Government Semester 1
- Government: group that has power to make and enforce laws
- Reasons For government:
- protect citizens i.e. military
- keep peace i.e. laws
- regulate economy
- Authoritarian/Dictatorship
- strong leader
- few freedoms
- Totalitarian
- Authoritarianism but extreme
- Theocracy
- Oligarchy
- rule by few
- military strength: junta
- family power: aristocracy
- religious control: theocratic oligarchy
- Direct Democracy
- Representative Democracy
- Rome, classical republic
- citizens vote for senate who vote on laws
- Monarchy
- traditional monarchy: monarch has absolute power
- constitutional monarchy: democratic government limits monarch’s control
- Socialism
- society owns means of production and key infrastructure
- “equality of all people”
- more government control but many freedoms
- Karl Marx
- history shaped by economic forces
- class struggle always exists between “haves” and “have nots”
- How Communism Happens
- proletarian seizes control of government and means of production
- capitalist system destroyed
- revolution
- establish “dictatorship of the proletariat”
- state withers away
- Communism is an advanced stage of socialism, socialism is an in-between stage of capitalism and communism
- Fascism
- totalitarian
- strong censorship
- government control of economics with some private ownership
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The Enlightenment and DOI
- Divine right of kings
- king is put there by god, if you disobey the king you disobey god
- Ex Post Facto
- you’re put in prison for something you did before it became illegal
- Feudalism
- Magna Carta
- limits rights of kings
- gave people due process of law
- Printing Press
- Enlightenment
- Age of Reason
- use reason over blind faith and obedience
- changed science, government, philosophy, writing, way of life
- Thomas Hobbes
- people naturally bad
- government only thing keeping people in check
- Social contract theory: people give up rights to live in society, if government abuses its rights you rebel
- Jean Jacque Rousseau
- everyone born a blank slate
- bad government makes you bad
- John Locke
- people have natural rights: life, liberty, property
- government should protect these rights
- Charles De Montesquieu
- separation of powers
- checks and balances
- Olive branch petition
- wanted peace, not independence
- Declaration of Independence
- drafted by Thomas Jefferson
- Section 1:
- natural rights
- Section 2:
- The King’s crimes
- Section 3:
- what we did
- Section 4:
- conclusion
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The Articles of Confederation
- Strengths:
- Established republican government
- gave way to expand US i.e. Northwest ordinance
- Gave powers to negotiate with other nations
- Weaknesses:
- no army
- no separation of powers
- no common currency
- Problems:
- no protection against domestic uprisings: Shay’s rebellion
- no common law
- lots of debt, congress couldn’t tax people
- inflation
Constitutional Convention
- Leaders:
- George Washington
- James Madison
- Alexander Hamilton: supported strong national government
- Patrick Henry: leader of antifederalists
- Virginia Plan: votes based on population of states
- New Jersey Plan: equal vote per sate regardless of population
- Connecticut Plan: bicameral legislature (what we settled on)
- 3/5 Compromise
- left slavery for next generation to deal with
- Federalist Papers
- John Jay, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, all wrote 85 essays. Most ideas for setting up US government come from these
- Antifederalists
- wrote articles under pseudonyms
Amending the Constitution
- Preamble: explains reason for constitution
- Articles 1-7: provide outline of government
- Amendments: bill of rights + 17 others
- Article 1 Legislature
- Section 1: Congress
- gives powers to house of representatives and senate
- Article 2 Executive
- Section 1: term of office
- section 2: electoral college
- Article 3 Judiciary
- Article 4 Interstate Stuff
- Article 5 Amending the Constitution
- 2/3 of house to amend
- 2/3 of state legislatures call “convention”
- both need 3/4 state legislatures to pass it
- Article 6 Supremacy
- Section 2: supreme law of the land
- Article 7 Ratification
- 9/13 states needed to establish constitution
- Bill of rights
- satisfied states rights advocates
- Informal Changes to the Constitution
- legislation
- executive action
- cabinets
- supreme court
Federalism
- power divided and shared between national and state governments
- Cake theory
- Autocracy/Unitary: pound cake
- Confederation: twinkie
- Federalist: marble cake
- Dual Federalism
- layer-cake
- Rigid wall separates state powers from national powers
- tension rather than cooperation
- Cooperative Federalism
- marble cake
- powers mixed all over the place
- Expressed powers
- powers given in constitution
- written down
- Article 1 Section 8 Congress can:
- do taxes
- military
- regulate commerce
- currency
- declare war
- post offices
- copyrights/patents
- Implied Powers
- not listed in constitution specifically
- minimum wage
- military draft
- Elastic Clause:
- do what’s necessary and proper for welfare of nation
- Reserved Powers
- power for states
- 10th amendment
- Article 4 limits state powers
- full faith and credit
- privileges and immunities (same rights state to state by national government)
- Interstate compacts
- Supremacy Clause
- Article 6 Section 2
- National government supreme law of the land
- Concurrent Powers
- Powers shared between state and national government
Judicial Stuff
- 11th Amendment
- Federal courts can’t hear suits against states
- Marbury V. Madison
- John Adams lost to Thomas Jefferson 1800
- Adams appoints a bunch of judges before leaving office
- Madison decides not to deliver judicial appointments
- Court Ruled that Madison should have delivered the note but judiciary act was unconstitutional
- Establishes judicial review
- McCulloch v. Maryland
- Maryland taxed a national bank
- McCulloch didn’t pay the tax
- Court ruled that congress can create a bank and states can’t tax the national government
- Gibbons v. Ogden
- Decided that any business that transports stuff across state lines is subject to federal regulation
- U.S. v. Lopez
- SCOTUS limited congressional authority to legislate under commerce clause
- Keeping guns out of school have nothing to do with commerce
- Fiscal Federalism
- block grants: few restrictions
- categorical grants: used for specific things
- grant-in-aid: for specific project
- States who don’t comply might lose money
- Mandates: states must comply, no extra money
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Voting Rights
- Constitution
- only white males with property
- Age of Jackson
- 15th Amendment
- Reconstruction
- poll taxes and literacy tests restrict voting rights for minorities
- 19th Amendment
- Grants voting rights to women
- voting for minorities still an issue
- Voting Rights Act 1965
- gets rid of literacy test and other barriers preventing minorities from voting
- 23rd Amendment
- 26th Amendment
Political Socialization
- Political Culture
- widely shared set of norms, beliefs and values concerning the relationship of citizens to their government
- American Political Culture
- liberty
- equality of opportunity
- individualism
- Justice/Rule of Law
- Limited Government
- Why democracy could take root in US
- no feudalism
- westward expansion
- small independent farmers
- Historical roots
- American revolution
- constitution
- adversarial culture
- distrust of authority
- Protestant Ethic
- city on a hill
- religious views
Political Spectrum and Ideology
- Political party
- group of citizens who agree on major issues
- nominate people they want to elect to public office
- vital link between people and government
- Two party system
- historical bias
- Federalist 10
- one can either destroy factions or control its outcomes
- Bi-Partisan
- follows “multiple" faction government of Madison
- Federalist 14
- “big tent” multiple factions invited to big tent
- Means of controlling mob mentality
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Political Parties
- early political parties formed a round Jeffersonian Republicans and Hamiltonian Federalists
- Corrupt Bargain leads to creation of Democratic Party
- Andrew Jackson leads democratic party
- Whig party forms in opposition to Andrew Jackson
- Slavery and sectionalism
- divides parties
- Democrats party of slavery
- Republicans party of union and federal power
- Post Civil War
- Republicans big business
- Democrats Jim Crow
- attempts at third parties
- Progressive Party
- Grange
- Populist Party
- Socialist Party
- Labor Unions
- New Deal
- Democrats take massive federal power
- Polarization in the 60s, has only increased since then
- Reagan
- Realignment, the new right
- conservative, anti-government message
- cut taxes
- protect conservative social values
- Decline of political party influence
- political parties in period of decline since 60s
- vietnam war
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Legislative Elections
- Primary elections
- open or closed
- crossover voting/raiding
- runoffs if no candidate wins majority
- general elections determine public offices
- ballot measures: initiative, referendum, recall
- Legislative Elections
- Senate: 2 per state
- House: changes based on state’s population as determined by Census
- Reapportionment
- Redistricting
- determines size and shape of district
- Gerrymandering
- Packing: concentrates opposition voters in a few districts
- Cracking: breaks down regions to dilute opposition
- Separate non-partisan redistricting authorities may be used to choose districts
- Incumbents have an advantage
Baker and Shaw
- 14th Amendment: no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law
- Baker v.s. Carr
- Tennessee voting districts drawn out of proportion
- Baker sues bc rural districts overrepresented
- Violated one man one vote and 14th amendment
- Shaw v. Reno
- North Carolina’s district plan was rejected because of only having one “majority-minority” district
- Redrawing of districts with second “majority-minority” was oddly shaped
- Shaw’s group claimed that drawing districts based on race violated 14th amendment
- Racial redistricting must be held to strict scrutiny
- must have compelling government interest
- be narrowly tailored
- least restrictive means
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Electing the President
- Requirements
- 35
- natural born citizen
- lived in US at least 14 years
- Informal Requirements
- Government experience
- education
- money
- “character”
- Candidates picked in primary elections
- party w/o electable incumbent holds primary
- Iowa Caucus
- Ballots
- blanket: every candidate of both parties show up
- Closed: must be registered member of party to vote
- Open: decide day-of what primary to vote in but you can only vote for one
- After convention
- candidate for party runs for president
- picks vice president, sets TICKET
- 12th amendment
- vice president and president must run together
- Voting methods
- voice voting: out loud
- Australian Ballot: (secret ballot)
- Mail-In ballot
- Online voting
- Electoral College
- winner take all
- electors usually vote for candidate who won in their state
- Elite democracy
- voters had little knowledge of candidates outside of region
- Electors meet in State capitol to cast votes for candidate they represent
- If there’s a tie, house of reps decides winner
- Electoral college pros
- allows small states to have a say
- stability of 2 party system
- avoids recount
- Electoral college Cons
- lower voter turnout
- states are “worth” more than others
- 3rd party impossible
Campaign Finance
- finances have increased dramatically over time
- direct election of senators increased spending
- cost of mass media
- Money comes from people, companies, PACs
- Companies give money to candidates
- Interest groups
- Single-Issue Groups:
- Women’s Suffrage association
- Multi-Purpose Groups:
- National Organization of Women
- Business Groups
- Professional Associations
- Citizens Groups
- Advocacy Groups
- Cause Groups
- Hatch Act
- restricted political activities of government
- prohibited political group from spending more than $3 million, limited individual contributions to $5,000
- FECA
- FEC
- Buckley V. Valeo
- spending money to finance campaigns is a form of free speech
- candidates can pend unlimited amount of money to finance their own campaigns
- Hard Money
- Soft Money
- no real laws
- spent on “party building” activities
- PACs
- 527s
- Money limited for both PACs and 527s
- Super PACs
- okay for corporations to spend as much money as they want, but illegal to give money directly to candidate
- Citizens United v.s. FEC
- Allowed for Super Pacs
- First amendment applies to corporations
- interest groups and pluralism
- many interest groups prevent one from being too powerful
- linkage institution
- Federalist 10
- media used to reach political leaders through filter
- informed electorate essential to democracy
- Political socialization
- Roles of Media
- Gatekeeper/Agenda setter
- Scorekeeper/horserace journalism
- Watchdog/muckraker
- Yellow journalism
- Political uses of media
- Intentional and explicit
- Unintentional but explicit
- Intentional but implicit
- Unintentional and implicit
- Unmediated content
- Mediated content
- media has partial control
- Fully Mediated
- Homogenized content
- market forces consolidate media outlets
- no variety of perspectives
- Dems trust media more than republicans
- Independents have trusted media less and less
Congress Intro
- House of Reps
- 435 members
- proportional representation
- 2 year terms
- Constituency is district
- Requirements
- 25 years old
- Citizen for 7 years
- Live in state & district
- lower visibility in news media
- less prestige
- Senate
- 100 members
- 2 per state
- 6 year terms
- Constituency of entire state
- Requirements
- 30 years old
- Citizen for 9 years
- Live in state
- higher visibility in news media
- more prestige
- Congressional Duties
- legislator
- committee member
- public servant
- trustee
- constituent representative
- politician
- Cloak of legislative immunity
- immune for arrest for misdemeanors during sessions
- can’t be sued for slander during sessions
- Powers
- taxation
- regulate commerce
- lawmaking
- fiscal powers, coin money
- copyrights
- piracy
- military
- Everything in DC
- Elastic clause
- Article 1 section 9, slavery compromise
- legal protections
- habeas corpus may not be suspended
- no ex post facto law
- no titles of nobility
- house starts stuff, senate finishes it
- Senate has sole power to confirm presidential appointments and require consent to ratify treaties (advice and consent)
- House is Huge 435 people
- have party leadership to coordinate votes
- house is more centralized
- senate less centralized
- Majority leaders (head of majority party in Senate or House
- Minority leader (directs activities of minority party)
- Party whips
- ensure party discipline, coordinate votes
- Speaker of the House
- chief spokesperson for majority party
- second in line for succession
- President pro tempore
- acts in absence of vice president in Senate
- Too many people so break stuff up into committees
- Standing committee
- permanent committee appointed to deal with a specified subject
- conference/joint committees
- members of senate and house for communication
- Special/Select committees
- investigative i.e. Watergate
- Seniority system for members of congress who have served the longest, better committee choices
- Influences on Congress
- interest groups
- lobbyists
- constituents
How a Bill Becomes a Law
- Committee of the whole
- Caucuses
- Groups of politicians who work together for a particular cause
- Steps to make a law
- Member of house or Senate Drafts Bill
- bill submitted to house or senate
- Introduced in house, sent to large committee
- Large committee sends it to subcommittee for approval
- Bill goes back to large committee for more approval
- Full house debates bill
- If passed, bill goes to Senate
- Bill sent to large Senate committee
- Large committee sends to smaller committee
- If subcommittee approves, sent back to large committee
- Bill is debated again by whole senate
- Filibuster
- If senate passes bill, goes to president for approval
- President’s options
- sign into law
- law without signature
- Veto
- can be overturned with 2/3 vote congress
- Pocket veto
- if congress isn’t in session and 10 days have passed without signing
- Pork barrel Legislation
- added on to bill albeit unrelated to bill’s purpose to gain support of congressperson