Professional Documents
Culture Documents
FEDERALISM
53.Unitary government: A system of government where power is concentrated in
the hands of the central government
54.Federal system: a system of government where power is shred between the
central government and state and local governments.
55.Confederate government: a system of government with a very weak central
government and strong states.
56.Enumerated powers: The powers specifically given to Congress in Article I,
Section 8, of the Constitution (expressed powers)
57.Expressed powers: the specific power given to the Congress or the president
y the Constitution; also called the enumerated powers.
58.Necessary and proper clause: A clause at the end of Article I, Section 8, of the
U.S. Constitution that grants Congress the power to do whatever is necessary
and proper to carry out its duties; also known as the elastic clause
59.Elastic clause: Clause in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution that says the
Congress has the power to do anything that is necessary and proper in order
to carry out its explicit powers; also called the necessary and proper clause.
60.Implied powers: Powers given to the national government by the necessary
and proper clause.
61.Inherent powers: The powers inherent to the national government because
the United States is a sovereign nation.
62.Prohibited powers: The powers specifically denied to the national government
by the Constitution.
63.Commerce clause: A clause in Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution
that grants Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce.
64.Reserved powers: The powers reserved to the states and the people in the
Tenth Amendment.
65.Concurrent powers: Powers exercised simultaneously by the states and the
federal government.
66.Full faith and credit clause: A clause in Article IV of the Constitution that
declared that state governments must give full faith and credit to other state
government’s decisions.
67.Charter: A document issued by state government granting certain powers
and responsibilities to a local government
68.Home rule: The granting of significant autonomy (freedom) to local
governments by state governments.
69.Special district: A type of local government designed to meet a very specific
need.
70.Dual federalism: A term to describe federalism through most of the
nineteenth century, where the federal and state government each had their
own issue areas, which rarely overlapped; also known as layer-cake
federalism
71.Layer-cake federalism: A term used to describe federalism through most of
the nineteenth century, in which the federal and state governments each had
their own issue areas, that rarely overlapped; also known as dual federalism.
72.Due process clause: Part of the Fourteenth Amendment, which declares that
no person can be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of
law; states cannot deprive citizens of their legal rights.
73.Equal protection clause: Part of the Fourteenth Amendment, which states that
states must give all citizens the equal protection under the law.
74.Privileges and immunities clause: Part of the Fourteenth Amendment, which
forbids state governments from taking away any of the privileges and
immunities of American citizenship.
75.Industrialization:
76.Globalization:
77.Cooperative federalism: A term used to describe federalism for most of the
twentieth century (and into the twenty-first), where the federal government
and the states work closely together and are intertwined; also known as
marble-cake federalism.
78.Marble-make federalism: A term used to describe federalism for most of the
twentieth century (and into the twenty-first), where the federal government
and the states work closely together and are intertwined; also known as
cooperative federalism.
79.New federalism: An American movement, starting in the 1970’s, to return
power to state and local governments, thereby decreasing the amount of
power held by the federal government.
80.Devolution: The process of the national government giving responsibilities
and powers to state, local, or regional governments.
81.Fiscal federalism: The practice of states spending federal money to help
administer national programs.
82.Grants-in-aid: A general term to describe federal aid given to the states for a
particular matter.
83.Block grants: A grant-in-aid with few restrictions or rules about how it can be
spent.
84.Categorical grants:Money given for a specific purpose that comes with
restrictions concerning how the money should be spent. There are two types
of categorical grants: project grants and formula grants.
85.Project grants: Categorical grant programs in which states submit proposals
for projects to the federal government and the national government chooses
which to fund on a competitive basis.
86.Formula grants: Grants in which a formula is used to determine how much
money each state receives.
87.Mandates: When the federal government requires states to do certain things.
88.Unfunded mandates: A mandate for which the federal government gives the
states no money.
89.Regulated federalism: The practice of the national government imposing
standards and regulations on state governments.
90.Preemption: The practice of the national government overriding state and
local laws in the name of the national interest.
91.Horizontal federalism: How state governments relate to one another.
92.Gibbons v. Ogden: An 1824 Supreme Court case that gave the federal
government extensive powers through the commerce clause.
THE PRESIDENCY
POLITICAL PARTIES
121.Political party
122.Party identification
123.Independents
124.Party organization
125.Convention delegates
126.Party activists
127.Duopoly
128.Plurality
129.Winner-take-all system
130.Single-member districts
131.Multiple-member districts
132.Proportional representation
133.Realignment
134.Crosscutting
135.Critical election
136.Soft money
137.Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
138.McCain-Feingold bill
139.527 groups
140.Third party
141.Caucus
142.Machines patronage
143.Populists
144.Responsible parties
145.Party reform
146.Dealignment
147.Split-ticket voting
148.Divided governments
149.Candidate-centered politics
150.Party-centered
151.Splinter party
152.Spoiler