PLCY101 Final

What problem was the civil service created to solve?

Patronage systems that rewarded political loyalty over competence, leading to corruption and ineffective governance.

What are the core principles of a merit-based civil service?

Selection by merit, political neutrality, job security based on good behavior, and service in the public interest.

What was the Chinese Imperial Civil Service?

A merit-based bureaucratic system entered by examination beginning around 605 CE.

How did Britain contribute to modern civil service development?

Through East India Company training (1806) and the Civil Service Commission (1855).

What was the Jacksonian spoils system?

A system in which government jobs were awarded to political supporters.

Why was President Garfield's assassination significant?

It highlighted the dangers of patronage and directly led to civil service reform.

What did the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act (1883) do?

Established merit-based hiring and protected civil servants from political firing.

How did crises affect civil service growth?

Wars and economic crises expanded bureaucracy and professional administration.

What did the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 create?

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

What is the modern tension surrounding civil service?

Expertise versus democratic accountability.

What is regulation?

Government rules designed to guide or constrain economic and social behavior.

How do statutes become regulations?

Legislatures pass statutes, and bureaucrats write and enforce detailed rules.

What does the phrase "The Secretary shall" signify in the ACA?

Legislative delegation of authority to bureaucratic agencies.

What is regulatory capture?

When regulatory agencies serve the interests of regulated industries instead of the public.

What was Chevron deference?

A legal doctrine requiring courts to defer to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes.

Why is the end of Chevron deference significant?

It weakens bureaucratic authority and increases judicial power over regulation.

What was the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire?

A 1911 disaster that exposed regulatory failure and led to labor protections.

What is deregulatory failure?

Harm caused by insufficient regulation, such as Grenfell Tower or Flint's water crisis.

Why does regulatory failure breed cynicism?

Because the public sees institutions protect powerful actors instead of citizens.

Why was taxation weak under the Articles of Confederation?

The federal government lacked independent taxing authority.

What role did Hamilton's First Bank play?

Stabilized national finance and increased federal capacity.

What did the Sixteenth Amendment authorize?

Federal income taxation without apportionment among states.

What is Keynesian fiscal policy?

Using deficit spending during downturns to stimulate economic growth.

How did WWII change American taxation?

Expanded the tax base and normalized high federal spending.

What is "guns and butter"?

Simultaneous military and social spending without raising taxes.

Why is debt not inherently harmful?

It can be manageable during periods of economic growth.

What problem did Bretton Woods aim to solve?

Interwar financial instability and competitive devaluations.

What was the Bretton Woods system?

A fixed exchange rate system pegged to the U.S. dollar, which was convertible to gold.

What institutions emerged from Bretton Woods?

The IMF and the World Bank.

Why was the U.S. central to Bretton Woods?

It held most of the world's gold and had an intact economy.

What caused Bretton Woods to collapse?

Excess dollars abroad and declining U.S. gold reserves.

What was the Nixon Shock?

The 1971 decision to end dollar-gold convertibility.

What replaced Bretton Woods?

Floating exchange rates and monetary policy dominance.

What is globalism?

Interdependence across borders in political, economic, and social systems.

What is the Tragedy of the Commons?

Overuse of shared resources due to individual self-interest.

How did Elinor Ostrom challenge Hardin?

By showing that communities can successfully manage shared resources.

What is ecological economics?

An economic approach that rejects infinite growth on a finite planet.

What is the main failure of modern globalism?

Markets globalized faster than governance.

What conditions commonly lead to revolution?

Inequality, corruption, alienation, and perceived injustice.

What is the difference between revolutions "from above" and "from below"?

Elite-driven versus mass-driven movements.

Why do revolutions often disappoint?

They frequently replace one elite with another.

What is "structural violence"?

Harm caused by social structures that limit human potential.

What is satyagraha?

Nonviolent resistance aimed at eliciting empathy.

What is Pax Romana?

Peace maintained through imperial dominance.

Why is peace more than the absence of war?

Because injustice and inequality persist without open conflict.

What was Somersett v. Stewart (1772)?

A ruling that slavery was unsupported by English law.

What was Dred Scott v. Sandford?

A decision denying citizenship to African Americans.

What did the Reconstruction Amendments do?

Ended slavery, defined citizenship, and protected voting rights.

What was Brown v. Board of Education?

A unanimous decision ending legal school segregation.

What is violence interruption?

Treating violence as a contagious public health problem.

What is hegemony in political economy?

The dominance of one powerful state that sets the rules of the international system and provides stability.

How did U.S. hegemony shape the post-World War II global order?

The U.S. stabilized trade and finance by supplying dollars, enforcing rules, and backing institutions like Bretton Woods.

What policy solution did Hardin tend to favor?

Top-down control or coercive limits on individual behavior.

What did Ostrom emphasize instead of coercion?

Local rules, shared norms, trust, and collective governance.

What was Herman Daly's main critique of economic growth?

Endless economic growth is ecologically unsustainable on a finite planet.

What did Daly propose instead?

A steady-state economy focused on sustainability rather than constant growth.