Government: Chapter 1: Socioeconomic and Political Context

Federal Structure

• A way of structuring government so that there are at least two sovereigns

• In the U.S. case the state and national government

Dual Sovereignty

• Refers to a situation in which multiple governments each exercise power over the same territory

• US = comes about through a state government and the federal government each exercising power

Commerce Clause

• States “The Congress shall have the power to regulate ______ with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes

Laboratories of Democracy

• A phrase in American politics and law used to describe the process by which different states try different policies, with the results than informing other states on the merits of the different policies

Dillon’s Rule

• A widely accepted legal norm that holds that local and municipal governments are subordinate to the state government.

Urbanization

• The movement of people to cities

Poverty Line

• A specific annual income threshold—set by the government based on family size—below which an individual or family is officially considered to be living in poverty.

Political Ideology

• A set of beliefs that define the way an individual thinks government should govern

Special Session

• A special meeting of a state legislature outside of its normally scheduled meeting period.

Term-Limited

• Rules that restrict a politician from serving more than a set number of terms in office, applied either to consecutive terms or lifetime service.

Grange Movement

• A movement of farmers in the late 1800s to support policies that limited corporations’ ability to cause them economic pain, most particularly with respect to the cost of moving goods via railroad.

Laboratories of Democracy

• This is the notion that states can experiment with policy solutions and that other states can adopt solutions seen as successful

Police Powers

• A catchall term used to describe the powers remaining for the state governments in light of the enumerated powers given to the federal government in the Constitution.

Robin Hood Plan (recapture)

• A plan put in place in the state of Texas that takes money from wealthy school districts and gives it to poorer districts in an attempt to equalize education funding.

Non-Hispanic Whites

• A U.S. Census Bureau classification for individuals who identify racially as white and do not identify ethnically as Hispanic, distinguishing them from the broader "white" category which includes Hispanic individuals.