final

Question 1

affective polarization

Answer 1

Affective polarization = we feel more positively towards people
similar to us and more negatively towards people more dissimilar to
us

Question 2

agency loss

Answer 2

Bureaucracies suffer from principal-agent problems.
Authority must be delegated, where individuals/groups with power authorize someone to act on their behalf.
Congress and the president authorize the bureaucracy to implement their programs.

Agency loss when agent doesn’t do what principle wants

Question 3

articles of confederation

Answer 3

New Congress where each state received one vote, 9/13 needed for major laws

Congress held debt, could not levy taxes
Favored confederation over a more centralized and powerful national govt

states in prisoner’s dilemma

Question 4

australian ballot

Answer 4

secret voting

Question 5

bicameralism

Answer 5

two chamber legislatures

House as the chamber closer to the people

also in federal and state level

Question 6

bill of rights

Answer 6

first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution

Question 7

brown v. the board of education

Answer 7

Dad wanted to put his daughter in the school in front of his house, but the daughter was colored so denied admission into school
Not separate but equal -> experiences will be different, not equal

segregation is unconstitutional

Question 8

buckley v. valeo

Answer 8

expenditure limits struck down; contribution limits upheld

Question 9

checks and balances

Answer 9

giving each branch some oversight and control of other branches

presidential veto, judicial review, Senate approval of presidential appt.

Question 10

cloture

Answer 10

Parliamentary procedure used to close debate -> Senate can cut off filibusters if 3/5 vote for cloture

Question 11

commerce clause

Answer 11

only Congress has the authority to regulate interstate commerce

traditional tasks of states can slip into federal control via commerce clause

Question 12

confederation

Answer 12

a highly decentralized system in which nat’l govt derives limited authority from the states rather than directly from the citizens

Question 13

conference committee

Answer 13

temporary joint committee of House and Senate appointed to reconcile differences between two chambers on a particular piece of legislation

Question 14

de facto segregation

Answer 14

The De Facto Segregation definition means that people are segregated into separate areas by fact rather than by law or policy. The “de facto” concept usually outlines what is actually occurring in reality rather than what should be taking place in reference to the law.

Question 15

divided government

Answer 15

President against an opposition party that controls one or both chambers of Congress

Question 16

dominant strategy

Answer 16

A player takes the same action regardless of what action the other player takes in prisoner’s dilemma

Question 17

duverger’s law

Answer 17

Plurality or majoritarian elections tend to cultivate two party systems, not 3 parties

Question 18

electoral college

Answer 18

Body of electors in each state chosen by voters

Electoral College vote totals determine the winner -> Electoral votes awarded on basis of popular vote in each state

at least 270 electoral votes to win presidential election (more than half)

Question 19

enumerated powers

Answer 19

specific authority that would enable govt to address problems the states had not grappled w/ effectively under Articles of Confederation

Question 20

executive order

Answer 20

presidential directive o an executive agency establishing new policies or indicating how an existing policy is to be carried out

Question 21

federalist

Answer 21

both confederation and unitary govt

Question 22

free-rider problem

Answer 22

an individual’s contribution to success of collective effort is so small to seem inconsequential; they fail to contribute to the group’s undertaking while enjoying benefits of success

can prevent collective action altogether

tyranny of the great by the small

Question 23

gerrymandering

Answer 23

extensive manipulation of the shape of a legislative district

“packing”: incumbent protection
“cracking”: larger majorities

limited by Baker v. Carr: one person, one vote

Question 24

great compromise

Answer 24

balancing demands of large states for nat’l representation against those of the small states for protection of states’ rights

solution: House of Representatives by population and Senate w/ two members from each state

Question 25

ideological polarization

Answer 25

People are moving away from the middle in their
political beliefs
* Extreme views are becoming more common

Question 26

incumbency advantage

Answer 26

those in office tend to be re-elected at high rates

Incumbent reelection rates are typically above 80% in Congress

Question 27

jim crow laws

Answer 27

segregation and disenfranchisement of blacks

Question 28

judicial review

Answer 28

authority of a court to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional and therefore invalid

Question 29

latent opinion

Answer 29

public’s propensity to respond to certain events and outcomes in a certain way

latent opinion is opinion that may exist at some point in the future in response to decision-makers’ actions and may result in political damage or defeat at the polls

Question 30

motivated reasoning

Answer 30

tendency to find arguments in favor of conclusions we want to believe to be stronger than arguments for conclusions we do not want to believe

see also: confirmation bias

Question 31

lobbying

Answer 31

Interest groups lobby Congress and the executive
branch to have bureaucracies make decisions in
their interest.

Lobbying: activities aimed to influence directly the decisions made by
public officials.

Question 32

nationalization of politics

Answer 32

shifting to national govt responsibilities traditionally exercised by the states

Question 33

necessary and proper clause

Answer 33

Congress: make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing powers

Question 34

normative claim

Answer 34

realm of values

Question 35

originalism

Answer 35

Originalism is a theory of the interpretation of legal texts, including the text of the Constitution. Originalists believe that the constitutional text ought to be given the original public meaning that it would have had at the time that it became law.

Question 36

party identification

Answer 36

identifying as Republicans or Democrats

polarization along party lines

best single predictor of the vote in federal elections

Question 37

party sorting

Answer 37

Partisan sorting is an effect in politics in which voters sort themselves into parties that match their ideology. Partisan sorting is distinct from political polarization, which is where partisans subscribe to increasingly extreme positions.

Question 38

patronage

Answer 38

Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another

Question 39

peer review

Answer 39

paper is commented on by 2-5 anonymous peers, chosen by an editor

Question 40

performance voting

Answer 40

voting for the party in control when one thinks the government is performing well; voting for the “outs” when one thinks the party in charge is performing poorly

Question 41

primary election

Answer 41

election held before general election in which voters decide which of the party’s candidates will be the party’s nominee for the general election

Question 42

prisoner’s dilemma

Answer 42

individuals benefit from cooperating w/ each other AND have an incentive to break the agreement and exploit the other

states were prepared to sacrifice for the war but only if they could be confident that the other states would also do their part

Question 43

replication crisis

Answer 43

for social science research -> experiments must be replicable

Question 44

separation of powers

Answer 44

distribution of govt powers among several political institutions

Congress, President, Supreme Court

Question 45

separate but equal

Answer 45

brown v. board of education
awareness of jim crow laws

separate but equal used as justification for racial segregation BUT decides separate is inherently unequal

Question 46

stare decisis

Answer 46

Supreme Court sits above pyramid of all other courts

influences all other courts through selective review and setting of precedent = stare decisis

can uphold, reverse, or combo the decision of a lower court

decisions of Supreme Court are final

Question 47

status quo bias

Answer 47

institutional bias that fundamentally favors continuation of current public policy

Question 48

supermajority

Answer 48

majority larger than a simple 51% majority required for extraordinary legislative actions, ex. amending the Constitution

Question 49

ticket splitting

Answer 49

voting for candidates of different parties for different offices

emergence of candidate-centered electoral process

Question 50

tyranny of the majority

Answer 50

majority of an electorate pursues exclusively its own objectives at the expense of those of the minority factions

Question 51

unanimous consent

Answer 51

required in the Senate, otherwise can filibuster

minority has a greater influence in Senate

can be killed by a single objection

Question 52

veto

Answer 52

president can reject bills passed by both houses of Congress, see also: pocket veto

needs 2/3 in each house to be overridden

Question 53

wealth inequality

Answer 53

redistribution of wealth most consistently divides the parties

wealth inequality beats income inequality

Question 54

writ of certiorari

Answer 54

Supreme Court justices work together to decide which appeals to grant a writ of certiorari = 4/9 justices

cert granted on important issues with legal or statutory uncertainty, lower courts come to separate rulings

orders a lower court to deliver its record in a case so that the higher court may review it