American National Government

Politics

"Who gets what, when, and how." (Laswell, 1938)

Government

The institution that has the authority to make decisions that are binding on everyone.

Types of Government

Autocracy, Oligarchy, and Democracy.

Autocracy

The power to authoritatively allocate values is held by one person.

Oligarchy

The power to authoritatively allocate values is held by a small group of people.

Examples of Oligarchy

Dictatorships and countries with ruling elites.

Democracy

The power to authoritatively allocate values is held by the people.

Core Democratic Principles

Majority Rule, Political Freedom, and Political Equality.

Majority Rule

The government adopts the policy that the largest percentage of citizens prefers.

Absolute Majority

50% plus one of all the eligible citizens.

Simple Majority

50% plus one of all those who vote.

Plurality

The choice with greater support when none of the options gained more than 50%.

Tyranny of the Majority

The process of democracy produces undesirable policy.

Political Freedom

The right to openly oppose governmental decisions, policies, and laws.

Political Equality

The expectation that citizens will be treated similarly in the political process.

Political Equality vs. Social Equality

Political equality means citizens are treated equally in the political process; Social equality relates to treating people equally in daily life.

Sovereignty

The authority to legally wield coercive power to allocate values.

Popular Sovereignty

The core of democracy, a distribution of political power in which all citizens have the right to participate in the political process.

Direct Democracy

Citizens are the principal decision makers.

Representative Democracy

A system of government where the people entrust decision-making to elected officials.

Political Science

The academic discipline dedicated to the study of politics; the systematic study of government, political institutions, processes, and behavior.

Normative Analysis

Answers the question, 'What we should do with our knowledge?'

Empirical Analysis

The objective study of what is, often associated with the scientific method.

Descriptive Research

Seeks to describe and measure one or more characteristics (variables) of a phenomenon.

Explanatory/Causal Research

Seeks to understand variables by discovering and measuring relationships among them.

Predictive Research

Seeks to forecast future events, such as forecasting an election outcome.

Predictive

Seeks to forecast future events, such as forecasting an election outcome.

Dependent Variable (DV)

The presumed effect of the independent variable; what you are trying to explain.

Independent Variable (IV)

The presumed cause of the dependent variable; what you are using to explain the DV.

Rational Choice

The government will reflect majority preferences because the center is where all the votes are.

Behavioral Models of Politics

Assumes that people's behavior is in response to an environmental stimulus.

Michigan model

Suggests that a socialization process leads us to psychologically attach ourselves to a particular political party.

Diversity and Difference

The challenge for American Democracy is to manage the diversity in backgrounds and interests of American Citizens within a democratic framework.

Ideology

A consistent set of values, attitudes, and beliefs about the appropriate role of government in society.

Conservative

Favor the status quo.

Liberals

Advocate for individual liberty.

Partisanship

Viewed as the psychological attachment to a political party.

Articles of Confederation

Served as the first constitution of the United States.

Federalists

Manufacturers, merchants, professionals, and former soldiers, primarily concentrated in the cities.

Anti-Federalists

Subsistence farmers, small businessmen, artisans, laborers, and debtors.

Shays' Rebellion

An armed revolt by farmers in western Massachusetts resisting state efforts to seize their property for failure to pay taxes.

Virginia Plan

Called for a bicameral legislature with representation based on population; favored by large states.

New Jersey Plan

Proposed a unicameral legislature with equal state representation; favored by small states.

Great Compromise

Created a bicameral legislature with the House of Representatives based on population and the Senate with equal representation for all states.

Three-Fifths Compromise

Three-fifths of all slaves would be counted for both representation in the House and for taxation purposes.

A constitution

Defines the structure, functions, and procedures of government; the Articles were inadequate on all three.

The Federalist Papers

A series of 85 political essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay that remain the best source for understanding the justifications for the Constitution.

Separation of Powers

Each of the three branches is authorized to carry out a separate portion of the political process, with a separation of personnel and constituency.

Check and Balance

One branch can assert and protect its own rights by withholding support or imposing restrictions on the other branches.

Federalism

The system of two independent and separate governments (state and federal) that rule over the same population in the same territory.

Mixed Government

Government that is part monarchy, part aristocracy, and part democracy.

Custom and Usage

Occurs when practices and institutions not mentioned in the Constitution evolve in response to political needs.

Enumerated powers

Powers explicitly granted to the government or a particular institution.

Implied powers

Powers not formally specified but are inferred from the enumerated powers.

Inherent powers

Powers not derived from either enumerated or implied powers, but are essential to the functioning of government or a particular office.

Confederal System

Power is decentralized; the national government is created by and subservient to the state governments.

Unitary System

Power is centralized; the national government is sovereign and creates regional or local governments that are subservient to it.

Federal System

Power is divided between a national government and regional (state) governments.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

Nationalist/Federalist.

THOMAS JEFFERSON

Localist/Anti-Federalist.

State Legislatures

State legislatures have regained respect and power due to reapportionment, increased professionalization, and modern facilities and procedures.

Reapportionment

Shifting from rural over-representation to reflecting a more urban/suburban population.

Civil Liberties

Constitutional freedoms that protect individuals from government action.

Fourteenth Amendment

States that 'No state shall make or enforce any law which shall....deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law'.

Absolutist Approach

Takes the First Amendment literally and means government cannot interfere with free expression regardless of potential harm.

Preferred Freedoms Approach

Suggests freedom of expression is fundamental but not absolute.

Balancing Test

Weighs competing values on a case-by-case basis to determine if restrictions on speech are warranted.

Clear and present danger

Speech is not protected if it is intended to and likely to lead to imminent lawless action.

Imminent Lawless Action Test

Speech is protected unless it is directed at inciting or producing imminent lawless action AND is likely to incite or produce such action.

Libel

Written defamation.

Slander

Oral defamation.

Symbolic Speech

Non-verbal forms of expression.

Obscenity

Hard-core pornography that appeals to the prurient interest.

Establishment Clause

Prohibits the government from establishing an official religion or supporting one religion over another.

Free Exercise Clause

Protects the rights of individuals to practice their religion without government interference.

Lemon Test

Established to test government aid to religious organizations.

Everson v. Board of Education

Providing bus fare to parents of both private and public school children was a matter of safety, not religion.

Walz v. the Tax Commission (1970)

Rejected opposition to tax-exempt status of churches, citing that assessing church property would lead to excessive entanglement.

Mergens case (1990)

Schools could not deny a student Bible study group the use of facilities after school.

Right to Privacy

The right to be led alone... the right most valued by civilized men. (Louis Brandeis)

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)

Established the right to privacy regarding marital relations and the use of contraceptives.

Theoretical Basis of Law and Justice

The law is the body of rules made by government for society, interpreted by the courts, and backed by the power of the state.

Sociological Approach

Law is the gradual growth of rules and customs that reconcile conflict among people, and it is a product of culture, religion, morality, and politics.

Natural Law

Rules that would govern humankind in a 'state of nature,' which are rights that all people have regardless of their governing system.

Current Theory

Suggests that law and law-breaking are a complex interplay of biology and environment.

Constitutional Law

Concerned with the interpretation and application of the U.S. Constitution.

Statutory Law

Enacted by Congress, state legislatures, or local legislative bodies.

Common Law

The totality of judge-made laws based on custom, culture, habit, and previous judicial decisions (known as precedent).

Equity

The legal principle of fair dealing that may provide legal remedies unavailable under principles of law.

U.S. Court System Structure

The system is divided into federal and state courts.

Federal Courts

U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals, U.S. District Courts.

State Courts

State Court of Last Resort, Intermediate State Court of Appeal, State Court of General Jurisdiction, State Court of Limited Jurisdiction.

Supreme Court Opinions

The Chief Justice (or the most senior associate justice in the majority) writes the opinion.

Majority Opinion

Five or more justices agree on both the winning side and the reason for the decision.

Concurring Opinion

Justices who agree with the result but not the reasoning.

Plurality Opinion

A majority supports the outcome, but a lack of agreement on the reasoning leaves the meaning of the reason unclear.

Dissenting Opinion

Justices in the minority who disagree with the result and the reasoning.

Judicial Activism

Making new policy by overturning previous rulings or legislative decisions.

Judicial Restraint

Deferring to the policy decisions of the elected branches of government.

Checks and Balances

The judiciary is constrained by other branches and by self-imposed rules.