| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Grants-In-Aid | Federal funds provided to states and localities |
| Block | Grants of money from the federal government to states for programs in certain general areas rather than for specific kinds of programs |
| Categorical | Federal grants for specific purposes defined by federal law; usually require that the state put up matching money |
| Blanket Primary | A primary that permits all voters, regardless of party, to choose candidates of both parties |
| Open Primary | A primary that permits voters to chose ob election day the party primary in which they wish to vote |
| Mandates | Requirements imposed on states |
| Unfunded Mandate | Obligation imposed on the state without any compensatory funding provided |
| Fiscal Federalism | The pattern of spending, taxing, and providing grants in the federal system |
| New or Competitive Federalism | The transfer of responsibility from the national government to the state government with certain restrictions if a state does not meet the criteria of a specific requirement; associated with Nixon and Reagan |
| Regulatory Federalism | The national government imposes requirements on states and localities, for ex: environmental and civil rights requirements |
| Cooperative Federalism | Type of federalism in which the fed. government is more intrusive in the domain of the state governments; the fed. and state levels share areas of public policy; responsibilities are mingled and distinctions are blurred between the levels of gov.; similar to Marble Cake Theory; associated with FDR |
| Creative Federalism | Joint planning and decision making among all levels of government; the state has a greater reliance on federally-funded programs such as Medicare and Medicaid; associated with LBJ |
| "Dirty Dozen" | A list, compiled by an environmental interest group, of those legislators who voted most frequently against its measures |
| Federal Regulation Lobbying Act of 1946 | Its application restricted to lobbying efforts involving direct contacts with members of Congress |
| Insider Strategy | when lobbyists work closely with a few key members of Congress |
| PIRGs | Organizations first organized by Ralph Nader that gather information on consumer topics |
| "Revolving Door" | Practice of lobbying officials with such promises as employment after their government service |
| Elitist Theory | Believes that politics is being corrupted by the rich interest groups |
| Pluralist Theory | Believes that competing interest groups are healthy: give people a connection to govt. and they balance each other |
| Hyperpluralist Theory | Believes that interest groups are way out of control; the more groups that exist the more they'll influence some govt. agency |
| Iron Triangles | A close relationship between an agency, congressional committee, and an interest group that works to everyone's advantage |
| Markup | Committee revisions of a bill |
| Restrictive | A rule issued by the Rules Committee that permits some amendments to a bill but not to others |
| Sophomore Surge | The difference between the number of votes candidates get when they are first elected and the number of votes they get when they run for reelection |
| Malapportionment | Congressional districts having different populations |
| Party Whip | An individual who assists the party leader in staying abreast of the concerns and voting intentions of the party members |
| Ways and Means Committee | House committee in charge of approving bills that raise revenue for running the government as well as disbursing entitlement funds such as Social Security; largest House committee |
| Imperialism | A bureaucratic pathology in which agencies tend to grow without regard to the benefits their programs confer or the costs they entail |
| Annual authorization | The practice of a legislative committee determining the amount an agency can spend on a yearly basis; curtails the power of the appropriations committees |
| Bureaucratic culture | An informal understanding among fellow employees of an agency as to how they are supposed to act |
| Authorization | Legislation that originates in a legislative committee stating the maximum amount of money that an agency may spend on a given program |
| Schedule C job | A form of patronage under the excepted service for a position of "confidential or policy-determining" character below the level of the cabinet and subcabinet |
| Committee clearance | A request made by congressional committees to review certain agency decisions |
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