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POS2041 Midterm
Lecture 1: Overview
● What is the Folk Theory of Democracy? What problems do we find with it?
1. “People want good policies” (...but often are wrong, lack knowledge/attention)
2. “People vote for politicians to implement them” (...but they often don’t vote)
3. “Those voted in do what people want” (...or they might only help certain people)
4. “Media tells voters what politicians did” (...people/media are both flawed/biased)
5. “Voters punish bad reps, reward good reps” (...do they?)
● What are some reasons why the government exists?
○ Maintaining the rule of law by enforcing norms through “monopoly on violence”
○ Solving Collective Action Problems (coordinating/incentivizing group efforts)
○ Solving Market Failures (coordinating/correcting economic problems)
○ Reducing Inequality (helping poor, minority groups, etc; most disputed)
● What is a collective action problem (CAP)?
○ Individuals want to solve a problem, but this problem can only be solved by group effort, and something (confusion, laziness, cheating, distrust, selfishness, etc.) discourages individual participation. Solving usually requires outside power (e.g. government).
● For each CAP below, explain what it is, and how government can solve this type of problem.
● Coordination: People don’t care about the outcome as long as everyone in the group wants the same thing (e.g. where to meet somewhere; driving on right side of the road). Solution – government just makes decision (enforces right-side driving)
● Free Rider: Group wants reward that requires each to contribute effort, but a person could not contribute and still get access to reward. Result is group fails to produce reward. Solved by requiring effort to get reward, or punishing slacking (e.g. taxes)
● Tragedy of the Commons: Individuals have incentive to consume too much of a collective renewable resource, leading to resource dying (e.g. over-grazing/fishing). Solution is to assign private property, or require quotas (e.g. fishing licenses)
● Prisoners Dilemma: Individuals would benefit from working together, but each has individual incentive to betray the other. Lack of trust results in a bad outcome for both. Hard to solve (e.g. diplomacy, transparency, repeated interactions).
● What is an externality (both positive and negative)? Examples? How do we solve them?
○ Externality: An agreement between two individuals (e.g. a buyer and a seller) impacts people not in the agreement (e.g. a neighbor, the public)
○ Positive: Something good for all society (e.g. education) doesn’t get produced enough. To correct, govt subsidizes the good (e.g. grants/loans for college) to increase use.
○ Negative: Something bad for all society (e.g. pollution) gets produced too much.
To correct, govt penalizes the bad (e.g. fines company for polluting) to decrease use.
● What is an asymmetric information problem? Examples? How do we solve them?
○ One person (e.g. seller) knows more about a product than another (e.g. buyer). Results in price-gouging, safety issues, etc. Solution = require giving info (e.g. nutrition facts).
Lecture 2: The Constitution
· What were the Articles of Confederation? What were its flaws? What issues did it cause?
first attempt at creating our own govt pot split with Britain. Confederation: component members more powerful than collective body. Flaws – amendments required unanimous ratification. Passing new laws required ~3/4 support (9/13 states). States could coin currency make trades unilaterally. Govt can’t tax, no army (free rider problem). No national leader. Issues – Can’t pay off debts to other countries, own soldiers. Confusing foreign relations 13 diff deals/currencies. Weak defense. Internal chaos, interstate trade, shays rebellion. Lead to develop not govt.
· What are some factional disputes that occurred during the drafting of the Constitution?
Big govt v small govt. big states v small states. Free states v slave states. Populism v elitism.
· What is a principal-agent problem?
Someone (principal0) hires someone (agent) else to carry out a task on their behalf. Agent may pursue other goals
· For each of the following plans, explain how they worked and why they were developed:
· Virginia Plan – Bicameral legislature, apportioned by population Lower chamber-masses Upper chamber-elites. Exec appointed by lower chamber. National govt has wide powers & vetoes state laws
· New Jersey Plan- unicameral legislature, appointed by state. Selected by state legislatures. Only clear national powers are to tax and regulate commerce.
· Connecticut Compromise – bicameral legislature, house – apportioned by pop senate – apportioned by state. House represents “passions of people” senate “cools the saucer”
· What parts of the Constitution address slavery? Why did these make it and not others?
Three fifths compromise- taxation and representation, south wanted full count, north wanted zero count. Future ban on slave imports, helped Virginia. Fugitive slave clause.
· For what purpose was the Electoral College created?
Designed to improve voter decision making, as voters were likely to not know nat’l candidates.
· What were the Federalist Papers? – “Publius” essays in newspapers made to sell ratification to the public
How does Madison argue the Constitution deals with:
· Tyranny of the Majority – democracy might be overtaken by a narrow majority who permanently crushes the minority. A large republic makes it difficult for this to happen.
· Tyranny of the Minority – elected officials might use their power to enrich themselves and harm the public. Checks and balances make it too difficult to let this happen.
● Who pushed for the Bill of Rights? What are some key aspects of major amendments?
Pushed by Anti-Federalists. 1st amendment- freedom of grievance (law suits/petitions), religion (assumption of separation of church&state), assembly(protest), speech, and press(right to gather and report info). 4th – search and seizure. 5th – right to due process 6th – right to trial and lawyer. 8th – bail and right against cruel and unusual punishment. 10th – If powers aren’t given to the federal gov’t assume it’s given to the states. Elastic clause – some gov’t powers may be inferred by congress.
Lecture 3: Suffrage
● What caused the number of eligible voters to double in the first 60 years of the country?
Abolished the requirement to own property to vote.
● After the Civil War, what efforts were made to protect the rights of non-whites?
The reconstruction amendments: 13th abolishes slavery, 14th equal protection & birthright citizenship, 15th right to vote
● What factors lead to the failure of Reconstruction?
Domestic terrorism in the south (KKK), Northern white voters lose interest, Republican party pulls support (Reconstruction is costly), Election of 1876: Tilden v. Hayes (close election, Parties essentially agree on winner), US military ordered to stand down (1877) – reconstruction ends.
● What features of the Jim Crow era limited the voting rights of non-whites?
White primaries, poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clause, mass threat of violence, segregation.
● How did women get the right to vote? What strategies worked well? Which did not?
Federal focused strategy increases citizen interest in political topic, NAWSA consolidates multiple competing orgs, improving efficiency, Increased education among lower classes increase women’s activism and reduces societal sexism, WW1 lets women demonstrate equality, Parties see the writing on the wall (no one wants to be the party that opposed women’s suffrage)
● After WWII, what victories did non-whites win regarding rights, especially voting?
African Americans win civil rights in 1960s, Fully segregated system still in place in South in 1940s, 1954: Brown v. Board (no segregation on education), 1964: Civil rights Act (bans segregation, discrimination on race), 1965: Voting Rights Act (ends Jim Crow barriers, punishes offending states)
● What features of society and activist action led to civil rights (the “bottom-up” story)?
Double Migration: South to North (freedom), Rural to Urban (pop density), Institutional Organization: Churches, NAACP, White Contact: Labor union alliances, WW2 participation, Improved tech: Transportation, Communication, Activism; Prepared non-violence (MLK Jr), Group Consciousness
● What features of elite and government action led to civil rights (the “top-down” story)?
The Courts: Warren Court rules in BvB, Favorable in many future cases, the presidents: Truman desegregates the US Army, Eisenhower uses national guard to enforce desegregation, JFK calls MLKs wife in jail. LBJ mobilizes in favor of congressional action, Congress and Parties: voting is north v south, not republican v democrats, Opportunity to restructure voter base
● What are some general takeaways in terms of what leads to people getting their rights?
Solving Collective Action problems, decreasing costs of participation (e.g. Tech, pop density), Consolidating efforts (NAWSA, NCAAP) Political factors: Public support (e.g. War participation), elite support (e.g. Getting voters) Societal factors: education, a healthy middle class
Lecture 4: Federalism
● What are some arguments for political power being located more locally? More nationally?
Local gov’t: might better understand local conditions, communities have right to decide, more easily accountable (less power). National gov’t: attracts greater expertise, helps ensure equality across nation, avoids interstate chaos/conflict
● What is a unitary state? – Power is centralized at national level. A federation? – power is shared between local and national gov’t. A confederation? – Most power is held at local/regional levels
● What’s the difference between dual and cooperative federalism? Which do we have now?
Dual: “to each their own” (where we started), Cooperative: some powers exclusive rights of national gov’t, some for local, some shared (where we are now)
● What are some powers shared by states and the national govt? Which are exclusive?
Most “shared” powers result from ambiguity about the true constitutional allotment of powers. National: Expressed & Exclusive: Declare War, Coining money, Expressed & Shared; collecting Taxes. Implied Powers: necessary & Proper Clause, General Welfare Clause, Commerce Clause. State: Reserved Powers (Exclusive): Police powers (regulating health, safety, and morals), Not in the constitution but understood as part of the law. Tenth 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”
● What is the Elastic Clause? – “The congress shall have the power... to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying in Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Gov’t of the U.S., or in any Dep. Or Officer thereof. Also known as the “necessary & proper clause” Creates a set of “implied powers” to be discovered by courts. Commerce Clause? - “The Congress shall have power… to regulate commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States. Suggests that interstate commerce is the domain of congress. Courts needed to determine whether commerce is interstate. Why do they matter? – These two clauses play a huge role in determining how much power national, state and local gov’t have
● You do not need to know court cases, but you should be able to briefly explain how the courts affect how much power the national government has over time.
McCulloch – SCOTUS finds that N&P clause grants implied powers, Gibbons – SCOTUS says: fairly wide scope, “commerce is intercourse”, E.C. Knight – Sherman Antitrust Act constitutional, but commerce does not include manufacturing, Hammer – Anti-child Labor laws, courts again find the commerce clause limited, NLRB – Wagner act (union rights) Commerce clause found now to be expansive, Wickard – are your own crops “interstate commerce”? SCOTUS says yes, cedes authority to Congress, now everything is interstate commerce?, Katzenbach – racial discrimination is commerce too, Lopez – Gun Free school zone acts found to not substantially involve interstate commerce, Morrison – Violence against women act found to not truly be protected under the commerce clause, Gonzales – gov’t can regulate drug policy via commerce clause
● What are some modern political issues that are disputed in terms of federalism?
Abortion rights (state or national), voter rights (where/when people can vote, ability to deny ballots/access), education policy (common core (what we teach), no child left behind (how we fund education), Marijuana policy.
● What is fiscal federalism? What’s an example of this?
Federal gov’t can provide a lot of money to states (grants)…or not. They can use this money to incentivize states to do what they want, example: the federal drinking age
● What is polarized federalism? Do states now make more or less policies? Why?
Difficult to make legislation at the Federal level, go to the states. Federal gov’t is split, but most states controlled by one party, public pays less attention to politics, so less scrutiny, Parties increasingly coordinate across states on similar legislation. For these reasons, states are increasingly the drivers of policy change.
● What are some advantages of federalism? Disadvantages?
Advantages – allows flexibility for local conditions, Laboratories of Democracy: experimentation leads to best policies, later adoption (in theory), Creates points of resistance to national gov’t. Disadvantages – Leaves local minorities vulnerable, People pay far less attention to local politics, Race to the Bottom: State competition can lead to worse public outcomes for citizens.
Lecture 5: Congress
● Generally, how complicated is the legislative process? What percentage of bills die?
98% of bills die before becoming law, some laws die after becoming law
● What are some key differences between the House and the Senate?
Chamber size, house 435, senate 100; term length, house 2 years, senate 6yrs; geographical representation, house, district in state (~700,000), senate = state (millions, equal rep); Senators therefore more powerful, usually more experienced, designed this way, confirms cabinet, judges, treaties, senate uses filibuster.
● What is the filibuster? How has its use changed over time? Why does this matter?
A debate, not in the constitution but legal, supermajority (60%0 required to end debate (no party has had this since 1977); used to involve long silly speeches (but mostly doesn’t these days); use of filibuster has exploded over last couple decades; the main reason why no party enacts its agenda, nothing gets done.
● What is a member’s key motivation? What actions help them accomplish this goal?
Getting reelected, taking positions, securing pork, constituent services, raising money, receiving endorsements, increasingly: be a breathing member of the correct party.
● How often do incumbents win reelection? What factors explain this advantage?
90% of the time, people like their member, partisanship, exposure/recognition, networking/funding
● Who are the party leaders? What powers do they have?
Leaders: House: Speaker, minority leader; Senate: Majority, minority leaders; Whips, Caucus, & comm chairs, POTUS (sort of). Powers: controls debate/scheduling (whether bills get voted on and how), Determine overall strategy on policy, negotiation and messaging
● How is partisan control of Congress over the past few decades different from before?
~1980-present: Congress up for grabs, gridlock increases, Divided gov’t is norm. 1931-1994: Congress controlled almost entirely by democrats; bipartisanship common, unified gov’t is the norm.
● What are some major problems facing Congress today?
Gridlock prevents them from getting much done, filibuster, divided gov’t, polarization all explanations, state legislatures pick up the ball(?). expensive elections mean lots of time spent fundraising, do they have time to legislate, when they legislate, whose interests are they representing? Congress: 80% male, 80% white, 85% Christian, 80% in Top 10%, 75% over 50 America: 50% male, 60% white, 65% Christian, 10% in Top 10%, 33% over 50; Gender/race/religion gaps closing...wealth and age gaps growing.
Lecture 6: The Presidency
● What is a Head of State? – Primary control of all foreign diplomacy, general symbol of leadership
● Head of Government? – Primary control of policy and implementation
● What is the President? – the head of state and gov’t
● How does the electoral college work? What are some arguments for/against keeping it?
Each state assigned # of votes (# of House + Senate reps); states divvy up electors; votes given to delegate who pledged to vote for winner; electors vote in December; majority no reached, House decides by state delegation
For: Handicap for small states; acts as a “firewall” for recounts
Against: One person, one vote; no other country does this; likely decreases voter turnout
● Why does the president have stronger war powers than the Constitution might imply?
POTUS: “repel sudden attacks”; Standing army = less need for congressional approval; first mover = congress doesn’t want to vote against “$ for the troops”
● What is the difference between treaties: POTUS can negotiate with foreign gov’t on behalf of the U.S. but must be confirmed by Senate
and executive agreements: doesn’t require Senate, but less binding on future presidents, and can be overridden by congress
● How does the veto work? Why are vetoes important even if they are very rare?
President can kill legislation with action or inaction. Threat is significant
● How has the amount of power a president has changed over time?
Jefferson flexes foreign powers, Jackson flexes veto powers and forms Democrats, Patronage, POTUS increasingly seen as main leader of party by public, Lincoln flexes war powers, McKinley flexes foreign powers, Roosevelt flexes everything. Each president slowly start expanding powers and leaving them to the next president.
· What is the “power to persuade”: power to persuade congress and senate members What is “going public”? : put pressure on Congress by persuading public to support POTUS’s goals How effective are they today? Redirects people’s attention, little ability to persuade, gets attention.
● What are executive orders: can take certain actions w/o Congressional approval Why are they important today? What are their limitations? Limited scope, overridden by legislation, SCOTUS, next POTUS
● Generally speaking, how much control does the President have over the economy?
POTUS can impact economy; stock expectations, business regulations, drilling permits, fiscal policy appointments, but the effect is miniscule compared to all else.
● How does impeachment work? – formal charge of wrongdoing: requires majority vote in house of representatives; “high crimes/misdemeanors” only requirement ever used; obstruction of justice, abuse of power, perjury. Removal? – require 2/3 senate vote (thus effectively impossible) has never occurred, despite many impeachments; forced Nixon to resign.
Lecture 7: The Bureaucracy
● What are the cabinet departments? A couple of examples?
Each dept. has a secretary who reports to POTUS, secretaries are nominated by POTUS, confirmed by senate, serve at the pleasure of POTUS, can be fired at any time. Dept. of defense, justice, and state.
● What is an independent agency? – created by act of congress, not POTUS, POTUS has less control over these agencies. What is the Federal Reserve? – oversees economy by maintaining critical balances. Preventing inflation during boom periods; stimulating the economy during bust periods. POTUS appoints/reappoints members, but otherwise no control whatsoever. To ensure good policy; Volcker’s tenure is an example of this practice.
● How did the Pendleton Act change the Spoils System?
Created a merit-based system; appointees are tested; 10% of employees, but 80% by 1933
● Why does the bureaucracy expand in size/power? – industrial economy necessitates regulation; Great Depression, then the rise of the middle-class lead to expanded programs; WW2 and Cold war lead to massively expanded foreign policy staffing. Why does Congress allow this? – Congress can effectively delegate their work to the bureaucracy by varying ambiguity of legislation.
● What is delegation? Giving someone else some of their own power. What advantages does delegation have for Congress? – workload, expertise, flexibility, blame avoidance, locking in victories.
● In what way do Congress and the bureaucracy have a principal-agent problem?
The agent (bureaucracy) works for principal (congress) but could ignore congress’s explicit instructions, engage in corrupt activities, and make rules that go beyond Congress’s intentions.
● What is an iron triangle? – collusion between a congressional committee, a bureaucracy agency, and the interest groups being regulated. What is cognitive capture? – experts often come from or agree with the industry they are regulating.
● What are “police patrols” – actively investigate using audits and formal congressional hearings and “fire alarms”? – wait for aggravated parties to call for judicial review, act later. Which is preferred? – fire alarms
● What does ex-ante oversight refer to? – agencies and legislation designed by congress in a way that limits bureaucrats before they exist. What are some ways it can impact bureaucrats? – increase specificity of any laws they pass, reject presidential nominees who threaten agency missions, design chain-of-command to reflect decision-makers you like, find permanent v. temporary sources of financial support, opponents use “poison pills” to weaken the agency.
● What is the relationship between partisanship and how much oversight occurs?
oversight depends on partisan control of gov’t, plus how polarized parties are: weak: members sometimes check their own president, strong: members often check opponent president, “poodle”: members never check their own president, “Pitbull”: members aggressively pursue opponent president
Lecture 8: Judicial Branch
● What is the difference between common: Judges decide how to apply existing law to resolve nuanced disputes, statutory: Legislatures create new legislation; overrides existing common law, and constitutionallaw – legal meaning found by judges in the Constitution – overrides statutory and common law (at state or federal level)
● What generally is the structure of the US court system? – state, federal, appeals, SCOTUS What powers do judges have? – legal interpretation, judicial review, lifetime appointment (under “good behavior”)
● What is the process for nominating and confirming justices?
Executive branch determines who becomes justice, congress confirms it
● What is the “counter-majoritarian difficulty”?
Founders distrusted justices as they were not elected, served for life, and might make decisions against public
● In what sense is the judiciary the “least dangerous branch”? Why is this the case?
The courts power is dependent upon the public’s belief in rule of law. Generally supported by public more than other branches. Role seen as “wise people” not “politicians”. Judges often go along with the times since their power is dependent.
● What is judicial review? – ability to interpret constitution You don’t need to know the full story, but generally, how does the judicial branch get granted the ability to engage in judicial review? – Chief Justice Marshall 1800 decides to rule in Jefferson’s favor and claims the right to Judicial Review, Marbury v Madison
● What does partisan control of the Supreme Court look like today?
6-3 control by conservatives’ justices
● What is a writ of certiorari? – (decision to hear cases) rarely given (requires 4 of 9 justices) What does stare decisis mean? – SCOTUS sets precedents all other courts must follow, and only future SCOTUS may reverse (and rarely)
● What competing legal theories inform judicial decision-making?
Textualism: meaning is fixed; Literalism: meaning is in the words; Originalism: meaning is in the original context; Organicism: meaning should be reinterpreted in context of time it is being interpreted
● What are the three different models for how judges actually make decisions?
Legal Model: judges only decide cases based on the legal merits of the case; Attitudinal Model: judges often decide based on their personal beliefs (politicians in black robes); Strategic Model: judges sometimes decide based on grander strategic needs
Lecture 9: State and Local Politics
● What are some ways gubernatorial power differs from presidential power?
Governors often have better control of budget- line-item veto; little military control, but controls state Nat’l Guard chapters; can usually fill vacant seat for US House and Senate
● What is the typical structure of a state legislature?
State House/Assembly: Similar to House. About 100 members on average represents ~50,000; State Senate: about 40 members on average. Represents ~150,000; almost always unified
● What is the rough structure of state courts? How often are judges elected?
State courts for state laws; each state has a Supreme Court, high population states usually have separate Appellate Court. In 29 states judges are appointed; the rest are elected.
● What aspects of elections do states/localities control versus the federal government?
Rules for qualification; rules for stat candidate finances; election rules, procedures and timing; ultimate oversight of all elections; investigating wrongdoing; maintenance of elections data
● What are some typical state taxes? – Sales tax, excise (alcohol, tobacco, etc.), corporate tax, property tax, income tax (9 states don’t) Are they progressive or regressive? State taxes are regressive.
● What’s the difference between a county and a municipality?
Counties oversee large tracts of land usually encompassing multiple cities, official state divisions. Sometimes city = county
● What are the two most common structures for municipal politics?
Town Meeting: members of the town regularly meet to vote; no formal gov’t except managers; Council-Manager Model: city council dominant; executive chosen by council
● What control does each level of government have over education policy? – Federal: funding and competitive grants, standards for K-12, student loans for college students. State – Half the funding for K-12, monitors schools, tests students, administers most college systems. Local – Half the funding for K-12, most major budget decisions, many key curriculum decisions, handles collective bargaining
● Elections? – Fed: timing/rules for fed candidates, constitutional guarantees, state cases can go to SCOTUS. State – rules for qualification, state candidate finances, election rules, ultimate oversight, investigating/ prosecuting wrongdoing, maintenance of data. Local – counties maintain registration rolls, polling site preparedness, admin and staffing, receipt, counting, recording, reporting, and oversight of votes.
● What are some differences between federal and state/local politics? – people pay less attention to state and local politics, candidate knowledge lower, voter turnout lower, issue knowledge much lower, interest groups stronger, little public attention, state lobbying/finance laws often weaker, often easier to accomplish goals, most states have clearly dominant party at this point, unified gov’t common.
Lecture 10: What Government Does
● What is the difference between mandatory – what the gov’t must spend by law (entitlements); social security, Medicare/Medicaid/ACA. and discretionary – what the gov’t chooses to spend money on, defense spending, law enforcement & governance, economic security.
● How much of our budget is discretionary (e.g. we can easily control)?
About 1/3 of the budget
● What are the main sources of federal revenue?
Income tax, payroll tax, corporate tax
● What is the difference between the debt: difference between revenue and spending each fiscal year, and the deficit: all accumulated unpaid deficits. How big of a problem is it? A higher debt means higher interest payments every year inability to burrow further (eventually?)
● How much / why did the size and spending of the federal government grow?
Fed gov’t was tiny prior to great depression (5% of GDP); defense spending and early entitlements take it to new baseline 1953-2008 (20% of GDP); The Great Recession (2008) bumps it up to 25% of GDP. Rise of the Middle Class; Rise of Industry; Popular Demand
● What are the first two periods of government growth? What happens in them?
Progressive Era: women’s suffrage, direct election of senators, ballot measures, primaries (caucuses), labor laws, but often struck down by courts, income tax allows for gov’t expansion. New Deal Era: FDR oversees massive expansion of programs: NLRA, works progress administration, housing authority, social security, unemployment insurance, WW2 as anti-poverty program
● What are some major changes that happened during the “Long 60s”?
Clean air and water acts; endangered species act; CRA, VRA, Fair housing Act
● What is the “backlash”? Why does it happen? Who is a part of it?
End of Long 60’s, costs of gov’t growth high enough that business and other interests mobilize; Policies leading to mobilization, interest groups start choosing partisan sides. Example: business interest, abortion rights, gun rights.
Lecture 11: America and the World
● Why is the Navy so important in early American history?
Quasi-War: naval trade battles w/ France, Barbary Wars: clearing trading paths in North Africa from pirates, War of 1812: fought to draw with Britain; DC burns, results in independent Canada
● What is the Monroe Doctrine?
America stays out of the rest of the world, Europe stays out of western hemisphere
● What “land grabs” did we pull off in the 19th century: Louisiana Purchase: French sell claim to Midwest. Mexican-American War: Naked land grand; goad into war, win, use to annex TX, southwest. Aggressive negotiation w/ Britain gives us the west
● What are some major differences between pre-WW2 and post-WW2 foreign policy?
● What are some of America’s current major foreign policy challenges?
