Midterm Flashcards
electoral college
A body of electors in each state, chosen by voters, who formally elect the president and Vice President of the United States. Each state’s number of electoral votes equals its representation in Congress; the District of Columbia has three votes. An absolute majority of the total electoral vote is required to elect a president and Vice President.
Necessary and proper Clause
The last clause of Article 1, Section 8, of the constitution. This clause grants Congress the authority to make all laws that are “necessary and proper” and to execute those laws”
Enumerated powers
The explicit powers given to congress by the constitution in article 1 section 8. These include the powers of taxation, coinage of money, regulation of commerce, and provision for the national defense
Prisoner’s Dilemma
A situation in which two (or more) actors cannot agree to cooperate for fear that the other actor will find its interest best served by reneging on an agreement.
Political Institution
In a democracy, an organisation that manages potential conflicts between political rivals, helps them to find mutually acceptable solutions, and makes and enforces the society’s collective agreements. Among the prominent federal political institutions in the United States are Congress, the Presidency and the Supreme Court
Collective good
A good that is collectively produced and freely available for anyone’s consumption. i.e. it is non-excludable.
Free-rider problem
A situation in which individuals can receive the benefits from collective activity whether or not they incurred the cost of producing/consuming it meaning there is a reduced incentive to contribute to the activity .
“Take Care” Clause
The provision of Article II Section 3, of the constitution instructing the president to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”
Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments of the US constitution which were included in the constitution in 1791 to safeguard the population against the tyranny of the government. Madison announced the inclusion of these 10 amendments in the first congress of the new constitution.
(The bill of rights came as a result of ‘anti-federalists’ who convinced the ‘federalists’ that such important matters could not be “left to inference”).
Black Codes
Laws enacted by southern legislatures after the Civil War that prevented former slaves from voting and holding certain jobs, among other prohibitions.
Block grants
A road grant of money given by the federal government to a state government. The grant specifies the general area (such as education) in which the funds may be spent but leaves it to the state to determine the specific allocations.
Split-ticket voting
The act of voting for candidates from different political parties for different offices.
Grants-in-aid
Funds given by congress to state or local governments for a specific purpose.
Also known as “categorical grants”
Checks and balances
A constitutional mechanism giving each branch of the government some oversight and control of the other branches . Examples are the presidential veto, Senate approval of presidential appointments, and judicial review of presidential and congressional actions.
civil Liberties
Constitutional and legal protections from govt interference with personal rights and freedoms such as freedom of assembly, speech and religion.
Civil rights
The powers or privileges that are conferred on citizens by the Constitution and the courts and that entitle them to make claims upon the governement. Civil rights protect individuals from arbitrary or discriminatory treatment at the hands of the government.
Shays’s rebellion
Uprising of 1786.
Led by Daniel Shays, a former captain in the Continental army and a bankrupt Massachusetts farmer, to protest the state’s high taxes and aggressive debt collection policies.
The rebellion demonstrated a fundamental weakness of the Articles of Confederation–its inability to keep the peace–and stimulated interest in strengthening the national government, leading to the Philadelphia convention that framed the constitution
Commerce Clause
The clause in Article I Section 8 of the Constitution that gives Congress the authority to regulate commerce with other nations and among the states.
Divided government
A term used to describe government when one political party controls the executive branch and the other party control one or both of the houses of the legislature.
Dual federalism
A system of govt in which the federal gvt and state gvts each have mutually exclusive spheres of action.
unitary gvt
A system of government in which a single gvt unit holds the power to govern the nation.
Grandfather clauses
Statutes stating that only those people whose grandfather had voted before Reconstruction could vote, unless they passed a literacy or wealth test. After the Civil War this mechanism was used to disenfranchise African Americans.
The great comrpomise
The agreement between large and small states at the Constitutional Convention (1787) that decided the selection and composition of Congress. The compromise stipulated that the lower chamber be chosen by direct popular vote and that the upper chamber be selected by the state legislatures. Representation in the House would be proportional to a state’s population; in the Senate each state would have 2 members.
Home Rule
Power given by a state to a locality to enact legislation and manage its own affairs locally. Home rule also applies to Britain’s administration of the local colonies.
James Madison
One of the most famous and important Framers.
He was a ‘Federalist’ and wrote important papers such as Federalist 51 and Federalist 10 which respectively outlined his views on preventing the concentration of political authority in one individual or one strand of government and the divisions between federal gvt and state gvt.
Jim Crow laws
A series of laws enacted in the late C19b by Southern states t institute segregation. These laws created ‘white only’ public accommodation such as schools, hotels and restaurants.
Politics
The process through which individuals and groups reach agreement on as course of common or collective actions even ad they disagree on the intended goal
Tragedy of the commons
When the overuse of a public good leads to their depletion and thus other people’s livelihoods are affected.
An example would be the depletion of cod numbers in New England which came as a result of overfishing.
Populist demagogue
A political leader who tries to gain support by making false claims and promises and through utilising arguments which are based on emotion as opposed to reason.
A constitution
The set of rules and procedures that the government institutions (which it establishes) must and must not follow to reach and enforce collective agreements.
Power vs authority
Authority= acknowledged right for an office to make a particular decision
Power=an officeholder’s influence with other officeholders and thus over the government’s overall actions.
Transaction costs
Time, effort and resources used to reach and enforce decisions.
Conformity costs
Costs of forcing people to comply with policies they disagree with
Articles of Confederation
Ratified in 1781
- Weak federal gvt (couldn’t impose taxes and couldn’t enforce laws i.e. no power over internal security) and strong states
- no executive branch
- each (of the 13) state had 1 vote in congress
- to pass a major law 9 out of 13 states needed to vote yes
- unanimous votes needed to change articles
Madison’s goals for the constitution
Strengthen National government vs. states
Give large states more power than under Articles
Insulate government from popular passions?
Madison’s view on federalism
Supported dual federalism.
Outlined in federalist 45:
“the powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the Federal Government are few and defined. Those which are to remain to the State Government are numerous and indefinite.”
10th Amendment
“The powers not delegated to the United States government by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved by the States respectively or by the people.”
(significance: exemplified by the fact that many people tried to use this vs Obama care)
Kettl’s definition of Federalism
The vertical division of authority and responsibility between Washington and the States. In the United States it is a system of shared powers.
Separation of powers
Division if authority across institutions of national government.
Examples of cases demonstrating nationalisation
- McCulloh v. Maryland (1819)
=Maryland tried imposing heavy tax on fed bank (and all banks chartered outside of Maryland)
=Supreme court said that necessary and proper clause used constitutionally to protect fed banks for state laws. - Wickard v. Filburn (1942)
=Fed gvt limited wheat production by average on farms which prevented filbert from growing wheat to feed his own chickens (wheat not entering market)
=supreme court deemed constitutional to prevent Filburn’s wheat production under commerce clause because he disrupted interstate commerce by not purchasing wheat on market.
Race to the bottom.
Collective action problem where states compete for commercial investment by reducing taxes etc and make up for it by diverting funds from social welfare leading to a reduction in living standards of citizens (because of lack of provision of public goods).
This is one factor which incentivises nationalisation (i.e. propels federalism)
Edmund Burke on political parties
“A body of men united for promoting by their joint endeavours the national interest, upon some poetical principle in which they are all agreed.”
Anthony Downs on Political parties
“a team of men seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election.”
- arguably political parties in the US are more fitting of this definition then they are of Burke’s
- evidenced by Duverger’s law.
Party in government
Alliance of current officeholders cooperating to shape public policy.
Party-as-organisation
Dedicated to electing the party’s candidates.
Consists of groups, activists, consultants
eg: Democratic National Committee.
