PoliSci 1

Initiative

An approach to direct democracy in which a proposal is placed on an election ballot when the requisite number of registered voters have signed petitions.

Referendum

An approach to direct democracy in which a state legislature proposes a change to the state's laws or constitution that all the voters subsequently vote on.

Compromise

Settlement in which each side concedes some of its preferences in order to secure others.

Fast-Track Authority

Impermanent power granted by Congress to the president to negotiate international trade agreements.

Prisoner's Dilemma

A situation in which two (or more) actors cannot agree to cooperate for fear that the other will find its interest best served by reneging on an agreement.

Politicians

A small group of professionals tasked by society with discovering and coordinating mutually attractive collective decisions.

Shared Federalism

A system in which the national and state governments share in providing citizens with a set of goods.

Unitary Government

A system of government in which a single government unit holds the power to govern the nation (in contrast to a federal system, in which power is shared among many governing units). (See also federalism.)

Entitlements

A benefit every eligible person has a legal right to receive that cannot be taken away without a change in legislation or due process in court.

Electoral College

A body of electors in each state, chosen by voters, who formally elect the president and vice president of the United States. Each state's number of electoral votes equals its representation in Congress; the District of Columbia has three votes. An absolute majority of the total electoral vote is required to elect a president and vice president.

Block Grant

A broad grant of money given by the federal government to a state government. The grant specifies the general area (such as education or health services) in which the funds may be spent but leaves it to the state to determine the specific allocations.

Supremacy Clause

A clause in Article VI of the Constitution declaring that national laws are the "supreme" law of the land and therefore take precedence over any laws adopted by states or localities.

Checks and Balances

A constitutional mechanism giving each branch some oversight and control of the other branches. Examples are the presidential veto, Senate approval of presidential appointments, and judicial review of presidential and congressional actions.

Constitution

A document outlining the formal rules and institutions of government and the limits place on its powers.

Republic

A form of democracy in which power is vested in elected representatives.

Parliamentary Goverment

A form of government in which the chief executive is chosen by the majority party or by a coalition of parties in the legislature.

Tyranny

A form of government in which the ruling power exploits its authority and permits little popular control.

Bargaining

A form of negotiation in which two or more parties who disagree propose exchanges and concessions to find a course of acceptable collective action

Matching Grant

A grant of money given by the federal government to a state government for which the federal government provides matching funds, usually between one and two dollars, for every dollar the state spends in some area.

Faction

A group of people sharing common interests who are opposed to other groups with competing interests. James Madison defined a faction as any group with objectives contrary to the general interests of society.

Nullification

A legal doctrine that allows a state to void any federal law that could be deemed unconstitutional.

Gridlock

A legislative "traffic jam" often precipitated by divided government. Gridlock occurs when presidents confront opposition-controlled Congresses with policy preferences and political stakes that are in direct competition with their own and those of their party. Neither side is willing to compromise, the government accomplishes little, and federal operations may even come to a halt.

Bicameral Legislature

A legislature composed of two houses or chambers. The U.S. Congress (House and Senate) and every U.S. state legislature (with the exception of Nebraska's, which is unicameral) are bicameral legislatures.

Antifederalists

A loosely organized group (never a formal political party) that opposed ratification of the Constitution, which the group believed would jeopardize individual freedom and states' rights. After ratification, the efforts of the Antifederalists led to adoption of the first ten amendments, the Bill of Rights.

Supermajority

A majority larger than a simple 51 percent majority, which is required for extraordinary legislative actions such as amending the Constitution or certain congressional procedures. For example, in the Senate sixty votes are required to stop a filibuster.

Simple Majority

A majority of 50 percent plus one.

Common Core

A national set of education standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy that outline what students should know and be able to do at the end of each grade (K-12).

Cloture

A parliamentary procedure used to close debate. Cloture is used in the Senate to cut off filibusters. Under the current Senate rules, three-fifths of senators, or sixty, must vote for cloture to halt a filibuster except on presidential nominations to offices other than Supreme Court justice.

Discharge Petition

A petition that removes a measure from a committee to which it has been referred in order to make it available for floor consideration. In the House a discharge petition must be signed by a majority of House members (218).

Representative Government

A political system in which citizens select government officials who, acting as their agents, deliberate and commit the citizenry to a course of collective action.

Confederation

A political system in which states or regional governments retain ultimate authority except for those powers they expressly delegate to a central government.

Tragedy of the Commons

A situation in which group members overexploit a common resource, causing its destruction.

Free-Rider Problem

A situation in which individuals can receive the benefits from a collective activity whether or not they helped to pay for it, leaving them with no incentive to contribute.

Direct Democracy

A system of government in which citizens make policy decisions by voting on legislation themselves rather than by delegating that authority to their representatives.

Federalism

A system of government in which power is divided between a central government and several regional governments. In the United States the division is between the national government and the states.

Dual Federalism

A system of government in which the federal government and state governments each have mutually exclusive spheres of action.

Filibuster

A tactic used in the Senate to halt action on a bill. It involves making long speeches until the majority retreats. Senators, once holding the floor, have unlimited time to speak unless a cloture vote is passed by three-fifths (sixty) of the members.

Conference Committees

A temporary joint committee of the House and Senate appointed to reconcile the differences between the two chambers on a particular piece of legislation.

Pluralism

A theory describing a political system in which all significant social interests freely compete with one another for influence over the government's policy decisions.

Elastic Clause

Allows Congress to "make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers."

Collective Action

An action taken by a group of like-minded individuals to achieve a common goal.

Coalition

An alliance of unlike-minded individuals or groups to achieve some common purpose such as lobbying, legislating, or campaigning for the election of public officials.

Power

An officeholder's actual influence with other officeholders and, as a consequence, over the government's actions.

Closed Rule

An order from the House Rules Committee limiting floor debate on a particular bill and disallowing or limiting amendment.

Private Goods

Benefits and services over which the owner has full control of their use.

Popular Sovereignty

Citizens' delegation of authority to their agents in government, with the ability to rescind that authority.

Cutthroat Competition

Competition among states that involves adopting policies that each state would prefer to avoid. For example, states engage in cutthroat competition when they underbid one another on tax breaks to attract businesses relocating their facilities.

Virginia Plan

Constitutional blueprint drafted by James Madison that sought to reform the Articles of Confederation. Introduced at the Constitutional Convention (1787), the plan proposed a tripartite national government, but unlike the subsequent Constitution, it provided for a popularly elected legislature that would dominate national policymaking.

Nationalists

Constitutional reformers led by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton who sought to replace the Articles of Confederation. Opposed at the Constitutional Convention (1787) by states' rights proponents, the nationalists favored a strong national legislature elected directly by the citizenry rather than the states and a national government that could veto any state laws it deemed unfit.

Focal Point

Focus identified by participants when coordinating their energies to achieve a common purpose.

Grants-in-Aid

Funds given by Congress to state or local governments for a specific purpose.

Public Goods

Goods collectively produced and freely available for anyone's consumption.

Collective Goods

Goods that are collectively produced and freely available for anyone's consumption.

Preferences

Individuals' choices, reflecting economic situation, religious values, ethnic identity, or other valued interests.

Preemption Legislation

Laws passed by Congress that override or preempt state or local policies. The power of preemption derives from the supremacy clause (Article VI) of the Constitution. (See also supremacy clause.)

Earmarks

Money set aside by Congress in the federal budget to pay for projects in the home district of a member of Congress.

Federalists

Name given to two related, but not identical, groups in late-eighteenth-century American politics. The first group, led by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, supported ratification of the Constitution in 1787 and 1788. Subsequently, Hamilton and John Adams led the second group, the Federalist Party, which dominated national politics during the administrations of George Washington (1789-1797) and Adams (1797-1801).

New Jersey Plan

New Jersey delegate William Paterson's proposal for reforming the Articles of Confederation. Introduced at the Constitutional Convention (1787), the New Jersey Plan was favored by delegates who supported states' rights.

Home Rule

Power given by a state to a locality to enact legislation and manage its own affairs locally. Home rule also applies to Britain's administration of the American colonies.

Externality

Public goods or bads generated as by-products of private activity. For example, air pollution is an externality (public bad) because it is, in part, the by-product of the private activity of driving a car.

Plurality

Rule in electing members of Congress by which the candidate who receives the most votes wins, regardless of whether the plurality reaches a majority.

Voting Rules

Rules prescribing who votes and the minimum number of votes required to accept a proposal or elect a candidate.

States' Rights

Safeguards against a too-powerful national government that were favored by one group of delegates to the Constitutional Convention (1787). States' rights advocates supported retaining those features of the Articles of Confederation that guarded state prerogatives, such as state participation in the selection of national officeholders and equal representation for each state regardless of population.

Regulation

Setting up rules limiting access to a common resource and monitoring and penalizing those who violate them.

Nationalization

Shifting to the national government responsibilities traditionally exercised by the states.

Agent

Someone who makes and implements decisions on behalf of someone else.

Principal

Someone who possesses decision-making authority; may delegate their authority to agents, who then exercise it on behalf of the principals.

Office

Subdivision of some government departments that confers on its occupants specific authority and responsibilities.

Declaration of Independence

The document drafted by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, declaring the independence of the thirteen colonies from Great Britain.

Delegation

The act of one person or body authorizing another person or body to perform an action on its behalf. For example, Congress often delegates authority to the president or administrative agencies to decide the details of policy.

Coordination

The act of organizing a group to achieve a common goal. Coordination remains a prerequisite for effective collective action even after the disincentives to individual participation (that is, prisoner's dilemma problems) have been solved.

Casework

The activity undertaken by members of Congress and their staffs to solve constituents' problems with government agencies.

Great Compromise

The agreement between large and small states at the Constitutional Convention (1787) that decided the selection and composition of Congress. The compromise stipulated that the lower chamber (House of Representatives) be chosen by direct popular vote and that the upper chamber (Senate) be selected by the state legislatures. Representation in the House would be proportional to a state's population; in the Senate each state would have two members.

Tenth Amendment

The amendment that offers the most explicit endorsement of federalism to be found in the Constitution: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Judicial Review

The authority of a court to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional and therefore invalid.

Command

The authority of one actor to dictate the actions of another.

Agenda Control

The capacity to set the choices available to others.

Commerce Clause

The clause in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution that gives Congress the authority to regulate commerce with other nations and among the states.

Articles of Confederation

The compact among the thirteen original states that formed the basis of the first national government of the United States from 1777 to 1789, when it was supplanted by the Constitution.

Institutional Design

The construction of political institutions and processes for managing conflicts and reaching collective agreements between competing interests.

Transaction Costs

The costs of doing political business reflected in the time and effort required to compare preferences and negotiate compromises in making collective decisions.

Conditional Party Government

The degree of authority delegated to and exercised by congressional leaders; varies with and is conditioned by the extent of election-driven ideological consensus among members.

Agency Loss

The discrepancy between what citizens ideally would like their agents to do and how the agents actually behave.

Separation of Powers

The distribution of government powers among several political institutions. In the United States, at the national level power is divided between the three branches: Congress, the president, and the Supreme Court.

Enumerated Powers

The explicit powers given to Congress by the Constitution in Article I, Section 8. These include the powers of taxation, coinage of money, regulation of commerce, and provision for the national defense.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Cabinet

The formal group of presidential advisers who head the major departments and agencies of the federal government. Cabinet members are chosen by the president and approved by the Senate.

Veto

The formal power of the president to reject bills passed by both houses of Congress. A veto can be overridden by a two-thirds vote in each house.

Government

The institutions and procedures through which people are ruled.

Necessary and Proper Clause

The last clause of Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution. This clause grants Congress the authority to make all laws that are "necessary and proper" and to execute those laws.

Bicameralism

The practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers that share power.

Majority Rule

The principle that decisions should reflect the preferences of more than half of those voting. Decision-making by majority rule is one of the fundamental procedures of democracy.

Politics

The process through which individuals and groups reach agreement on a course of common, or collective, action—even as they disagree on the intended goals of that action.

"Take Care" Clause

The provision in Article II, Section 3, of the Constitution instructing the president to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed."

Logroll

The result of legislative vote trading. For example, legislators representing urban districts may vote for an agricultural bill provided that legislators from rural districts vote for a mass transit bill.

Authority

The right to make and implement a decision

Privatize

To prevent a common resource from being overexploited by tying the benefit of its consumption to its cost.

Shay's Rebellion

Uprising of 1786 led by Daniel Shays, a former captain in the Continental Army and a bankrupt Massachusetts farmer, to protest the state's high taxes and aggressive debt collection policies. The rebellion demonstrated a fundamental weakness of the Articles of Confederation—its inability to keep the peace—and stimulated interest in strengthening the national government, leading to the Philadelphia convention that framed the Constitution.

Race to the Bottom

When states "race," or compete, to provide a minimum level of services (such as welfare spending) or regulation (such as tax incentives for corporations). There remains much debate over whether states do indeed race toward the bottom.

Whistle-Blower Laws

Whistle blower laws encourage employees to disclose information about government actions that are illegal, wasteful, or corrupt by protecting their job status from reprisals. In some cases, these laws provide whistle-blowers with generous rewards for recovering resources. This device helps principals keep tabs on their agents.