271_2 - Sheet1 (1) Flashcards
1972 McGovern campaign
George McGovern was senator from South Dakota, running antiwar campaign against incumbent Richard Nixon who won over 60% of the vote. His original running mate was Senator Eagleton who resigned days after being nominated as VP due to a past history of depression. After the election, Nixon would resign due to the Watergate scandal. McGovern’s campaign was the first to highlight the emerging democratic majority, drawing women and minorities.
adversarial legalism
Robert Kagan’s thesis, noted in Ewing’s Prods and Pleas, that the US increasingly has policy reform done through the courts in an adversarial (rather than bureaucratic) manner. This trend has high transaction costs and perhaps reflects Congress’s status as the “broken branch” of American government.
Adversarial legalism
term coined by Robert Kagan, liberal columnist and historian, to define the American system of policy implementation and dispute resolution that relies more heavily on legal threats and lawsuits. Kagan argues that America’s legal system involves more detailed regulation and punitive powers in comparison to other developed countries, mainly in contrast to the EU.
Affordable Care Act
The law (along with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010) is the principal health care reform legislation of the 111th United States Congress. PPACA requires individuals not covered by employer- or government-sponsored insurance plans to maintain minimal essential health insurance coverage or pay a penalty unless exempted for religious beliefs or financial hardship, a provision commonly referred to as the “individual mandate”. The Act also reforms certain aspects of the private health insurance industry and public health insurance programs, increases insurance coverage of pre-existing conditions, expands access to insurance to 30 million American and increases projected national medical spending while lowering projected Medicare spending.
AFSCME
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. One of the largest labor unions in the U.S., and quite powerful. Part of the AFL-CIO, another major labor union conglomerate. AFSCME organizes for social and economic rights of their protectorates in the workplace and through political action and legislative advocacy.
It is divided into more than 3,500 local unions. AFSCME was founded in 1932 but grew rapidly in the 1960s under president Jerry Wurf. Wurf and the union were a key part of the Memphis sanitation strike of 1968, in which workers petitioned for better working conditions and the right to join the union. Wurf and MLK worked together on the strike.
AFSCME- American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees -
Founded in 1932 as the Wisconsin State Administrative, Clerical, Fiscal and Technical Employees Association , it is one of the largest labour unions in the United States.
American Electric Power Company v. Connecticut:
2011 Supreme Court Case. Ruled that the EPA and equivalent agencies at state and local level are responsible for overseeing and enforcing greenhouse gas emissions, and that it was not the role of the court to decide climate change regulations because they are not under federal common law. EPA regulations are designed to implement Congressionally-decided legislation, and that legislation displaces any federal common law right for states to seek reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. Ultimately, it is the EPA that has the power to issue regulations.
american electric power versus Connecticut
This is a US Supreme Court case about whether states can seek to curtail GHG emissions from utilities across state borders using federal common law theories of nuisance. The ultimate issue though is whether climate change regulations and related issues can be decided through the court system while the EPA is finalizing regulations that the Court previously held the EPA must issue.
Arne Duncan
The Secretary of Education under Obama. A former superintendent of Chicago schools, Duncan is known as a “reformer,” supporting policies like teacher evaluations and charter schools.He is a principal figure behind Race to the Top.
Arne Duncan-
former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, Secretary of Education, proponent of Race to the Top, supported by DFER
Assembly Bill 32- Global Warming Solution Act of 2006
limit emissions to about 70% of 1990 levels by 2020 in California.
Assembly Bill No. 1493
2002 bill of California General Assembly that created first set of Pavley Standards. Requires CARB to promulgate GHG emission standards for motor vehicles.
astroturf
Astroturfing is when an organization or movement appears to be “grassroots” but is actually organized from the top-down or backed by major commercial financiers. An example would be some elements of the Tea Party who ended up being backed by the Koch brothers. They may attempt to manipulate public opinion by trying to appear as the “common people”, but they often represent interests of a select few.
Astroturf
refers to “phony” political/ social movements that appear to arise from grassroots. Example: Occupy Wall Street was an idea launched by Canadian magazine called Adbusters. Both Occupy and the Tea Party movements have been criticized as “astroturf.”
BACT
California attempted to regulate GHG emissions from stationary sources by the prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) permitting program. Under PSD, regulated NRS pollutants must be limited according to the “best available control technology.” (BACT) The Sierra Club sued to have this include CO2, while the “Johnson Memorandum” from the EPA asserted that CO2 did not count.
BACT
Best Available Control Technologies. Pollution control standard mandated by U.S. Clean Air Act. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determines what air pollution control technology will be used to control specific pollutants to specified set levels. BACT is the current EPA standard for all pollution.
Behavioral failures
Loss aversion, myopia (failure to look forwart), inertia, procrastination (ex, retirement planning), regret
Brown v Board of Education
Landmark 1954 Supreme Court Case that declared state laws establishing public school segregation unconstitutional. Overturned the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case that allowed state-sponsored segregation. Public school segregation was declared in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This monumental case further fueled the brewing civil rights movement.
Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
This landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision found that segregation of schools was unconstitutional (revoking Plessy vs. Fergusen’s separate but equal). The Warren Court’s unanimous decision said that separate education facilities are inherently unequal. The ruling paved the way for integration and civil rights. Implementation was not always easy: in 1957, the Arkansas National Guard blocked black students’ (Little Rock Nine) entry to Little Rock Central High School, forcing President Dwight Eisenhower to call for federal troops. In terms of American Public Policy, while this judicial decision led to significant civil rights, there still are many problems plaguing the Black community, even in terms of education.
Buckley v Valeo
Buckley v. Valeo is a 1976 Supreme Court decision about the constitutionality of the federal campaign finance law, the 1971 Federal Election Campaign Act. It upheld certain parts of the law, such as its limits on individual contributions to campaigns, but struck down others, such as its limits on expenditures by independent groups and by from candidates’ personal funds.
Buckley v. Valeo
(1976), Case in the supreme court where the federal law which limits campaign contributions was upheld. However, it was also ruled that spending money to influence elections is a form of constitutionally protected free speech, and portions of the law were struck down. The court also ruled candidates can give unlimited amounts of money to their own campaigns.
CAA- Clean Air Act (1963)
Requires the EPA to develop and enforce regulations that protect the public from exposure to airborne contaminants.
CAFE standards
This stands for “Corporate Average Fuel Economy” standards. In “Who Killed the Electric Car,” filmmakers say that while these standards were enormously influential in pushing greener American auto manufacturing in the past, in recent years they have stagnated. (They were enacted in 1975 and consistently rose until 1985, at which point they remained until 2010.) In 2009, Obama proposed new, stricter standards to come into effect in 2011.
CAFE standards
Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards - regulations intended to improve the fuel economy of cars and light vehicles in the US in the aftermath of the 1973 Arab oil embargo.
California Air Resources Board (CARB)
The California Air Resources Board, also known as CARB or ARB, is the “clean air agency” in the government of California. Established in 1967 when then-governor Ronald Reagan signed the Mulford-Carrell Act, combining the Bureau of Air Sanitation and the Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Board, CARB is a department within the cabinet-level California Environmental Protection Agency. California is the only state that is permitted to have such a regulatory agency, since it is the only state that had one before the passage of the federal Clean Air Act. Other states are permitted to follow CARB standards, or use the federal ones, but not set their own.
Cap and Trade
A cap and trade system is a method for managing pollution, with the end goal of reducing overall pollution level. Under this system, the government sets a cap on the total level of pollution allowed. Companies are issued ‘credits’ or licenses to pollute, based on a number of various factors. If a company comes in below their limit, they can trade extra credits. The government may choose to auction off or give away a number of credits as well. Through this system, companies that cannot get their pollution under control are being directly penalized, whereas those that reduce their pollution profit through trades.
Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS)
Process through which carbon is removed from the air and deposited into a reservoir or pumped underground. Technology to do so cheaply still in development.
carbon offsets
A carbon offset is a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for or to offset an emission made elsewhere. They aren’t a particularly useful way to reduce emissions, as no comprehensive environmental plan regulates their use. Carbon offsetting has gained some appeal and momentum mainly among consumers in western countries who have become aware and concerned about the potentially negative environmental effects of energy-intensive lifestyles and economies. The Kyoto Protocol has sanctioned offsets as a way for governments and private companies to earn carbon credits which can be traded on a marketplace.
carbon offsets
Carbon offsets are reductions in carbon emissions or greenhouse gases made to compensate for emissions elsewhere. For instance, in a cap-and-trade system, a company shown to be engaging in a project that qualifies as an offset (i.e. purchasing products from manufacturers who are also “green”) receives extra allowances. Ultimate goal is that direct transactions that can’t be regulated directly still receive compensation.
Carbon sequestration
The practice of reducing carbon emissions by storing emissions geologically. This is a conceptual proposal for reducing emissions, and curbing the greenhouse effect. Environment.
CCR diploma
career and college ready diploma, will be implemented in Hawaii to conform to Race to Top protocol calling for higher graduation standards
CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)
Agency established by 2010 Dodd-Frank bill. Meant to provide consumers with greater financial protection relating to large companies and corporate contracts. Meant to promote fairness for mortgages, credit cards, and other consumer transactions. Jurisdiction over lenders, foreclosure services, debt collectors, financial companies, etc. Bureau has become source of much fighting between Obama and Republicans.
Clause 4 in labor parties constitution
Clause IV of the British Labour Party constitution established in 1918 the goals and values of the British Labour Party. Tony Blair, as leader of the British Labour Party, adapted Clause IV in 1995 to read “The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party.” Previously Clause IV established the party’s desire to “secure the most equitable distribution,” but Blair officially declared the Labour Party to be a socialist party.
Clause 4 labour party
Clause IV of the British Labour Party constitution established in 1918 the goals and values of the British Labour Party. Tony Blair, as leader of the British Labour Party, adapted Clause IV in 1995 to read “The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party.” Previously Clause IV established the party’s desire to “secure the most equitable distribution,” but Blair officially declared the Labour Party to be a socialist party.
Coercion and state power
At the heart of government is the monopoly on the legitimate use of force- governments can force people to do things as in the healthcare mandate.
Command and control
Regulation from the government that sets a strict standard and uses coercive measures to make the private sector meet that standard. The opposite of market regulation. Cons- subject to lobbying, lawsuits, no incentive to go above and beyond that regulation.
Consequences of the submerged state
Visible programs are popular, but people have little faith in government and largely think that tax dollars are wasted. General lack of understanding and appreciation of policy, and limited traceability of submerged programs means it’s hard to hold politicians accountable for their role in creating aspects of the submerged state.
Consequentialist alibi
In the context of the readings on climate change, the consequentialist alibi means companies polluting the environment arguing that requested relief by the plaintiffs is unlikely to redress their injuries because other companies not before the court are likely to keep polluting.
Culture of Poverty Thesis
The Culture of Poverty thesis is the idea that poor people stay poor because they have behavioral traits and attitudes that differ from those of mainstream Americans. The Urban Poverty and Family Life Study (UPFLS) found that the poor had values just like those of the rest of Americans, undercutting this theory. Wilson argues that the disappearance of work from inner cities, a history of residential segregation and discrimination supported by government policies (ie FHA redlining), not a set of intrinsic cultural traits only found in poor people.
Culture of poverty thesis
believes a cycle of poverty changes culture in ways that makes the poor’s value system different. poor not only poor because of lack of resources/ability but because of culture.
Decreased intergenerational mobility
Concept that as compared to previous generations, today’s current youth generation has a lesser chance of moving upwards out of their income bracket. Someone in the lowest fifth of the income bracket has only a 17% chance of moving into upper two-fifths. It is easier to move up in Europe than it is in America. Problematic because “American Dream” is based on concept that children will do better than their parents, and so forth, but if that is at risk then the basic foundations of the middle class are at risk.
Decreasing Middle Class
In terms of wealth, standards of living, etc, middle class in America is under threat of being crushed. One of the hallmarks of third-world countries is the vast gap between income brackets, and although US will never (not in the near future) get to that level, we are on track towards irreconcilable gaps that will ultimately hurt the economy. Largest share of middle class wealth is homeownership (the upper class is in stocks and bonds) and that has plummeted in recent years. Home ownership values collectively for the middle class has been wiped out by 30% in the last 5 years. The rich, on the other hand, recovered almost immediately from the crisis. Can be used to argue the concept of “two working economies,” and tied into articles like Freedman’s “A New Global Elite.”
Demosclerosis
Jonathan Rauch’s idea that the government has lost its ability to adapt while everything else (economy, technology, etc.) has changed. Interest groups form after every new act, so it cannot be eliminated.
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
created CFBP and instituted Volker Rule. greatest increase in financial regulation since Great Depression Era
Dream Act
The DREAM act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) was a piece of federal legislation proposed in 2001 by Dick Durbin and Orrin Hatch. The bill would’ve provided conditional permanent residency to certain illegal aliens of good moral character who graduated from U.S. high schools, arrived in the United States as minors, and lived in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill’s enactment. If they were to complete two years in the military or two years at a four-year institution of higher learning, they would obtain temporary residency for a six-year period. DREAM failed on the national level, after being debated in 2010 and 2011. California has recently enacted a state version of DREAM.
DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act)
a bill first introduced in the Senate in 2001, intended to provide conditional permanent residency to illegal aliens who arrived in the U.S. as minors and graduate from a U.S. high school. The bill has failed to pass on numerous occasions due to senate filibusters and a largely Republican opposition. Democrats reintroduced the bill in both the Senate and the House in 2011 and it still awaits Congressional action.
Drift/regulatory slippage
Drift is the deliberate failure to adapt public policies to the shifting realities of a dynamic economy. Large economic and social transformations outflank or erode existing policies, diminishing their role in American life. Then, political leaders fail to update policies, even when there are viable options, because they face pressure from powerful interests exploiting opportunities for political obstruction.
Emerging democratic majority
Starting with the McGovern campaign of 1972, the emerging democratic majority consists of groups other than the traditional white working class which have increasingly been voting for democrats ever since. These include professionals, working women and minorities.
EV1
General Motors EV1 was an electric car that was made available (to lease) in response to the California Air Resources Board passing the zero - emissions vehicle mandate in 1990. This mandate required the seven major automobile suppliers in the US to offer electric vehicles. Eventually, the mandate was reversed after incremental pressure and law suits from automobile manufacturers, oil industry moguls, and finally, the Bush administration. The documentary showed the oil companies were afraid of losing their monopoly on gas, and auto companies were worried about losing profits since the EV1s require little maintenance and no tuneups. GM finally claimed there was no consumer interest in the EV1, recalled every car they had ‘leased out’ and destroyed them.
Executive Order S-3-05
Executive order passed by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2005 to curb green house gases, calling for a 80% reduction from 1990 levels by 2050. The order is significant in that it calls for various California agencies to collaborate to meet these goals. The order is significant to our class as it is an example of state legislation leading as an example for future federal regulation.
Executive order S-3-05 (California) Schwarzenegger
Order in 2005. First limiting greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020
Externalities
When the private benefit or cost doesn’t equal the public benefit or cost. Ex, the socialization of risk in the financial sector or the public cost of pollution from private business
FHA
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) underwrote mortgages in the 1940s – but redlined black and poor neighborhoods. They did not stop the discriminatory practice until the 1960s.
FHA - Federal Housing Administration
created as part of 1934 Federal Housing Act. Insures loans made by banks and other private lenders for home building/buying. FHA discriminated against minorities and minority neighborhoods (redlining), Fair Housing Act of 1968 helped change this. Following the subprime mortgage crisis, FHA became the source of much of the US mortgage financing. The share of home purchases financed with FHA mortgages went from 2 percent to over one-third of mortgages in the country – b/c conventional mortgage lending dried up in the credit crisis. Without the subprime market, many of the riskiest borrowers ended up borrowing from the FHA.
Followed the EGTRRA
Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. increased tax reductions on investment income from dividends and capital gains.
Global Weirding
Global weirding is a term used to describe climate change that isn’t all “warming.” Recent scientific trends relating to the environment have been erratic–from heat waves to hurricanes to record low temperatures. This variability is part of the climate change concern. In terms of American public policy, one could argue that Kerry-Graham-Lieberman bill and Waxman-Markey have been legislative attempts to stop it.
Global weirding
climate change, not just global warming. new global weather patterns
Great Backlash
(from What’s Wrong With Kansas) - Thomas Frank argues that Democrats are coming up short in elections because too many low-to-middle income people are turned off by what they see as an excessive supply of elitism and condescension among liberals.To pull the working-class base away from the Democrats, Frank contends that Republicans have successfully portrayed themselves as fighters for the little guy, successfully representing themselves as the kind of values-oriented, hard-working patriots who won’t buckle when it comes to fighting al Qaeda or fighting to keep Christ in Christmas.Rather than having the economic issues of taxation or income inequality on the front burner, Frank argues that Republicans have effectively used a strategy of fueling what he calls “The Great Backlash,” a tactic that defines politics as culture and focuses on bringing out the votes. Frank sees this as a reactionary movement against the social changes of the 1960s and 1970s. In the old days in Kansas, Frank writes, “when business screwed the farmers and workers,” the little guys fought back with a left-wing populism. In contrast today, with politics more tied to hot-button cultural issues, Frank describes a political landscape that gives short shrift to economics: “Strip today’s Kansans of their job security, and they head out to become registered Republicans. Push them off their land, and the next thing you know they’re protesting in front of abortion clinics. Ask them about the remedies their ancestors proposed (unions, antitrust, public ownership), and you might as well be referring to the days when knighthood was in flower.” The “central mythology,” according to Frank, is that “conservatives are always hard-working patriots who love their country and are persecuted for it, while liberals, who are either high-born weaklings or eggheads hypnotized by some fancy idea, are always ready to sell their nation out at a moment’s notice.”
Health gradient
The idea that health follows a social gradient. The higher your social class, the healthier you are. This does not only affect the poor, even the ‘non-poor’ have a health gradient. Wherever you are on the social ladder, you have better health that those below you and worse health than those above you. Autonomy (degree of control you have over your life) and social participation are distributed unequally, and as a result health is distributed unequally. This gradient tells us there are parts of the population that are not achieving their potential in health or longevity.
Health Gradient
notion that health outcomes are intimately tied to socioeconomic status. Credited to Michael Marmot in his book “The Status Syndrome.” Linked to the idea of the book “The Spirit Level,” which suggests that societies with the greatest wealth inequalities have overall poor health outcomes in comparison to more equal societies.
I am a Man
Slogan used during the Memphis Sanitation Strike of 1968 to call for more dignified worker conditions and benefits. The strike involved 1,300 African American men and lasted over two months. The strike resulted in increased wages/benefits as well as union recognition. Martin Luther King Jr joined the men in their efforts and was assassinated in Memphis outside of his motel room. (From the documentary: At the River I Stand)
ID
Explanation
JGTRRA
Known as the “Bush Tax Cuts”, the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 aimed to jumpstart the economy by lowering taxes on individual rates, capital gains, dividends, and estate taxes. They were set to expire in 2010 but were extended for two years until December 2012. Therefore, long-term capital will continue to be taxed at a maximum rate at 15% instead of 18 or 20%and qualified dividends paid to individuals will be taxed at the same rates as long-term capital gains rather than being taxed at the same rates that apply to ordinary income.
JGTRRA
“Bush tax cuts,” Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003
libertarian paternalism
Government paternalism without coercion. Sunstein and Thaler argue that in many situations, someone must make a choice that will affect the choices of some other people, and perhaps these planners should seek to optimize other people’s choices. For example, the planner must choose default rules – opt-in to the retirement plan or opt-out? – and given the strong ““status quo”” bias, people will more likely stick with it, even though they have a choice. Sunstein and Thaler advise libertarian paternalists to select the approach that the majority would choose if explicit choices were required and revealed.
Libertarian Paternalism -
Is the belief that the state can help you make the choices which you would make for yourself.
little saigon
Reference from Greenberg module (Brownstein?) in reference to how at first, Vietnamese immigrants tended to vote republican but they have shifted their political affiliation and are today part of the emerging democratic majority of ethnic minorities and women.
Little Saigon
used to be republican now democrat as a result of increasingly hostile Republican attitudes towards minority populations (Chinatown of LA)
Lorraine motel
MLK was assassinated in the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4th, 1968. He was 39. King was in Memphis to march alongside workers in a sanitation strike, before starting his Poor People’s Campaign in DC.
Market failure
Outcomes that the free market creates that are not ideal for an entire society (often because of negative externalities) so the government intervenes.
Massachusetts v EPA
A 2007 Supreme Court decision decided 5-4 that ruled the EPA must regulate greenhouse gas emissions as pollutants. The strategy of using the courts to force federal action on an environmental issue is part of the system of “prods and pleas” that Ewing and Kysar identify as important to forcing action on climate change.
Massachusetts vs EPA
2007 U.S. Supreme Court Case. Twelve states and U.S. cities brought a suit against the Environmental Protection Agency to force the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions. The court held that the Clean Air Act gave the EPA right to regulate GHG emissions.
McGovern Campaign
campaign of the future, young people, educated whites, and minorities. it failed but demographics have changed to make this coalition more feasible
McLauren v. Oklahoma State Regents
- 339 U.S. 637 (1950), was a United States Supreme Court case that reversed a lower court decision upholding the efforts of the state-supported University of Oklahoma to adhere to the state law requiring African-Americans to be provided graduate or professional education on a segregated basis.
McLaurin v Oklahoma State Regents
1950 Supreme Court ruling that stated that segregation in graduate and professional education is unconstitutional. The case was based on a complaint brought against the University of Oklahoma. The ruling connects to others, such as Brown v. the Board of Education, that brought the end to legal segregation in the United States.
megatrend
In Lubin and Esty’s “The Sustainability Imperative,” megatrend is a term used to describe “fundamental shifts in the competitive landscape that create inescapable threats and game-changing opportunities.” Past examples include electrification, the rise of mass production, globalization, quality movement and IT. They argue that environmental sustainability is the new megatrend which will define the new business era, and companies that seize this opportunity will be competitively and economically better off.
Megatrend
megatrend - A major movement, pattern or trend emerging in the macroenvironment. In this course, it is used mainly for business megatrends in the Lubin and Esty HBR reading. Business megatrends are said to be changing in the environment which cause fundamental and persistent shifts in how companies compete. Sustainability is said to be a new megatrend. Megatrends in the past include mass production, globalisation and the information technology revolution.
Miliken II (1977)-
more resources to inner city schools, Nixon backed this plan of no integration but more $$ for inner city minorities
Milliken v. Bradley I (1974)
- Supreme Court ruling that desegregation did not require a particular balance of whites and blacks in a school. Busing allowed only in districts where it was evident that racial separation had occurred as the result of deliberate segregation. Urban districts forced to integrate, suburban districts exempt from busing. Allowed white flight to suburbs and self-segregation.
Milliken versus Bradley
1974 Supreme Court that dealt with desegregation busing in 53 school districts in the Detroit metropolitan area following Brown v. the Board of Education. The court ruled that such plans were not justified by Brown v. the Board of Education unless there was explicit evidence from these school districts of planned segregation. The case is significant in that it has maintained a degree of informal segregation in schools in metropolitan areas and set limits to the desegregation movement.
night watchman state
A night watchman state is a sort of libertarian dream where the state’s only functions are to protect individuals from crime or harm. It would mostly be composed of the military, police, and courts. However, it would not solve the social problems, such as economic inequality, which were raised in this class when the market fails to provide a good. In this case, Hacker says the government then must come in to intervene.
Night watchman state
a state of minimal government intervention. Government’s only legitimate role is in protecting individuals, and so the only “legitimate” political institutions are those that protect individuals, namely the military, courts, and police. Aligned with laissez faire approach to the economy
Non-rivalry
Is usually used to describe public goods. The consumption of the good by one consumer doesnt affect or hinder its simultaneous consumption by other consumers. Additionally, it also means that the cost of providing it to a marginal individual is zero.
Nonrivalry
A public good whose consumption doesn’t diminish the ability of other people’s consumption. EX, the air.
nyc public school union
Discussed extensively in Brill’s book and led by Randi Weingarten who leads the United Federation of Teachers whose 165 page teacher contract Brill believes serves as an example of how red tape and unions looking out for their own has infringed on student’s learning. Joel Klein is chancellor of schools in NYC and it’s his job to negotiate with unions.
Pareto optimality
Something is Pareto optimal if it makes at least one person better off and makes no one else worse off. Unless there is a market failure, every market equilibrium is Pareto optimal. However, Pareto optimality says nothing about equity. In the words of Amartya Sen, a “society or economy can be Pareto-optimal and still be perfectly disgusting.”
Pareto Optimality
- Under certain conditions, markets naturally find an efficient allocation where no one’s situation can be improved without harming another
pavley standards
“Pavley” refers to the author of California’s assembly bill 1493, which set the nation’s first GHG emission standards for motor vehicles. CARB hoped it would lead to a greater increase in fuel economy than the federal fuel economy standards, but it was controversial and opposed even on a federal level.
Pavley Standards
Nation’s first set of GHG emission standards for motor vehicles. Pavley standards created two average GHG emission targets. EPA challenged standards initially, but granted the California waiver in 2009.
PISA
OECD Programme for International Student Assessment. Provides the most comprehensive set of data on international student testing and skills/knowledge of secondary students internationally. Data collected every 3 years and used to assess the quality of educational impact on both income and growth. Also used to determine what causes discrepancies between nations that spend relatively similar GDP% on education.
plantation mindset
In At the River I Stand, the narrator describes the culture in Memphis just before the sanitation worker’s strike as having a plantation mindset- in other words, the city’s white community reminisced fondly about the slavery era and treated black workers with the bare minimum of respect and protections. Sanitation workers worked in unsanitary, unsafe conditions that paid so little full-time workers still qualified for welfare. In sum, the plantation mindset both advanced institutionalized racism and the white power structure while creating a need for labor regulation and bargaining.
Plantation mindset-
In At the River I Stand, the narrator describes the culture in Memphis just before the sanitation worker’s strike as having a plantation mindset- in other words, the city’s white community reminisced fondly about the slavery era and treated black workers with the bare minimum of respect and protections. Sanitation workers worked in unsanitary, unsafe conditions that paid so little full-time workers still qualified for welfare. In sum, the plantation mindset both advanced institutionalized racism and created a need for labor regulation and bargaining.
Plessy v. Ferguson
163 U.S. 537 (1896), is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision in the jurisprudence of the United States, upholding the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities under the doctrine of “separate but equal.”
Plessy V. Ferguson (1896)
: Plessy is 1/8 black and forced to ride in “negro car.” He sues claiming violations of 13th Amendment and 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause (“No state shall…deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”). Supreme Court rejects Plessy’s argument that “separate but equal” conferred a badge of inferiority - NAACP then launched a 50 year campaign to overrule Plessy and establish separate is inherently unequal.
Plessy vs Ferguson
1896 Supreme Court ruling that upheld the constitutionality of “separate but equal”, maintained that 1/8 Black citizen Plessy did not have a case to argue racial discrimination because he had been provided a “seperate but equal” train car, this idea was overturned by Brown v. Board of Education
Plutocrats
The idea that the few wealthy elites at the top have all of the political decision-making power. The wealthy minority exerts influence over political arena using many methods. Chiefly, U.S. democracy allows partisan organizations to raise funds for politicians, and political parties frequently accept LARGE donations from various individuals who dictate their agenda/decisions.
Plutocrats/Plutocracy
A plutocracy is a government that is ruled by the wealthy, and plutocrats are those wealthy rulers. According to Freeland, today’s plutocrats are part of a global community that uses their great wealth to influence political and social policy. Unlike plutocrats of the past who inherited their wealth, today’s super-rich earn their wealth through work or investments. This means that they don’t like talking about inequality because it casts them in a bad light when they believe the deserve acknowledgement of the self-made nature of their accomplishments. Greenberg also argued that it is becoming harder today to call our government democratic, as the system is slipping towards plutocracy.
Policy feedback
Policies shape politics- once a policy is in place, it is hard to eliminate and might influence constituents. IE, Social security and the GI bill made people think differently about the purpose of government and why they should be invested in it. Policies shape the interests and identities of different groups who are impacted by government policies.
Post Modern Coaltion
The post modern coalition of the electorate is diverse, more tolerant and secular, and more in favor of expanding rights for all. Demographically, they are minorities, immigrants, have more education, and are unmarried. Barack Obama won this coalition by a landslide in 2008, and it has been said that to win in 2012, he must also win them by a majority.
precautionary principle
Whenever a proposed activity meets some threshold possibility of causing severe harm to human health or the environment, the government should take a stance of precaution. Even if cause-and-effect relationships have not yet been fully established scientifically, precautionary measures should be taken.
Precautionary principle
Principle stating that if an action has any potential to cause harm to human beings, either directly or through the environment, one needs to err on the side of precaution. Even if there is a lack of a scientific consensus, the risks posed by the action are enough to warrant preemptive action on the part of all parties involved. Argument used heavily by Douglas Kysar in Regulating From Nowhere.
Prods & pleas
Kysar’s view. to fight climate change, new mechanisms, “prods and pleas”, need to be developed so the three branches can support each other in working against climate change. judges, legislators, and bureaucrats need to be aware of their broader role in seeking to prevent catastrophic harm
Prods and Pleas
A more positive, encouraging spin on checks and balances. The system in which the US government actors should perform their official roles with a self conscious appreciation for the ways in which they can signal to other institutional actors that a given problem demands attention and action. Officials should prod and plea with one another when there is a danger of government underreach. For example, when a social need exceeds the capacity of a government actor’s role, she should acknowledge the seriousness of that need and the desirability of action by more appropriate actors. This behavior is ‘action-inviting’.
PSLRA
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (PSLRA) is a piece of legislation that was supported by Senator Dodd and designed to limit frivolous securities lawsuits. This brought substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities law, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation, and awards fees and expenses.
PSLRA
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. 1995. Designed to limit frivolous securities lawsuits. Made it so that plaintiffs needed evidence or proof of fraud before they could initiate a lawsuit. Senator Chris Dodd supported it in the Senate.
Public goods
Things that the free market wouldn’t produce or protect on its own. For example, universal healthcare or environmental protections.
Public policy
The sum of direct and indirect government actions, including the degree to which the economy is made up of government spending, and government non-action.
Public schools vouchers
Certificates issued by the government to parents which can be used towards the tuition of private schools. It essentially gives parents more choice with regards to the school where they want to have their children educated.
Race To The Top
is a $4.35 billion United States Department of Education contest created to spur innovation and reforms in state and local district K-12 education. It is funded by the ED Recovery Act as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and was announced by President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on July 24, 2009. States were awarded points for satisfying certain educational policies, such as performance-based standards (often referred to as an Annual professional performance review) for teachers and principals, complying with nationwide standards, promoting charter schools, and computerization.
Race-to-the-top
Race to the Top is a federal grant competition in which the federal government awards money to states who show that they are actively pursuing data-based, progressive education reforms. It is significant in that it represents the federal government’s support of reforms traditionally opposed by unions, such as teacher evaluations, and also in that its structure provides positive incentives for change at the state level (it uses carrots, not sticks).
Recovery Act
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (aka, the stimulus) was a law passed to aide the collapsing US economy through tax breaks for the poor and middle class, money for infrastructure and education, along with other measures. The act is often criticized by voters who, according to Greenberg, reject the idea of adding to the deficit to help the economy. Bivens argues that the act was effective but should have been more extensive.
Recovery Act
$831 billion. about a third in tax cuts. signed feb 17,2009. Race for the Top among the smaller provisions. aid to states to prevent layoffs, infrastructure, and extended unemployment insurance among the high spending provision
Regional greenhouse gas initiative
Compacts between states to implement emissions caps that are enforced across broader territories.The RGGI is an agreement between 9 northeastern states. This is also a form of “civil disobedience” as described by Kysar in which states try to force the federal government to act by taking their own initiative.
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative-
Maine to Maryland (except PA and now NJ), 10% emissions cut 1990-2020 (vs 20% in Europe)
Regulatory capture
Special interests unduly influence regulatory agencies. (For example, lobbying is often a lucrative career for former regulators, so they might try to stay on an industry’s good side.)
rubber rooms
These are “reassignment centers” for NYC teachers who have been found incompetent but, by the union’s tenure rules, must be paid while waiting arbitration. It takes between two and five years for cases to be heard by an arbitrator, during which time these allegedly incompetent teachers can sit around in the rubber rooms and get paid full salaries. Further, arbitrators rarely dismiss teachers, since they must get approved every year by the union.
Rubber Rooms
Also known as Temporary Reassignment Centers, these are places where teachers are sent while they wait for the Department of Education or a hearing officer to decide on their fate.
school vouchers
School vouchers were discussed in the reading “The Political Economy of School Choice”. The local/state government offers a (very modest, like $2000-5000) tuition voucher for students to use at private schools (though the private schools selected tend to be religious). Proponents of the measure say that increasing school choice is important, but a voucher program has never been successful on a large scale as ballott measures because teachers’ unions tend to block money leaving the public school system. Furthermore, suburban constituents do not seem to care as much since their public schools are pretty good. Voucher opponents also state that vouchers would further weaken public schools by taking money away from them and giving it to parents whose children already attend private schools. It is a strange situation because the leadership of the Democratic Party tends to oppose vouchers, but African Americans, particularly younger than fifty, consistently express strong support for them.
SCLC
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is a civil rights organizations founded by Martin Luther King Jr. SCLC used nonviolent direction action in order to demand civil rights for African Americans. Towards the end and after MLK’s life, SCLC began advocating for economic justice in the United States.
secret holds
A hold is a parliamentary procedure permitted by the Standing Rules of the United States Senate which allow one or more senators to prevent a motion from reaching a vote. If the senator(s) initiating the hold privately inform their party leadership and if the leadership agrees, then this is known as a secret or anonymous hold. Otherwise, it is just known as a senatorial hold.
Senate rule 22
The cloture rule- the only method the Senate has for breaking a filibuster. another sign of how broken the senate is.
Senate rule 22
Adopted in 1917 at the urging of President Woodrow Wilson. It allowed the Senate to end a debate with a two-thirds majority vote, a device known as “cloture.” The new Senate rule was first put to the test in 1919, when the Senate invoked cloture to end a filibuster against the Treaty of Versailles. Even with the new cloture rule, filibusters remained an effective means to block legislation, since a two-thirds vote is difficult to obtain. Over the next five decades, the Senate occasionally tried to invoke cloture, but usually failed to gain the necessary two-thirds vote. Filibusters were particularly useful to Southern senators who sought to block civil rights legislation, including anti-lynching legislation, until cloture was invoked after a 57 day filibuster against the Civil Right Act of 1964. In 1975, the Senate reduced the number of votes required for cloture from two-thirds to three-fifths, or 60 of the current one hundred senators.
senate rule 26
Prohibits committees from meeting after 2 pm without the consent of leaders of both parties. Frequently pointed to as a sign of how outdated the senate is. Rule was originally meant to prevent Senators from conducting other business while floor speeches were being held and bills were being debated. Republicans used during the healthcare debate to prevent Democrats from holding any hearings, which brought Senate to full standstill.
Senate rule 26
Prohibits committees from meeting after 2 pm without the consent of leaders of both parties. Frequently pointed to as a sign of how outdated the senate is. Rule was originally meant to prevent Senators from conducting other business while floor speeches were being held and bills were being debated. Republicans used during the healthcare debate to prevent Democrats from holding any hearings, which brought Senate to full standstill.
Sierra club
Environmental group that lobbies for conservation and endorsed Barack Obama for president in 2008
Sierra Club
one of the largest environmental organizations, not particularly relevant to syllabus (In “As the World Burns”, but don’t know how relevant it is to the class in general)
Skills-biased technological change
The last 30 years has wrought a massive shift in the American economy that favors workers with formal education and advanced skills. (Counterpoint: there is a huge amount of inequality among workers who have a college degree – “within-group inequality.”)
SNCC
SNCC stands for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which was a major civil rights organization during the 1960s. They registered voters in the South and also conducted sit-ins, freedom rides, and the March on Washington. Bob Herbert mentioned this as one of the movements, but it flamed out because they thought they had accomplished their goal of getting civil rights for African-Americans.
SNCC
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (Can’t find much, seems to be related to 1965 civil rights movements)
Status syndrome
The status syndrome is the phenomenon Marmot identifies that creates health inequities between different classes in society, independent of health care or underlying conditions. The wealthy have better health, according to this theory, because they have more independence and control over their lives than people in other classes. There is also a health gradient between countries with high and low inequality- in high inequality nations, everyone’s health is worse off than in low inequality nations.
Status Syndrome
The idea that health follows a social gradient. The higher your social class, the healthier you are. This does not only affect the poor, even the ‘non-poor’ have a health gradient. Wherever you are on the social ladder, you have better health than those below you and worse health than those above you. Autonomy (degree of control you have over your life) and social participation are distributed unequally, and as a result health is distributed unequally. This gradient tells us there are parts of the population that are not achieving their potential in health or longevity.
Status syndrome-
how social standing affects other measures of quality of life, especially your health. ie wealthier/higher status people live longer and are healthier
Submerged state vs tax and spend state
The submerged state is used by Suzanne Mettler and it means policies invisible to the people. Countless federal benefits are delivered so unobtrusively, through the tax system or through public-private partnerships, that their beneficiaries hardly know government played any role. A tax and spend state indicates policies which are visible to the people and affect subsequent political behavior.
System justification
Feygina et al argue that Americans continue to deny the existence of climate change because we have a tendency to justify the current status quo instead of admit the need for radical changes. Their study shows that people who have a high degree of identification with their country have higher levels of system justification, which helps to explain the partisan nature of environmentalism as a political issue. Reframing environmentalism as patriotic and the only way to preserve our way of life would help to overcome this problem.
System justification
-similar to status quo bias, people have a motivation to defend the status quo, for example wealthy people think they deserve to be wealthy because they are more honest/clever
TARP
Troubled Asset Relief Program. The $700 billion fiscal stimulus program authorized by the United States government in 2008. It was a response to the 2007/8 financial crisis. Its supporters included financial executives and many academics. Its critics contend that it represented an unjustified bailout of the financial sector. Financial reform, Dodd.
the consequentialist alibi
A consequentialist (the ethical doctrine emphasizing outcomes) excuse for individual inaction. Individual inaction is justified because it is unlikely to affect broad outcomes. Effective environmental policy must overcome the consequentialist alibi by motivating individuals as well as market actors. From: Environment, Kysar.
The great backlash
Reference to the rebellion of the white working class against demographic trends in the United States towards greater diversity and secularism. According to Frank, those voters are so angry with Democrat’s support of issues that they vote for Republicans against their own class interests because of the perception of shared cultural values. Frank argues that they are not totally aware they are voting against their own interests but are rather being manipulated by billionaires. Their backlash against liberalism, however, is losing strength because the white working class is a shrinking portion of the electorate.
the indirect spending state (submerged state)
“Iceberg below water.” Mettler identifies this as the hidden welfare state, which we have hidden because our aversion to using bureaucracy to distribute benefits. most of these programs are not very redistributive (the exception is the Earned Income Tax Credit). These benefits are tax breaks and loopholes- things that depart from the normal tax code to favor certain activities. Although they are called breaks, they are really another kind of spending. These benefits are probably between 16-20% of the economy.
the juridicial state
The US has an extensive use of often moralized law. Extensive use of adversarial legalism- legal contestation combined with litigate activism. We also have incarceration rates many times higher than the rest of the world’s and aggressive counterterrorism policies.
the tax-and-transfer state
the “iceberg above water.” much smaller and less redistributive than European states, as we tax less and spend less than those countries. We have shrunk the tax-and-transfer state over time. In the US there is little support for government in general, but high support for existing programs, making us “philosophical conservatives and practical liberals. Our fiscal capacity is overall very weak because we don’t have a federal value added tax and our tax base is very dependent on the overall state of the economy.
Tying Theory
Has to do with school desegregation, if we tie the fate of black children to the fate of white children, by putting them in the same schools and classrooms, it will help with inequality, because white children have better connected parents that invest time in schools
UFT
The United Federation of Teachers. A major teacher’s union representing most of NYC’s public school teachers. Randi Weingarten headed the UFT until 2009. Known for its strong protectionism of teachers’ rights, especially in political contexts. Involved with the creation of “Rubber Rooms.” Education, Brill.
United Federation of Teachers (UFT)
200,000-member union representing New York City public school educators (teachers + school support staff). Union contract stipulations have led to disheartening situations in which it is very difficult to fire a NYC teacher, perpetuating the “Rubber Room,” where teachers on suspension sit pointlessly in a room for hours and get paid.
UPFLS survey
Urban Poverty and Family Life Survey (1987). Wilson argues that the UPFLS showed that poor people have the same values as middle class people, ie they valued hard work and wanted the opportunity to be employed, discounting the ill-conceived notions of the culture of poverty thesis.
UPFLS survey- (Wilson)
Urban poverty and family life study. between 1987-1988, attempted to discern different life experiences of whites, blacks, and Mexican Americans
Volcker Rule
specific section of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act to restrict American banks from making certain speculative investments that do not benefit their costumers, takes effect July 2012, proposed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Volcker
Volcker rule (part of Dodd-Frank)
The Volcker Rule is a specific section of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act originally proposed by American economist and former United States Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to restrict United States banks from making certain kinds of speculative investments that do not benefit their customers. Volcker argued that such speculative activity played a key role in the financial crisis of 2007–2010. The rule is often referred to as a ban on proprietary trading by commercial banks, whereby deposits are used to trade on the bank’s personal accounts, although a number of exceptions to this ban were included in the Dodd-Frank law. The rule’s provisions are scheduled to be implemented as a part of Dodd-Frank on July 21, 2012 with preceding ramifications.
Waxman Markey
American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, proposed a cap-and-trade system to limit total greenhouse gas emissions. Approved by the house failed in the Senate.
Waxman-Markey
The most comprehensive effort yet by Congress to address U.S. greenhouse gas emissions contributing climate change. It would have established a cap-and-trade system in exchange for generous concessions to industry. While it passed the House by a razor-thin vote of 219-212 in 2009, it never got a vote in the Senate because it became obvious that it could not overcome a Republican filibuster.
Winner-take all politics
Winner take all politics suggests that the political system in the US mutually re-enforces wealth of the richest Americans and responds to their interests at the expense of everyone else, thereby distorting and disrupting itself. Some of the symptoms of this phenomenon include the hyperconcentration of wealth, limited benefits for the non-rich, stagnant mobility, broken promises with regards to pensions and healthcare and the severe crisis of debt among ordinary citizens.
Regulatory capture
Form of government failure, instead of acting in public interest, it advances the interests of those it is regulating
