PUBPOL 2301 Study Guide QUIZ 1

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering essential policy terms, political theories, separation of powers, federalism, and key legislation from PUBPOL 2301.

Monopoly

One company controls everything, so it can charge whatever it wants

Negative externaility

someone else pays the cost for your actions; Ex: a factory pollutes and nearby people get sick

Positive externality

someone else gets a benefit they didn’t pay for: Ex: You get a flu shot, and it also helps protect your neighbors

Public Goods

Things everyone can use and you can’t stop people from using — so private companies don’t want to make them: Ex: streetlights

Imperfect information

One side of a deal knows more than the other, so people get tricked or make bad choices. Ex: buying a used car- the seller know about problems you don’t

Egalitarianism

everyone should end up more equal

Utilitarianims

do whatever creates the most good for most people even if a few people lose.

Libertarianism

government should bareley get involved; let people keep their freedom and property

Socialism

soceity/ government should control rescources so wealth is shared more equally

Ratuonal Actor Theory

politicians act in their own self interest (staying in power, getting re-elected) and policy reflects that

Group conflict Theory

Poltics is a tug of war between competing groups and whoever’s stronger wins more of what they want

Legislative Branch

(congress) Makes the laws, controls the money, can declare war

Executive Branch

(president) carries out and enforces the laws, runs the military, appoints officials

Judicial Branch

(courts) Decides what the law means, can strike down laws that break the constitution

Bills vs. Resolutions

A bill can become a law. A resolution is usally just congress making a statement or handling internal business- most types don’t become law

Filibuster and Cloture

A filibuster- a senator talk or blocks a vote for a really long time to stall a bill: Cloture= the vote used to shut down a filibuster and froce an actual vote. Needs 60 out of 100 senators

Introduced Bills

A member of congress writes up a bill and submits it

Referred Bills

it gets handed to a commitee that specializes in that topic

Reported Bills

the committee says okay this is ready and sends it to the full House/ Senate

Enrolled Bills

The final version is printed up and sent to the president

Enacted Bills

The president sign it (or congress overrides a veto) and its officially a law

Executive Orders

a direct command from the president to federal agencies on how to run things. No vote from congress needed.

Agency Rulemaking

federal agencies write detailed rules to put a law into practice. They have to publish drafts and let the public comment first, and the final rules get published in the federal register.

General Public vs. Attentive Public vs. Issue Public

General public — most people, who don’t pay much attention to politics.

- Attentive public — people who follow politics/news pretty closely overall.

- Issue public — people who really care about one specific issue that affects them directly (like farmers caring a lot about farm subsidies).

Random Sampling

everyone should have an equal shot of being picked for the survey; otherwise results are skewed

Sampling Frame

the actual list you’re picking people from. If it leaves people out (like only calling landlines), the results are biased

Response Rate

how many people you contacted actually answered. Low response rate = maybe only certain types of people bothered to reply

Margin of Error

how far off the poll number might be from reality

Salience vs. Coherence of Public Opinion

Salience — how much people currently care about an issue. Coherence — how logically consistent someone’s opinions actually are

Elite Theory

a small group of rich/powerful people basically run things, no matter what regular people think.

Grassroots Mobilization

regular people organizing together (protests, petitions, local campaigns) to push for change from the bottom up.

Group Conflict/ Plurist Theory

lots of different groups compete and negotiate, and no single group totally dominates.

Dark Money

political spending where you can’t tell who actually paid for it.

Super PACS

groups that can raise/spend unlimited money on elections, but can’t work directly with a candidate’s campaign.

Outside Spending

any election money that isnt coming from the candidates own campaign

Citizens United

The Supreme Court said corporations and unions can spend unlimited money on elections (as long as it’s not directly coordinated with a candidate), because spending money = free speech.

Individual vs. Lobbyist

A regular individual just votes, maybe donates a little, or calls their representative. A lobbyist is paid,professional, and represents an organized group (a company, union, etc.) with way more access and resources to influence lawmakers.

Implied Powers

Powers not directly written down but reasoably needed for congress to do its job

Supremacy Clause

if federal and state law conflict, federal law wins.

Commerce Clause

gives Congress the power to regulate trade between states — used to justify a LOT of federal laws over time.

Delegated powers

things only the federal government can do (declare war , print money)

Reserved Powers

things only states can do (running schools, policing)

Concurrent powers

thins both levels can do (taxing people, building roads, running courts

Dual Federalism

Federal and state governments each state in their own lane

Cooperative Federalism

Federal and state governments work together, often federal money money+state running the origram

New Federalism

push to hand more power back to the state

Categorical vrs. Block Grants

Categorical grants — federal money with strict rules on exactly how to spend it. Block grants — federal money with a general purpose but way more freedom for states to decide the details

Social insurance

You or your paycheck pays into it and you get benefits later not matter you income. Ex: social security, Medicare

Social assistance

benefits only if you’re low income (means tested) paid for out of general tax money Ex: Medicaid, TANF

Haudenosaunee Confederacy

a group of Native nations with a government that balanced a shared council with each nation keeping its own independence. Many historians think this influenced how the U.S. Constitution set up federalism and separation of powers.

The mashall Trilogy

three early Supreme Court cases that set the rules for tribes

Johnson v. M’Intosh (1823)

said tribes could live on their land but the U.S. technically “owned” it.

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831)

called tribes “domestic dependent nations” not fully independent, but not just another part of a state either.

Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

said states have no authority over tribal land — only the federal government does.Together, these cases are the basis for the federal trust responsibility — the idea that the U.S. government has a legal duty to protect tribal lands and rights.

Agenda setting

a problem gets noticed as something governemnt should fix

formulation

people come up with possible solutions

Legitimation

the policy gets officially approved

Implementation

agencies actually carry it out

Evaluation

checking if it worked

change/ termination

fix it, keep it or end it

Societal vs. instiutional agenda:

Societal agenda — things the public thinks are a problem in general. Institutional agenda - the shorter list of things government is actually working on right now

Entitlement vs. discretionary spending

Entitlement spending — automatic; anyone who qualifies gets it, no yearly vote needed

(Social Security, Medicare).

- Discretionary spending — Congress has to approve it fresh every year (defense, national parks, etc.).

steet level bureaucracy

The regular workers who deal with the public directly (teachers, cops, DMV staff) — they have a lot of freedom in how they actually apply a policy, so the policy people experience often depends heavily on them.

Indian Removal Act

Legislation authorizing the mandatory forced relocation of Native American tribes from eastern lands to territory west of the Mississippi.

path dependancy

Once you go down one road its hard/ expensive to siwtch so past decisions shape future ones

critical junctures

a big crisis or shakeup that opens the door for major changes ( like the great depression leading to the new deal)

Kingdon’s multiple steams

change happens when three things line up at once: people agree there’s a problem, there’s a workable solution ready, and the political mood is right. When all three line up, it’s called a “policy window.

Punctuated equlibrium

things stay mostly the same for a long time, then suddenly change a lot all at once

Advocacy Coallition framework

groups of people who share the same beliefs team up over the years to push policy in their direction comepeting against other coalitions

Affordable Care Act (The Three Legs)

(1) Insurance companies can’t deny you for pre-existing

conditions, (2) everyone was originally required to have insurance,

(3) financial help (subsidies/Medicaid expansion) to make

insurance affordable — the three parts are designed to work

together

HHS

The federal department in charge of health and welfare programs

(Medicare, Medicaid, CDC, FDA, etc.)

IRS

The federal tax agency — also handles ACA subsidy payments and

tax-credit programs

Sherman Antitrust act

First federal law to break up monopolies and stop unfair business

deals

FTC

Government agency that stops unfair business practices and

enforces antitrust laws

IEEPA (1977)

Lets the President impose sanctions/trade restrictions during a

declared national emergency, without needing new laws from

Congress

Federal register

The daily public record of new/proposed federal agency rules

Adminstrative Procedure Act

The rulebook agencies must follow when creating regulations (has

to give the public a chance to comment first)

Medicare

Health insurance mainly for people 65+, paid for through payroll

taxes — not based on income

Medicaid

Health insurance for low-income people, paid for by both federal

and state governments, run by states

AFDC

old welfare program that gave ongoing cash to poor families with kids

TANF

Replaced AFDC in 1996 — gives states block-grant money with

work requirements and time limits

entitlement programs

Programs where anyone who qualifies automatically gets benefits

(Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid)

Indian Removal Act (1830)

Forced Native tribes off their land and moved them west (led to

the Trail of Tears

Dawes Act

Broke tribal land into individual pieces to push Native Americans

toward private land ownership — tribes lost huge amounts of land

as a result

Morrill Act

Gave states free land (taken mostly from Native nations) to build

public universities

BIA

Federal agency that manages the government’s relationship with

tribes

Indian Reorganization Act

Reversed the Dawes Act approach — gave land back and

supported tribal self-government

Indian Self-Determination Act (1975)

Let tribes take over running their own government programs

instead of the federal government doing it for them