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"Necessary and proper" clause

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Clause in the Constitution that states that "Congress should have the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers. . . ." This clause is also known as the elastic clause as is a major and significant power of Congress, granting Congress the ability to interpret its lawmaking ability in a broad manner.

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"Our federalism"

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Championed by Ronald Reagan, presumes that the power of the federal government is limited in favor of the broad powers reserved to the states.

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Administrative discretion

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Authority given by Congress to the Federal bureaucracy to use reasonable judgment in implementing the laws.

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Adversary system

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A judicial system in which the court of law is a neutral arena where two parties argue their differences.

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Affirmative action

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Remedial action designed to overcome the effects of discrimination against minorities and women.

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American dream

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The widespread belief that the United States is a land of opportunity and that individual initiative and hard work can bring economic success.

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amicus curiae brief

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Literally, a "friend of the court" brief, filed by an individual or organization to present arguments in addition to those presented by the immediate parties to a case.

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Annapolis Convention

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A convention held in September 1786 to consider problems of trade and navigation, attended by five states and important because it issued the call to Congress and the states for what became the Constitutional Convention.

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Antitrust legislation

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Federal laws (starting with the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890) that try to prevent a monopoly from dominating an industry and restraining trade.

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Appellate jurisdiction

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The authority of a court to review decisions made by lower courts.

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Attentive public

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Those citizens who follow public affairs carefully.

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Australian ballot

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A secret ballot printed by the state.

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Bad tendency test

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Interpretation of the First Amendment that would permit legislatures to forbid speech encouraging people to engage in illegal action.

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Bicameralism

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The principle of a two-house legislature.

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Bill of attainder

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Legislative act inflicting punishment, including deprivation of property, without a trial, on named individuals or members of a specific group.

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Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA)

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Largely banned party soft money, restored a long-standing prohibition on corporations and labor unions for using general treasury funds for electoral purposes, and narrowed the definition of issue advocacy.

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Bipartisanship

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A policy that emphasizes a united front and cooperation between the major political parties, especially on sensitive foreign policy issues.

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Block grants

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These are broad state grants to states for prescribed activities—welfare, child care, education, social services, preventive health care, and health services—with only a few strings attached. States have greater flexibility in deciding how to spend block grant dollars, but when the federal funds for any fiscal year are gone, there are no more matching federal dollars.

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Bundling

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A tactic in which PACs collect contributions from like-minded individuals (each limited to $2000) and present them to a candidate or political party as a "bundle," thus increasing the PAC's influence.

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Bureaucracy

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A form of organization that operates through impersonal, uniform rules and procedures.

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Bureaucrat

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A career government employee.

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Bush Doctrine

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A policy adopted by the Bush administration in 2001 that asserts America's right to attack any nation that has weapons of mass destruction that might be used against U.S. interests at home or abroad.

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Candidate appeal

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How voters feel about a candidate's background, personality, leadership ability, and other personal qualities.

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Candidate appeal

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The tendency in elections to focus on the personal attributes of a candidate, such as his/her strengths, weaknesses, background, experience, and visibility.

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Capitalism

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An economic system characterized by private property, competitive markets, economic incentives, and limited government involvement in the production, distribution, and pricing of goods and services.

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Categorical-formula grants

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Congress appropriates funds for a specific purpose, such as school lunches or for building airports and highways. These funds are allocated by formula and are subject to detailed federal conditions, often on a matching basis; that is, the local government receiving the federal funds must put up some of its own dollars. Categorical grants, in addition, provide federal supervision to ensure that the federal dollars are spent as Congress wants.

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Caucus

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A meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and to decide the platform.

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Central clearance

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Review of all executive branch testimony, reports, and draft legislation by the Office of Management and Budget to ensure that each communication to Congress is in accordance with the president's program.

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Centralists

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People who favor national action over action at the state and local levels.

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Chief of staff

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The head of the White House staff.

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Civil disobedience

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Deliberate refusal to obey law or comply with orders of public officials as a means of expressing opposition.

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Civil law

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A law that governs relationships between individuals and defines their legal rights.

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Class action suit

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Lawsuit brought by an individual or group of people on behalf of all those similarly situated.

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Clear and present danger test

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Interpretation of the First Amendment that holds that the government cannot interfere with speech unless the speech presents a clear and present danger that it will lead to evil or illegal acts.

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Closed primary

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Primary election in which only persons registered in the party holding the primary may vote.

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Closed rule

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A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that prohibits any amendments to bills or provides that only members of the committee reporting the bill may offer amendments.

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Closed shop

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A company with a labor agreement under which union membership is a condition of employment.

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Cloture

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A procedure for terminating debate, especially filibusters, in the Senate.

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Coattail effect

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The boost that candidates may get in an election because of the popularity of candidates above them on the ballot, especially the president.

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Collective action

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How groups form and organize to pursue their goals or objectives, including how to get individuals and groups to participate and to cooperate. The term has many applications in the various social sciences such as political science, sociology, and economics.

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Collective bargaining

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Method whereby representatives of the union and employer determine wages, hours, and other conditions of employment through direct negotiation.

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Commerce clause

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The clause in the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1) that gives Congress the power to regulate all business activities that cross state lines or affect more than one state or other nations.

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Commerce clause

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The clause of the Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3) that gives Congress the power to regulate all business activities that cross state lines or affect more than one state or other nations.

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Commercial speech

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Advertisements and commercials for products and services; they receive less First Amendment protection, primarily to discourage false and misleading ads.

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Community policing

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Assigning police to neighborhoods where they walk the beat and work with churches and other community groups to reduce crime and improve relations with minorities.

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Competitive federalism

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Views the national government, 50 states, and thousands of local governments as competing with each other over ways to put together packages of services and taxes. Applies the analogy of the marketplace: we have some choice about which state and city we want to "use", just as we have choices about what kind of telephone service we use.

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Concurrent powers

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Powers that the Constitution gives to both the national and state governments, such as the power to levy taxes.

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Concurring opinion

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An opinion that agrees with the majority in a Supreme Court ruling but differs on the reasoning.

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Confederation

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Constitutional arrangement in which sovereign nations or states, by compact, create a central government but carefully limit its power and do not give it direct authority over individuals.

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Conference committee

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Committee appointed by the presiding officers of each chamber to adjust differences on a particular bill passed by each in different form.

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Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

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An agency of Congress that analyzes presidential budget recommendations and estimates the cost of proposed legislation.

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Congressional-executive agreement

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A formal agreement between a U.S. president and the leaders of other nations that acquires approval by both houses of Congress.

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Connecticut Compromise

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Compromise agreement by states at the Constitutional Convention for a bicameral legislature with a lower house in which representation would be based on population and an upper house in which each state would have two senators.

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Conservatism

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A belief that limited government insures order competitive markets and personal opportunity.

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Constitutional Convention

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The convention in Philadelphia, May 25 to September 17, 1787, that debated and agreed upon the Constitution of the United States.

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Constitutional democracy

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A government that enforces recognized limits on those who govern and allows the voice of the people to be heard through free, fair, and relatively frequent elections.

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Constitutionalism

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The set of arrangements, including checks and balances, federalism, separation of powers, rule of law, due process, and a bill of rights, that requires our leaders to listen, think, bargain, and explain before they act or make laws. We then hold them politically and legally accountable for how they exercise their powers.

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Contract clause

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Clause of the Constitution (Article I, Section 10) originally intended to prohibit state governments from modifying contracts made between individuals; for a while interpreted as prohibiting state governments from taking actions that adversely affect property rights; no longer interpreted so broadly and no longer constrains state governments from exercising their police powers.

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Cooperative federalism

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Stresses federalism as a system of intergovernmental relations in delivering governmental goods and services to the people and calls for cooperation among various levels of government.

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Court of appeals

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A court with appellate jurisdiction that hears appeals from the decisions of lower courts.

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Creative federalism

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During the Great Society, the marble cake approach of intergovernmental relations.

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Criminal law

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A law that defines crimes against the public order.

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Cross-cutting cleavages

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Divisions within society that cut across demographic categories to produce groups that are more heterogeneous or different.

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Cross-cutting requirements

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A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Federal grants may establish certain conditions that extend to all activities supported by federal funds, regardless of their source. The first and most famous of these is Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which holds that in the use of federal funds, no person may be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, or national origin. More than 60 cross-cutting requirements concern such matters as the environment, historic preservation, contract wage rates, access to government information, the care of experimental animals, and the treatment of human subjects in research projects.

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Crossover sanctions

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A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. These sanctions permit the use of federal money in one program to influence state and local policy in another. For example, a 1984 act reduced federal highway aid by up to 15 percent for any state that failed to adopt a minimum drinking age of 21.

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Crossover voting

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Voting by member of one party for a candidate of another party.

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Cycle of decreasing influence

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The tendency of presidents to lose support over time.

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Cycle of increasing effectiveness

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The tendency of presidents to learn more about doing their jobs over time.

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De facto segregation

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Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice.

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De jure segregation

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Segregation imposed by law.

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Dealignment

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Weakening of partisan preferences that points to a rejection of both major parties and a rise in the number of independents.

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Decentralists

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People who favor state or local action rather than national action.

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Defendant

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- In a criminal action, the person or party accused of an offense.

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Democratic consensus

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Widespread agreement on fundamental principles of democratic governance and the values that undergird them.

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Demographics

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The study of the characteristics of populations.

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Deregulation

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A policy promoting cutbacks in the amount of Federal regulation in specific areas of economic activity.

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Devolution revolution

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The effort to slow the growth of the federal government by returning many functions to the states.

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Direct democracy

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Government in which citizens vote on laws and select officials directly.

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Direct orders

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A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Direct orders must be complied with under threat of criminal or civil sanction. An example is the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, barring job discrimination by state and local

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Direct primary

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Election in which voters choose party nominees.

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Discharge petition

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Petition that, if signed by majority of the House of Representatives' members, will pry a bill from committee and bring it to the floor for consideration.

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Dissenting opinion

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An opinion disagreeing with a majority in a Supreme Court ruling.

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Distributive policy

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A type of policy that provides benefits to all Americans.

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Divided government

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Governance divided between the parties, as when one holds the presidency and the other controls one or both houses of Congress.

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Docket

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The list of potential cases that reach the Supreme Court.

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Double jeopardy

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Trial or punishment for the same crime by the same government; forbidden by the Constitution.

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Dual federalism (layer cake federalism)

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Views the Constitution as giving a limited list of powers—primarily foreign policy and national defense—to the national government, leaving the rest to the sovereign states. Each level of government is dominant within its own sphere. The Supreme Court serves as the umpire between the national government and the states in disputes over which level of government has responsibility for a particular activity.

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Due process

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Established rules and regulations that restrain government officials.

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