Gov Midterm #2 notecards

Interest Groups

Organizations based on shared interests that attempt to influence society and government to act in way consonant with the organizations interests.

Pluralism

The belief that interest group structure of American politics produces a reasonable policy balance.

Elitism

The belief that the interest group structure of American politics is skewed towards the interest of the wealthy.

House of Representatives

The lower chamber of the United States Congress, consisting of representatives elected by the people to serve two-year terms and responsible for taxing and spending and impeachment charges.

Senate

The upper chamber of the United States Congress, composed of two senators from each state serving six-year terms, with responsibilities including confirming presidential appointment, ratifying treaties, and handling impeachment trials. It runs on the consensus of unanimous consent.

The Speaker of the House

The presiding officer of the House of Representatives, responsible for maintaining order and overseeing legislative proceedings. The second in line for President, behind the vice president.

The President Pro Tempore of the Senate

Presides in the absence of the vice president and is generally a senior member of the major party.

Buckley vs. Valeo

Ruled that while the government can limit how much individuals contribute to political campaigns, it cannot place limits on campaign expenditures, expenditures by a candidate from personal resources, or independent expenditures by groups supporting the campaign.

Citizens United vs FEC

Struck down limits on corporate and union spending for elections.

The Motor Voter law

The National Voter registration act of 1993: Allows people to register to vote while they are doing other tasks like renewing a drivers license.

Unanimous Consent

System used by the Senate and occasionally the House, all members must agree in order to put forward certain legislation.

The Filibuster

The use of “unlimited debate” given to Senators being used to block or stall the passage of legislation.

The Executive Office for the President

The “EOP” houses the professional support personnel working for the president.

Federalist Party

Supporters of a strong National government, representing the mid-Atlantic states. They tended to be wealthier. Alexander Hamilton was the head of this party.

Democratic-Republican Party

Supporters of limited Government, representing the south. They tended to be more poor farmers. Thomas Jefferson was the head of this party.

Whig Party

believed small government, low taxes, and individual freedom and briefly became a major political party on par with the democratic party.

Republican Party

the more conservative of the two major political parties in the US.

Democratic Party

generally associated with more progressive policies. It supports social and economic equality, favoring greater government intervention, etc.

Standing Congressional Committees

Umbrella term for permanent committees with fixed jurisdiction and continuing automatically from one congress to the next. Committees are how congress does legislative work.

Select Congressional Committees

Temporary committees created for a specific topic or study but go out of business when their work is resolved. They do not have authority to receive or offer bills.

Appropriations Congressional Committees

Responsible for allocating funds to each government program.

Joint Congressional Committees

Made up of members from both the house and the senate to study a particular topic.

Conference Congressional Committees

Members of both the house and senate tasked with solving differences between bills on the same topic passed in different chambers to make one cohesive bill.

The Rules Congressional Committee

Responsible for determining conditions for bills going through legislation. (Ex. when the bill comes to the floor, how long the debate will run, what kinds of amendments are considered, etc.)

veto power

The president has the right to veto acts of congress but can still be passed if congress passes it again.

the civil service system

a merit-based system for hiring and promoting government employees to ensure people are hired based qualifications over bias.

primaries

A process of nomination using anonymous voting.

the secret ballot

Also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous.

Federal Communications Commission

is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States.

Electoral College

a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.

major political parties

a political party having electoral strength sufficient to permit it to win control of a government usually with comparative regularity.

minor political parties

In a two party system also called “Third Parties”, they are parties that plays a smaller (in some cases much smaller, even insignificant in comparison) role than a major party in a country's politics and elections.

VAP (Voting Age Population)

Population of people ‘of age’ and eligible to vote.

VEP (Voting Eleigible Population)

Population of people eligible to vote due to factors such as citizenship, age, felon status, etc.

McCain-Feingold (BCRA)

eliminated soft money (non federal money) donations to national parties and to ensured that electioneering communications immediately before election day were financed with regulated money and properly disclosed to the public.

executive privilege

The right of the president to keep communications with their advisors confidential. (Recognized by the supreme court.)

executive agreements

Agreements negotiated between the president and foreign government that are similar to treaties however they do not require confirmation by the Senate.

executive orders

A directive issued by the president or a governor that has the force of law, typically based on existing statutory power, and doesn't require congressional or legislative action to take effect.

The War Powers Resolution

Passed in 1973, requiring the president to consult congress on entering and exiting war.

Duverger’s Law

The belief that electoral systems impact our party system (Some make two party system some make multiparty systems)

Specialization committee norms

Norm that encourages congress members to specialize and develop expertise in their subject matter covered by their committee assignments.

Reciprocity committee norms

The promise that if congress members respect the views and expertise of other members, they will have their expertise respected.

Seniority committee norms

The longest standing congressional committee member will be its chair (head of the committee.)

independent expertise

The specialized knowledge on an individual, or a specialist.

executive priority

The priority of higher level positions.

incumbents

The current holder of an office or position. In an election, they are the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election.

challengers

A person running for nomination/office. They “challenge” the incumbent.

party identification

The party a person feels reflects their beliefs and identity. Similar to party partisanship.

party partisanship

A committed member of a political party. In multi-party systems, the term is used for persons who strongly support their party's policies and are reluctant to compromise with political opponents.

party polarization

The movement of political views and actions away from the center and toward more extreme views and policies. One side may feel extreme hatred towards the other.

suffrage

The legal right to vote

equal deliberation

Ensures that all participants in a decision-making process have an equal opportunity to voice their opinions and contribute to the outcome, without being unduly influenced by power dynamics or other inequalities

first-past-the-post/single member plurality

Winner take all voting system, an area is divided into a number of geographically defined voting districts, each represented by an elected official. Voters cast a vote for their district’s representative, with the highest total vote-getter winning election, even if they have received less than half of the vote.

voter turnout

The portion of voting eligible population that actually voted.

voter registration

The process of which people eligible to vote sign up to be able to cast their ballot.

campaign financing

How much funding is put into a campaign.

interest groups resources (size of membership, intensity, etc.)

the various assets a group uses to advance its agenda, including financial resources, membership, staff expertise, and advocacy strategies.

Congressional war-making powers

The president must consult congress before making war decisions, only congress can declare war.

Presidential war-making powers

The president is commander in chief of the military and has full control of military.

micro-targeting

uses consumer data and demographics to identify interests/preferences to send targeted advertisements to individuals, small groups.

lobbying (insider litigation strategies)

lobbying involving direct engagement and pressure towards officials.

lobbying (outsider litigation strategies)

Lobbying involving public pressure and outside influence towards officials.

campaign themes

A clear message attached to a campaign that reflects the values of the candidate.

inherent powers

Powers applied to all sovereign nations (Similar to the concept of basic rights) that allow executives to take necessary actions to protect the nations interests.

the “extended republic”

James Madison’s theory that if you extend the jurisdictional sphere of governance, you’ll take more interests, or factions, into account during the policymaking process. With more factions in the picture, it becomes less likely that one single faction will have the numbers to be wholly dominant.

impeachment process

The house votes on a set of charges and a trials is conducted by the senate. Two thirds majority vote will convict, remove from office, and prohibit future government service jobs from being held by the offender. An official can be impeached but not convicted.

Trustee

Model of representation that views a representatives role as listening constituents but using their own knowledge and judgment to make decisions.

Delegate

Model of representation that views a representatives role being reflecting the views and interests of their constituents.

Caucuses

A private gathering where each side debates as to who is the stronger candidate for the party and votes are tallied.