Shafer Chapter 3 Terms

Question 1

Divided Government

Answer 1

1. Split partisan control of House/Senate

2. Republican Presidents with Democratic Congress (besides Jimmy Carter)

Question 2

Split-Level Polarization/Reduction of Regional party differences

Answer 2

1. Party activists increasingly polarized, resisted by Elected officials
2. Greater national emphasis on party activities with new party structures

Question 3

Changes in Party incentives

Answer 3

1. Moved from Material to purposive/solidary

2. Interest group and issue based activists based on social and substantive issues.

Question 4

Traditional Party Organizations (TPOs), why they declined in importance

Answer 4

1. Hierarchical groups that lasts a long time
2. Provide material incentives to join, and nominate candidates for political office
3. Declined due to increasing nationalization of party structure/platforms and need for formal organizations

Question 5

Changes to Presidential nomination process, implications of changes (Table 3.1)

Answer 5

1. Move towards Participatory Caucuses/Candidate primaries to get party members involved
2. Started by Republicans but quickly copied by Democrats

Question 6

Changes to Roles/Powers of Committee Chairs in Congress

Answer 6

1. Democratized by empowering subcommittees and dispersing committee staff among them
2. Make chairs of the full committee accountable to the main collective body

Question 7

Why cultural values become major policy dimension in the Divided Government Era

Answer 7

1. They had ideological polarization, like welfare and economic management, racial prospects
2. Integrated through Supreme Court cases

Question 8

Why Activists became polarized in both parties

Answer 8

1. Increase in Mass/Elite differences within parties

2. Issue-based activism and rise of interest groups voting collectively for individual parties

Question 9

Implications of Cross-cutting economic/cultural preferences (Figure 3.4)

Answer 9

1. Welfare and Racial/Gendered standards overlapped significantly and was used by Democrats as a base of support.
2. Mobilized people behind purposive movements and incentives
3. Increased polarization in economic/welfare stances by both parties

Question 10

Cross-Institutional negotiations

Answer 10

1. Greater stability/talks with Republican Presidents and Democratic Congress
2. Ensured that bills/acts were moderated, avoided stagnation/gridlock

Question 11

Cross-Partisan negotiations

Answer 11

1. Moderation/compromise stemmed between parties for getting legislation passed
2. Ensured both sides had a say in everyday political matters

Question 12

Major Environmental Legislation

Answer 12

1. Clean air/water acts, National Environmental policy Act, etc.
2. Most came into being during Nixon’s presidency
3. Lack of partisan/factional/interest group dissent

Question 13

ERTA

Answer 13

1. Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981
2. Extensive tax cuts, largest in U.S. history
3. A lot of cooperation/bill changes between parties passed it

Question 14

TEFRA

Answer 14

1. Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982
2. Closure of tax loopholes and harder stances on receiving taxes
3. Barely passed with a lot of Bipartisan effort.