POSC 225 Cohen Exam 1

French and Indian War (1754-1763)

-"Seven Years War"

-Great Britain goes bankrupt

-causes them to tax to increase revenue

Stamp Act (1765)

-law that taxed all printed materials

Tea Act of 1773

Law passed by parliament allowing the British East India Company to sell its low-cost tea directly to the colonies - undermining colonial tea merchants; led to the Boston Tea Party

Boston Tea Party

dumping of tea into the Boston harbor to protest the tax on tea

Coercive Acts (1774)

-Britain's response to the Boston tea party

-closed port of Boston

-led to FCC

First Continental Congress (1774)

Convention of delegates from the colonies called in to discuss their response to the passage of the Intolerable/Coercive Acts

Battles of Lexington and Concord (1775)

-battles between Massachusetts colonists and British soldiers that started the Revolutionary War

-"Shot heard round the world"

Second Continental Congress (1775)

Congress opposed the drastic move toward complete independence from Britain. In an effort to reach a reconciliation, the Congress offered peace under the conditions that there be a cease-fire in Boston, that the Coercive Acts be repealed, and that negotiations begin immediately. King George III rejected the petition.

Declaration of Independence

-written by Thomas Jefferson

-Signed in 1776 by US revolutionaries

-it declared the United States as a free state

Beginning of Revolutionary War

-General Washington believed we would lose the war without government involvement

-NOT going well, had no money

-Congress wanted states to provide their own troops

Winter at Valley Forge (1777-1778)

-Washington's army encamped near Philadelphia and experienced a cold winter with little food

-used his own money to provide clothing and food to the soldiers

Defeats in South Carolina

-Americans suffer their worst defeat of the revolution

-surrender of Major General Benjamin Lincoln to British Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton and his army of 10,000 at Charleston, South Carolina

-With the victory, the British captured more than 3,000 Patriots and a great quantity of munitions and equipment, losing only 250 killed and wounded in the process

Benedict Arnold

-American General who was labeled a traitor when he assisted the British in a failed attempt to take the American fort at West Point

-George Washington fully trusted him but he planned to surrender to the British; plot was discovered and he fled to Britain

Government under the Articles of Confederation

-hampering the war effort

-unanimous approval was needed for all important actions (not quick)

-no administrative apparatus

-free riding (benefit without paying for it)

When does the tide turn for the Revolutionary War?

US got help from France with money and military support

Yorktown (1781)

the British under Cornwallis surrendered after a siege of three weeks by American and French troops

Articles of Confederation (1777-1778)

-nation's first constitution

-granted power to the states and created a weak federal government

-federal government didn't have enough power to tax, had trouble raising money to pay debts

-very ineffective during the revolutionary war

-for major laws to be passed, need 9 out of 13 states to agree (each state got one vote)

Shay's Rebellion (Jan 1787)

-rebellion of farmers who went bankrupt

-planned an assault against the Mass. government

-national government couldn't provide money or troops

-saw the articles needed to be changed or gotten rid of

-persuaded state leaders of the need for a stronger national government

Constitutional Convention (1787)

-met to change the articles of confederation

-James Madison took notes

-officially become law of land by June 21, 1788

-New Hampshire became the 9th state to ratify

-4 state had yet to ratify

2. all ratified by 1791

-passed 5-4; other states were absent or abstained

Virginia plan

-Madison and his nationalist colleagues proposed it which benefited large states

-people would elect House of Representatives

-proposed a two-chamber legislature

-lower chamber: representation based on population; would choose upper chamber

-upper chamber: representation equal for every state; could make any law and veto any state law; benefited the large states because had more population

New Jersey Plan

-rebuttal to the VA plan

-single house chamber

-equal representation for each state

The Great Compromise

-two chamber legislature

-House of Representatives: based on population; authority to levy taxes

-Senate: equal for each state (2)

The Executive Branch

-Hamilton and Madison made an independent executive branch capable of checking the legislature with a veto

the Judicial branch

-framers spent little time on this

-supreme court final jurisdiction in resolving differences between state and nation

-president appoints supreme court justices and senate must confirm

(Article III)

judicial review

The power of the courts to declare laws unconstitutional and nullify them

How was slavery dealt with at the Constitutional Convention?

-insufficiently; essentially put the problem off yet again

-slave trade extended until 1808 when it was supposed to end in 1800

3/5 rule

Slaves count as 3/5 of a citizen in tally for population

Fugitive Slave Law

-northerners must return runaway slaves to their masters

-The North was lax about enforcing the 1793 law, which irritated the South to no end

Ratifying the Constitution

-9 States were needed

-Federalist (Madison was for it but was actually a nationalist)

amendment proposal

2/3rd vote of both houses of congress

amendment ratification

-3/4th of the 50 state legislatures

-process was used for all amendments but 21st (repeal of prohibition) where 3/4 of special constitutional conventions called by the 50 states

Federalist

A term used to describe supporters of the Constitution during ratification debates in state legislatures.

Anti-Federalist

Anti-Federalists rose up as the opponents of the Constitution during the period of ratification. They opposed the Constitution's powerful centralized government, arguing that the Constitution gave too much political, economic, and military control. They instead advocated a decentralized governmental structure that granted most power to the states

Bill of Rights

a distinct, concrete, explicit, clear set of rights enjoyed by citizens that could not be trampled by the national government

Federalist 10 (written by James Madison)

argues against the Anti-Fed notion that was a "large republic" could not survive-said that localized government was best

Federalist 51 (written by James Madison)

-explains how the checks and balances system works

-how to keep representative from betraying the public trust

Federalism

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

-each level must have it's own set of elected representatives, be able to tax its citizens, and be able to pass its own legislation

Supremacy Clause

Constitution is the supreme law of the land

Necessary and Proper Clause

-Constitutional clause that gives congress the power to make all laws "necessary and proper" for executing its powers

-basically gives congress power

10th Amendment

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people

11th Amendment

One State cannot be sued by another state (state sovereign immunity)

McCulloch v. Maryland

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

Gibbons v. Ogden

Regulating interstate commerce is a power reserved to the federal government

Nullification

a state legislature could invalidate an act of Congress if they felt it violates its states sensibilities

-this is definitely unconstitutional

Why the need for nationalization?

-sheer cope and magnitude of necessary legislation

-difficulties of collective action among the states

-political, not necessarily theoretical or philosophical

the importance of getting re-elected

-it's a career for many

-gain experience, seniority

-enact preferred policies

re-election incentive

-House: 2 year terms

-Senate: 6 year terms

-hardest election is the 1st election

The House of Representatives

-chosen in popular elections every other year

-short tenure was designed to keep the House as close to the people as possible

-single member districts (first-past-the-post) -> most votes win (no majority necessary)

1. 435 districts, each elects one person

The Senate

-chosen by state legislatures not the voters (until 1913)

-term of 6 years

-1/3rd of the senate must be re-elected every 2 years

powers assigned to congress by the US constitution

-impose taxes

-coin and borrow money

-regulate interstate and foreign commerce

-spend money for the "common Defense" and "general Welfare"

-make all laws "necessary and proper"

-declare war

-raise and finance an army and a Navy

-senate has power of "advise and consent"

-can override a presidential veto

Apportionment

-house seats based on the population

-changes every 10 years because of population change (Census tells us this)

-435 since 1911

redistricting (partisan gerrymandering)

-happens every every 10 years based on Census results/population change

-next census is 2020

1. new lines will go into effect in 2022

Wesberry vs Sanders (redistricting)

ruling that each state must draw districts to have equal populations

Thornburg vs Gingles (redistricting)

district lines may not discriminate against minority representation

Gerrymandering

-how the states are divided by district lines for political benefit

-draw a district for a certain purpose to benefit a certain group or individual

-becomes a problem because it's a manipulation of boundaries within a state for a political parties advantage

partisan gerrymandering

-redistricting controlled by the majority party in a state's legislature, to increase the number of districts that party can expect to carry

-early 19th century MA

Davis v Bandemer

-court said it would be unconstitutional if it was too strongly bias against a party and lines could be redrawn

-no plan has been successfully challenged

Vieth v Jubelirer

-PA democrats sued the republican party, saying a gerrymander caused them to lose 4 seats

-court said it was fair

Tom DeLay in Texas

he redrew the Texas district lines and gave the republicans 5 new seats during a mid-decade gerrymander

1982 Civil Rights Act

-require states to maximize the number of majority-minority districts when drawing new lines

-increased the number of women candidates

general points about the organization of the house

-majority really does rule

-coalitions must be built (easiest way is political parties)

-leadership retains power through committee appointments

Speaker of the House

-role: second in line to succeed to the president, should that office become vacant

-chosen in practice by the majority party

-has both formal and informal powers

"Czar" Reed

-ultimate power appointing all chairs

-he decided who was able to speak and who wasn't

-chaired the Rules Committee

-given lots of power by fellow Republicans

Joseph Cannon

-offended the republican party who formed an alliance to strip the speaker of his power

-there wasn't party unison

Tip O'Neill

-expert on procedure rather than policy and cared about building coalitions

-pushed democratic legislation

Newt Gingrich

Gingrich was a Republican speaker in the House

-pushed for more conservative legislation during Clinton's presidency

majority leader

the legislative leader elected by party members holding the majority of seats in the House or Senate

minority leader

the legislative leader elected by party members holding a minority of seats in the House or the Senate

Majority Whip

a go-between with the majority leadership and party members in the house of representatives

Conference (R) and the Caucas (D)

everybody else in the House

Steering and Policy Committee

tell you what committee you will be on in the House

Congressional Campaign committee

-each party has their own committee

-recruit challengers

-test elections

standing committees

-tier 1

1. most sought after

2. ex) the big 4

--rules

--ways and means

--procreation

--commerce

-tier 2

1. policy committees

2. help do things for your district

-tier 3

1. governments reform and oversight

special/select committees

deal with specific problems and then disband

joint committees

both with house and senate

ad hoc committees

handle specific bills that are particularly sensitive

conference committees

meets at the end of the bill passing and process what needs to be reconciled before it goes to the president

general points (in the house)

-majority really does rule

-minority is much more powerful in the senate

-coalitions must be built

-individual lawmakers more powerful in the senate

-leadership retains a lot of power

-not as much power at the Senate

Preisdent Pro Tempore

-longest serving senator from the majority party

-ceremonial role

-no real power or responsibility

majority leaders and minority leader

-leader their parties in the chamber

-not as powerful

-voted on by their party

differences between the house and senate

-senate activity is more floor oriented

i.e. individualism is more a part of the senate

-different rules govern activity

1. even when chambers are ruled by both parties, they have trouble coordinating

2. minority party has a good deal more power in the senate

3. ability to advance non-germane amendments

-party leadership in senate is weaker

-senators must compromise more than house members on legislation

1. in conference committees, senate often moderates legislation from the House

2. house is usually seen as more polarized; filled with more ideologues (due in large measure to the different electorates to which each has to appeal)

-however, consideration of judicial nominations raises the stakes and has further polarized the senate leading to both parties hacking away at the filibuster

filibuster

-talk for however long without being stopped

-doesn't have to be relevant

-stopped by cloture vote

-needs 3/5 vote (60 votes)

-super majority

why do we have a love-hate relationship with congress?

-we apply different standards of judgement to members

-members are much more concerned about their own reputations than for congress'

-lots of opportunities for individual members to shine

-voters are self-centered and selfish

incumbency advantage

-The relative infrequency with which members of Congress are defeated in their attempts for reelection

-re election rate is only 60-70%

-states are more populous and diverse

1. harder to develop personal connection with constituents

-states are less likely to strongly favor one party or the other

1. more inter-party competition relative to congressional districts

-senate races attract better challenges

1. not as many free rides

-easier for senate challengers to get their message out

1. more money and more media attention

introducing legislation

only members may submit legislation to the House or Senate

committee assignments

after bill is introduced it is assigned a number and referred to a committee

hearings

may hold hearings to discuss the issue at stake

reporting a bill out of committee

subcommittee edits the bill and reports it to the full committee

scheduling of debate

bills are put on the House or Senates calendar to be scheduled for action

debate and amending process

time is divided equally between the proponents and opponents of a bill

the vote

fate of a bill is decided by a series of votes

conference committee

reconcile differences between the two versions of the bill without adding to or subtracting to, but sometimes they do both

sent up Pennsylvania Avenue to the president

president can sign the bill, ignore the bill, or veto it

Personal goals v. Collective goals

1. whats good for the party

2. whats good for the incumbent

3. whats good for the chamber

Why are Senators more vulnerable?

1. states are more populous and diverse

-harder to develop personal connection with constituents

2. states are less likely to strongly favor one party or the other

-more inter-party competition relative to congressional districts

3. senate races attract better challenges

-not as many free rides

4. easier for senate challengers to get their message out

-more money and more media attention

the constitutional authority of the president

1. commander in chief

2. head of state

3. chief executive

4. legislator

commander in chief

-specific powers: President is commander in chief of the Army and Navy

-relationship with congress: can make the first move and frame congress's choice to either accept or reject the president's actions

head of state

-specific powers: serves as a symbolic leader of the country and represents the nation

-relationship with congress: 2/3 majority of the Senate has to ratify treaties

Executive Agreements

Agreements with other countries that do not need Senate approval

Chief Executive

-specific powers: decides how the laws of the US are enforced and chooses officials to help run the executive branch