PoliSci Exam 2: This time it's personal Flashcards
to beat that small lady's politics exam.
What are the 3 characteristics of bureaucracy?
- Standard Operating Procedures
- Hierarchical Authority
- Job Specialization
What is the merit system?
- Hired for job based on skill and qualifications.
- How it is today.
What is the spoils system?
- Hired for job based on who you know.
- Patronage
- ex. Bush hired friend for FEMA
- How it was early on.
What is the Cabinet(executive department)?
- Selected by Pres., approved by Senate
- 15 departments
- each department has responsibility for a general policy area
What is a government corporation?
- Corporation controlled and owned by government
- Why?
- was going to fail
- service necessary
- provide cheaper to us
- no profit
- Examples: USPS, FDIC
What is an independent executive agency?
- Agency that is outside the cabinet
- Narrower area of responsibility than cabinet departments
- Examples: NASA, CIA
What is a quasi governmental organization?
- Partly private and partly government
- Example: Federal Reserve Board
- President chooses who is on the board
- Other than that, it is private
Where do bureaucrats get their power?
- Get to serve as long as they want
- Knowledgeable
- Have a strong commitment to agency’s goals
What are the limitations on bureaucracy?(President)
- Can reduce the budget via OMB (Office of Management and Budget)
- Can reorganize departments
- Can create or merge cabinets
What are the limitations on bureaucracy?(Congress)
- Can take money away
- Can conduct oversight on departments
- Can create a sunset provision
- Can create specific laws to take away power
What are the limitations on bureaucracy?(Courts)
- Makes sure that the bureaucrats are fulfilling their duties.
What are the limitations on bureaucracy?(Bureaucracy)
- Whistleblowers
What are the limitations on bureaucracy?(The People)
- Can follow what is going on in government
- Freedom of Information act
- Make sure it’s not corrupt
What separates the Department of Justice from other departments?
- The head of each department is its secretary except for the Department of Justice, which is led by the attorney general
What department accounts for a fourth of all federal spending and has the largest budget?
The Department of Health and Human Services
What is the FCC?
- Federal Communications Commission
- Created 1934
- Regulates television and radio
- Regulates monopolies and obscenities
- FCC has become more lax
What is the Fairness Doctrine?
- Broadcasters were prohibited from using their news coverage to promote one part or issue position at the expense of another
- Est. 1950s
- Removed by 1990
What is Equal Time Provision?
- Prohibits broadcasters from selling or giving airtime to a political candidate without offering to other candidates for the same office
What is agenda setting?
- Choosing what info to show or divulge
What is framing?
- How they tell you the story
- What twist or emphasis they put on the story
What is the watchdog role?
- Investigative reporting
- Media acting as gatekeeper of political knowledge
- protects us
- unbiased info
- reports government corruption
What was the first televised debate?
- Kennedy vs. Nixon in 1964
The Internet?
- Easy access information
- Not regulated by the FCC
What is media bias?
- media the is either more liberal or more conservative
What is prior restraint?
- Federal government can’t pull a news story unless it has to do with military and may harm a soldier’s life
What is an iron triangle?
- a small and informal but relatively stable set of bureaucrats, legislators, and lobbyists who seek to develop policies beneficial to a particular interest
- Ex: Department of Agriculture (bureaucrats), the
agriculture committees of Congress (legislators), and farm groups such as the Associated Milk Producers and the Association of Wheat Growers (lobbyists)
What is the free rider problem?
- people benefiting, but not contributing
+++
What is revolving door?
- When someone takes a private job after holding public office
+++.
What are political action committees(PACs)?
- the organization through which an interest group raises and distributes funds for an election. A max of $5,000 per election.
- Unlimited $ for supers PACs
What is outside lobbying?
- A form of lobbying in which an IG seeks to use public pressure as a means of influencing officials.
What is Federalist #10?
- James Madison wrote that IGs have too much power if there are only 1 or 2
- But several IGs will represent more of the people
What are the characteristics of a successful IG?
- Information/expertise
- Political skill - shmoozing
- Money
- Public support
What was the ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission(2010)?
- Supreme Court ruled that corporations and unions could not be banned from spending money on campaigns.
- This overturned a long-standing policy
What do lobbyists get in return for campaign contributions?
- The get access/ opens the door for lobbying
- Earmarks for IG
What are lobbyists?
- Lobbyists give Congress info, advice, and testimony.
What are the characteristics of a good sample?
- chosen randomly
- 1,500 people
- representative of the total population
- margin of error no more than +-3%
What are the agents of political socialization?
- Family
- Education
- Peers
- Media
- Events that happen in life
- Culture of region
Why do people’s political attitudes differ?
- Different experiences that one goes through in life that make one who they are politically
- Different agents
- Different Personal Characteristics - age, sex, religion, etc.
Why are public opinion polls important to democracy?
- Shows the view of the average citizen towards government.
- People that represent us should know what we think
- Consent of the governed
- Public opinion can lead to policies
The public’s knowledge about politics?
- The attitudes, values, and beliefs we hold changes easily.
- more permanent
- Freedom, Patriotism, Equality of Opportunity, Democracy, liberty, capitalism, property, the constitution.
How much sampling error is allowed?
- margin of error no more than +-3%
What is the definition of a social movement?
- Ordinary people organize and use unconventional or disruptive tactics and work outside the system
What are the characteristics of a social movement?
- Mass grass roots phenomenon - ordinary people in mass
- Organized by political outsiders
- Use unconventional/disruptive tactics
What are the characteristics of politically active people?
- Well educated
- Wealthier
- Older or younger
- More experience
What are the benefits of political participation?
- Sense of contributing to the community (fulfilling civic duty)
- Ability to create change (increased self-esteem)
- Make friends
