Exhaustive Study Notes on Political Science Concepts, Forms of Governance, and American Oligarchy

Grading Systems and Rubric Evaluation

• Rubric Structure and Category Weighting:

  • Grading criteria are organized into specific performance categories listed on the left side of the rubric, such as disciplinary understanding, organization, focus, and prose.

  • Each category is evaluated on a scale, typically up to $4$ points.

  • Every point increase or decrease within a category corresponds to a change of $3$ percentage points ($3\%$) in the overall assignment score.

• Scoring Calculation Example:

  • If a student receives a score of $2$ out of $4$ in two categories (such as disciplinary understanding and organization/focus), the base grade defaults around $87\%$.

  • Incomplete responses or missing sub-questions pull the grade down further to an $86\%$ or $85\%$.

  • The grading workflow involves reading the paper, providing diagnostic comments, scoring each rubric category, and determining where the paper falls relative to the calculated baseline score to ensure fairness and objectivity.

• ** Rubric Interpretation and Diagnostic Feedback:**

  • Rubric categories retain subjective considerations and rely on evaluative judgment calls, which is an inherent element of paper evaluation.

  • Category marks of E and F signal structural and transitional deficiencies between paragraphs.

  • Category marks of 1 indicate severe deficiencies or "developing" status at the sentence-level prose, covering grammar, word choice, and punctuation.

Academic Resources and Paywall Navigation

• Assigned Readings and Paywalls:

  • Selected media articles, such as specific New Yorker pieces, are placed behind user login screens or paywalls.

  • Shorter, open-access alternatives covering identical studies (e.g., articles from the BBC) provide direct summaries and links to primary research abstracts.

  • The New York Times student subscriptions were previously negotiated as fully free but currently cost students approximately $1$ dollar per week. Subscribing saves hassle, but students can save $15$ dollars by accessing articles through alternative university methods.

• Cal State LA Library Access Methods:

  • Students can access gated publications free of charge via the Cal State LA library web portal using the OneSearch catalog tool.

  • OneSearch Capabilities:

    • Searches holdings across local electronic databases, physical campus stacks, and all campuses across the CSU (California State University) system.

    • Interlibrary services allow students to request physical books and articles from other CSU campuses, which are delivered within $1$ to $2$ days.

  • Database Search Navigation:

    • To find full-text articles from The New York Times, students should navigate to the database holdings page under "Available Online."

    • Full-text databases managed by Gale are available but are generally more difficult to navigate.

    • ProQuest is the recommended database for locating specific news articles efficiently.

Foundations of Political Knowledge vs. Personal Opinions

• Defining Political Knowledge:

  • Political knowledge refers to a generalized structural understanding of politics, institutional mechanics, the nature and distribution of power, and mechanisms of civic participation and interest representation.

  • Course assessments evaluate empirical political knowledge and institutional structures rather than subjective individual views.

• Defining Personal Opinions:

  • Opinions are individualized judgments, preferences, or evaluations (e.g., preferring Donald Trump over Joe Biden or Kamala Harris, or forming personal views on the urgency of climate change).

• Political Culture and Core Value Trade-Offs:

  • Political culture consists of shared core values and societal themes (e.g., freedom), though individuals interpret and prioritize these values differently.

  • Values exist in perpetual trade-offs:

    • Individual freedom is often balanced against competing collective values, such as order, security, crime control, and property protection.

    • Some individuals prioritize collective societal well-being over strict individual rights.

Systems of Governance and Socioeconomic Class

• Classifications of Government:

  • Aristocracy: Rule by the "best." Historically conceptualized by Plato and Aristotle as the ideal governance form, where power and privilege reside in an elite, higher social class.

  • Oligarchy: Rule by a chosen few, typically defined by individuals possessing concentrated money, merchant wealth, military control, or political power.

  • Autocracy: Rule by a single individual holding supreme power, such as a king, queen, or dictator.

  • Democracy: A system of rule permitting citizens a significant role in governmental processes, typically exercised through elections.

  • Representative Democracy (Republic / Indirect Democracy): System where citizens elect representatives to make policy decisions rather than voting directly on every policy.

• Direct Democracy Mechanisms in California:

  • California combines representative democracy with direct democracy mechanisms:

    • Initiative: Allows citizens to gather signatures to place new statutes or constitutional amendments directly on the ballot.

    • Referendum: Allows citizens to vote on whether to approve or repeal existing legislative enactments.

    • Recall: Allows voters to remove an elected official from office before their term expires.

• Socioeconomic Status (SES) and Political Access:

  • In capitalist economic systems, money is directly linked to political power.

  • Socioeconomic status—measured primarily by income and education levels—is the strongest predictor of political engagement.

  • Higher SES individuals participate at substantially higher rates by voting, contacting representatives, joining committees, and engaging in pluralist interest group advocacy.

  • Wealthy individuals gain direct access to political figures by funding campaigns, attending high-dollar fundraisers, and directly lobbying members of Congress or the President.

• Constituent Representation Models:

  • Traditional Model: Politicians view themselves as representing all geographical constituents regardless of voting behavior.

  • Partisan/Exclusive Model: Politicians, such as Donald Trump, explicitly state that they primarily represent the specific bloc of voters who voted for them.

• Political Dynasties and Elite Class Mobility:

  • Formal political royal families do not exist in the United States, yet political power frequently concentrates within specific wealthy families.

  • Examples include President George W. Bush (son of President George H.W. Bush) and Liz Cheney (daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, who served in Congress).

  • Elite political networks maintain deep historical ties to financial institutions, major corporations, and military defense contractors that profit directly from government military spending.

Empirical Analysis of American Oligarchy: The Gilens and Page Study

• Study Overview and Authors:

  • A major empirical study conducted by Martin Gillins (Princeton University) and Benjamin Page (Northwestern University) analyzed whether the United States functions as a democracy or an oligarchy.

• Methodology:

  • The researchers analyzed dataset responses from $1{,}779$ policy survey questions administered between $1981$ and $2002$.

  • Survey responses were categorized by income level and matched against actual federal policy outcomes over time.

• Key Findings:

  • Economic Elites: When affluent Americans favor a policy change, it is adopted approximately $50\%$ of the time.

  • Opposition by Elites: When proposed policy changes have low support among economic elites (favored by only $1$ out of $5$, or $20\%$), they are adopted only about $20\%$ of the time (or less).

  • Average Citizens: Multivariate analysis shows that average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little to no independent influence on policy outcomes.

  • When the majority of citizens disagree with economic elites or business interest groups, average citizens almost universally lose.

• Systemic Bias and Comparative Assessment:

  • The US political system features a severe built-in status quo bias; even when large majorities of citizens favor a policy change, institutional gridlock prevents adoption if elites oppose it.

  • While the US maintains formal democratic structures (electoral franchises, free speech, freedom of association), actual policymaking is dominated by affluent individuals and business groups.

  • Scholarly comparisons suggest the US functional policy model mirrors electoral oligarchies like Russia rather than a true representative democracy.

• Modern Compounding Factors:

  • Wealth inequality and political donations have expanded significantly since the study's data window.

  • Example of Modern Capital Influence: High-level corporate executives, such as the number two executive at OpenAI, donated a couple billion dollars to political campaigns during recent election cycles.

  • Presidential Financial Conduct: While previous presidents made zero financial stock trades while holding office, Donald Trump conducted $55$ financial trades during his first presidency and over $3{,}000$ financial trades during his second presidency.

Electoral Systems, Competitive Authoritarianism, and Campaign Dynamics

• Competitive Authoritarianism:

  • A framework where leaders gain power through formal democratic elections but subsequently erode democratic institutions, checks and balances, and structural rules from within.

  • Once institutional safeguards are degraded, future elections become performative, effectively pre-determining political outcomes.

• Structural Flaws in the US Electoral System:

  • Electoral College: Citizens do not directly vote for the president, but rather for electors, severing direct popular vote outcomes from executive election.

  • Two-Party Dominance: Primary and party mechanics limit ballot options to a narrow ideological continuum. Examples include internal political party decisions, such as the Democratic Party replacing Joe Biden with Kamala Harris following concerns over Biden's health decline.

• Campaign Rhetoric and Media Strategy:

  • Candidates frequently run campaigns based on policy issues over which the executive branch lacks direct constitutional authority (as policy authority primarily resides in Congress).

  • Efficacy of Mudslinging: While voters express strong dislike for negative campaign advertisements, empirical studies show negative ads are highly effective in shifting voter behavior.

  • Case Example: During the 2024 presidential election cycle in swing states like Michigan, targeted negative advertisements highlighting Kamala Harris's historical stances (e.g., state funding for prisoner gender transition procedures) were broadcast up to $3$ to $4$ dozen times per hour on major broadcast networks, significantly impacting voter turnout and margins.

Campaign Finance, Corporate Personhood, and Citizens United v. FEC

• Supreme Court Ruling Details:

  • In the landmark $2010$ ruling Citizens United v. FEC, the United States Supreme Court determined that corporations and labor unions possess First Amendment free speech rights.

  • The Court ruled that independent political expenditures constitute constitutionally protected expressive speech, eliminating limits on corporate campaign spending.

• Impact on Political Polarization and Spending:

  • In the $16$ years following the decision, political spending by external groups, corporations, and wealthy mega-donors escalated exponentially.

  • Overturning the ruling requires a Constitutional Amendment, which is nearly impossible to achieve due to contemporary hyper-polarization in national governance.

• Legal Construction of Corporations vs. Speech Rights:

  • Corporations are legal constructs established to limit individual personal liability, enabling investors to take financial risks without risking private personal assets.

  • Critiques of Citizens United emphasize that granting corporate entities individual constitutional rights conflicts with the original constitutional design centered on natural persons.

  • President Barack Obama publicly criticized the ruling during his State of the Union address in front of sitting Supreme Court justices, stating the decision overturned $100$ years of legal precedent and severely compromised democratic representation.