POLS 206 KENT EXAM 1

What is government?

The institutions that make public policy decisions for a society are collectively known as

Two fundamental questions about governing

1. How should we govern?

2. What should government do?

National governments throughout the world perform the following functions

1. Maintain a national defense.

2. Provide public goods and services.

3. Preserve order and protect public safety.

4. Socialize the young.

5.Collect taxes.

collective goods

if they exist, by their very nature they cannot be denied to anyone and therefore must be shared by everyone.

Politics

determines whom we select as our governmental leaders and what policies these leaders pursue

political participation

The ways in which people get involved in politics

single-issue groups

groups so concerned with one matter that their members cast their votes on the basis of that issue only.

policymaking system

The way that our government responds to the priorities of its people.

(begins with the people)

linkage institutions

political parties, elections, interest groups, and the media—transmit Americans' preferences to the policymakers in government.

policy agenda

the issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actively involved in politics at a given time.

How the policy agenda responds

responds more to societal failures than successes

political issue

emerges when people disagree about a problem or about the public policy needed to fix it.

policymaking institutions

are established by the U.S. Constitution:

1. Congress

2. the presidency

3. the courts.

power of bureaucracy

many political scientists consider it a fourth policymaking institution.

public policy

Every decision that government makes—every law it passes

Statutes

Laws passed by Congress or state legislatures

Presidential actions

policy made by the president

Court decisions

legal opinions by the Supreme Court or a lower court

Having a policy implies what?

having a goal

policy impacts

The effects a policy has on people and problems. Impacts are analyzed to see how well a policy has met its goal and at what cost.

Democracy

A system of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy represents and responds to the public's preferences.

Traditional Democratic Theory

1. equality in voting

2. effective participation,

3. enlightened understanding

4. citizen control of the agenda

5. inclusion

majority rule

policies should reflect the will of over half the voters

minority rights

protecting the rights and freedoms of the minority in choosing among policy alternatives.

representation

The relationship between elected leaders and citizens

Three Contemporary Theories of American Democracy

1. Pluralist theory states that groups with shared interest

2. Elite and class theory contends that our society (like all societies) is divided among class lines.

2. Hyperpluralism is pluralism gone sour.

Robert Dahl expresses

all active and legitimate groups in the population can make themselves heard at some crucial stage in the process

Alexis de Tocqueville

pointed to the high level of associational activities as one of the crucial reasons for the success of American democracy.

Robert Putnam

argued that a decline in social capital has led to a decline in political participation. Mid-20th century societal changes fueling the decline in social capital: mobility and urban sprawl; technology and mass media; generational change.

Challenges to Democracy

1. Increased complexity of issues

2. Limited participation in government

3. Escalating campaign costs

4. Diverse political interests

Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt argued that American democracy was showing signs that democracy had been extinguished

(1) a rejection of some established rules of the game; (2) a denial of the legitimacy of political opponents; (3) tolerating or encouraging political violence; and (4) a willingness to curtail civil liberties.

James Curry argues

in Legislating in the Dark, the problem of information is often acute for policymakers

Winning a House seat these days usually requires

war chest of at least $1 million

PAC

Political Action Committee

policy gridlock

A condition that occurs when interests conflict and no coalition is strong enough to form a majority and establish policy, so nothing gets done.

Marc Hetherington and Thomas Rudolph argue

policy gridlock has become more common due to the rising distrust that Democrats and Republicans

political culture

an overall set of values widely shared within a society

(holds America together)

G. K. Chesterton and Seymour Martin Lipset

American creed can be summarized by five elements: liberty, individualism, laissez-faire, populism, and egalitarianism

American creed can be summarized by five elements

liberty, individualism, laissez-faire, populism, and egalitarianism

GDP

Gross Domestic Product- the total market value of all final goods and services produced annually in an economy

Medicare

1/10 of the national budget

When expenditures grow

tax revenues must grow to pay the additional costs

Texas v. Gregory Lee Johnson

Johnson burned an American flag in front of Dallas City Hall, Supreme court ruled that Johnson's action was expressive conduct and the fact that an audience takes offense to certain ideas and expression does not justify as prohibitions of speech (5-4, Johnson's favor, 1989)

United States v. Eichman

Declared Flag Protection Act, which made flag-burning illegal, unconstitutional, 1990

Constitution

A nation's basic law. It creates political institutions, assigns or divides powers in government, and often provides certain guarantees to citizens. Constitutions can be either written or unwritten.

French and Indian War

(1754-1763) War fought in the colonies between the English and the French for possession of the Ohio Valley area. The English won.

First Continental Congress

September 1774, delegates from twelve colonies sent representatives to Philadelphia to discuss a response to the Intolerable Acts

Common Sense

1776: a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that claimed the colonies had a right to be an independent nation

Richard Henry Lee said

"that these United States are and of right ought to be free and independent states."

Jefferson's American creed

the most important and succinct statement of the philosophy underlying American government

Second Treatise of Civil Government

written by John Locke, it contains the blueprint principles found in the Declaration of Independence.

natrual rights

life, liberty, and property-delveloped by john locke.

consent of the governed

The idea that government derives its authority by sanction of the people.

Limited Government

The idea that certain restrictions should be placed on government to protect the natural rights of citizens.

Two limits on government were particularly important to Locke

1. governments must provide standing laws so that people know in advance whether their acts will be acceptable

2.The supreme power cannot take from any man any part of his property without his consent

Levellers

championed popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law, and religious tolerance, all of which were expressed in the manifesto Agreement of the People

1783

Treaty of Paris ends the American Revolution

Articles of Confederation

A weak constitution that governed America during the Revolutionary War.

-league of friendship and perpetual union

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

no power to tax, President lacked power, no money to buy ships or pay soldiers

Shay's Rebellion

Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787, protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need for a strong national government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went out.

economic turmoil

-Postwar depression left farmers unable to pay debts.

-State legislatures sympathetic to farmers passed laws that favored debtors over creditors.

human nature

The fundamental disposition of humans that determines their behavior (people are naturally self-interested)

Political Conflict

The most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property

Factions

Groups such as parties or interest groups, which according to James Madison arose from the unequal distribution of property or wealth and had the potential to cause instability in government.

Purpose of Government

preservation of property

Nature of Government

power against power so that no one faction rises above and overwhelms another

Equality issues at Constitutional Convention

1. Equality of States - Connecticut compromise

2. Slavery - 3/5s

3. Equality in Voting - let the states decide qualifications

New Jersey Plan

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

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.

Conneciticut compromise

create an American government that is a compromise of virgina plan and new jersey plan

(gave more poewr to smaller states)

Three-Fifths Compromise

Compromise between northern and southern states at the Constitutional Convention that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for determining direct taxation and representation in the House of Representatives.

Economic issues of the constitutional convention

-states had tariffs on precuts from other states

-paper money was worthless

-congress couldn't raise money

-so the Powers of Congress were strengthened (they could levy taxes, create uniform money) and the power of states was weakened

Charles A. Beard

A historian who argued that the Founders were largely motivated by the economic advantage of their class in writing the Constitution

chief economic policymaker

Congress

Powers of Congress

Collect taxes, borrow money, regulate commerce with other nations, coin money, declare war, control armed forces, make necessary laws.

writ of habeas corpus

A court order requiring jailers to explain to a judge why they are holding a prisoner in custody. Article 1 Section 9

bill of attainder

a law that punishes a person accused of a crime without a trial or a fair hearing in court

Article 1 Section 9

ex post facto law

a law that makes an act criminal although the act was legal when it was committed

Article 1 Section 9

Conviction of treason requires:

confession in an open court or two witnesses to the same act Article 3 Section 3

trial by jury

Article 3 Section 2

Madisonian System

a structure of government in which the powers of the government are separated into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial

To prevent the possibility of a tyranny of the majority, Madison proposed the following

1. Place as much of the government as possible beyond the direct control of the majority.

2. Separate the powers of different institutions.

3. Construct a system of checks and balances.

Republic

system of government in which officials are chosen by the people

Anti-Federalists

Opponents of the American Constitution at the time when the states were contemplating its adoption.

The constitution belongs to who?

The living

The Formal Amending Process

changing written words in a document must have a 2/3 vote in the house and 2/3 in senate and 3/4 in the state

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

constitutional amendment passed by Congress but never ratified that would have banned discrimination on the basis of gender

How long does it take on average for a new amendment

13 years

The Informal Processes of Constitutional Change

-judicial interpretation

-changing political practice

-technology

-increased demand for new policies

Judicial Review

Allows the court to determine the constitutionality of laws

Importance of flexibility

constitution is short and doesn't prescribe every detail, the constitution is not static but flexible for future generations to determine their own needs

Fifteenth Amendment (1870)

Prohibited states from denying voting rights to African Americans. Southern states circumvented the Fifteenth Amendment through literacy tests and poll taxes.

The Twenty-third Amendment

Washington DC is not a state, but gets 3 electoral votes

The Seventeenth Amendment

Direct election of senators

Federalism

A system in which power is divided between the national and state governments

Unitary Government

A centralized government in which all government powers belong to a single, central agency.

intergovernmental relations

The workings of the federal system- the entire set of interactions among national, state, and local governments.

Confederation

an organization that consists of a number of parties or groups united in an alliance or league.

All countries with federal systems are

democracies

State and National elections are handled by

States