Mizzou Political Science 1100 Exam 1 (w/ Prof. Horner)

Politics (Laswell's definition)

who gets what, when, and how

Politics (book definition)

public resolution or management of conflict w/ a basic consensus of community

Ideology of politics

set of beliefs and values

Beliefs: things you believe to be true, your assessment of reality

Values: your idea of how things ought to be

why ideologies are important

they help people predict what is going to happen, how to respond to things, and have a prepared or expected way to respond to things

Classic Conservatism (when and/or why)

Middle Ages(think medieval times), the dominant government types were monarchy, or the nobility and church held all the power of the government

Classic Conservatism (beliefs)

- Divine Right Theory: people are NOT equal (you are born unequal to eachother) because that is the way God wants it to be

- trying to change the fact that people are unequal is wrong in Gods eyes

- people are members of classes, not individuals and should not want to change classes

Classic Conservatism (values)

- change is bad and should be avoided

- religion and government should be intertwined; no seperation between church and state

- government should be

responsible for the welfare of the population; 5% that have power should have the responsibility to take care of the other 95%, in exchange for being taken care of, the 95% should give their labor to the nobility's land

Classic Liberalism (when and/or why)

- 1300-1500 european approx

- response to the life that existed under Classic Conservatism

- conservatism was pushed out by a slowly emerging class; the middle class

- these people had wealth and no power, so they stated to seek power. so there was a push on church and nobility

Classic Liberalism (beliefs)

- people are individuals first, not members of a group or class

- people were born equal, they might not stay equal, but they have the opportunity to achieve through their life

- the marketplace in a natural force (things are always being exchanged)

- People are competitive(competition drives progress)

Classic Liberalism (values)

- individual liberty should be valued above everything else

- individual social achievement should be encouraged

- the market should be the moral judge of human life(if it succeeds in a market, it must be good)

- change as a result of market forces should be valued

- religion should not meddle in the market

- government should NOT be responsible for the welfare of citizens

Classic Socialism (when and/or why)

- developed in the 1800's

- was a response to classic liberalism

- coincided with industrial revolution

Classic Socialism (beliefs)

- people are equal all throughout life, not just at birth

- the market is irrational

- individualism is misleading

- religion is an illusion

- clash between liberty and equality

Classic Socialism (values)

- members of society should be to cooperate, not to compete

- there should be no interaction between church and government

- the purpose of human society should be to advance human welfare

- the legitimate authority to govern should come from the people

- government should be responsible for the welfare of citizens

Modern Ideologies

- modern conservatives and modern liberals are variations of Classic Liberalism

- the US is most like Classically Liberal ideologies

modern conservatives

characterized by respect for American traditions, republicanism, Christian values, free markets and free trade, advocacy of American exceptionalism, and a defense of Western culture

modern liberalism

ideology favoring government intervention to correct economic and social ills; U.S. liberalism today

Libertarian

One who believes in limited government interference in personal and economic liberties

Rousseau

- wrote the social contract; idea that people are willing to give up a little bit of their freedom for their own protection

- the only moral forma of government is one in which people make the laws for themselves

- he considered the US a republic

- when we vote in election, it is showing our consent to be governed and giving legitimacy to the government

Locke

- 1600's, british

- his theory was that the government is abusing their authority, then the people have the right to overthrow that government

Montesquieu

- french

- believed in representative government

- wrote about how a representative government was impossible on a large scale

- madison wanted to prove him wrong, madison wanted to prove to people that a representative government could work

Legitimacy

the popular acceptance of an authority, usually a governing law or a régime.

7 Elements of American Democracy

- Personal Liberty

- Legal Equality

- Choice Among Alternatives

- Freedom of Speech

- Regularly Scheduled Elections

- Decision Rule:

- Connection Between Participants and Gov't Action

Personal Liberty

we each have the opportunity to participate in voicing our opinions and thought in political process

Legal Equality

your vote should be the same weight as everyone else's vote

Choice Among Alternatives

different parties at options that represent everyones best interest to choose from

Freedom of Speech

freedom to share your own thoughts and opinions

Regularly Scheduled Elections

we have scheduled elections every year, they will never change

Decision Rule

how we decide who wins political campaigns (electoral college)

Connection Between Participants and Gov't Actions

what people say while campaigning should be put into action if they win the campaign

7 Origins of American Political Thought (other influences on the framers)

- Religion

- Natural Law

- Distrust of Power

- Clockwork Universe

- Economic Inequality

- Democratic Theory

Religion

Many catholics coming to america because they were oppressed in england

Natural Law

- the idea that there is an existing moral code.

- we all know what it is, but we decide if we are going to follow it.

- Declaration of independence is completely a statement of natural law.

- Declaration argues that is the government's responsibility to respect natural law.

- Problems with natural law, it is not definite, it is up for interpretation

Distrust of Power

- the framers has a distrust of any person with power.

- they wanted a government that was based on the power of the people, but they wanter to figure out a way to keep the people from having too much power. how to have a government that gets things done, but not have it turn corrupt

Clockwork Universe

- Isaac Newton was a political philosopher

- the universe was created perfectly and could go on forever, it could be possible to start a government and create it perfectly. And once it started it could run forever

- the framers wanted to do this with the US. they wanted to start a government that would maintain itself forever

economic inequality

- they worried about the social upheaval that economic inequality could cause

- EX: Shay's Rebellion: retired soldier, soldiers came home to find that their land has been foreclosed upon because they did not pay property tax when they were at war, this was unfair so they burnt down courthouses so there wasn't any proof of them not paying property tax.

Democratic Theory

the view that elected officials should represent the interests of all people in a democracy

intentions of the writers of the Articles of Confederation

- To give states full power and the national government almost no power at all

What made the Articles of Confederation so weak?

- It was more so a loose affiliation of states than it was a country; no power as one country

- no power to collect taxes

- no military

- needed unanimous agreement w/ all states(which never happened)

- tariffs between states

- no regulations of interstate commerce(every state had a different currency)

- no national courts

- no executive branch

- states would make international treaties as their own state rather than as a country

who complained about the articles of confederation

- patriots and business people

what two men were key players in bringing about the Constitutional Convention and why?

- Hamilton: main people selling selling the constitution after it was created, he played no role in the constitutional convention

- Madison: has the most influence in creating the constitution and had a big influence at the constitutional convention

5 tactics the framers used to

a.) bring about the convention

b.) to manage the convention

Disclaimer: only had 4 tactics written in my notes. even looked at anothers notes and they only had 4 as well

- dramatize the situation to build urgency for action

- play on patriotic rhetoric; convince people that the US was an embarrassment to the rest of the world and if nothing was done it was going to fail

- have a celebrity spokesperson

- George Washingtion; "he thinks its a good idea, so will everyone else.

- Benjamin Franklin

- had to appear harmless; they understood they were going to face great rebuttal to throwing out the AOC, they asked states to approve possible amendments to the articles, what they really wanted to do was throw the whole thing away and start a new document

how to handle the convention

- show up and grab control of the agenda: if you controlled the agenda you has a better chance of controlling the outcome of the meeting

- protection the participants: all member of the convention had to take a pledge that they would not talk about what happened at the constitution halls so they could maintain their reputation and speak freely without having to worry about their reputation

- delegation: when you hit a stalemate, delegate it. many things get done in committees rather than being brought to the whole group. The great compromise was created in a committee- have a bicameral legislature, one based on population(the house) and one with equal representation(senate)

- be vague: the constitution is short, brief and non-specific. the reason the constitution is vague is because they could not agree at the convention.

- leave some room for adjustment: ability to make amendments, article 5 gives the ability to amend anything at anytime. bill of rights were added almost immediately

The Great Compromise

Compromise made by Constitutional Convention in which states have a bicameral legislature, one based on population(the house) and one with equal representation(senate)

New Jersey Plan

"Small State" proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for equal representation of each state in Congress regardless of the state's population.

The Virginia Plan

"Large state" proposal for the new constitution, calling for proportional representation in both houses of a bicameral Congress. The plan favored larger states and thus prompted smaller states to come back with their own plan for apportioning representation.

3/5 Compromise

the decision at the Constitutional convention to count slaves as 3/5 of a person for the purpose of deciding the population and determining how many seats each state would have in Congress

What does reconciling the irreconcilable mean? what did they reconcile?

- solving an impossible problem; i.e. creating a gov't based on the power of the people when you don't trust the people

- so you create a stronger government and make sure its not too powerful; i.e. Checks and Balances, seperation of powers, federalist 51

Checks and Balances

A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power

seperation of powers

dividing the powers of government among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches

federalist 51

Argues that separation of powers within the national government is the best way to prevent the concentration of power in the hands of one person or a single group.

Direct Democracy

A form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives

Representative Democracy

A system of government in which citizens elect representatives, or leaders, to make decisions about the laws for all the people.

nature of federalism

a division of power between federal and state govt

19th century federalism defined

"layer cake" state and national dont interact

20th century federalism defined

"marble cake" not necessarily a seperation of where state ends and national starts

- 1890's federal income tac came along during wilson administration

- states become more dependent of fed income tax

-EX: missouri bridge needs $ to rebuild. State asks national for $

New Deal Programs

federal relief programs during the Great Depression

great depression

the economic crisis beginning with the stock market crash in 1929 and continuing through the 1930s

the great society

medicare and other programs were made

- gave fed gov more power

Clauses Favoring the Federal Government

Elastic Clause(Necessary and Proper Clause), Inner-state commerce clause, full faith and credit clause, privileges and immunities clause, due process of law, 16th amendment

supreme court case

consists of syllabus (cheat sheet/summary), main opinion (main ruling of the court), concurrent or dissenting opinions, and the decision to affirm the appeals court, disagree with appeals court, or remand

elastic clause

Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, which allows Congress to make all laws that are "necessary and proper" to carry out the powers of the Constitution.

McCulloch v. Maryland

Maryland was trying to tax the national bank and Supreme Court ruled that federal law was stronger than the state law

Commerce Clause

The clause in the Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Clause 1) that gives Congress the power to regulate all business activities that cross state lines or affect more than one state or other nations.

14 Amendment

all legal citizens have the equal protection from the law

Article 4 of the Constitution

Outlines the rights and expectations for all states and citizens including the adding of new states

Privileges and Immunities Clause

prevents a state from treating citizens of other states in a discriminatory manner.

Full Faith and Credit Clause

Constitution's requirement that each state accept the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state