US Gov midterm flashcards

Articles of Confederation

The first U.S. governing framework; it created a weak national government with no independent power to tax or regulate interstate commerce

Amending the Articles

Required unanimous approval from all 13 states, making change extremely difficult.

Amending the Constitution

Requires proposal by two-thirds of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states in the usual method.

Anti-federalists

Opponents of the Constitution who feared a powerful national government and pushed for a Bill of Rights.

Shays’ Rebellion

A 1786–87 uprising by indebted Massachusetts farmers that exposed weaknesses in the Articles.

New Jersey Plan

It proposed equal representation for every state in a one-house legislature

Federalist No. 51

1788. James Madison’s argument that separated powers and checks and balances would limit government abuse.

Samuel Adams

Revolutionary leader associated with resistance to British policies, including colonial protest movements.

Jon Locke

Enlightenment thinker who argued people have natural rights and that government needs the consent of the governed.

“Nasty, brutish, and short”

What thomas Hobbes said if there was no government

Enumerated powers

1778. Powers specifically listed for Congress in Article I, Section 8.

Elastic clause

1788. The Necessary and Proper Clause; it allows Congress to make laws needed to carry out its enumerated powers.

Tenth Amendment

Powers not given to the federal government, and not denied to states, are reserved to states or the people.

Supremacy Clause

Valid federal law and the Constitution override conflicting state law.

McCulloch v. Maryland

Supreme Court case holding that Congress had implied power to create a national bank and that Maryland could not tax it.

Nullification Crisis

Conflict in the early 1830s over South Carolina’s claim that it could invalidate federal tariffs.

Cooperative federalism

Federal, state, and local governments work jointly on policy areas.

Picket fense federalism

Governments cooperate across levels, especially within the same policy area, like education or transportation.

Block Grants

1996: Federal money given to states or local governments for broad purposes with relatively flexible spending rules.

Collective Action Problem

A situation where everyone may benefit from cooperation, but individuals have incentives not to contribute.

Public Goods

Goods that are difficult to exclude people from using and whose use by one person does not substantially reduce availability for others, such as national defense.

Judicial Review

The Supreme Court’s power to declare laws or government actions unconstitutional.

Due Process Clause

1791. Protection against governments taking life, liberty, or property without fair legal procedures; found in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments

Double Jeopardy

1791. The Fifth Amendment protection against being tried twice for the same offense after acquittal or conviction.

Gideon v. Wainwright

1963. The Court held that states must provide attorneys to indigent defendants charged with serious crimes.

Griswold v. Connecticut:

1965. The Court recognized a constitutional right to marital privacy, striking down a ban on contraceptive use by married couples.

Illinois v. Caballes

A dog sniff during a lawful traffic stop generally does not violate the Fourth Amendment if it does not unreasonably prolong the stop.

Fighting words

1942. Personally abusive face-to-face speech likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction; it receives limited First Amendment protection.

Plessy v. Ferguson

The 1896 case that upheld racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine.

Separate but Equal

The doctrine claiming racial segregation was constitutional if facilities were supposedly equal; later rejected in public education by Brown v. Board of Education.

Public Opinion

The collection of citizens’ views about political issues, leaders, and government.

Suffrage

The right to vote.

SES

Socioeconomic status, often measured through income, education, and occupation; it can influence political participation and attitudes.

Literary Digest poll of 1936:

A famous polling failure that incorrectly predicted Alf Landon would defeat Franklin D. Roosevelt because its sample was biased toward wealthier Americans.

“C-term”

Cost. It’s in quotes because there’s no solid definition for it.

Accommodating Uncertainty

Matching Your Costs to Your Benefits.

This is how economists see every decision:

• Benefits > Costs = Do it

• Benefits ≤ Costs = Don’t do it

• In other words: B > C?   B - C > 0 ?

Region (voting)

Participation rates in states are relatively homogenous. In the south, there was no partisan competition, so in the primaries, people knew the democrats would win. The primaries didn't matter until the 80s.

Group Membership (voting)

People who join in clubs/organizations are more likely to vote, as they understand what it’s like to have a role. 

Efficacy

“People like me have a say in politics” They can plug in whatever that means. People who don’t think they have a say won’t cast a vote.

Mobilization(voting)

 Not always individual. Parties who want you to vote your way will spend on advertising to win you over.

Margin of Error

Acknowledgment of the amount of random sampling error in a survey's results.

There’s a sense of diminishing returns when it comes to the poll and voting of surveys.

How to mis-measure public opinion

• Survey sampling poor, self-selection

• E.g. Literary Digest poll 1936 election

• Internet surveys

• RDD (random digit dialing)

• Sloppy instrument (wording)

• E.g. Holocaust poll: “Does it seem possible or does it seem impossible to you that the Nazi extermination of the Jews never happened?” the wording is horrible

Sources of political opinion

• Socialization

• Various sources

• Installation of beliefs or organized principles that guide decisions

• Early adult experiences (College, military)

• Can impact psych aspect (Party ID, issue positions, opinions)

The nature of US political opinion

• Uninformed. Political sophistication low. There are people who don’t know who our senators are.

• Inconsistent. Referenda & impossible policy quandary. We want high quality outcomes but not the burdens that come with it

• Public less ideological than elites. Compared to elites, ideological polarization is on rise, we have issue to issue consistency.