U.S. Federalism, Local Governments, and Political Movements

Dillon's Rule

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

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.

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.

Political ideology

a set of beliefs that define the way an individual thinks government should govern.

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.

Urbanization

the movement of people to cities.

Ballot initiative

A procedure where registered voters submit a petition proposing a statute or constitutional amendment. If the petition has enough legitimate signatures, the proposal appears on the ballot for voter approval without any need for approval by the legislature. Sometimes called a citizen initiative.

Bicameral legislature

A legislature made up of two independently elected chambers, typically called a house and a senate. Both chambers must concur for a proposal to become law.

Direct democracy

A system where qualified citizens vote directly on proposed statutes or state constitutional amendments.

Equal Rights Amendment

A proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution designed to guarantee equal rights regardless of sex. It was approved by Congress in 1972 but was not ratified by the required 38 states within the time limit.

Legislative referendum

A procedure where the legislature first approves a proposal and then submits it to voters for popular ratification. Every state but Delaware uses this method to amend the state constitution.

Lieutenant governor

The second highest ranking member of the executive branch. Somewhat analogous to the vice president, although not all states have lieutenant governors, and some are elected independent of the governor.

Popular referendum

A procedure where registered voters submit a petition challenging a statute passed by the legislature. If the petition has enough legitimate signatures, the challenged statute appears on the ballot in the next general election. Sometimes called a popular veto.

Block grant

the giving of money by the federal government to local (not state) entities to facilitate a policy.

Commerce Clause

located in Art. 1, sec. 8 of the Constitution, this clause grants to the federal government the right to regulate commerce moving across state lines or with foreign nations.

Confederation

a government system in which several sovereign governments form a loose affiliation, with no central entity capable of commanding the sovereign governments.

Cooperative federalism

the notion that the state governments and the federal government should work together to solve policy problems.

Fourteenth Amendment

an amendment added to the U.S. Constitution in the wake of the Civil War, it has been the legal mechanism by which the Supreme Court has enforced provisions of the Bill of Rights on state governments.

Grant in aid

the giving of money by the federal government to the states, with conditions attached to how the money is spent by the state.

Incorporation

the process by which the Supreme Court used the 14th Amendment to apply portions of the Bill of Rights to the states.

Matching grant

a grant program under which the federal government matches the spending of a state government on a particular program, usually at a 2 or 3 to 1 ratio.

Necessary and Proper Clause

found in Art. 1, sec. 8 of the U.S. Constitution, this clause has been interpreted to give broad discretion to the federal government in the ways in which it seeks to implement the powers the federal government is given in the Constitution.

Supremacy Clause

found in Art. IV of the Constitution, this clause says that if a state and federal law conflict, the federal law is considered to be supreme and the state law must be changed to the extent it conflicts with the federal law.

Tenth Amendment

a part of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution, this Amendment reserves powers not granted to the federal government to the people and the states.

Unfunded mandate

a rule or policy provision handed down by the federal government that imposes some cost of compliance on the states but that does not provide for any increased funding from the federal government to pay the costs of this compliance.

At-large Election

An election in which the relevant geographic space (such as a county or city) is not subdivided into districts, but instead elects officials from the entire area as a whole.

Charter

a document like a constitution for a city which lays out the institutional structure of the city.

City Manager

an unelected professional city administrator who is hired by the city council to run the day-to-day operations of the city.

Council-Mayor System

A system in which a mayor is independently elected to a position with distinct executive powers and responsibilities.

General Law

the basic set of laws that states apply to all small locations without home rule.

Geographic Jurisdiction

the geographic location where power and institutions govern.

Home Rule

Cities given the power to govern themselves and pass their own ordinances so long as they do not conflict with state or federal law.

Machine Politics

A style of city (or state) government common in the 19th and early 20th centuries in which a single party controlled the institutions of the city (or state) and maintained its position through the cynical use of mechanisms such as patronage, spoils, and punishment to maintain voter loyalty.

Municipal Corporation

The form a local municipality takes, a corporation set up for the purpose of running a locality and spending and receiving money on its behalf.

Roll-off

Roll off occurs when voters pick a candidate in one or more races but leave others blank, usually having voted in a higher race for president or statewide office, but having left local elections blank.

Single-Member District

A district for the purpose of an election that elects a single person (rather than multiple people from the same district).

Split Executives

A way of structuring executive power such that it is split between multiple independent executive officials, such as a governor and an attorney general or a mayor and a police chief.

Strong-Mayor System

An organization of local government in which the mayor has a broad portfolio of executive powers.

Subject Matter Jurisdiction

The set of things or topics that this government entity has power over.

Weak-Mayor System

An organization of local government in which the mayor has a limited set of executive powers.

Zoning

The process of designating parcels of land lawful for certain types of construction and use, such as commercial use or residential-only use.

Annexation

The action of merging two local governments of the same kind, e.g., two municipalities or two independent school districts, or the addition of previously unincorporated territory to a municipality.

Consolidation

The action of combining two different kinds of local government, most often by merging a county and a municipality.

Environmental justice movement

A social movement that argues the environmental costs of a modern economy should be more equitably distributed among those who benefit.

Independent School District

A special-purpose government for K-12 public education, governed by an elected board and having independent taxing authority.

Leapfrog development

Growth of a metropolitan area that occurs when developers 'leapfrog' over the outermost suburbs to build developments in unincorporated areas.

NIMBY

An acronym for Not in My Backyard, which is the tendency of people to oppose having certain developments or activities located near their own homes, regardless of the overall benefits to the community.

Regional planning council

A quasi-governmental agency where representatives of different local governments meet for voluntary exchanges of information and coordination of plans.

Unitary government

A system of government in which the central government ultimately holds all power. States are unitary governments.

Urban sprawl

A pattern formed when a metropolitan area expands into unincorporated areas through uncoordinated growth. Typically this leads to large areas of low density housing and heavy reliance on automobiles.

Zoning laws

Laws adopted by municipalities to regulate the use of land within their borders.