usps final

Political system

The result of political actors responding to institutions.

Political science

Systematic study of politics.

Rules

Lawmaking, administration, justice.

Response

Organizations, political parties, economy, media, etc.

pB + D > C

p = your vote is decisive with small probability; B = benefit, what do you get if your candidate wins?; D = duty, in a democracy we encourage people to vote; C = cost, reducing C is important.

Federalist 10

Large extended republic with diverse interests is the best way to control the dangers of factions, preventing any single faction from gaining power to oppress minorities.

Republic

No monarch, authority from people.

Democracy

The people rule.

Elections Clause

Article 1, section 4 gives state legislatures the power to set the times, places, and manner of federal elections.

Presidency

Established by Article II, section I, vesting power in one president, outlines electoral college and four year term.

House election bias

Single-member districts advantage the winning party; uniform swing picks up marginal seats.

Apportionment

How seats are allocated to states.

Malapportionment

When different seats have different numbers of voters.

Districting

How districts are drawn, which voters are in which districts.

Gerrymandering

Drawing districts for some advantage or other.

Senate reform

Cannot abolish the senate; constitution guarantees each state equal representation in the senate.

Political parties

A coalition of people who form a united front to win control of government and implement policy.

Long coalitions

A stable and ongoing alliance of political parties or groups that merge their identities to form a unified party.

Negative agenda power

A good party leader who controls the agenda will never let a bill come to a vote if their party disagrees on it.

Candidate POV

Candidates want to win the office and need to gather support to do so.

Party POV

Parties want the best candidate for the party to win the office and need to choose such a candidate.

Convention

Party delegates meet in a convention to choose their nominees.

Caucus

Rank and file partisans meet all at once and discuss the vote on the candidates.

Superdelegate

Delegates not pledged to any candidate and who automatically go to the convention.

Mobilization

Parties and campaigns get people to vote, working to increase duty or reduce cost.

Highly attentive voters

More likely to be exposed to new messages.

Resistance of highly attentive voters

More likely to resist novel new messages and messages from unfriendly sources.

Highly attentive Republicans

Hear a lot of messages, tend to accept GOP messages, and tend to resist Democratic messages.

Highly attentive Democrats

Hear a lot of messages, tend to accept Democratic messages, and tend to resist GOP messages.

Less attentive voters

Hear fewer messages and resist less.

Opinion transmission

Much of opinion is transmitted from elite sources, especially for the highly informed.

Identity in politics

Identity shapes policy preference and political preference.

Democratic identification

Democrats are less likely to identify with their party and more likely to agree with policy positions.

Republican identification

Republicans are more likely to identify with their party or ideological group and less likely to agree with policy positions.

Median voter theorem

Ideological appeals based on the preferences of the median voter.

Valence in elections

Voter inattentiveness and other factors allow parties to move away from the center.

Non-ideological appeals

Include popular policies, charm and character, and de-emphasizing fundamentals.

Identity appeals

Voting for candidates who share one's identity or seem to understand one's experiences.

Candidate emergence

The process of how a potential leader becomes an actual candidate.

Gendered socialization

Men are often socialized towards politics, while women are socialized away from it.

Gatekeepers in politics

Instrumental in recruiting, training, and funding women candidates.

Media's role in politics

Acts as an active filter that shapes demand for candidates.

Representation types

Include trustee, delegate, substantive, descriptive, dyadic, collective, and partisan.

Trustee representation

Choose representatives who act in your best interest, following their own judgment.

Delegate representation

Choose representatives who reflect your preferences and vote as you would.

Substantive representation

Choose representatives who take actions beneficial for their constituents.

Descriptive representation

Choose representatives who are similar to you based on shared experiences.

Political campaign finance

Involves fairness, lack of corruption, and freedom of speech.

Citizens United vs. FEC

Corporations can use their treasuries to advocate for candidates.

FEC

People can make unlimited contributions to independent political organizations.

Campaign money

Contribution.

Outside money

Expenditure.

Campaign finance effects

In the election: spend money to get your candidate elected; after the election: have access or influence with candidates who relied on your donations, lobbying.

Quid pro quo

Do politicians give benefits to those who paid for their campaigns?

Responsiveness

Evidence that politicians are more attentive to the kind of people who give.

Access

Donors get access to politicians, can then influence.

Signals

Donors send a signal that they care, that in turn leads legislators to listen to their case.

Lobbyist

Someone who gives advice, information, and petitions politicians about policy.

Regulations

Limit campaign and party money, enable outside money; outside money may be more ideological.

Electoral systems

How votes are translated into wins.

Electoral college

How the executive is chosen, relative to the popular vote.

Primaries

What role voters have in choosing nominees.

Gatekeeping

What constraints are there on the entry of new parties.

Presidentialism

How the executive is chosen, relative to the legislature.

Categorical ballot structure

Vote for one party/candidate.

Dividual ballot structure

Divide your vote among many.

Ordinal ballot structure

Rank order your vote.

Single seat electoral system

Single-member districts.

Mixed electoral system

PR and SMD.

Closed

Party creates the list, voters choose from among those lists.

Preferential

Voters have some way of expressing preference within lists.

Single transferable votes

Voters rank choice all alternatives, those whose first choices are at the end are reallocated.

Duverger's law

The simple majority single-ballot system favors the two-party system.

Coalition governments

Parties work out their internal disagreements; coalition governments might not be stable.

Judiciary

Constitution says little about how to run the supreme court.

Judiciary act

Created lower courts, amendments expanded structure.

SCOTUS

Chooses its own cases, often picks cases where lower court decisions are at odds.

Common law

Higher level courts set legal precedent.

Right to counsel

Betts v. Brady, Gideon v. Wainwright.

Sodomy laws

Bowers v. Hardwick, Lawrence v. Texas.

Abortion

Roe v. Wade, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.

Marbury v. Madison

Established the court as the ultimate interpreter of the constitution.

Shadow docket

SCOTUS must manage its workload, hearing fewer merit cases.

Attitudinal model

A judge's behavior can be predicted by his or her policy attitudes.

Strategic model

Judges seek to achieve policy goals but are subject to constraints.

Legal model

Assumes judges submit to the law when making decisions.

Citizenship

A member of a political community who enjoys the rights and assumes duties of membership.

Traditions of citizenship

Republican: focuses on role in policy; Liberal: focuses on rights.

Jus soli

Right of the soil, birthright citizenship.

Jus sanguinis

Right of blood, family history.

Naturalization

Process for those not born a citizen to become a citizen.

Civil liberties

Protections of citizens from improper governmental action.

Civil rights

Legal and moral claims that citizens are entitled to make on the government.

Selective incorporation

How the Bill of Rights are incorporated into the states.

Levels of scrutiny

Different standards for evaluating laws that infringe on rights.

Strict scrutiny

Necessary to achieve a compelling state interest.

Intermediate scrutiny

Must advance an important state interest.

Undue burden

Cannot impose too great of a burden on fundamental rights.

Rational basis

Must be rationally related to a legitimate government interest.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Legislation aimed at overcoming legal barriers at the state and local levels.