Anyone can vote in any party primaries (like open primary) but
voters not limited to one party (can vote for example in
Blanket Primary Democratic presidential primary and Republican senate primary).
Least amount of party control over process.Declared
unconstitutional (violates party's freedom to associate)
Grants ($) given to the states by the federal government for a general
purpose (like education or road-building). Unlike categorical grants,
Block Grants states have discretion to decide how to spend the money. Example =
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) (States develop and
implement welfare programs using federal money).
A grant ($) given to the states by the federal government for a specific
purpose or program. The federal government tells the states exactly
Categorical Grant how to spend the money (no state discretion unlike block grants).
Example = Medicaid. Most common type of federal grant because it
gives Congress the most control over the states.
System of federalism where federal & state governments help each other
perform governmental duties. Also known as marble-cake federalism. E.g.,
After hurricanes federal and state agencies work together to provide relief.
Cooperative Federalism Can cause confusion and/or conflict among among different levels of
government. Best explanation of how federalism works today (instead of
dual federalism)
Phase 1: Invisible Primary (year prior to election year) - exploratory committees, straw
polls, media exposure...
Phase 2: Front-Loaded Primaries, including Super Tuesday (Jan-Feb of election year)
Election Timeline Phase 3: Remaining primaries & caucuses (March-June of election year)
Phase 4: Nominating Convention (July/August)
Phase 5: The General Election Campaign (from Labor Day)
Phase 6: Election Day (November)
Constitutional system for electing president and vice president. Each state has electors =
to number of senators + representatives (DC also has 3 because of 23rd Amendment).
Electoral College Citizens of state vote for candidate. Winner gets all electoral college votes (except Maine
& Nebraska which uses proportional system). Winner of majority of electoral college votes
becomes president. If no majority then President picked by House from top 3 candidates.
Changes in the two party system (either a new party replaces old party or
coalitions that make up the two main political parties change over time).
"Hard realignment" occurs in one critical election (ex., Republicans replace
Electoral Realignment the Whigs in 1860), "soft realignment" occurs or over time (ex., African
Americans switch from Republican Party to Democratic Party during Civil
Rights Era)
Electors that don't vote for the person they promised to vote for;
Faithless Elector Occurred 156 times (never affected outcome of election)
Major problem with Electoral College
Constitutional process for removing executive officers & judges for "treason,
high crimes & misdemeanors" (whatever Congress thinks is impeachable). Two
stages: (1) House decides to impeach (accuse) target (simple majority); (2)
Impeachment Process Senate holds trial to convict (2/3 majority). Andy Johnson and Bill Clinton
were impeached but not convicted. Nixon resigned as Articles of
Impeachment were being drafted!
Some states allow citizens to come up with their own ideas for
laws to put on an election ballot. If the proposition passes it
Initiative becomes a law. Requires many voter signatures to get on the
ballot. Most direct form of democracy (citizen law-making)
Era in the South after Civil War (1865) until 1950s. African
Americans were freed from slavery and could legally vote
Jim Crow Era (Amendments 13, 14, 15) but were still subjected to discriminatory
state laws enforcing segregation and kept from voting by laws
(ex. poll taxes, literacy tests) and by violence (KKK)
Allows president to veto bad parts of a bill but keep the rest.
Like a scalpel. Especially useful for cutting out pork from
Line-Item Veto spending bills. Declared unconstitutional (impermissibly
changed the detailed law-making process established in Article
I)
A method to deny blacks right to vote during the Jim Crow Era
by requiring reading or civics test in order to vote. Could be
Literacy Test selectively applied. Rationale: only the educated should vote.
Prohibited by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The jurisdiction of courts to hear a case for the first time (trial).
Trial courts (District Courts in federal system) assess the facts in
Original Jurisdiction a case and the issue the first decision (guilt, innocence). Supreme
Court has OJ over disputes between 2 states.
A political party's statement of its goals and policies for the next
four years, created at National Convention. Lofty rhetoric and
Party Platform specific legislative goals. Can cause splintering (example:
southern whites abandoned Democratic Party in 1948 when it
adopted a pro-civil rights plank.
1992 abortion case that applied new flexible test (instead of rigid
trimester framework of Roe v Wade): Does state regulation of
Planned Parenthood v. Casey abortion place "undue burden" on women's right to an abortion?
Court used test to uphold some regulations like waiting periods
and parental notification for minors.
Money that is not subject to campaign finance limits and regulation by the
FEC. All money before FECA was soft money. FECA shut down unlimited
Soft Money contributions to candidates so soft money flowed to political parties.
McCain-Feingold shut down soft money contributions to political parties so
now unlimited contributions flow to 527s and Super-Pacs.
When a 3rd party candidate takes enough votes away from one
of the main party candidates to make him/her lose the election.
Spoiler Effect Ex., Ralph Nader & Green Party may have caused Al Gore to
lose 2000 election to George Bush.
Permanent committees in House and Senate that
Standing Committees handle bills dealing with a particular subject area.
Examples: Defense, Budget, Education.
Any political party that appears as an alternative to the two main parties of
the Democrats and the Republicans. Often extremist, single-issue or
Third Party candidate-centered. Not major feature of US political system because of
winner-take-all electoral system. Can have spoiler effect (Nader in 2000) or
are absorbed into major party (Tea Party in 2008).
Voting for one party for one office and for another
Ticket Splitting party for other offices. Frequent among independent
voters; leads to divided government.