GOV 310L SHAW/McDaniel Exam 1

Define Political Science

Social science that deals with the theory and practice of politics (distribution of power and resources)

Define Government

Governments are organizations of individuals who

have the power to make binding decisions on behalf

of a particular community.

What are the alternatives to government?

1. Self Interest (farmers problem of cooperation)

2. Values

Why is government necessary?

1. to maintain order/resolve conflict

2. to protect property

3. to provide public goods (increase value of human civilization)

Why should we trust/mistrust government?

Mistrust keeps government accountable. Trust enables people to allow government to enforce its decisions.

What type of gov is the US?

Republic NOT a pure democracy

How can we control the scope of conflict?

1. Privatization (localism, individualism, privacy, free private enterprise).

2. Socialization (equality, justice, liberty, civil rights)

According to Schnattschneider's

Operational Definition of Democracy what is the essence of democratic policy based on?

1. Conflict

2. Competition

3. Leadership

4. Organization

Define democracy

Democracy is a competitive political system in which competing leaders and organizations define the

alternatives of public policy in such a way that the public can participate in the decision-making process.

What were government and politics like prior to the constitution?

1. Divine right of rulers

2. Social contract: sacrifice some freedom in exchange for security

3. High population in America

4. Unalienable rights ideas coming from GB but adopted by Americans

5. The British problem

How did the British problem lead to America needing its own government?

1. French and Indian War, GB helped America and wanted colonies to pay for this help > coercive acts

2. Big issue: Taxation without representation

How did the new American government organize itself?

1. Continental Congress

2. Declaration of Independence 1776

3. Articles of Confederation

4. Movement to Reform

What did the continental congress do?

1. First national legislature with 56 elected delegates

2. Big names attended

3. Passed acts to boycott GB goods

4. Limited it's own power

What did the Declaration of Independence do?

1. Helped gain support for war effort

2. Attracted support of foreign powers

3. Justified subsequent actions to American people

What were the Articles of Confederation?

1. First written constitution of US

2. Drafted 1777 and ratified 1781

3. Preamble, 13 articles, conclusion (only 5 pages)

What kind of government did the Articles of Confederation create?

1. Asserted sovereignty of states

2. Unicameral legislature, one vote per state

3. Power of foreign relations, war, commerce given to central gov

4. Funded by payments of state legislature

5. Suggested federal court system

What were the major weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?

1. No way to enforce congress decisions

2. No real system of federal courts

3. 9/16 to approve congress decisions

4. Amendments require unanimity

5. No executive power

Why replace Articles of Confederation?

1. Commercial/Economic problems

2. Fear of predatory powers (GB/France)

3. Who would assume public debt?

4. Fear of rebellion (post Shay's rebellion and French Revolution)

Define constitution

Codes of rules which aspire to regulate the allocation of functions, powers and duties among the various agencies and offices of government, and define the relationship between these and the public

Why should/shouldn't constitutions endure?

1. Jefferson "dead should not govern the living".

2. People can be left out of a constitution.

3. If this is the case it must be amended (i.e. 19th amendment which gave women inclusion in voting, 14th amendment which gave everyone born in US including prior slaves voting rights)

Why is the U.S. Constitution unique?

1. Most constitutions only last about 20 years

2. U.S. constitution has lasted 230 years

3. It is a building block for many other constitutions

What principles united the framers of the U.S. constitution?

1. Equality (rule of law, rights for all citizens)

2. Liberty (bill of rights, protection of property etc.)

3. Majority Rule/Minority Rights (separation of powers, checks and balances, congressional representation)

What issues divided the framers of the U.S. constitution?

1. Representation (congress, president)

2. Limiting Governmental Power

How was congress an issue dividing the constitutional convention?

1. Should people be the basis of representation (Virginia Plan, bicameral legislature with representatives allocated by population)

2. Should states be the base of representation (NJ plan, unicameral legislature, reps allocated by state)

3. Compromise (Connecticut Plan, bicameral legislature, lower house by pop, upper house by state)

How was the president an issue dividing the constitutional convention?

1. Elected by people, congress or state legislature

3. Compromise (Electoral college, states cast votes based on total number of members of Congress)

How did the convention choose to limit government?

1. Separation of powers (congress passes laws, president enforces laws, courts interpret laws)

2. Checks and balances (congressional legislation must be signed by president, president appointments must be confirmed by senate, supreme court determines constitutionality of president and congress)

3. Federalism

4. Bill of Rights

What is federalism?

1. Governing system that allows two or more entities to share control over the same geographic region.

2. Power is split among federal, state, local gov

3. In US federal gov has significantly less power than state government

4. Affirmed by article 10 of constitution

What is the Bill of Rights?

1. Included at the insistence of advocates of states' rights

2. Concern over the list of rights: is a right not on the list a fundamental right.

What are the traditions in state constitution making?

1. Higher-Law Tradition

2. Positive-Law Tradition

Define higher-law tradition

1. Constitutions are a blueprint of government

2. Constitution not concerned with the details or legalities of day to day government

3. Constitution is flexible and amendable (it's a living document)

Define positive-law tradition

1. Constitutions are detailed outlines of the day to day activities of government

2. Rigid, not flexible

3. Especially popular in reconstruction state constitutions (i.e. TX and Alabama)

Which constitutions are amended the most?

Positive-law constitutions

When is a constitution likely to be replaced?

1. It is not being amended at all (will become out of date)

2. It is being amended far more than average (has a bad structure)

How do state constitutions function as a protest?

If the states disagree with a decision made by the federal government they can note it in the constitution even though it can't be enforced.

How does federalism relate to collective dillemas?

1. Problems between states (i.e. water rights)

2. Protect states from outside aggression

Who practices federalism?

1. Less than 10% of nations are federal.

2. Most nations are unitary.

3. Even though federations are only 10% of governments they make up 1/3 of worlds population.

What are some issues with federalism?

1. Conflicts between states and the federal government (ex. Texas constantly suing U.S. government)

2. Concern that autonomy of states leads to secession

What are the positives of federalism?

1. Policy Labratories

2. Policy Diffusion

3. States learn from each other

Define policy diffusion

Amongst policy experimentation, other states pay attention to this and choose to implement or not implement this policy

How do states learn from each other?

1. Emulation of Successes (states w/ successful policies are more likely to be emulated)

2. Seeking Low-Cost Success (States emulate successful policies to avoid policy failures and excessive spending)

3. Administrators emulating successes (b/c of greater access to info, admin agencies rely heavily on evidence of success)

4. Legislators Emulating Successes (B/c of reelection, legislators especially rely on success)

5. Similar States (states emulate states similar to them)

What is CHIP?

1. Children's Health Insurance Program

2. States had lots of leeway

3. Example of states learning from states

Define federalism

1. Governing system in which power is dispersed across several levels

2. Levels precede from geography

What powers does the U.S. government have?

1. Print money

2. Declare war

3. Establish army

4. Foreign relations

5. Regulate commerce between states

6. Post offices

7. Make laws to enforce constitution

What powers do state governments have?

1. Establish local governments

2. Regulate commerce within state

3. Conduct elections

4. Ratify amendments to constitution

5. Public health, safety, education

6. Property laws

What are the two periods of federalism in the U.S.?

1. Dual Federalism (1819-1936)

2. Cooperative Federalism (1936-present)

What is dual federalism?

1. U.S. government establishes right to some powers through the states

2. During this period series of court cases saw federal gov gain more power (wasn't enacted till later)

3. McCulloch v. Maryland (necessary and proper class, supremacy clause, federal gov takes precedent in conflict with states)

4. Gibbons v. Ogden (Interstate commerce act, federal government monopoly > state gov monopoly)

What is cooperative federalism?

1. U.S. gov becomes partner, co - equal player with states on many public policy matters (marble cake federalism)

2. Roosevelt's New Deal brings this era into being

3. Fed gov uses reward and punishment to influence policy making

How does federalism influence decisions today? (The types of grants provided)

1. Categorical grants (strict purpose)

2. Block grants (given to states and localities that meet certain requirements, fair discretion)

3. Flat grants (grants given across board, substantial discretion)

What is devolution?

1. The transfer of political power from federal level to state level.

2. Second order devolution: flow of power from states to local gov

3. Third order devolution: Increased role of private groups in policy implementation

What drives devolution?

1. Beliefs of devolutions proponents

2. The realities of deficit politics

3. The views of most citizens

What is the effect of the devolution revolution?

1. Even if the federal gov is reinvigorated, the U.S. is unlikely to become a centralized nation

2. Sate and local gov retain constitutional protections

3. Members of Congress continue to think of themselves as representatives of locatlities

Why do members of congress differ from local gov leaders when they have the same constituents?

1. Congress members represent different constituencies from same localities

2. Organization that once linked members of Congress to local interest groups have eroded

Define civil liberties

Freedoms protected from interference by the government or by others, such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Define civil rights

Rights that enable individuals to engage in activities central to citizenship or legal immigrant status, such as voting or petitioning the government, or guarantee freedom from oppressive actions by others that seek to deny an individuals full status as an equal member of society

What is the classic trade off with civil liberties and rights?

Rights of the Individual to Liberty v. Greater Societal Goals

What are reasons the government can regulate free speech?

1. Bad tendency (if speech is harming public welfare)

2. Clear and Present Danger (if speech creates clear and present danger ex. in times of war, 1919)

3. Fighting words doctrine (words that are hateful, inflict injury, 1942)

4. Balancing Test (weigh harm of speech vs. harm of limiting speech, 1950)

5. Incitement/Imminent Lawless Action (cannot limit speech unless it indicates imminent lawless action, 1969)

What are key rights of the accused?

1. Right against unreasonable search and seizure

2. Right against self incrimination

3. Right to counsel

How is affirmative action an example of the Dilemma of American Government?

1. Government wants to end discrimination but requires some individuals to make a personal sacrifice

2. Executive orders ending discrimination by FDR, JFK, LBJ

3. Fed gov requires demonstration of non-discriminatory hiring practices to win contracts

4. Court cases over contracts, employment, school admissions

Why should we care about civil rights?

1. A continuing issue in American history

2. Example of how people with a concern can make their claim on government

3. Results have greatly affected todays politics (voting and elections, public policy, interest groups and coalitions)

What were the strategies used by the modern civil rights movement?

1. Legalism

2. Non-Violent Direct Action

3. Political Action

4. Black Power

Legalism and limits

1. Going through court system to attack segregation and discrimination

2. Limits (expensive, slow, burden on victims, driven by elite)

NVDA and limits

1. Based on Gandhian notion of civil disobedience

2. Let to rise of MLK, mobilized blacks, provokes counter mobilization

3. Limits (ppl lost their lives, land, jobs, mixed effectiveness, limit effect on political power structure)

Political action and limits

1. Gain control of ballot box

2. Limits (limited increase in voters, few blacks elected, movement divides)

Black power and limits

1. Belief in creating a separate society with own resources since general society won't fulfill promise to them

2. Limits (weak leadership, paranoid, violent)

What are the two types of rights?

1. Negative rights (things the government cannot do)

2. Positive rights (things the government is obligated to provide)

Civil liberties can also be understood as...

negative rights

What are the role of rights in history?

1. Historically, people aren't given rights

2. Actively establishing negative rights makes U.S. constitution unique

Why do we not see the widespread repression of the past when Americans are no more tolerant?

1. Pluralistic intolerance (high level of intolerance but no clearly defined enemy). Advanced by Prof. James Gibson

What are stipulations put on police power in regards to public health?

1. Necessity

2. Reasonable Means

3. Proportionality

4. Harm avoidance

Define Interest Groups

Organizations or associations with common interests actively working to defend the interests of their members

What is the free-rider problem?

People can enjoy the benefits of interest groups without bearing any of the costs.

What are the types of goods?

1. Public goods

2. Private goods

3. Club goods

4. Common goods

Define public good

1. Goods that can be enjoyed by free riding on efforts of others

2. Non exclusive and non rivalrous

Define private good

1. Goods you must purchase or contribute to to enjoy, and goods where your consumption of the good takes away from others.

2. Exclusive and rivalrous

Characteristics of club goods

1. exclusive but non rivalrous

Characteristics of common goods

2. non exclusive but rivalrous

Define pluralism

Politics must be comprised of many conflicting groups who represent all important interests in society.

What are non-cumulative inequalities?

Disadvantages are not cumulative, meaning that a person who has a weakness in one area will have a strength in another and therefore weakness will not make you weaker and weaker.

What are cumulative inequalities?

One weakness leads to another. People with a lack of a resource will not be able to effectively access other weaknesses.

What is a main criticism of pluralism?

Schattschnieder argues that there are cumulative inequalities and people won't be able to advance their causes.

What is the collective action problem?

1. How do you get individuals to contribute?

2. Dahl argues for non-cumulative action, Schattschnieder disagrees.

What are the different types of incentives?

1. Material Incentives (give goods if you are a member, division between leadership and membership)

2. Specific Solidarity Incentives (award you get for being a member, status symbol. Based on how people evaluate org, and org can't do anything too controversial)

3. Purposive Incentives (you feel better about yourself for contributing).

What are the theories of power in the U.S.?

1. Democracy

2. Elite Theory

3. Interest Group Liberalism/Pluralism/Polyarchy

What are the assumptions of democracy?

1. People dictate political outcomes and policies

2. Elections and representative gov are the mechanisms of power

3. People are well-informed, interested, engaged

What are the major criticisms of democracy?

1. Opportunities for direct democracy are rare

2. Public input is limited

3. People are not all well informed, engaged

What are the major assumptions of elite theory?

1. Elites rule and their goal is to maintain power

2. There is a circulation of ruling elites

3. Elites share consensus about social/political system

4. Elites rule through institutions

5. Masses are ill-informed, passive

What are the major criticisms of elite theory?

1. Dichotomous, zero-sum approach

2. Conspiratorial

3. Elites don't all share same perspective

4. Existence of elites does not lead to elite theory

What are the major assumptions of pluralism, Robert Dahl?

1. Group leader positions are available and people are elected by constituents

2. Leaders engage in decision making

3. Leaders compromise to make decisions

4. Conflict prevents monopoly of power by any one group

What are the main criticisms of pluralism?

1. Most decisions are private, not public

2. Not all groups can mobilize

3. Group leadership doesn't always rep members well.

Why are interest groups becoming more common in the U.S.?

1. Cultural diversity

2. Econ development

3. Government policy

4. Innovative leadership

Define social movements

1. Outsider politics for groups who feel they are not adequately represented in government.

2. Much more direct action on the part of individuals

What created the civil rights movement?

1. National changes

2. Racial Terrorism

3. Economic problems

4. WWII and the Cold War (US couldn't be seen as undemocratic)

5. Emergence of Black Efficacy

6. Court decisions

What were the actions of the civil rights movement?

1. Bus boycotts

2. Churches as movement centers

3. Southern Christian Leadership Conference

What were the main provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act?

1. Limits on individual contributions

2. Limits on candidate expenditures

3. Definition and regulation of Political Action Committees

4. Disclosure requirements for candidates and parties in federal elections

5. Establishment of federal election commission

What were the effects of the Federal Election Campaign Act?

1. Huge increase in number of interest groups

2. Increase in money in election campaigns

3. Soft money funneled through political parties

What are the major loopholes in Federal Election campaign act?

1. Soft money

2. Independent expenditures

3. Bundling

What are the main provisions of the bipartisan campaign reform act?

1. Increase in individual contribution levels

2. Outlaws soft money to parties

3. Limits soft money spent by PACs and outside interest groups

Effects of BCRA?

1. Increase money in politics

2. Increase in 527 groups which are tax exempt

What is important about the citizens united decision?

1. Supreme Court ruled that BCRA limiting groups from spending money in political campaigns violated first amendment.

Define Super PACs

independent political action committee that can raise unlimited sums from corporations, unions and individuals but is not able to contribute or coordinate with parties or candidates.