Political Science 111 Umich Exam 1 Study Guide

Representative Democracy (republic)

Citizens elect officials who make decisions for them.

Direct Democracy

Citizens vote on laws and policies themselves.

Popular Sovereignty

The idea that political authority comes from the people, and government is legitimate only with their consent.

Public Goods

Something that is non-excludable (you can’t keep non-payers from using it) and non-rivalrous (one person’s use doesn’t reduce another’s), such as national defense or clean air.

Collective Action

Problems that require this arise when individuals have an incentive to free-ride, letting others pay while still enjoying the benefit, so the good is under-provided. This is the main principle that drives taxation.

Declaration of Independence

The 176 document, drafted mainly by Thomas Jefferson, that announced the colonies’ break from Britain. It rests on natural rights (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness), consent of the governed, and the right to revolt, and it lists grievances against King George III.

Founders’ Goals and the Design of the Constitution

The framers wanted a government strong enough to solve the failures of the Articles of Confederation (no power to tax, no executive, no national courts, hard to amend) but not so strong that it threatened liberty. They aimed to protect against tyranny of both the majority and a single ruler, and to balance competing interests.

Virginia Plan and the Great Compromise

The Virginia Plan (large states) proposed a strong national government with a bicameral legislature in which representation in both houses was based on population. The New Jersey Plan (small states) proposed equal representation per state. The Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise) split the difference. The House is apportioned by population, and the Senate gives each state two Senators.

Three-Fifths Compromise

Agreement that counted each enslaved person as three-fifths of a person when determining a state’s population for House representation and direct taxes. It was a compromise to secure Southern ratification and was nullified by the 14th amendment after the Civil War.

Separation of Powers

Divides the government into three branches (legislative, executive, judicial), each with its own primary function.

Checks and Balances

Gives each branch tools to limit the other, so power is shared rather than isolated.

Federalism and National-State Relations

A system in which power is divided between a national government and state governments, each with its own sphere of authority. Contrasts unitary systems and confederal systems. It allows policy variety and lets states act as “laboratories of democracy,” but can also produce inequality across states. Relations have shifted between Dual Federalism and Cooperative Federalism.

Expressed Powers (Enumerated Powers)

Powers explicity listed in the Constitution for the national government.

Implied Powers

Powers that are reasonably inferred from the expressed powers, grounded in the Necessary and Proper Clause. (McCulloch v. Maryland)

Inherent Powers

Belong to the national government simply because it is a sovereign nation. (Example is foreign affairs)

Reserved Powers

Powers left to the states by the 10th amendment

Concurrent Powers

Powers shared by both state and federal governments such as taxation

Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic Clause)

Lets congress make all laws “necessary and proper” to carry out its enumerated powers.

Commerce Clause

Clause that vies congress power to regulate commerce among the states, with foreign affairs, and with Native tribes. It has been a major tool for expanding federal power

Tenth Amendment

Powers not delegated to the National Government, nor prohibited to the states, are reserved to the states or the people.

Changes in Federal Power Over Time

The Civil War, 14th Amendment, New Deal, and Civil Rights era and Great Society programs have expanded national authority.

Great Depression

A severe economic collapse with mass unemployment

New Deal

President FDR’s response to the Great Depression with programs for relief, recovery, and reform. (Social Security, Public Works, Bank Regulation, and Labor Protections)

Categorical Grants

Money the national government gives to states and localities for narrow, specific purposes and come with strict rules.

Block Grants

Give broader funding for general areas like health or welfare, with more state discretion over how to spend it.

State discretion and Variation in Public Policy

Because states hold reserved powers and often have latitude in how they implement federal programs, policies differ across states in areas like education, criminal justice, healthcare, marijuana laws, and voting rules.

House of Representatives

Has 435 voting members, two-year terms, representation by population, and a Speaker who is elected by the majority party and holds major agenda power. The Rules Committee controls debate and amendments.

Senate

Has 100 members (two per state), six-year staggered terms (one-third up for election every two years), and a more individualistic style, with the Vice president as the president of the Senate (voting only to break ties) and a president pro tempore (most senior person usually).

Constituencies and Electoral Incentives

The people (and interest) a legislator represents. Members of congress want to be reelected so they respond to constituents through casework, local projects, and positions that match district opinion.

Incumbency

Current officeholders that hold major advantages when seeking reelection: name recognition, fundraising ease, franking privilege (free mailing), staff and casework services, media access, and gerrymandered safe districts.

Delegate Model of Representation

Under the delegate model a representative votes the way constituents want, even if it differs from personal judgements.

Trustee Model of Representation

A representative uses their judgement and expertise to decide what is best, even against constituent opinion.

Congressional Committees

Hold hearings, draft and amend bills, and oversee agencies. Types include standing (permanent), select, joint, and conference committees.

Appropriations Process

President proposes a budget, the House and Senate appropriations committees write spending bills, and Congress must pass them. Authorization sets a program’s existence and limits; appropriation provides the money. (“Power of Purse”)

Filibuster and Cloture

A filibuster is a Senate tactic in which senators prolong debate to delay or block a vote on a bill. Cloture is the procedure to end debate, requiring 60 votes for most legislation (three-fifths of the Senate).

Congressional Oversight

Congress’s role in monitoring and reviewing the executive branch and its implementation of laws, through hearings, investigations, subpoenas, budget control, and confirmation power.

Party unity

How members of the same party vote together.

Polarization

The growing ideological distance between the parties, with fewer moderators and little overlap.

Collective Action and Institutional Power

Congress as a body faces collective action problems as individual members have incentives to protect their own reelection even when this weakens the institutions overall standing or policy performance.

Pork-Barrel Spending

Government spending directed to a specific district or state for local benefit, such as a bridge, a military base, or a research grant, often inserted into larger unrelated bills.

Presidential Powers and their limits

Formal powers include serving as the commander in chief, making treaties and appointments, granting pardons, vetoing bills, giving the State of the Union, and faithfully executing laws. Limits include Congress’s power of the purse, impeachment, the Senate’s confirmation and treaty roles, judicial review, the 22nd amendment (two-term limit), federalism, and public opinion.

Presidential Vetos and Congressional Overrides

A veto is the president’s rejection of a bill passed by Congress. Congress can override it with a two-thirds vote in both chambers, which is rare. A pocket veto happens if the president doesn’t sign a bill and Congress adjourns within ten days, so the bill dies. No line-item veto (Clinton v. New York).

Treaties and Executive Agreements

A treaty is a formal agreement with another nation that the president negotiates and the Senate must approve by a two-thirds vote. An executive agreement is an international agreement made by the president alone, without Senate ratification.

Presidential Nominations and Appointments

The president nominates federal judges, cabinet secretaries, and other top officials, which the Senate confirms by a majority vote.

Vice Presidency

Presides over the Senate (voting only in ties) and succeeds the president if the office becomes vacant

Going Public

A strategy in which the president appeals directly to the public through speeches, media, and social media to build support for their agenda and pressure Congress to act.

Growth of Presidential Power

Presidential authority has expanded over time, driven by crisis and wars, the New Deal and the growth of the administrative state, the role of the U.S. as a world power, mass media, executive orders, executive agreements, and Congress’s willingness to delegate powers.

Executive Office of the President (EOP)

Collection of agencies and offices that directly support the president, including White House staff, the National Security Council, the Council of Economic Advisers, and the office of Management and Budget.

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

A key EOP agency that prepares the president’s annual budget proposal, reviews agency regulations and spending, and checks that agencies follow the president’s priorities.

Delegation

When Congress passes broad laws and hands the details of implementation to executive agencies.

Bureaucratic Discretion

Freedom of agencies to interpret the law and decide how to carry it out, including writing rules and regulations.

Principal-agent Problem

Occurs when one party relies on another to act on their behalf, but the agent has different interests and more information, so the principal cannot fully control them.

Presidential Control of the Bureaucracy

The attempt to steer the bureaucracy through appointing agency leaders, issuing executive orders, using OMB budget and regulatory review, reorganizing agencies, and setting priorities.

Federal enforcement of civil rights and court orders

Courts have no army or police of their own and depend on the executive branch (and sometimes the states) to carry out their rulings.

Judicial Review

The power of courts to review actions of the legislative and executive branches (and states) and strike down those that violate the constitution.

Marbury v. Madison

The case that established judicial review and the principle that the Constitution is the supreme law.

Judicial Appointments and Confirmation

Federal judges are nominated by the president and confirmed by a Senate majority, and they serve for life during good behavior.

Supreme court size and institutional structure

The constitution does not set the Court’s size; Congress does. It has been nine justices since 1869. Three tiers: district courts (trial courts), court of appeals (circuit courts), and the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court caeload and case selection

The Supreme Court recieves thousands of petitions each year but only hears about 60-80 cases. Justices pick cases using the rule of four.

Original and Appellate Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction is the court’s authority to hear a case. Original jurisdiction means hearing a case for the first time. Appellate jurisdiction means reviewing the decision of a lower court.

Writ of certiorari

An order from the Supreme Court to a lower court requesting the record of a case for review. Granting “cert” means the Court has agreed to hear the case.

Writ of Habeas Corpus

A court order requiring that a person detained be brought before a judge so the government must justify the detention.

State Decisis and Precedent

The principle that courts should follow earlier rulings (precedent) when deciding similar cases

Majority Opinions and Opinion Assignment

The majority opinion states the Court’s ruling and legal reasoning, and it becomes the binding precedent. Concurring opinions agree with the result but for different reasons, and dissenting opinions disagree. If the chief justice is in the majority, they assign who writes the majority opinion; otherwise the most senior justice in the majority assigns it.

Constraints on Judicial Action

Though powerful, courts face limits. They cannot initiate cases and must wait for a real dispute. They depend on the executive and Congress for enforcement and funding. Other checks include judicial appointments and confirmation, impeachment, constitutional amendments, Congress changing jurisdiction or Court size, and public opinion.