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Final Flashcards

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1
Q

The Articles of Confederation

A
  • Replicated Home Rule
  • No executive or judiciary
  • 9/13 states had to agree to pass a law
  • 13/13 had to agree to pass amendments
  • Conformity Costs vs. Transaction costs
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2
Q

Problems of the Articles of Confederation

A
  • Congress could issue bonds but couldn’t levy taxes
  • Could not enforce states to contribute
  • Coordination problem with states
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3
Q

Virginia Plan

A
  • Bicameral Legislature
  • Based on Population
  • Legislature can make any law, summon military forces against any state who does not comply with federal law
  • Executive & Judiciary appointed by the legislature
  • Council of Revision
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4
Q

New Jersey Plan

A
  • Unicameral Legislature
  • Equal State Representation
  • Legislature has the same powers as Articles, but can levy taxes, regulate commerce, limited authority over states
  • Plural Executive
  • Judiciary (Supreme)
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5
Q

Take Care Clause

A

President can “Take Care” of America’s shit through this constitutional clause

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6
Q

What new powers did the Constitution give the government to overcome collective action problems???????

A
  • Command
  • Veto
  • Agenda Control
  • Voting Control
  • Delegation
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7
Q

How can you read the constitution? !?

A
  • Original Intent: Just like our founding fathers wanted
  • Strict Construction: Only apply the rules clearly stated within the constitution pls
  • Living Document: The constitution is constantly evolving with society
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8
Q

Federalist Paper #10

A
  • Madison identities factions as a threat to the country
  • There are two ways to eliminate factions: Authoritarianism and Conformism
  • To mitigate these effect: Size Principle / diversity / pluralism
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9
Q

Federalist Paper #51

A
  • Madison discusses how tyranny is prevented by the constitutional provisions
  • More on the mechanics
  • Checks and Balances prevent the distortion of power
  • Ambition is made to counteract ambition
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10
Q

Federalist Paper #69

A
  • Hamilton discusses the executive
  • President will not become a king because he can become impeached, tried, convicted of crimes, removed from office; while a king is above the law
  • His powers are restricted by the other two branches
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11
Q

Anti-Federalist papers

A
  • They feared the tyranny of the majority
  • True democracy is a local democracy
  • The nation is too large and diverse to be under one set of laws
  • Helped the implimatation of the bill of rights
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12
Q

Bill of Rights

A
  • Name given to the first 10 amendments

- Proposed during the first session of Congress

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13
Q

Negative Rights

A
  • Freedom From Something
  • Things people shouldn’t do to one another
  • Right to life, liberty, property
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14
Q

Positive Rights

A
  • Freedom to do Something
  • Things people should do to one another
  • Rights to free school, healthcare, minimum wage
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15
Q

Supremacy Clause

A

-The federal government has control

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16
Q

Elastic Clause

A
  • Necessary and Proper Clause

- Congress can intervene in national emergencies

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17
Q

Commerce Clause

A

-Meant to avoid problems from Articles

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18
Q

10th Amendment

A
  • Rights granted by the constitution are reserved to the states
  • 14th amendment applies the bill of rights to all states (incorporation)
  • Court often gives authority to federal government
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19
Q

Federalism Cake: Past vs. Today

A
  • Past: Federalism was a layered cake, programs and authority are clearly divided like layers in a cake
  • Today: Federalism is a marbled cake, programs and authority are mixed among national, state, and local governments
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20
Q

How did the Federalism Cake become so goddamn marbled?

A
  • Nationalization shifted authority away from the states after the 1930’s (lol FDR goddamn)
  • State and Federal government coordinated their actions to solve national problems, blending the layers
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21
Q

How did Nationalization happen?

A
  • To solve collective action problems
  • Country became industrialized, need more authority
  • States asked for help with coordination, shirking, and competition
  • Opportunism to increase political power and advance an agenda
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22
Q

The House

A
  • 2 year terms

- Popular elections

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23
Q

The Senate

A
  • 6 year terms

- now popular elections, not before

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24
Q

What power does congress have?

A
  • Impose taxes
  • Regulate interstate and foreign commerce
  • Declare war
  • Raise armies
  • Suspend Habeas Corpus
  • Elastic clause gives them growing power
  • Senate ratifies treaties and confirms Senate appointments
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25
Q

What problems does Congress have to overcome?

A
  • Acquiring information
    • Congress are not experts on the majority of legislation they review
  • Coordinate Action
    • With so many members and so much work it is hard to tackle all the problems
  • Resolve conflicts
    • Congress members have divergent and conflicting interest and beliefs
  • Collective Action Problems
    • Congress members have individual goals and beliefs
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26
Q

What transaction costs does Congress face?

A
  • The Constitution made making laws difficult
  • Laws need to pass through majority of each chamber
  • Transactions take time
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27
Q

What structural problems does Congress face?

A
  • Committees delegate problems to get out of collection action problems
  • Parties resolve conflict and help members work for common goals
  • Seniority encourages specialization and cooperation
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28
Q

What is logrolling?

A
  • The exchanging of favors between committees to achieve one’s action
  • Logrolling helps overcome collective action problems
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29
Q

How does Congress solve its problem?

A
  • Committees and Seniority can acquire information more effectively
  • Parties and Committees facilitate collective action
  • Parties and rules can help resolve conflicts
  • Committees and Parties encourage members to work for a common goal, not just personal
  • Helps things go faster
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30
Q

What is Delegate Representation?

A
  • Highly responsive to constituents, may ignore national needs or trends to respond to constituents interests
  • Can lead to porkbarrel politics and logrolling
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31
Q

What is Trustee Representation?

A
  • Less responsive to constituents, focuses on national trends or needs
  • Works for collective action goals, i.e. party politics
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32
Q

Bias for the status quo

A
  • The transaction costs of a bill are high

- It is easier to kill and bill then to pass one

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33
Q

Why is there one executive?

A
  • Accountability
  • Collective Action
  • Energy
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34
Q

How does president have power to command?

A

-Executive actions (Numbered)
-Presidential memoranda (not numbered)
-They have the force of law
-But congress doesn’t have to fund them and
subsequent presidents can replace them

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35
Q

The President Needs Help

A
  • Brownlow Report
  • As the presidency has expanded, so has its powers
  • The president is like a CEO of a company
  • Congress creates parties in the Executive branch, and transferred power to the president
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36
Q

The President has the power to persuade

A
  • Presidents are expected to do more than they have the power to
  • They persuade and bargain
  • When a president resorts to command, he is showing weakness
  • The presidents power comes from
    • His position (statutory power)
    • His reputation (if he follows through on promises)
    • His public prestige (His ability to go public)
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37
Q

What does it mean to “go public”?

A
  • Going public can show the failure of persuading
  • Theodore Roosevelts “bully pulpit”
    • Use the media in your favor
  • intensive public relations to advance the presidents agenda
  • Signing statement
    • President will not enforce some provisions of a law that they are signing in
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38
Q

Veto Bargaining

A
  • Derives from three scenarios
    1. Congress & President have very different policy agendas
    2. Congress wants a radically different policy then the President
    3. President wants a radically different policy then Congress
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39
Q

What is the Bureaucracy?

A
  • Hierarchical structure: command flows down, information flows up
  • Division of Labor
  • Consistent set of abstract rules regarding whats to be done and whose to do it
  • Impersonality
  • A merit based career system with job security
  • Specified goals which collective action is aimed
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40
Q

Federalist bureaucracy

A
  • Civil servants rarely dismissed and passed their position to their sons
  • Chose the ‘right people’ to serve
  • Honest administration
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41
Q

Jacksonian bureaucracy

A
  • Established short and fixed terms for office
  • Offices should be democratized through changes in office
  • Created the spoils system
  • Little job security and advancement was not based on merit
    • Officials rotated based on who they knew, not what
  • Created dysfunction and potential corruption
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42
Q

Merit-Based bureaucracy

A
  • Career bureaucrats developed their own interests
  • They weren’t responsible to citizens or elected officials
  • Caused shirking of responsibility, and lack of punishment for wrongdoing
  • Magnified problems of hidden action and hidden information
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43
Q

Iron Triangles

A
  • The bureaucracy, interest group, and congress work together to create policy in their areas of specialization
  • Consolidates their power base
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44
Q

Red Tape

A
  • People hate it but it is necessary
  • Helps principles control and monitor the bureaucracy
  • Removing red tape may help increase efficiency and customer satisfaction, but allows bureaucrats to go astray
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45
Q

What was the effects of Marbury V. Madison?

A

-Aligned the Judiciary with the Constitution. The court became Supreme and derives its power from the Constitution and enforces it on laws

46
Q

What are the limits on Judicial Review?

A
  • Court rulings are not permanent
  • Judicial review does not foreclose effective responses
  • Constitution limits their response
  • The Court is weak and slow
  • Political branches can redirect judicial doctrine
47
Q

How does the Judiciary hear cases?

A
  • Congress created hundred of ‘Constitutional courts’ that hear the constitutionality of criminal or civil cases
  • There are 50,000 cases a year, they discuss >100
  • Litigates file a writ of certiorari
  • Parties can file Amicus briefs
  • Four justices must hear cases
48
Q

What is the writ of certiorari?

A

-The supreme court is saying the will hear the case

49
Q

What is an Amicus briefs

A
  • Friend of the court

- Independent interest who has something to add to the issue

50
Q

What were the Eras of the Court?

A
  1. Nation vs. State authority (1790-1860)
  2. Gov. regulation of the economy (1865-1930s)
  3. Civil Rights and liberties (1940s-?)
  4. Maybe fourth era starting in the 1970’s
51
Q

Whats the difference between civil rights and civil liberties?

A
  • Civil Rights: Protections by government power; an obligation by the government to take positive action to protect certain rights and privileges
  • Civil Liberties: Protection from government power; they prevent government action (negative rights)
52
Q

Incorporation

A
  • The federal government has incorporated the bill of rights to apply to states
  • Some rights have not been incorporated: 3rd, 7th, 8th
53
Q

First Amendment rights

A
  • Freedom of Press
  • Freedom of Assembly and Petition
  • Freedom of Religion
  • Free exercise clause
54
Q

Freedom of Press

A
  • Essential for a functioning democracy
  • Government can stop publication in some cases
    • i.e. prior restraints (giving away military secrets)
55
Q

Freedom of Religion

A
  • Freedom to exercise
  • Establishment clause
    • do students need to pledge to the flag/pray in school?
56
Q

Right to Privacy

A

-Implicit in the constitution

57
Q

Is the media the fourth branch of government?

A
  • Protected by the 1st amendment as the bulwark against tyranny
  • Strengthened by our government and constitutional interpretation
58
Q

What are the limits on our freedom of the press?

A
  • The troopship exception: you cannot give away military secrets in your publication
  • There are not many protections against persecution of whistleblowers
59
Q

Problems with the fourth branch?

A
  • The news is fundamentally separated from the gov. but is essentially intertwined
  • Political news is not objective, but a particular representation of facts and events
60
Q

Beat Reporters are…?

A
  • They cover a specific topic
  • encourage daily reporting
  • encourages pack journalism (why we have similarity on a topic with journalism)
61
Q

Sensationalism and media

A
  • Penny Press
  • Yellow Journalism
  • The news is motivated by profit
  • Today sensational things get attention
62
Q

What power does the media have over framing and agenda setting?

A

-The media can input its bias by framing a certain topic in a certain way
-Media can control what people are talking about
-Has influence over what politicians and people talk
about

63
Q

How can politicians control the media?

A
  • Spin: framing a message certain way
  • Trial Balloon: floating a policy or idea with a reporter as long as the source remains anonymous
  • Leak: strategically giving information
64
Q

Why don’t people vote?

A
  • time, money, energy

- no concentrated benefit

65
Q

Who votes?

A
  • Older more than young
  • More highly educated than less
  • White people more than minorities
  • Wealthy more than poor
  • Strongly partisan more than moderates
  • People who have roots in communities
66
Q

How can we increase voter turnout?

A
  • Early voting
  • Mail-in ballots or easier absentee voting
  • Compulsory voting laws
  • Make election day a national holiday
67
Q

How is public opinion formed?

A
  • Underlying attitudes
  • Derived from political socialization
  • Beliefs and values pay off in some way
  • i.e. individualism, moral traditionalism, etc.
68
Q

How is public opinion used?

A
  • inform ideology
  • liberal and conservative
  • correlates to political party
  • develops partisanship
69
Q

How do you measure public opinion?

A
  • polling
  • public relations
  • surveys can be inaccurate
70
Q

How do you frame public opinion?

A

-Messages sent out by the media and politicians can change peoples opinions depending on how it is framed

71
Q

What are the cognitive misers with public opinion?

A
  • People don’t form opinions on things they do not care about
  • opinions are usually uninformed and unstable
    • However, as an aggregate, opinions become informed and stable
  • people often free ride of opinion leaders - cue taking
72
Q

What are the incentives to forming a political party?

A
  • to build stable legislature and electoral alliances
  • mobilization
    • Get people to vote for candidates
  • Development of new electoral techniques
    • overcomes free rider problem and get supporters to the polls
  • Enforce collective responsibility
    • Shorthand for voters
    • Collective punishment of a party
73
Q

What are the roles of parties?

A
  • Party in gov.: an alliance of current officeholders cooperating to shape public policy
  • Party in electorate: composed of voters who identify with the party and regularly vote for its nominees
  • Party in organization: dedicated to electing the party’s candidates
74
Q

What two problems does privately financed elections cause?

A
  • Democracy demands political equality, but money is distributed unequally
  • There is a suspicion that elected officials will act on behalf of their donators more than their constituents
75
Q

What are interest groups?

A
  • Solution to collective action
  • Represent an interest i.e. labor union
  • people aid them through moral incentive and specific benefit, (stopping a highway, services, coffee mugs)
76
Q

Lobbying

A
  • Tells gov. what the people care about
  • political and technical information
  • interest groups high lobbyist to due their persuading
77
Q

Interesting groups and democracy

A
  • Do not represent a majority but muster substantial resources for selfish gain
  • Factions
  • Threat to popular governance
  • protected by the 1st amendment
78
Q

How do interest groups help fund campaigns?

A
  • It can come from individuals
    • The amount one person can give is capped
    • But they can give to PACs unlimitedly
79
Q

Buckley V. Valeo

A

-Upheld reporting requirements and contribution limits, but rejecting spending limits on the ground that they interfere with political speech

80
Q

Citizens United V. FEC

A

-The court ruled that the freedom of speech prohibits the government from restricting independent expenditures

81
Q

Hard money

A

-Money sent directly to campaigns

82
Q

Soft money

A

-Money spent PACs, and often Parties

83
Q

Dark Money

A

501(c)s

84
Q

Role of parties with presidential elections

A
  • Parties are gate-keepers in the primaries and caucuses
  • party nominating conventions
  • Provide massive organizational support during the general election
  • provide voters with cues
85
Q

Voter behavior in Presidential elections

A

-Incumbent parties generally do not get a third term
-Retrospective voting
-Party line voting
-

86
Q

Retrospective voting behavior

A

-People will only look at how their lives are going at the moment instead of over the last how many odd years

87
Q

Surge and Decline Theory

A
  • Presidential coattail: congressmen will ride on the success of the president
  • Midterms offer a referendum on the president
88
Q

What are the two midterm election years went against the Surge and Decline theory

A
  • 1998

- 2002

89
Q

Incumbency advantage

A
  • Incumbents are likely to be reelected
  • Ease of:
    • casework
    • franking
    • position taking and credit claiming
  • Stronger in the house
    • Senate is more prestigious and 6 year campaigns allow opposition to mount a campaign
    • House constituents are generally smaller and districts less competitive
90
Q

Incumbency disadvantage

A
  • If your name is linked to an unpopular law

- If your party has fallen out of favor

91
Q

What happens in party primaries?

A
  • Primaries pull parties to the extremes

- Median voter theory explains why

92
Q

What is the dilemma of public policy?

A
  • The system favors the status quo

- people do not trust politicians (winners of politics) to make decisions that are fair to all

93
Q

What the fuck is public policy again?

A
  • result of elected efforts, debate, compromise, past experience, etc.
  • has to do with a large segment of society
  • outcome of a government action
  • usually shaped and implemented by the bureaucracy
94
Q

Private goods

A
  • excludable and finite

- land use policy, property law

95
Q

Toll goods

A
  • Goods that are (kind of) excludable and infinite

- Cable TV, cellphone service

96
Q

Common goods

A
  • non-excludable and finite

- fresh water

97
Q

Public goods

A
  • non-excludable and infinite

- the airways, national security policy

98
Q

Distributive policy

A
  • Concentrated benefits
  • Diffused costs
  • i.e. Pells grants
99
Q

Regulatory Policy

A
  • diffused benefits
  • concentrated costs
  • i.e. the Pure Food and Drug Act, emissions regulation
100
Q

Redistributive Policy

A
  • concentrated benefits
  • concentrated costs
  • i.e. Medicaid
101
Q

What are some problems with making policy?

A
  • Constrained by collective action problems
  • Policy problems have many solutions but politicians pick the most politically viable one
  • Policy requires many people
  • Society as a whole may want different than an individual desire
102
Q

How does policy making occur according to Kingdom?

A

Kingdom says when three streams align

  • Problem Stream
    • problem needs to be identified
  • Policy Stream
    • practicable solutions need to be at hand
  • Political Stream
    • there must be political will to take action
103
Q

How is policy said to occur according to unknown person?

A
  • Agenda setting
  • Policy enactment
  • Policy implementation
  • Evaluation
104
Q

What are the goals of foreign policy?

A
  • The protection of the U.S. and it’s citizens, home and abroad
  • The maintenance to key resources and markets
  • The preservation of a balance of power in the world
  • The protection of human rights and democracy in the world
105
Q

What is hard power?

A

military poewr

106
Q

What is soft power?

A

economic sanctions, public diplomacy, etc.

107
Q

What is the free riding policy in healthcare?

A
  • Americans could get insurance from their employers or buy it privately
  • However, many people remained uninsured, and because the hospital had to take them, they just waited until they got really sick
  • Healthy people free ride
  • Also, insurance companies only make money when people are healthy, but they had to take people who were sick (death spiral). We need healthy people on insurance
108
Q

How do you get healthy people to stop fucking free riding?

A
  • Carrot: offer tax payer-subsidized premiums to companies who don’t offer health insurance
    • individual insurance market
  • Stick: financially punish people who don’t have insurance
    • individual mandate
109
Q

What is the prisoners dilemma with entitlement reform?

A
  • Social Security is getting more difficult to pay as people are living for longer and the population ages
  • You need to cut the program or raise taxes
  • There will be short term costs but long term benefits
  • It’s a prisoners dilemma cause no one wants to pull the trigger
110
Q

Keynesian/pump priming economics

A
  • progressive tax system
  • stimulates demand
  • goes along with large welfare programs
111
Q

Supply side economics

A
  • regressive tax system
  • stimulates supply
  • goes along with trickle down economics

Political Science (1 decks)

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