American Politics Key Terms

Amicus curiae

This means ‘friend of the court’, an individual, organization, or government agency that is not directly a part of a legal case but is permitted to offer information/perspective. Their input is usually submitted in the form of amicus briefs

Anti federalists

They were a political coalition in the late 1700s that opposed the creation of a stronger U.S. federal gov’t and thus opposed the ratification of the 1787 US Constitution. They believed that governing power should remain with individual states because they feared tyranny, criticized original Constitution for no Bill of Rights

Collective action problem

 Problem written about by Mancur Olson, that even when a group of people have a common interest, rational self-interested individuals will not act to achieve these interests, even if it would benefit the group. This is why states have never been able to support themselves on voluntary dues, etc. freerider issue, always need institution compelling this action

Conditional party gov’t

Theory of endogenous system (power from within), answering the question of when and why members of Congress choose to give power to party leaders. They will do it under 2 conditions: if the party is internally ideologically unified/similar policy preferences and goals, and if the party preferences are sharply different from those of the other party

Constituency service

The practical assistance and representation elected officials/staff provide to residents of their represented area. Takes form of federal casework, helping them navigate federal agencies/giving guidance, acquiring district grants and funding 

Credit-claiming

Action where elected official tries to generate belief among constituents that they are personally responsible for causing a desirable outcome, one of Mayhew’s coined main activities for politicians to seek re-election

Equality of condition

 Tocqueville’s observation of the United States in his writings, discussing the general equality of conditions as a foundational social state where individuals are relatively equal in terms of wealth/social standing, largely free from class hierarchies and aristocracies compared to Europe, and he discusses that this fundamental equality shapes every aspect of American society

Faction

 A powerful group, majority or minority, that are united by a common interest and adverse to the rights of other citizens, They are subgroups of larger entities like political parties and are at odds with broader goals of this group. Many views on the dangers of factions, because they prioritize self interest over common good/rights of others

Fenno’s paradox

His idea that Congress generally gets a bad reputation and thus people generally disapprove of it as a whole, but often support individual congressmen from their own districts. People are overall frustrated with Congress due to gridlock and seeming lack of ability to get things done, while they judge own representatives on their ability to respond to constituent problems and cultivate local connections, more achievable

Filibuster

Procedure in the Senate used to delay or block a vote on a bill/resolution. The Senate has few rules concerning limits on how long a senator can speak on the floor, with the filibuster, a senator could just talk for a long time to prevent the Senate from reaching point of a cloture vote (to break the filibuster) until people gave up. More recently the Senate changed internal rules, disputed bills on separate track so it’s not the whole Senate shut down to debate one bill. Now, only a single senator just has to threaten to filibuster, because invoking cloture requires 60 votes, majority party rarely has 60 votes so if they know minority party intends to block a bill, they won’t even bother bringing it to the floor

Formal powers

Formal powers are those directly granted to parties like the president or Congress etc. in the Constitution, explicitly laid out like the president’s power to veto. Powers not explicitly laid out are implicit, claimed by officials to properly carry out their duties

Gerrymandering

Redrawing district lines to try and manipulate boundaries to give one political party an unfair advantage in elections with more majorities. They use cracking by spreading out members of opposing party across multiple districts so they can never make up a majority and win a seat, or packing, by cramming as many voters from opposing party into as few districts as possible so those voters win there but have less widespread influence

Hold

a Senate hold is an informal practice allowing one or more senators to prevent a bill from reaching the Senate floor for a vote. A lot of Senate daily business happens with unanimous consent, where they all must agree to waive formal rules to quickly bring bill up for a vote, this hold happens when senator privately or publicly notifies party leadership that they intend to object to any unanimous consent request, which delays vote

Home style

This is the way Congress members strategically present themselves to their constituents in order to build trust and connect with the district so they can secure electoral support. This is how they project their identity and allocate resources (how they spend time/budget between Washington and the districts) and justify Washington activity to keep constituents happy

House Rules Committee

This is a powerful standing committee in the US House of Representatives which determines specific procedures, debate times, and amendment rules for upcoming bills. They draft special rules for major bills, thus whichever majority party is on it has significant influence over their desired agenda

Incumbency advantage

Increased electoral support that a current officeholder (called the incumbent) has over a challenger when running for reelection. They have name recognition because voters are already familiar with their name and record, they have fundraising power because already have established networks, and perks of office, taxpayer funded resources to stay visible

Judicial review

Power established in Marbury v. Madison for Supreme Court judges to declare laws unconstitutional, so even if they were previously legal and followed, if it comes up ina case before the court they can conclude the law actually goes against the Constitution and strike it down

Living constitution. theory

 Legal approach claiming that the definition of the U.S. Constitution evolves over time and its meaning can change with society’s values and needs, and this can happen without formal amendments. Belief that judges should interpret the text with modern contexts and standards

Marbury v. Madison

John Adams tried to court pack and appointed many Federalist judges before leaving office, Thomas Jefferson ordered Secretary of State not to deliver the commission. William Marbury sued because he argued he was lawfully appointed, asked court to issue writ of mandamus that would force gov’t official to do their job and appoint him. Supreme Court found Marbury had right to his commission, Madison’s refusal was illegal, but ruled couldn’t force Madison to deliver commission because Section of Judiciary Act of 1789 allowing Courts to issue writs of mandamus was unconstitutional because it tried to expand Court’s original jurisdiction too much. This established the principle of judicial review to declare laws unconstitutional 

McGovern-Fraser commission

This was a commission created by the DNC in 1969 to reform how presidential nominating delegates were chosen. The intention was to democratize the process and strip party bosses/local leaders of control over national convention delegates. They forced states to make delegate selection open and transparent, tied to public input through primaries and caucuses, and minority groups had to be given a proportional voice at the national convention

Multiple traditions theory

This theory holds that the traditional view that America’s political culture is defined by liberal democratic tradition is false. It’s instead argued that America’s political culture is best understood as the conflicting product of multiple competing political traditions, like liberalism, focusing on individual rights, republicanism emphasizing popular sovereignty and civic virtue, and ascriptive Americanism, inegalitarian systems based on race/gender etc. categorizing certain groups as inferior

Office of Management and Budget

Largest office in the Executive Office of the U.S. president. They prepare/manage the President’s annual federal budget proposal to Congress, set funding priorities. Review major federal regulations/oversee agency performance 

Original intent theory

This is a theory of constitutional interpretation holding that judges should determine and enforce what the authors of the Constitution originally intended regulations/sections to mean.

Particularized budget

Concentrated advantages/rewards from policies that specifically benefit a narrow, specific group in society. Unlike collective/public goods, they are not broadly distributed, rather they target a select audience. Might be directed by congressional members to districts back home, could be a tangible win to boost reelection chances. 

Political culture

It is a shared set of beliefs, values, and expectations that a population has regarding its political system and how the government should operate. They can have multiple political cultures or value systems, as some authors argue, that could potentially be competing 

Populism

this is a thin-centered political ideology, dividing society into opposing groups of the pure common people versus the corrupt elite, often relying on a central figure who claims to embody the will of the people. It is thin-centered, meaning it attaches to other political beliefs, owing to distinctions like left versus right wing populism 

Position-taking

This is what political candidates do when they publicly take a side on important political issue, these stands would be interest to constituents etc. Public enunciation of statement on anything likely of interest to political actors. The commodity or what peopl want is the position itself, not necessarily concrete action, and on controversial issues they are more likely to waffle or be vague

President as clerk

 idea that the president has many routine, service oriented obligations due to laws/customs and also public expectations that are forced on. Everyone in the government and society relies on the president to solve problems and initiate policies, almost making the president like a clerk serving Washington. Neustadt thus distinguishes between having this clerkship of formal duties/obligations is not necessarily having presidential power, aka influence

Professional reputation

This refers to how the Washington community perceives the president's skill and will and political credibility. THey judge the president on whether they think the president has the skill to get things done/the will to follow through on promises. If Washington people view the president as weak or unskilled, will feel safer resisting presidential demands 

Principal-agent problem

This is the challenge when one person (the principal) delegates authority or decision making power to another person (the entity) acting on their behalf. The challenge is that the principal and agent often have different goals and motivation, making it hard for principal to ensure agent is truly acting in principal’s best interest

Primary elections

Preliminary elections within the party to select the official nominee who will compete in the general election. Registered voters participate to decide. There are closed primaries where only formally registered with the party can participate versus open primaries

Public prestige

 Members of Congress don’t just look at how skilled the president is, they also look at how popular the president is with the general public (prestige). If president has high prestige, Congress members realize crossing the president might anger voters back home, while if prestige tanks, might feel safe abandoning or countering president, less fear of backlash

Purposive incentives

These are the psychological or moral rewards motivating individuals to join political groups or engage in political action. People motivated by these incentives are driven by the satisfaction of supporting a cause they believe in, driven by ideology and morality

Stare decisis

Foundational doctrine in common law systems directing courts to follow earlier court rulings, called precedents, when deciding similar cases. This allows for consistency and prevents judges from making arbitrary decisions

Statutory interpretation

This is the process by which courts analyze, decipher, and apply legislation when a statute’s text is ambiguous, contradictory, or applied to a new circumstance not initially set out in the law. This is divided between textualism, focusing on the ordinary meaning of the text, versus purposivism, which seeks to carry out the underlying purpose of the statute

Steamrolling

Steamrolling is when a dominant/majority group forces legislation or nominations through the legislative process by using overwhelming pressure/power to crush the opposition. This is when there is a dominating political situation that the opposing side is sidelined or ignored, their desires not taking into consideration

Subcommittee bill of rights

This is a set of rules adopted by the House Democratic Caucus in the early 1980s to curb the power of full committee chairmen. It sought to strip full committee chairmen of unilateral power by creating subcommittees and requiring most full committees to have them

Unanimous consent agreement

This is a self imposed and pre negotiated rule in the US Senate or House of Representatives that speeds up floor discussion by setting terms for debating/voting. Every single member present must agree on these terms, if even one member objects then the request fails

Veto

This is the constitutional power of a president to reject a bill passed by Congress to stop it from becoming a law

Writ of certiorari (“cert”)

This is a formal order issued by a higher court directing a lower court to send the complete course record for review. The Supreme Court uses these certs to select which legal disputes they will hear