Exam 2: Concepts from lecture

Question 1

constituency service

Answer 1

defn: An action by members of congress intended to benefit those in their districts
sig: Causes congress members to gain support and to think about ways in which they can alter each bill to help their districts rather than their country as a whole.

Question 2

pork barrel

Answer 2

defn: a perjorative term that means an amendment to a bill that avoids the usual appropriation process
sig: Causes a huge surplus of national spending and is one reason why the federal budget can’t be balanced

Question 3

committees

Answer 3

defn: working subgroups in congress specialized by function
sig: allow members of congress to become knowledgeable and specialized and reflects a tendency in congress for power to be fragmented and specialized

Question 4

party differences in voting

Answer 4

defn: the tendency of members of a party to vote together even though fragmented power causes weak parties in the US
sig: demonstrates that party affiliation continues to be important in talking about congress despite that there is no clear leadership and beliefs are incohesive

Question 5

Speaker of the House

Answer 5

defn: the person who presides over the House of Representatives
sig: has some control over the House; appoints members of rules committee and controls the agenda over house

Question 6

Senate Majority Leader

Answer 6

defn: the person who presides over the Senate
sig: Weaker than the speaker of the house because the Senate has no rules committee for the majority leader to appoint people to since power is fragmented in the senate)

Question 7

filibuster

Answer 7

defn: Unlimited debate that occurs in the Senate
sig: ultimate example of fragmented power. it makes United States the only democracy in the world in which the minority can stop the government in its tracks

Question 8

veto

Answer 8

defn: a presidential rejection of a bill passed by congress
sig: example of the obstructive power of the constitution and an example of the president’s negative strengths in domestic policy

Question 9

Paradox of Congress

Answer 9

defn: The issue that Congress is good at serving particular interests but not so good at serving the general interests
sig: This is a violation of public interest

Question 10

logrolling

Answer 10

defn: Situation when senators agree to vote for each others’ pork barreling
sig: leads to fiscal indiscipline

Question 11

rider

Answer 11

defn: a non-Germain amendment tacked on to a bill because its sponsor thinks that it will get passed more easily this way
sig: A structural problem in congress regardless of what party is in charge

Question 12

African Drought Bill

Answer 12

defn: A bill providing $60 million for African drought victims, which nobody wanted to vote against for fear of losing public support
sig: Because congress members knew it would pass, 35 riders were attached, worth $1.1 billion that did not get through the regular appropriations process

Question 13

Consolidated Appropriations act of 2005

Answer 13

defn: a $388 billion appropriations bill that contained 11772 riders which totalled $16 billion
sig: demonstrates the over spending that is caused by logrolling; an example of incoherent policy making and riders and logrolling to spread pork through distributive legislation

Question 14

NAFTA

Answer 14

defn: North American Free trade Agreement: a 1993 bill supported by president Bill Clinton, a democrat, but passed in congress mainly due to Republican votes
sig: illustrates irresponsible policy making in congress

Question 15

Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

Answer 15

defn: 2008 bank bail out bill that was sponsored by Republican Bush and passed by democratic votes in congress
sig: demonstrates irresponsible policy making because neither party technically takes the blame

Question 16

Head of State

Answer 16

defn: The person who symbolizes the country, as opposed to the head of government, who actually makes policy choices
sig: In the US, the head of state and head of government are the same person, as opposed to most democracies around the world

Question 17

Head of Government

Answer 17

defn: The person who actually makes the policy choices, as opposed to Head of State, who symbolizes the country
sig: In the US, the head of state and head of government are the same person, as opposed to most democracies around the world. since the president is a weak head of government, he tries to use his prestige as head of state

Question 18

the transformation of George W. Bush (2000-2001)

Answer 18

defn: The event immediately after 9-11 in which Bush, who had very little support previously, suddenly had the highest public support of any president
sig: This transformation reflects the “rally round the flag effect:” When the country is in crisis, people go into patriotic mode and tend to support their government institutions, especially Head of State, much more

Question 19

“commander in chief” clause

Answer 19

defn: The clause that says the president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces
sig: demonstrates the president’s strong power in foreign policy.

Question 20

the power to persuade

Answer 20

defn: the president’s power to bargain. This means that the president log-rolls members of congress in order to get what he wants because he does not have the power to command.
sig: demonstrates how the president has weak power in domestic policy.

Question 21

The “Fiscal Cliff” (2011-2012)

Answer 21

defn: a historical episode in which the Tea Party in congress nearly caused the government to default on its loans by not voting to increase the debt limit.
sig: illustrates the dilemma that the public holds the president responsible for the state of the economy, but often he does not even have the power to influence economic policy, let alone make it

Question 22

capital-gains taxes

Answer 22

defn: federal taxes on investment profits that Republican George H W Bush wanted to get rid of, but a democratic congress voted him down
sig: shows that the president is extremely weak in domestic policy

Question 23

Health-care reform

Answer 23

defn: Clinton’s policy he wanted passed in 1993. President and congress were democratic, but it policy failed because Clinton would not disclose the real cost and insurance companies lobbied against it because it was bad for them.
sig: shows that the president is extremely weak in domestic policy, and his initiatives can fail even if the public supports him and his party controls congress

Question 24

ANWR

Answer 24

defn: the arctic national wildlife refuge, where Bush wanted to permit oil companies wanted to drill but failed to do so even with the majority of congress on his side
sig: shows that the president is extremely weak in domestic policy

Question 25

Deepwater Horizon

Answer 25

defn: 2010 drilling rig that blew up in the Gulf, which caused Obama to issue an executive order to stop drilling below 500 ft
sig: shows that the president is extremely weak in domestic policy because even during ongoing disaster with majority yes in both houses, they can be stopped by the supreme court.

Question 26

opening to China

Answer 26

defn: 1969-1979, an episode in international relations in which Nixon and Carter opened up diplomatic relations with the people’s republic of China and unrecognized the people’s republic of Taiwan.
sig: shows that the president is extremely strong in foreign policy (he has diplomatic recognition)

Question 27

Iran-Contra Affair

Answer 27

defn: An event in history in which the president was able to conduct a large, covert, explicitly illegal operation for a year and a half and get away completely free
sig: shows that the president is extremely strong in foreign policy

Question 28

Libyan Bombing Campaign

Answer 28

defn: An event in which president Obama ordered the USAF to totally destroy the Libyan military without consulting congress, hence without a declaration of war
sig: presidential power has evolved so that the president can make war independently of congress

Question 29

Korematsu vs. US

Answer 29

defn: The supreme court case in which Korematsu, an american citizen of japanese descent,
sig: In wartime, presidential power expands indefinitely

Question 30

signing statements

Answer 30

defn: Statements that George Bush added on when he signed bills saying that if there was a part of a bill he personally deemed unconstitutional, he did not feel the obligation to enforce it
sig: during a war, presidential power expands unpredictably

Question 31

Imperial Presidency (is this a term we need to know?)

Answer 31

defn: Term to refer to the fact that the president has become dominant in foreign policy since WW II
sig: Prindle argues that presidential power expands during times of war

Question 32

Distributive tendency

Answer 32

defn: The tendency of congress members to try to bring money to their districts through pork
sig: causes congress members to be locally oriented instead of nationally oriented

Question 33

framing

Answer 33

defn: setting a story in context in order to make it meaningful
sig: the way reporters frame a story largely determines how the public reacts to a situation even though facts and truth can be suppressed and get lost

Question 34

spin doctors

Answer 34

defn: people who try to persuade the media to accept their frame
sig: One way in which facts and truth can become suppressed and lost

Question 35

Balance

Answer 35

balance as bias

defn: The false equivalence that a reporter creates when showing both a liar’s POV and a truth teller’s POV
sig: Reporters’ professional rule of balance tends to cause them to inadvertently distort what’s actually going on in the world

Question 36

leak

Answer 36

defn: an unauthorized bit of information given by a government official to a reporter off the record
sig: exposes tentative workings of government, thus suppressing frank, honest discussion within government.
The Washington media runs on leaks, which can be good or bad and have no present solution.

Question 37

Osama Bin Laden

Answer 37

defn: The mastermind behind the 9-11 attacks who was killed by Navy Seals in 2011
sig: Example of a huge amount of leaks and how unstoppable they are. Leaks are good and bad for democracy

Question 38

Edward Snowden

Answer 38

defn: The CIA pro who thought that NSA phone call-screening violated privacy and therefore slowly leaked millions of documents to the public
sig: because some people believe he is a hero and others believe that he is a traitor, Snowden illustrates that leaks are both good and bad for democracy.

Question 39

non-political myth

Answer 39

defn: The myth judges spread saying they are not politicians.
sig: Relatively true in lower courts because they are bound by the constitution. The Supreme Court is definitely political because they interpret the constitution thus taking sides in political controversies. Significant because it destroys the idea that judges are not political and by their independence it questions democratic legitimacy also helps with compliance.

Question 40

judicial review

Answer 40

defn: The power of the court to declare an act of congress or an action of the president or an action of a state unconstitutional and therefore void
sig: Most other countries’ judges do not have this ability. Significant because it’s the basis for the power of the courts, but creates a problem with democratic theory because judges are not elected.

Question 41

partisan appointment (of federal judges)

Answer 41

defn: The appointment of Judges by the President
sig: Allows the President to sway the decisions of courts towards his party, which makes the supreme court partisan. illustrates the fact that courts are political institutions and judges are politicians

Question 42

Robert Bork (1987)

Answer 42

defn: famous conservative nominated to Supreme Court by Republican President Reagan in 1987. Bork wrote several law reviews that critiqued liberal court decisions, which liberals hated.
sig: he liberal Senate encouraged people to convince senate to not appoint Bork and he was not appointed. Significant because we have the equivalent of election campaigns in appointing judges and demonstrates political nature of courts.

Question 43

Wesberry vs Sanders (1964)

Answer 43

defn: The Supreme Court case in which the court ruled that all congressional districts must have the same population within 1%
sig: This changed the balance of power in the US House of Representatives so that cities had much more power because they had more representatives, and it caused rural districts to get less pork and cities to get more

Question 44

Roe vs. Wade (1973)

Answer 44

defn: The supreme court case in which the court applied the principle of personal privacy to decide that anti-abortion laws are unconstitutional
sig: because the supreme court took sides in a political controversy, this illustrates the fact that courts are political institutions and judges are politicians

Question 45

Texas vs. Johnson (1989)

Answer 45

defn: Supreme Court case in which the court ruled that a protestor burning the flag is political expression and is therefore protected by first amendment
sig: because the supreme court took sides in a political controversy, this illustrates the fact that courts are political institutions and judges are politicians

Question 46

Bush vs Gore (2000)

Answer 46

defn: The Supreme Court case in which the court ruled that George Bush won the 2000 presidential election by winning the electoral college, even though Al Gore won the popular vote and there may have been a miscount of votes.
sig: because the supreme court took sides in a political controversy, this illustrates the fact that courts are political institutions and judges are politicians

Question 47

Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission (2010)

Answer 47

defn: a 2010 supreme court decision in which judges held that laws limiting corporate participation in politics were unconstitutional
sig: illustrates the fact that courts are political institutions and judges are politicians since the supreme court interpreted the constitution and took sides in a political controversy

Question 48

“Imperial Judiciary”

Answer 48

defn: a pejorative phrase used by people who think that american judges are too powerful and somehow their power should be lessened
sig: Some people think that appointing judges for life is a violation of democratic theory because the people do not elect them and they serve for too long.

Question 49

inflation

Answer 49

defn: a steadily falling value of the dollar, i.e. steadily rising prices
sig: Because the federal reserve board tries to control inflation, but it is independent, it violates democratic theory

Question 50

discount rate

Answer 50

defn: interest rate that the federal reserve charges to the large banks
sig: fed reserve influences whether we have inflation or deflation and it strongly influences national interest rates —> tons of influence over economy

Question 51

“quantitative easing” (2010-2014)

Answer 51

defn: in a financial crisis, the fed tries to stimulate the economy by putting more money into the economy (basically by buying federal bonds)
sig: the FRB has huge political consequences in the U.S.

Question 52

monetary policy

Answer 52

defn: the policy of the federal reserve to put more or less money into the economy
sig: When the government says there is too much stimulation, they raise interest rates.
By controlling the money the FRB has a huge impact on jobs, money you earn, costs of living, etc.

Question 53

independent central bank

Answer 53

defn: the federal reserve board, a political institution that is extremely influential in the american economy, but raises questions of democratic legitimacy because it is partially independent of elected politicians
sig: Because the federal reserve board controls monetary policy, it is very important but violates democratic theory because it is independent of elected politicians

Question 54

bureaucracy

Answer 54

defn: a government agency created to implement policy
sig: tend toward bureaupathology due to the fact that they are free from the authority of elected politicians, but the government needs organization to function.

Question 55

bureaupathology

Answer 55

defn: the tendency of administrative agencies to take on goals other than those for which they were created
sig: because bureaucracies are bureaupathological, they are inefficient and not frugal

Question 56

NATO (1949—)

Answer 56

defn: created to stop the soviet union from expanding any further in Europe, but took on other responsibilities when the soviet union ceased to exist
sig: if bureaucracies lose authority somewhere, they look for more responsibility somewhere else

Question 57

the “fireman first” principle

Answer 57

defn: the tendency/rule of bureaucracies to threaten to eliminate their most popular service and preserve the inefficient and unnecessary programs, when threatened with budget cuts
sig: illustrates bureaupathology

protects the agency from the budget cut

Question 58

Parkinson’s Law

Answer 58

defn: The principle that 1. Work expands to fill the time available for its completion and 2. Expenses rise to meet income
sig: This means bureaucracies tend to inefficient and non-frugal.

Question 59

Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (1994—) AND Dairy Management (1995—)

Answer 59

defn: 2 administrative agencies in the department of agriculture with contradictory goals
sig: illustrates that bureaucracies will adopt contradictory goals to increase their budget and the number of people who work for them (an aspect of bureaupathology)

Question 60

National Intelligence Director (2004)

Answer 60

defn: the one person in charge of all of the military intelligence agencies, who is congress’s attempt in 2004 to overcome the bureaupathological reluctance of the FBI and CIA to share information, which led to the disaster of 9-11
sig: bureaucracies fight with each other over jurisdiction and will sacrifice the welfare of the nation in order to defend their particular agenda (illustrates bureaupathology)

Question 61

FEMA (2005-2007)

Answer 61

defn: The Federal Emergency Management Agency, who insisted that the New Orleans Aquarium spend the half a million dollars allotted to them after Hurrican Katrina even though they didn’t need to
sig: Bureaucrats lose perspective as to what is going on outside of the bureaucracy and come to view their rules as reality
Example of bureaupathology, which is bureaucracies focusing on the rules and ignoring common sense

Question 62

Sibel Edmonds (2001-2005)

Answer 62

defn: whistleblower who exposed incompetence of the FBI to the press and was fired, regardless of the whistleblower protection act
sig: because of bureaupathology, the whistleblower protection act was ignored

Question 63

the Peter Principle

Answer 63

defn: In a bureaucracy, people tend to be promoted to their level of incompetence
sig: explains one reason why bureaucracies are inefficient

Question 64

American Postal Workers Unions (2010)

Answer 64

defn: labor union that represents people who work in the postal service, which had to postpone the election of the new leaders of the union because so many of the ballots had been lost in the mail
sig: example of how inefficient bureaucracies are

Question 65

Pendleton Act (1883)

Answer 65

defn: A law passed by Congress in 1883 that took hiring/firing federal employees out of the hands of the president and gave it to the bureaucracies themselves
sig: an explanation of why bureaucracies are quasi-independent of the president because the president can no longer hire and fire their employees

Question 66

implementation

Answer 66

defn: the carrying out of policy and enforcing of laws
sig: A program is more likely to succeed if it avoids getting entangled in local politics

Question 67

New Towns

Answer 67

defn: a policy put into effect in 1967 by the johnson administration to build low-cost housing for the poor by giving the federal government’s surplus land to developers for
sig: The complex system we have gives local power structures many ways to stop a federal program

Question 68

Nuclear Waste Policy Act

Answer 68

defn: A 1982 act whose purpose was to find a place to house the 2000 tons/year of nuclear waste
sig: Implementation failed because things get caught up in local power structures (due to Nimby syndrome)

Question 69

Project Apollo

Answer 69

defn: The goal to send a man to the moon in the 1960s, which succeeded in 1969.
sig: demonstrates how efficient a government program can be when there are no local politics involved to strangle it

Question 70

Head Start

Answer 70

defn: A program first run by parents and now run by multiple nonprofits, intended to give poor children an early education and meals
sig: illustrates that a program is more likely to succeed in implementation if it has avoided getting entangled in local politics

Question 71

60%

Answer 71

defn: Approximate percentage of the time that the federal government has followed public opinion
sig: