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POLS 207 Exam 2 Term
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Cause Lobbyist | Person who works for an organization that tracks and promotes an issue |
| Closed Primary | Nominating election exclusively for voters in that party |
| Contract Lobbyists | Lobbyists who work for different causes for different clients; Similar to lawyers who work with multiple clients |
| Crossover Voting | Voting by a member of one party in another party's primary; Not allowed in all states |
| Factions | Factional Splits; Groups that struggle to control the message within a party - Ex: Competing regional factions |
| General Elections | Decisive elections where all registered voters cast ballots for their preferred candidates |
| Nonpartisan Ballots | Ballots that do not list candidates by political party; Used in local elections |
| Open Primary | Nominating election open to all registered voters |
| Party Conventions | Meetings of party delegates to nominate candidates for office and establish party agendas |
| Political Machines | Party Machines; Political organizations controlled by small numbers of people and run for partisan ends; Controlled party nominations and rewarded supporters with government jobs and contracts |
| Runoff Primary | Election held if no candidate receives a majority of the votes during the regular primary |
| Super PACs | Political action committees that spend unlimited funds for political candidates but can't directly coordinate plans with them |
| Apportionment | Allotting of districts according to population shifts |
| Caucus | All members of a party within a legislative chamber; Meetings of members in a political party in a chamber |
| Coalition Building | Assembly of an alliance of groups pursuing a common goal or interest |
| Committee | Group of legislators formally tasked with considering and writing bills in a particular issue area |
| Constituent Service | Work done by legislators to help residents in their voting districts; Young home-bakers in Wisconsin |
| Districts | Geographical areas represented by members of a legislature; Greatly differ in size |
| Filibuster | Delaying tactic used in the Senate; Prevent legislation from being passed; Allowed in 13 states, including TX |
| Gerrymandering | Districts drawn with the intent of pressing partisan advantage at the expense of other considerations |
| Logrolling | "Support me now, I'll support you later"; Process by which a legislator gives a colleague a vote on a specific bill in exchange for that colleague's vote on another bill |
| Majority-minority Districts | Districts where members of a minority group make up a majority of the population |
| Malapproportionment | Situation in which the principle of equal representation is violated |
| Override | Process by which legislative chambers vote to challenge a veto; Usually requires a 2/3 supermajority |
| Oversight | Make sure that governor and executive branch agencies properly implement laws through public hearings, budget reviews, and formal investigations |
| Professionalized Legislatures | Process of providing legislators with resources to make politics their main career - Example: Making their positions full-time of providing them with full-time staff |
| Rank-and-file Members | Most common; Legislators who do not hold leadership positions or senior committee posts |
| Riders | Amendments to a bill that are not central to the bill's intent; Typically used to derail legislation when House and Senate are dominated by different parties |
| Veto | Governor's rejection of legislation passed by the legislature |
| Appointment Powers | Governor's ability to pick individual to run state government - Example: Cabinet secretaries |
| Formal Powers | Powers explicitly granted to a governor according to state law; Power to appoint, prepare state budgets, veto, grant pardons, and call special sessions |
| Impeachment | Process by which legislature can remove executive branch officials from office for corruption or other reasons - Example: Governors and Judges |
| Informal Powers | Powers not explicitly granted to the governor; Based on personality or position; Power of popular support, party support in the legislature, and ability to communicate |
| Plural-executive System | "First among equals"; State government where governor is not dominant figure in executive branch; Serve alongside other elected officials |
| Recall Election | Special election allowing voters to remove an elected official from office before the end of their term |
| Supermajority Vote | A legislative vote of much more than a simple majority - Example: Vote by 2/3 of legislative chamber to override a governor's veto |
| Appeal | Request to have a lower court's decision in a case reviewed by a higher court |
| Bench Trial | No jury; A trial in which the judge alone hears the case |
| Civil Cases | Legal cases that involve disputes between private parties |
| Contract Attorneys | Private attorneys who commit to serve court on a fixed-fee basis per case of for a specific length of time |
| Criminal Cases | Legal cases brought by the state intending to punish violations of law |
| En Banc | Appeals court sessions in which all the judges hear a case together |
| Grand Jury | Group of between 16 and 23 citizens who decide if a case should go to trial; If the grand jury decides that it should, an indictment is issued |
| Indictment | Formal criminal charge |
| Intermediate Appellate Court | Court that reviews court cases to find possible errors in their proceedings |
| Merit Selection | Bipartisan judicial nominating commission; Create a list of highly qualified candidates for the bench from which the governor or legislature appoints judges |
| Panels | Groups of (usually) three judges who sit to hear cases in a state court of appeals |
| Plea Bargain | Agreement in which the accused in a criminal case admits guilt in exchange for a lighter sentence |
| Precedent | Use of past to determine current interpretation and decision making |
| Prejudicial Error | Error that affects the outcome of a case |
| Prosecutor | Government official and lawyer who conducts criminal cases on behalf of the people |
| Public Defender | Provide free legal services to poor people accused of crimes |
| Pure Appointive System | Judicial selection systems in which the governor appoints judges alone - Example: California, Maine, and New Jersey |
| Retention Election | An election in which a judge runs uncontested and voters are asked to vote yes or no on the question of whether they wish to retain the judge in office |
| Rocket Docket | Court schedule that fast-tracks cases with limited, specific deadlines for specific court procedures |
| Settlement | Mutual agreement between parties to end a civil case before going to trial |
| State Supreme Court | Highest level of appeals court in a state |
| Trial Court | First level of the court system |
| Affirmative Action | Controversial; Set of policies designed to help organizations recruit and promote employees who are members of disadvantaged groups |
| Bureaucracy | Public agencies and the programs and services they implement and manage; Characteristics include division of labor, hierarchy, formal rules, maintenance of files and records, and professionalization - Example: Public schools |
| Bureaucrats | Employees of public agencies |
| Collective Bargaining | Process in which representatives of labor and management meet to negotiate pay and benefits, job responsibilities, and working conditions |
| Contracting Out | Government hiring of private or nonprofit organizations to deliver public goods or services |
| Merit System | System used in public agencies in which employment and promotions are based on qualifications and demonstrated ability |
| Neutral Competence | Idea that public agencies should be the impartial implementers of democratic decisions |
| Patronage | Process of giving government jobs to partisan loyalists |
| Policy Implementation | Process of translating the express wishes of government into action |
| Professionalization | Employees of bureaucratic agencies earn their jobs based on qualifications and merit |
| Representative Bureaucracy | Idea that public agencies that reflect the diversity of the communities they serve will be more effective |
| Rulemaking | The process of translating laws into written instructions on what public agencies will or will not do |
| Spoils System | Instituted by Andrew Jackson; System under which an electoral winner has the right to decide who works for public agencies |
| Street-level Bureaucrat | Lower-level public agency employee who actually takes the actions outlined in law or policy |
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