Berkeley Political Science 1 Final Exam Terms

Political institution

Sets of rules and procedures that structure political competition. Institutions do not necessarily have to be written down, but they have to be enforced or commonly accepted (or both). In a narrower meaning, "political institutions" also describe the organizations that shape the actions within a political system, such as parties, courts, trade unions, -Constitution, Congress, Veto, Filibuster Pardon etc.

Strategic politicians

They are goal oriented i.e. they want to get elected and reelected and therefore behave with this end in mind. Politicians generally behave strategically in pursuit of their goals. Because they want to stay in office, they bargain and make compromises with other strategic actor politicians

Prisoner's dilemma

It is in both parties' collective interests to do something, but each is worried that the other will not perform their side of the bargain, and each is therefore tempted to renege first in order to gain an advantage

Collective good

Public goods are goods that are provided by everyone in some sense (e.g. through taxes) for the benefit of everyone (e.g. army, police, fire dept) and can be consumed by anyone. Defense. Clean air. A product that one individual can consume without reducing its availability to another individual and from which no one is excluded. National defense, sewer systems, public parks and basic television and radio broadcasts could all be considered public goods.

Free rider problem

Form of prisoner's dilemma. Situation in which individuals can receive the benefits from a collective activity whether or not they help to pay for it, leaving them with no incentive to contribute e.g. NPR. Normally this applies to big groups, where each person's contribution to the collective enterprise is so negligible that withholding it won't make any discernable difference to whether the group benefit is produced. Usually solved by selective incentives or forcing compliance. Example is the problem faced by interest

groups when citizens can reap the benefits of interest group action without actually joining, participating in, or contributing money to such groups.

Selective incentive

Goods or benefits offered only to those who contribute to a collective undertaking in an effort to stop free riding e.g. ancillary benefits such as a lawyer or life insurance to Trade Union members.Example: in Radiohead's case they produced a hard copy special addition with extra material i.e. you would only get that if you paid.

Insider vs. Outsider Lobbying Strategies

Insider Lobbying: describes efforts by lobbyists to influence legislation or rule-making directly by contacting legislators and their assistants, sometimes called staffers or aides with helpful information. Outsider Lobbying: sometimes called indirect lobbying, includes attempts by interest group leaders to mobilize citizens outside the policymaking community, perhaps by public relations methods or advertising, to prompt them to pressure public officials within the policymaking community

Textualism vs. Purposive theory of interpretation

Scalia v Breyer. Scalia focus on the meaning of the words in the constitution and the written law (no ability to morph the law, not about the lawmakers intent). Breyer instead wants us to ask what are the purposes expressed in the statute/constitution, define and apply case by case, and allow questions to be asked that let us interpret in light of modern times. (9-1) Scalia has adopted this philosophy of interpretation which calls for, not a strict constructionist interpretation of the constitution and laws, but a reasonable interpretation that captures all that the law or constitution fairly means (Ex/ If someone says "uses a gun" it means as a weapon,

and thus trading an unloaded gun for cocaine cannot be called 'using a gun'). (9-2) Breyer argues that the written word is driven by purposes and as a result a judge should try to find and "honestly say what was the underlying" reason for these laws or constitution.

Unilateral action

any policy decision made and acted upon by the president and his staff without the explicit approval or consent of congress

Going public

Action taken by a president to communicate directly with the people, usually through a press conference, radio broadcast, or televised speech, in order to influence public opinion and put pressure on Congress

Plural executive

an executive branch with power divided among several popularly elected independent officers and a weak chief executive; Ex. state governments in the U.S.

Take care clause

The President must take care that the laws be faithfully executed. Gives wide range of power. The constitutional requirement (in Article II, Section 3) that presidents take care that the laws are faithfully executed, even if they disagree with the purpose of those laws.

Power of president

Veto power (override with 2/3 majority in each chamber) • Report on "State of the Union" and recommend measures. • Nominate judges, ambassadors, negotiate treaties (with advice and consent of Senate) • Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces • Take care clause: The president "shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed."Power granted to Congress to check the President's power as Commander-in-Chief; only Congress has this power

Many more powers than the historical president. Changed drastically due to the new deal. Chief Legislator, Chief Budgeter, Head of the Bureaucracy, Commander-in-Chief, Head of State, Popular Leader, Party Leader.

"Power to persuade"

A president's ability to convince Congress, other political actors, and the public to cooperate with the his administration's agenda; Significance: Argument furthered by Richard Neustadt. Because the President is limited in power by other checks and balances, he must foster a relationship with other branches of government in order to get policy passed. These relationships will be founded on mutual dependence.

President's Professional Reputation

Neustadt; president has to be able to make credible threats of unilateral action in order to have the power to persuade. How the president is perceived in terms of competence and work performance. Ex. Clinton vs. Obama

Leadership as "bargaining"

Permanent Campaign

The situation in which elected officials are constantly engaged in a campaign; next election campaign begins as soon as the last has ended; reasons for this increased focus on campaigning are the changes in media and the massive influx of money that now goes into political campaigns

Executive order

a directive handed down directly from the president without input from the legislative or judicial branches. Holds the weight of law; It is not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution and gives the executive branch the power to enact legislation completely void of legislative or judicial oversight.

Member of Congress goals

3 main goals: Reelection, policy, personal power. Must be reelected in order for any other goals to be achieved. Congressman must advertise, claim credit, take positions in order to get reelected. Significant because they will act in a way to protect the power of Congress and their policy goals, may or may not be in accordance with the President.

Single-member-district, plurality rule elections

An electorate that is allowed to elect only 1 rep from each district; method of representation for U.S. Significance: to win an American election where there are only 2 candidates, a politician must win more than 50% of the votes cast. This discourages minor parties and encourages various political factions that might otherwise form minor parties, to minimize their differences and remain within the major party coalition. It can also discourage 2nd parties.

Position-taking

When congressmen make official statements in which they announce their stand on an issue. Even if the issue loses in Congress, they can be rewarded by their constituents.

Credit-claiming

The efforts by members of Congress to get their

constituents to believe they are responsible for positive government actions. Can be done through casework, earmarks, and pork. Congressmen want to show their constituents that they have done good things for them and are thus deserving of re-election

Casework

legislative work on behalf of individual constituents to solve their problems with government agencies and programs

*BENEFITS INDIVIDUALS

-example: social security checks-- can call if trouble getting them

- can also expedite passports and give tickets to white house or tour of congress

Particularized benefits / Earmarks

items individual members of Congress routinely insert into spending bills or revenue bills providing special benefits to their states, districts, and campaign contributors

Incumbency advantage

The idea that incumbents (existing holders of political offices) who run for reelection usually win because the system gives them important built-in benefits: name recognition, fundraising skills, campaign experience, experienced campaign aids, help from party leaders, etc.; statistically, 90% of incumbent congressmen are re-elected. Significance: Congress sees little change/little motivation to try new things. Large emphasis put on elections.

Sophomore Surge

An increase in the votes congressional candidates usually get when they first run for re-election; statistically, a candidate in the House of Representatives will develop a following during his or her first term and then receive 8 to 10 percent more votes when running for re-election, even if he or she does not receive party support

Standing committee

A permanent committee in the House or Senate that considers bills within a certain subject area

Committee gatekeeping

Agenda setting power; A committee is delegated the power to choose whether or not to take action on specific proposals; the ability to "open the gates" and have a bill be added to the agenda and get voted on, or a veto point where a potential bill could be stopped

Rationale for having committees

Reduces transaction costs when dealing with bills. Certain issues can be dealt with by specific committees, promotes specialization. Allows members of congress to serve particular constituent interests, for example Agricultural

Committees attract members from farm states.

Speaker of the House

An office mandated by the Constitution. They are chosen in practice by the majority party, has both formal and informal powers (appoint committees), and is second in line (after the vice-president) to succeed to the presidency should that office become vacant.

Party brand name

A party's label, incorporating the policy positions and past performance voters attribute to it; Politicians have a personal stake in maintaining the value of their party's label which may impose conformity costs by requiring the subordination of their own views and ambitions to the party's welfare and reputation; Also a voting HEURISTIC (information shortcut voters use to make predictions); once candidates have adopted the party label, most voters drastically simplify their electoral evaluations and decisions by developing a consistent bias in favor of the candidates of one of the major parties, making the party label the most influential "endorsement"

Conditional party government

Committee government

Idea that committee chairs are gatekeepers; true before party leaders were given all this power in the 70's

Seniority system

A simple rule for picking committee chairs, in effect until the 1970s. The member who had served on the committee the longest and whose party controlled Congress became chair, regardless of party loyalty, mental state, or competence.

Party polarization

Parties have become more polarized; Greater ideological (liberal v. conservative) differences between the parties and increased ideological consensus within the parties

Filibuster

Informal term for any attempt to block or delay Senate action on a bill or other matter by debating it at length, by offering numerous procedural motions, or by any other delaying or obstructive actions. Need cloture vote to end

"Costless" filibuster

changes made to the filibuster in the 70's that made it easier to use the filibuster; you need 40 people to sustain a filibuster; don't have to actually stand up and talk, just have to threaten to filibuster

Holds

An informal practice by which a senator informs his or her floor leader that he or she does not wish a particular bill or other measure to reach the floor for consideration. The majority leader need not follow the senator's wishes, but is on notice that the opposing senator may filibuster any motion to proceed to consider the measure

Cloture rule

Ends a debate (usually a filibuster) with 60 votes. Significance: it requires bipartisan support

Dual principals problem

Congress and the President are both principals so there is tension on who the bureaucracy listens to. Due to iron triangle, may be more inclined to listen to congress

Delegation dilemma for Congress

the question of why congress delegates and creates agencies. Optimistic: Allows specialization by creating an agency full of experts; agencies don't have as many veto points and collective action problems, so can enact policy more easily. Cynical: Congress is able to avoid blame by

taking credit when legislation is popular and blaming agencies when legislation is unpopular

Spoils system

A practice where a political party, after winning an

election, gives government jobs to its supporters, friends, and relatives as a reward for working toward victory and as an incentive to keep working for the party; significance: filled many jobs with unqualified people. Large voter turnout

Pendleton Act, 1883

Did away with the "spoils system" and made the hiring of federal employees merit based. Lowered voter turnout

Merit system

A system of employment based on qualifications, test scores, and ability, rather than party loyalty

Iron triangles

Entities composed of a bureaucratic agency, an interest group, and a congressional committee. They dominate certain areas of policymaking. Ways for interest groups to get more involved in politics in their favor.

Issue network

Relationships among interest groups, congressional committees, and the government agencies that share a common policy concern. Ex: Greenpeace and Sierra Club work together to try to convince congress to enact something

Logic of agency design (incentives shaping design of bureaucracy in U.S.)

Terry Moe; if you want agency to do well, then you want to create an agency that is built in a way that insulates it from future political challenges. Funding of agency is important. Ask carlos

Countermajoritarian difficulty

inherent tension between judicial review and democratic government; idea that unelected judges are able to overturn laws passed by elected representatives-laws that supposedly reflect the will of the majority. Ex. When the

court passed the Brown v. Board of education decision successfully desegregating schools, the court was overturning popularly passed segregation laws, and the majority of the public disagreed with this decision

Judicial Review

power adopted by the Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison that gives the court the power to determine whether a law is constitutional or not; if the court finds the law unconstitutional, the law is overturned

Supremacy Clause

Article VI of the Constitution, which makes national law supreme over state law when the national government is acting within its constitutional limits.

The Least Dangerous Branch

In Federalist #78, Alexander Hamilton argued that the Supreme Court could be characterized as the least dangerous branch of the government, because it lacked both the power of the purse (power to fund legislation) and the power of the sword (power to enforce legislation)

Marbury v. Madison, 1803

Established Judicial Review

Stare Decisis

latin for "Let the decision stand"; the principle that cases should be decided in ways consistent with similar prior cases. Promotes consistency & fairness. Not followed in Brown v Board after Plessy v Furguson

Political constraints on the Court

lacks the ability to implement its decisions directly, must have cases brought before it, limited number of cases (only sees about 1% of appeals it receives), Congress controls its numbers, judges are appointed not elected, constitutional amendment, impeachment threats, court packing

Writ of Certiorari

A formal writ used to bring a case before the Supreme Court

Court-packing fight, 1937

President Roosevelt proposed a plan to revamp the judiciary; allowed the president to appoint an additional Supreme Court justice for every sitting justice over the age of seventy (most consequential and controversial provision); this would alleviate the backlog of cases on the

Court's docket by giving opportunity to name as may as six new justices to the high bench --> real purpose was to give Roosevelt a Court majority sympathetic to his New Deal programs; public reaction was generally negative and ultimately failed

"Judicialization of politics"

growing trend in American politics of an increased

involvement of the Supreme Court (Judicial Branch); Activist judges are not just interpreting policy but making policy. Ex. Roe v. Wade

Roe v. Wade, 1973

Supreme Court (1973) legalized abortion on the basis of a woman's right to privacy

Random sample

A sample selected in such a way that any member of the population being surveyed has an equal chance of being interviewed

Sample vs. Population

Population refers to a large group of all scores that would be obtained if the behavior of every individual of interest in a particular situation could be measured. Sample refers to a relatively small subset of the population that is selected to represent the population in inferential statistics,

as it would be impossible to study the entire population. It is important that the sample is representative of the population being studied.

Social desirability effect

When answering questions, people will want to come up with a socially desirable response (e.g. they wouldn't want to be considered racist, sexist, things of that nature)

Bradley effect

Subset of the Social Desirability Effect where white voters tend to tell pollsters they are either undecided or likely to vote for a black candidate. Named after Tom Bradely; Bradley was an African American candidate for California Governor and was expected to win, however on election day he lost; people lied and said they were going to vote

for him because they didn't want to look racist; many people thought this would happen with Obama in 2008 but it did not

Political ignorance "challenge"

idea that people who vote on things and participate in politics don't know anything; counter argument is that voters are perfectly capable of voting. Use heuristics=cognitive shortcuts=low information rationality=cues

Reasons to be wary of poll results

ignorance challenge: idea that people who vote on things poll results and participate in politics don't know anything. Measurement challenge,

explanatory challenge. Ask carlos

Political attitude

individual's views about public policies, political parties, candidates, government institutions, and public officials

Heuristics / cues

information shortcut that voters use to . Include

partisanship, retrospective performance evaluation, candidate traits, etc. Political party endorsements are biggest cue

Ideology

A system of social or political ideas (i.e. conservative vs. liberal)

Party identification

An informal and subjective affiliation with a political party that most people acquire in childhood.

Core values

Common general values held by a culture (e.g. in U.S. they are freedom, liberty, individualism, etc.)

Political socialization

The process by which we develop our political attitudes, values, and beliefs. (family, school, media, religion, national events-all help to socialize)

Selective perception

People's selective interpretation of what they see based on their interests, background, experience, and attitudes. Ex. deciding that the governor's speech upholds your own beliefs even when it doesn't. When your beliefs are shaped by your partisanship. Ex: Republicans believing Iraq had weapons of mass destruction

Aggregate Public Opinion

in a democracy, the sum of all individual opinions;

meaningful in what it shows through trends, in that it is stable, responsive to poli/econ events, reasonable

Opinion leadership

an opinion leader is an individual who possess social power to influence others attitudes or behavior

Issue public

a group of people particularly affected by, or concerned with, a specific issue; Ex. people who live in close proximity to oil-rich areas would be more concerned with and affected by proposed legislation regarding pipelines and fracking projects

Rally-around-the-flag phenomenon

Surge of public support for the president in times of crisis. Ex. Bush after 9/11

Retrospective voting

A theory of voting in which voters essentially ask this simple question: "Am I better of now or before?" Basing voting decisions on reactions to past performance; approving the status quo or signaling a desire for change. Opposite from Proximity voting

Factors determining voter turnout

Whether or not you have the resources to pay "costs" of voting—time, getting registered, getting informed—such as Education, Income, age and Race/Ethnicity, presidential vs midterm, voter id laws.

Voter mobilization

The efforts of parties, groups, and activists to encourage their supporters to turn out for elections.

Proximity voting

idea that voters will vote for whichever candidate is closer to them on a liberal to conservative scale; not true b/c people have contradictory opinions. Opposite to retrospective voting

Forecasting Presidential elections

often times the best forecasters of presidential elections are the state of the economy (Real disposable income change; GDP growth; Consumer sentiment) and the approval ratings of the incumbent president

Party tides (in congressional elections)

when during the congressional elections one party has a big net gain in the House or Senate; can drastically change policies/programs that get passed, and therefore the incumbent president's final approval ratings.

Midterm loss

the tendency for the presidential party to lose congressional seats in off-year elections; Ex. the recent Republican take-over of both the House and the Senate in 2014

Culture War thesis

Frank/Brooks. As a nation we are divided into red states and blue states. Divisions are centered on social or cultural issues rather than the economy; two implications: (1) might explain why white working class votes against their own economic interest (should vote democrat but typically vote republican) (2) helps to explain political polarization; easy to compromise on economic issues but not social issues

Elite vs. Mass Polarization

Elite polarization: polarization of party members in

government/legislative body

Mass polarization: polarization of voters

Both sort on civil rights

Social issues vs. economic issues (importance in elections)

Contrary to the Culture War thesis, social issues aren't the focus; much more based on where you stand economically whether you vote Democrat or Republican

Class voting

Tendency of a given social class to vote for a party that promotes its economic interest

Horserace coverage

Media focuses on the political race instead of the policy aspect of the campaign; focus is on the polls and who is leading, not the issues

Media bias

Bias or slant in the selection of which news to report and how the news is reported; Giving one candidate more favorable coverage. Ex: Fox vs MSNBC

Priming

to cause someone to think about a political issue in one frame or the other; then form an opinion based on these frames. Ex: showing people pictures of dead babies then asking them their stance on abortion

Party press

Newspapers created, sponsored, and controlled by political parties to further their interests. This form of press existed in the early years of the American republic. Circulation was chiefly among political and commercial elites.

Indexing hypothesis

predicts that news content on political and public policy issues will generally follow the parameters of elite debate: when political elites (such as the White House and congressional leaders) are in general agreement on an issue, news coverage of that issue will tend to reflect that consensus; when political elites disagree, news coverage will fall more or less within the contours of their disagreement. Put differently, those issues and views that are subject to high-level political debate are most likely to receive news attention that is wide-ranging; issues not subject to debate receive less critical attention. Indexing theory thus attempts to predict the nature of the content of news about political and policy topics.

Rise of adversarial journalism

referring to competition between media outlets and against the government. Encouraged by vietnam and watergate (People can't trust the government, so media needs to be power involved in critically examining government and not be manipulated by politicians) increased competitive pressures. more sources competing for stories.

Faction

A term the founders used to refer to political parties and special interests or interest groups.

Cross-cutting cleavages

tied to idea of political realignment or party realignment; an issue that breaks across party lines and causes people on both sides to disagree with each other; Ex. Civil Rights (you had republicans who were pro civil rights and republicans who were anti civil rights. You had democrats who were pro civil rights and democrats who were anti civil rights. In the end, republicans realigned and adopted an anti-civil rights attitude, and democrats adopted a pro-civil rights attitude)

Pluralism (and challenges to pluralism)

A theory of American democracy emphasizing that the policymaking process is very open to the participation of all groups with shared interests, with no single group usually dominating. Pluralists tend to believe that as a result, public interest generally prevails. Challenge: too many groups can form creating gridlock, getting nothing done

Disturbance model

Theory proposed by David Truman; idea that interest groups form primarily in opposition to other interest groups so as to counteract influence in their respective political domains

Expressive benefits

benefits that arise from taking action to express one's views; serve as another motivation for group membership.

Lobbying

An attempt by a group to influence policy through persuasion of government officials

Access

What lobbyists and campaign contributions "buy"; access to politicians and their time

Impact of Campaign Donations on Members of Congress?

popular misconception that campaign donations buy votes; not the case, provide campaign contributions to people who already agree with you; help them win; can buy access/time/meetings with members of congress and politicians; lobbying directed at allies not opponents (Halle and Wayman)