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POLS 207 > Exam 1 > Flashcards

Exam 1 Flashcards

1
Q

What are the 2 primary areas of policymaking for state and local governments

A

State and local governmnets primarily make policy related to education and law enforcement

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2
Q

What is policy conservatism?

A

state’s tendency to limit welfare benefits, deregulate business, keep taxes low, and less reliance on gov services and more on private sector/marketplace

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3
Q

What is policy liberalism?

A

state’s tendency to expand welfare benefits, regulate business, adopt progressive state income taxes, and use gov services to achieve goals

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4
Q

From where do state and local governments derive their revenue?

A

they mainly derive revenue from sales tax, property tax, income tax, and federal grants

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5
Q

what are federalism, unitary, and confederation forms of governments?

A
  • Unitary: power in a single central government
  • Confedaral: system concentrates power in regional governments
  • Federal: national and regional governments share powers and are considered independent equals
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6
Q

What is nullification?

A

Nullification is a state’s rejecting of a federal law and making it invalid within state borders

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7
Q

What are enumerated or delegated powers?

A

Grants of authority explicitly given by Constitution

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8
Q

What are implied powers?

A

Broad, but undefined powers given to federal government by the Constitustion

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9
Q

What is the 10th Ammendment

A

The 10th Amendment states that any powers not explicitly given to the national government, as long as they are not prohibited by the constitution, are given to the States/the people.
MOST importantly, it established Federalism

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10
Q

Significance of McCulloch v Maryland

A
  • Maryland tried to tax Second Bank of the United States.
  • Decided Maryland does not have power to tax the bank
  • Important for th “Necessary and Proper Clause”
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11
Q

Why was Marbury vs Madison important?

A

It established the Supreme Court’s ability for “Judicial Review”

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12
Q

What are federal grants-in-aid and why are they important?

A

They are cash grants given to the states. They are important because states need more money than they can raise themselves. This is slighlty controversial b/c the federal gov can put stipulations on the money and possibly “blackmail” states

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13
Q

What are mandates?

A

mandates force state and local governments to comply with federal rules under threat of penalties or as a condition for a grant

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14
Q

What is preemption? What allows for this?

A

The process of the federal government overriding areas regulated by state law. This is possible b/c of the “National Supremacy” clause

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15
Q

What is an unfunded mandate?

A

federal law that direct state action but provide no funding for that action

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16
Q

What is usually contained in a state constitution?

A
  • bill of rights
  • separation of powers
  • limitation of governor’s power
  • rules of legislation
  • regulations of particular groups
  • articles for taxes and finance
  • debt limit for state
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17
Q

What is constitutionalism?

A

Constitutionalism means “limited government”

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18
Q

Advantage of amendments over laws

A

amendments cannot easily be touched by legislature. laws can be changed by day to day duties of legislature

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19
Q

where do local governments derive their power?

A
  • they derive their power from the state
  • exercise only policymaking authority the state is willing to grant
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20
Q

How do most states amend their constitution?

A

the most common method of amending state constitutions is “Legislative Proposal”

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21
Q

What title do county/city governments share? What duties do they preform?

A

County/city governments are all “General Purpose” governments which means they provide a wide range of services

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22
Q

What is a special district?

A

A special district is a unit of local government that does one single service in a limited geographical area

23
Q

what are the 2 types of special districts in Texas?

A

1) school districts
2) nonschool special ditricts

24
Q

what are the types of elections?

A

1) at-large system
2) single-member district system
3) combination electoral system

25
Q

What is an at-large election?

A

when a position(s) is voted on by everyone in a city

26
Q

what is a single-member district system?

A

candidates are lected only by people in a defined geographical location

27
Q

What is a combination election system?

A

some officials are elected at-larga while others positions are single-member district elections

28
Q

what are the 3 political cultures?

A

1) traditionalistic
2) individualistic
3) moralistic

29
Q

describe the traditionalistic political culture

A
  • politics is for elites. average person should not concern themslves with it
  • government serves a positive role, but its main purpose is to maintain existing social order
  • want to preserve well-established society
30
Q

What is political culture?

A

general attitudes and beliefs about the role and responsibility of government

31
Q

describe the moralistic political culture

A
  • politics is used to achieve a good and just society
  • government is a positive force for addresing social problems
32
Q

describe the individualistic polititcal culture

A
  • government is an extension of the marketplace
  • each citizen participate in politics for individual reasons to acheive individual goals
  • government seen as any other business. Political parties are corporations competing to provide services
33
Q

What is the political culture of Texas

A
  • both traditionalistic and individualistic
  • low tax, low service
  • dominated by business and special interests
34
Q

General history of the texas Constitution

A
  • Constitution of Coahuila y Tejas, 1827
  • Republic of Texas, 1836
  • Texas State Constitution of 1845
  • Confederate Constitution of 1861
  • Constitution of 1866
  • Reconstruction Constitution of 1869
  • Contitution of 1876
35
Q

Why was the Constitution of 1876 necessary adn what were its main goals?

A

It was needed b/c of Gov. Davis’s corruption which was allowed by 1869 Constitution
Main Goals:
1) Strong popular control of government
2) Powers were to be limited
3) Restrain spending
4) Promote agriculture interests

36
Q

What was the climate around the Constitutional Convention of 1875?

A
  • delegates were mostly conservative
  • half of the delegates were Grangers and the resulting Constitution reflected their views
  • opposed big government, banks, and taxation even for education
  • also restricted railroad companies’ ability to construct railroads
  • enforced limited government and racial segregation
  • still kinda mad obout reconstruction
37
Q

What are the main differences between the Texas BOR and the United states BOR?

A
  • USBOR is an ammendum while Texas’ is Article 1
  • Texas’ has a declaratory tone
  • Section one of Texas’ BOR imitates the threat of secession if the national government overly imposes or cannot provide for the welfare and defense of the state.
  • voting laws are not included in the Texas BOR
38
Q

What were the conditions of the annexation agreement for Texas to join the Union in 1845?

A
  • Texas maintains all of its public debt
  • texas would give up all public property (forts, military bases, weapons, etc) but keep its public lands
    • Texas could sell the land to national gov to pay off debts
    • Texas could use land as they woshed once debt was paid
  • allowed slavery
  • immediate representation in national government
39
Q

what is retrenchment?

A

returning power to the people

40
Q

what 2 things did the Grangers say they were pushing?

A

retrenchment and reform

41
Q

How is the Texas constitution changed?

A

Legislative Proposal:
2/3 of each chamber of legislature vote to adopt amendment. Then, a majority of voters must approve it.

42
Q

How is the United States constitution changed?

A

Either by 2/3 of each chamber of legislature vote OR a constitutional convention called for by 2/3 of state legislatures

43
Q

How has federalism evolved over time?

A

Dual Federalism (ended with FDR’s election) →

Cooperative Federalism (began when FDR was elected)

FDR wanted to reduce the power of the national government and reduce federal grants-in-aid. In return, states were given more leeway in policymaking with block grants.

44
Q

what are the three types of federalism?

A
  • dual
  • cooperative
  • fiscal
45
Q

What is dual federalism?

A

both the states and national governments remain supreme within their own spheres, each responsible for some policies

46
Q

What is cooperative federalism?

A

powes and policy assignment s are shared betweed the state and national government

47
Q

What is fiscal federalism?

A

pattern of spending, taxing, and providing grants in the federal system

48
Q

What are the different types of county government?

A
  • county commission structure
  • county administrator structure
  • elected county executive/mayor structure
  • county officials
  • home rule charter counties
49
Q

What are the different types of city governments?

A
  • commission
  • council-manager
  • elected mayor
  • mayor-council
50
Q

What is the 16th amendment?

A

gives the national government the ability to tax income

51
Q

what is the 17th amendment?

A

When a senste seat is open, an election must be hald. State legislatures cannot vote/appoint another candidate by thmselves.

52
Q

what are the 3 types of direct democracy?

A
  • initiative
  • referendum
  • recall
53
Q

what is an initiative?

A

a percentage of voters, using a petition, may have a law or amendment placed on the ballot without legislative involvement

54
Q

what is a referendum?

A

the electorate must approve legislative decisions before they become law

POLS 207 (2 decks)

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