currently about 40,000 lobbyists are working in state capitals

Lobbying in the states is now a billion-dollar business every year, nearing $1.7 billion in both 2017 and 2018

Competition in state legislatures

While states don't remain static, more and more they are voting in monolithic fashion, favoring candidates of one party or the other for most elected offices

In 2020, only the New Hampshire house and senate changed hands

*Every election cycle, about 40 to 45 percent of legislative seats are not contested at all by one of the major parties

37 states are currently in a State Trifecta

Senate leaders

Known as the president, president pro tempore, president pro tem, or majority leader

Speaker

At the beginning of a session, each house votes in its speaker. This is generally picked beforehand by a caucus (specifically, the majority party)

The majority leader and the minority leader rank just below the speaker of the house.

State legislature leader roles

Speaker:
- preside over daily sessions of the house or assembly
- refer bills to the appropriate committees
- sign legislation as it makes it way over to the senate or the governor's desk
-typically most senior member of most popular political party

*Both:
- set agenda & decide who's on a committee

Primary roles of being governor

1. Chief Legislator (Legislative Influence)
- Governors outline their broad proposals in inaugural and annual state of the state addresses. They and their staffs then work with individual legislators and committees to translate these proposals into bills

2. Head of State Agencies
- ability to hire and fire people...as well as the ability to determine how much money the state's departments are going to get"

3. Chief Spokesperson for the State
- It's the executive, facing a major disaster, for whom crisis management becomes a defining legacy

4. Party Chief

Governor - formal powers

1. Power to Appoint
2. Power to Prepare State Budgets
3. Power to Veto
4. Power to Grant Pardons
5. Power to Call Special Sessions

state with largest number of state legislators? Smallest?

New Hampshire(424), Nebraska (49)

Attorney generals

- top law enforcement officer in the state
- instituting lawsuits against federal government

Secretaries of State

Top election officers in 37 states. Also do other administrative work like giving business licenses

Lieutenant governors

- preside over state senate & appoint committees

- In 25 states, the governor and lieutenant governor are elected as part of the same ticket

Judicial selection for state courts

Most states hold nonpartisan elections for judges on trial courts.

The northeast is the one area of the country that relies upon gubernatorial or legislative appointments for judges.

How are grand juries conducted?

A group of between 16 and 23 citizens who decide if a case should go to trial; if the grand jury decides that it should, an indictment is issued.

Public Schools

What is single largest form of bureaucracy?

How many state legislatures are part-time?

4

History of the Spoils System

- Started by Andrew Jackson
- System which electoral winner has right to decide who work for public agencies
- Based on political loyalty not merit
- The federal government shifted from the spoils system to the merit system in 1883 with passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act

"Should parties have more say in picking presidential candidates?"

Support from party leaders had once been essential for candidates seeking to raise money from donors or garner media attention. still plays a considerable role

"But voters are put off by any attempt by party officials to try to dictate whom they should support"

In 2020 the Democratic National Committee (DNC) required candidates to meet "minimum thresholds in numbers of donors and support in polls to qualify for televised debates

"Socialist candidates find success in large cities"

Third party and Independents have most success at smallest, local level politics

Democratic socialists and other ultra-left candidates have won city council seats in major cities (Ex: Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, and Seattle.)

oppose to mass incarceration, describe housing as a human right, and say capitalism is a failed or immoral system

Philadelphia, independents and minor-party voters have outnumbered registered Republicans since 2017

Conservatives also have more extreme parties like the Constitution Party which enjoy limited success in city council elections

There are four nationally-organized third parties: Libertarian Party, Green Party, Constitution Party, and the Working Families Party.

What congress can learn from state legislatures

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) was formed to help lawmakers and their staffs learn best practices and exchange policy ideas

Half of the states can ban or severely restrict the campaign contributions lawmakers can receive on legislative session days"

- also, less stuff is decided in committees, (more behind close doors. And states limit riders w/ line-item veto & constitutional limits on scope of bill

"Governor is the only office that still prompts split-ticket voting"

The role of the governor requires them to take a more pragmatic and less ideological stance on issues.

Most governors are elected outside the presidential year, when turnout is lower (so less split-ticket votes needed)

there's enough information available for voters to make a more informed choice when choosing the top leader in their states

Which state was the first to have a majority of women lawmakers?

Nevada

"Some legislators move to strip power from governors"

- When Democrat Tony Evers deprived Wisconsin Republican governor Scott Walker of a third term in 2018, GOP legislators...introduced legislation stripping the governor and other executive branch officials of formal powers

Efforts to use lame-duck sessions to bolster partisan power are nearly as old as the nation itself"

Which state allows only their governor to make budget proposals?

Maryland

Recent governors have been shut out of presidential politics"

"Governors were once a dominant force in presidential politics, winning seven of the eight elections between 1976 and 2004"

"The current media landscape is another handicap for governors" (focus on Washington)

Governors often lack foreign policy experience which is something voters want in a president.

Governors also lack outsider appeal. (Trump)