American Politics Final

Sample

A group of people whose responses will be used for data. The poll is only as good as the sample, 1,000 is a good sample size

Representative Sample

A sample that reflects all demographics and political characteristics

Survey

A series of question used to gather data and public opinion

Social Desirability Bias

A condition in which survey respondents thing there’s a “right” o socially acceptable answer so they choose the “right” answer to avoid feeling judged

Random Digit Dialing

Calling random US phone numbers to collect data.

Earmarks

Any congressionally directed spending or tax regulation that solely benefits a specific state, local community, or congressional district.

Redistricting

State governments redraw the borders every 10 years

Sensationalism

Using exciting imagery to attract attention, used by journalists and the media

Priming

The media’s power to establish criteria by which people assess political candidates, elected officials and issues (Ex. Posting pictures of Biden falling on stairs to make people think he’s too old)

Independent Expenditure

Echo Chamber

A name for consuming only the news you want to hear

Standing Committee

Cloture

A vote to end a filibuster, at least 60 senators must agree, and it will limit the debate to 30 additional hours then requires a vote

Pendleton Act

Signed by President Chester Arthur that banned unqualified loyalists from being appointed by the president, Hatch Act reaffirmed it by banning federal employees from running for political positions

Writ of Certiorari

Order in which a higher appellate agrees to review a lower court case and requests all documents

Concurring Opinion

Opinion put on by a justice who agrees with the winning or losing side but relies on a different legal reasoning to reach that conclusion

Precedent

Court rulings that are established in previous cases (AKA stare decisis)

Revolving Door

The practice of former government officials subsequently becoming lobbyists and former lobbyists subsequently working for the government

National Deficit

The amount of money the government spends beyond what it raises in a single fiscal year, typically ranging from a few hundred billion to several trillion dollars.

Entitlement Programs

Programs that require the federal government o make payments to any person who meets the program’s eligibility criteria established by law (Ex. Social Security, Medicare, Veterans’ benefits

War Powers Act

Enacted in 1973, a law requiring the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying the military and forbidding armed forces from remaining deployed for more than 60 days without congressional authorization. Made because of the Korean War and the Vietnam War, both wars that were never declared by Congress, this was done to reassert the Congress’ authority.

Population

the total amount of people in an area

Response Rate

The percentage of people who when asked to survey, respond.

Focus Group

Small groups randomly chosen after presidential debates who are supposed to represent the American people and who are surveyed about their likings towards the candidates

Bradley Effect

Margin of Error

How close a poll result is to the actual population opinion

Incumbency Advantage

The former opposition holders have the edge a lot of times over new challengers, because they have the opportunity to serve the people, build a legislative record, run in favored districts, and have access to big money

Partisan Gerrymander

Drawing electoral district boundaries to favor a certain party

Selective Exposure

Consuming only what you want to hear and rejecting what you don’t want to hear

Framing

Providing context about an issue so as to emphasize certain aspects over others and to change a narrative

Party Platform

A statement of a party’s position on issues

Regular Order

The conventional multi-step legislative process

Conference Committee

A committee of Congress members in the House and Senate who iron out differences to get an identical bill passed

Executive Order

Directives issued by the president about how to manage the operations of the federal government. They require no congressional approval but still carry the force of law (President acts as Legislator-in-Chief)

Agency Drift

When agents use their bureaucratic discretion in a way that deviates from the plan

Rule of Four

Four of nine justices must agree to sign a writ of certiorari for a case to be appealed to the Supreme Court

Dissenting Opinion

A document that articulates the opposing side’s hearing of a court case

Originalism

Approach in which the Constitution should be interpreted exactly how it’s written

Divided Government

A situation in which no one party controls the House, Senate, and White House. US Government has been divided for 30 of 42 years from 1980 to 2022

National Debt

The total money the federal government has borrowed

Discretionary Spending

The parts of the federal budget that include optional expenses

Protectionism

An approach to international commerce that shields domestic industries from foreign competition by prohibiting imports altogether or imposing severe tariffs on them

Unilateralism

A policy under which a single nation tries to influence the international relations landscape on its own

Multilateralism

A policy that involves cooperation with allies and international organizations to achieve a common goal (Ex. United Nations)

Random Sample

The best way to get a representative sample, using a random assortment of individuals from the population

Content Analysis

Experiment

Weighting

Fairly adjusting results so the sample reflects characteristics of the population of interest

Invisible Primary

Reapportionment

Negativity Bias

The tendency for journalists to pick the negative news to talk about because that’s what sells

Agenda Setting

Determining what to cover on the news media

Caucuses

Political meetings where voters openly gather to select a party candidate to support and to select delegates for nominating conventions- Iowa has had the first caucus historically

Duverger’s Law

Countries with single-member districts have a strong 2-party system

Unorthodox Lawmaking

Shaping or passing legislation by circumventing the traditional legislative process and not following regular order, like bypassing committee deliberations and maligning final adjustments to a bill in closed door negotiations, or sending a bill straight to the floor, or run a bill by the president and make changes that would guarantee their signature.

Filibuster

A Senate rule that allows members to deliver speeches of unlimited length on the Senate floor with the intent of delaying a vote on a bill or killing it altogether

Deep State

A derogatory term to describe a group of unelected government officials whom people allege are secretly manipulating and directing national policy

Principal-Agent Problem

When agency leaders have bureaucratic discretion, a principal can delegate power to an agent and it risks the agent using the power in a way the principal doesn’t intend and cannot control

Majority Opinion

Document that articulates the case’s final opinion

Borking

Living Constitution

Approach in which justices take principles from the Constitution and apply it to today’s life

Permanent Campaign

When elected officials start campaigning and fundraising for their next election as soon as they are elected

Mandatory Spending

The portion of the federal budget’s annual budget that goes toward paying for entitlement programs

Stealth Nominee

Sanctions

Senatorial Courtesy