Terms Flashcards
survive.
The “Fine-Tuned Liberal Democracy” Hypothesis
The theory is that everything has to be perfect for liberal democracy to work; anything bad is a result of an imperfect setting.
Socialism
No private ownership of anything, everything is public.
Democratic Socialism
More equal opportunities for everyone by focusing on taxing the rich.
Capitalism
Private individuals and organizations control the economy
Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act
The public has access to emergency medical care regardless if you can pay or not; this leads to free rider issue
Affordable Care Act
basic healthcare would be covered; more healthcare more accessible to low-income individuals
Government
Formal institutions where territory and people are ruled; are important because they provide structure in diff ways (economic, defense, etc.)
Free Rider/Collective Action Problem
Free riders are freeloaders who let everyone else do everything bc they can get the benefits for free; a collective action problem is when a group should work together but they fail to
Collective Goods
Benefits that are available to everyone and can’t be denied to nonmembers
Selective Incentives
Usually, an incentive is given to curb free-riders (ex. if you donate to company A you get to go to a party)
Principal-Agent Problem
conflict when the actor is given power by the principal but does not pick decisions that the principal would want (ex. a manager making bad financial decisions that the franchise owner did not want)
The Problem of Ignorance
People aren’t politically educated leading to bad decisions.
California Proposition 1 (2018)
The state sold $4 billion in bonds to fund veterans and affordable housing; an example of the problem of ignorance because no one knew if 4 billion was enough to solve those issues but just picked it because of “funding veterans and affordable housing”
Representative Democracy
The people pick representatives that make decisions for them
Direct Democracy
citizens vote directly on laws/issues, can lead to ignorance problem
Oligarchy
The powerful control the government/make the decisions (ex, the rich)
Autocracy
One person rules (ex. queen/king)
Constitutional Government
explicit limits are placed upon government powers
Authoritarian Government
no formal limits are placed on government powers but other institutions can limit them (ex. the church)
Totalitarian Government
no formal limits are placed on the government and it makes sure to oppress any other form of power (ex. the government in the Hunger Games)
Liberal Democracy
A democracy but your rights and property are protected
History of and Current Threats to Liberal Democracy (Fukuyama)
Threats to liberal democracy are when people try to use their status to avoid power constraints (ex. trump breaking the rules)
Popular Sovereignty
Majority wins; government based on the people
Political Equality
people participate equally; one person one vote
Equality of Opportunity
people can use whatever to reach their fullest potential (ex. wealth and talent)
Majority Rule
Follow the majority rule, protect minority interests
Minority Rights
Rights that everyone has (ex. unalienable rights)
Founding Fathers
(look on the doc)
Declaration of Independence
Paper that America declared independence from England, stated things such as unalienable rights, liberty, pursuit of happiness
Articles of Confederation
First ever constitution was basically the basis of the government (very weak, kind of sucked)
Confederation
A bunch of independent states that are in a group but still have their own power
Bicameral Legislature
Assembly with two chambers/houses (ex. Senate and the House of Representatives)
Virginia Plan
representation based on the population; 3 branches (executive, judicial, legislative); likes bicameral legislature
New Jersey Plan
equal representation regardless of population; likes unicameral legislature
Great Compromise
representation in House of representative would be based on population; every state would still have 2 votes (basically mashed New Jersey and Virginia)
Separation of Powers
division of power between the 3 branches + state and federal; government keeps each other in check
Checks and Balances
The 3 branches keep each other in check (ex. presidential veto power over congressional legislation, Senate approves presidential election, Supreme Court judicial review over congressional decisions)
Judicial Review
power of courts to review actions of legislative and executive, can declare them unconstitutional (ex. Marbury v. Madison)
Three-Fifths Compromise
compromise that made it so only three-fifths of enslaved people were counted for the representative population
Ambiguous Wording in the Constitution
ambiguous wording means that the Constitution can adapt as society progresses and that there is no set-in-stone rule, basically, it depends on how you interpret it; the Supreme Court interprets it
Necessary and Proper Clause
Article I, section 8 of the Constitution, basically lets Congress make laws “necessary and proper” for their enumerated powers
Federalists
People that loved strong government; mainly strong central government (ex. Alexander Hamilton)
Anti-Federalists
People that loved strong state government, hated strong central government; hated the Constitution proposed in 1787
Federalist Papers
Papers written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay to support the ratification of the constitution (reasons in the paper: indirect elections of government officials, longer term limits, as well as representative democracy over direct democracy)
Federalist Paper 10
James Madison argued that direct democracy would lead to factions, that’s why we should let the chosen higher-ups make decisions (basically the large republic is better because then factions won’t split the nation apart)
Federalist Paper 51
James Madison talked about separation of powers/checks and balances, every level of government must work together to get stuff done
Electoral College
Voting used to pick the president, 538 electors, 270 majority vote to win; works based on winner-takes-all/popular vote for the states (ex. California being mainly democrats so majority will always vote blue), third parties get royally fucked by this, swing states become the main focus of the two parties
Alternative: Instead of doing winner-takes-all for each state, we should just do a popular vote for everyone (a person =1 vote)
National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
Keeps the electoral college however the popular vote winner would win (states give their electoral college votes to the popular winner)
Faithless Electors
A voter that says they will vote for candidate A but then votes for candidate B
Electoral Count Act of 1887
Basically how they count electoral votes following an election (might get changed though due to its vague and outdated language which people have abused)
Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022
Reformed the 1887 version, more concrete rules, limited the power of the vice president during the electoral votes, protected voters by making sure that Congress respects state decisions, put in safeguards for people that try to dismiss the results, Congress must count votes that have been determined to be compliant w/ state and federal law
Constitutional Amendments
Amendments must have 2/3 vote in Congress or 2/3 in a conventional; 3/4ths of the state legislature must ratify it; no amendment has ever succeeded through convention; the most successful is by the 2/3 vote by Congress and 3/4th ratification of the state legislature
