Law & Politics [M-R]
Mediating institution
An institution which stands between and connects people with the government. Examples include the media, political parties and interest groups.
Minority leader
Individual elected to lead a party in the House or Senate that does not hold the majority of seats in the body.
Monetary policy
Policies aimed at controlling inflation and unemployment through manipulation of the money supply and interest rates. Primarily established by the Federal Reserve Board
Nonprobability sampling
Non-random selection of respondents for a survey. Problematic because the group of people chosen to respond to the survey is not likely to be representative of the larger population.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) -
Federal agency that compiles and reviews budget figures on the President's behalf.
Open primary
Election held for the purposes of choosing the nominee for a particular political party in which voters of any party are eligible to vote.
Open rule
Rule in the House of Representatives which allows for any number of amendments to be made to a bill being considered on the floor.
Original jurisdiction
Authority to hear a cases for the first time in a particular geographic area or sphere of the law. Courts of original jurisdiction are generally trial courts in which decisions are made by juries
Party platform
An official statement and proclamation of the beliefs, values and policy positions of a political party. Specific statements or positions in a platform are sometimes called "planks," e.g. the "abortion plank" of a party's platform
Patronage
Practice of rewarding jobs in official governmental posts to one's political allies after an electoral victory.
Payroll tax
Paid in equal amounts (7.65%) by employers and employees to fund Social Security and Medicare. Also known as FICA.
Permissive federalism
View that, because the national government is supreme, the states only have those powers which the national government permits them to exercise.
Pocket veto
If the Congress adjourns before ten days have passed since the passage of a bill, the President can allow the legislation to die simply by failing to sign it.
Political action committee (PAC)
Arm of an interest group legally permitted to give money to political candidates competing for federal elective office.
Political party
A team of office seekers and their supporters, generally unified by a common ideology, philosophy, set of values and political beliefs, usually outlined in a party platform.
Popular sovereignty
Notion that political power or the power to govern is derived from the people. As such, the people retain the right to rescind any grant of power to the government.
Pork-barrel
Spending that is primarily for the benefit of particular local interestes in a member of Congress's district and not obviously in the interests of the nation as a whole.
Power of the purse
The authority to create and raise taxes and to authorize the spending of the money raised through them.
President pro tempore
Acting president of the United States Senate in the absence of the Vice President who is the constitutionally authorized President of the body.
Progressive tax
Tax collected at increasingly higher rates or percentages as income level increases.
Public interest group (or PIG)
A group that exist for the express purpose of pursuing public interests that would not otherwised be pursued. Examples include Common Cause (a group that promotes campaign finance reform) and Public Citizen (a broad consumer advocacy group).
Random sampling
The selection of individuals to participate in a public opinion poll (or other kind of study) in a way that is unbiased. See Public Opinion in the ThisNation online textbook.
Reaganomics
Economic strategy promoted by Ronald Reagan during his time in office based on the supposition that cutting taxes would make individual taxpayers more productive and more wealthy. Consequently, the taxes paid by wealthy individuals, although collected at a lower percentage, would be equal to or greater than before the tax cuts.
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