Unit 1 Flashcards
What is the prisoner’s dilemma?
-A problem that highlights the issues that arrive from a lack of coordination
-If both A and B cooperate, both get off easy
-If A cooperates and B defects, B gets off easy and A gets sever punishment
-If they both defect, they both get moderate punishment
-Relates to many issues such as state rights, the Articles of Confederation, transaction and conformity costs, and the two party system.
What is the free rider problem?
-A special case of the prisoner’s dilemma
-Individuals don’t contribute
-Pre-revolution American colonies
-Health insurance
What is the tragedy of the commons?
-Another related scenario related to the prisoner’s dilemma
-Overuse of public resources in fear that they will disappear because of others using them
-Shows what can happen in the absence of an institution like government
What do institutions do?
-Make large-scale coordination possible
-They are persistent, hard to change, and outlast individuals
What are the costs of communication and what do they mean? How does representative government try to balance these costs?
-Transaction costs: Lots of time and effort required to make decisions and enforce them
-Conformity costs: Compromise, paid by those who are doing something other than what they would prefer
-Not everyone makes decisions (conformity)
-Majorities and not unanimity (conformity)
-Large representative bodies (transaction)
-Many procedural rules (transaction)
What is American Exceptionalism outside of a colloquial context refer to?
-The degree to which the United States is different from other countries and other democracies
-Not all democracies have a written constitution, a strong emphasis on individual freedoms, a federal system
What factors contribute the America’s unusual priorities? (Regarding life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and also individualism)
-Adventurous colonists and settlers
-American dream ideal emphasizes individual ambition and strength
-Less generational baggage and social mobility
-Fragmentation and diversity, religion, race, and class
-Built in status quo and system with the Constitution
How did Locke’s views of sovereignty and rights differ than the traditional views regarding their origin?
Sovereignty:
-Was traditionally thought to have been given to those in power from God/higher power
-Locke believed that it originated and was given from the people who were being governed
Rights:
-Was traditionally thought to have been given and granted through the government
-Locke believed that it was inherently given either through God or nature.
What events and circumstances played into the American Revolution?
-Free-riding more than high minded Locke ideals
-The vast expenses of the Seven-Years-War. Colonies could no longer free ride due to immense British debt. Heavy taxation.
What were the Articles of Confederation, what went wrong?
First US constitutional document, ultimately failed
-No ability to tax
-No regulation of trade
-No ability to raise an army
-Amendments required unanimity
-No consistent monetary system
What is the difference between a federal, unitary, and confederacy system?
Unitary: States have no sovereignty
Confederacy: States have complete sovereignty
Federal: Mixed and divided sovereignty
What were the tensions at the Constitutional Convention?
-Small states vs. large states
-Slave states vs. free states
-Federal vs. state supremacy
-Individual rights and freedoms vs. stability and order
What were the Connecticut and Three-Fifths Compromises?
The Connecticut Compromise was the solution to the disagreements between the small and large states. It established a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the House of Representatives and equal representation in the Senate.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was the solution that was created for the tensions between the free states and the slave states. The southern states threatened to leave the union if they attempted to abolish slavery. Said that slaves were counted at 60% for both representation and taxation.
Republican, Democratic, and Democratic Republican systems.
Democracy: Sovereignty comes from the will of the majority, majority rule, one person to one vote.
Republic: Sovereignty comes from the consent of the governed, government is run by representatives elected by the people, minority rights are protected by a constitution.
Democratic Republic: A system that has values from both, democracy is a spectrum
What are the undemocratic elements in the constitution?
-Slavery upheld
-No universal suffrage
-Electoral college
-Senators initially not elected by the people
-Disproportionate representation in the Senate
-Judicial policymaking
Why did suffrage expansion happen?
-Voting as a fundamental right
-To allure people to the frontier
-Party competition
-Industrialization and urbanization
-War
What were the motivations to restrict suffrage?
-Racism
-Sexism
-Nativism
-Pandora’s box
-Class tensions
-Party competitions
What were the differences in attaining suffrage for women vs. for Black voters?
-Women were not a cohesive voting block in the same way Black men were so they did not attain suffrage as soon
-Very different in terms of race, class, geography, and partisanship
What is Gerrymandering?
It is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent to create undue advantage for a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency.
What does shared sovereignty look like?
-The same people and territory are covered by multiple levels of government
-Each level has some final authority
-Each level protected from domination
-National constitution can’t be changed without the subnational governments
-Subnational governments have representation in the national government
What are the national powers in the constitution?
-Coining money
-Interstate and foreign commerce
-Taxes on imports and exports
-Treaties and declarations of war
-The postal system
-Must make all laws necessary and proper to fulfill these responsibilities
What are the state powers granted in the constitution?
-Administer elections on all levels
-Regulate intrastate commerce
-Establish forms of state and local governments
-Protect public, safety, and morals
-Everything not delegated to the national government or denied to the states by the constitution (10th amendment)
What are the powers delegated to both?
-Making and enforcing laws
-Administration of a judiciary
-Levy taxes
-Borrow money
-Seize property
What are the specifics of inter-state relations as laid out in the constitution?
-States have to accept each others court decisions, public acts, and contracts
-States must deliver basic rights and protections to out-of-staters equally
-No restrictions on inter-state trade
What are the changes and eras that have occurred in the federal system over time?
-Founding through 1870’s: Dual federalism
-1870’s through 1930’s: Cooperative federalism
-1970’s through present: Competitive/new federalism
What was dual federalism? (1870’s-1930’s)
-State and national governments have clearly delineated powers and responsibilities
-Industrialism–>rise of corporate power–>tests of the scope of federal government authority
-Court cases defined division of state vs. national authority
What was cooperative federalism? (1930’s-1970’s)
-The Great Depression, New Deal, and FDR all force the Supreme Court to accept a greater scope of federal government action
-Increased overlap and coordination between federal and state governments
-States retain flexibility over their ability to implement federal programs
-Increased federal power led to significant nationalization of politics
What is competitive federalism?
-Impulsiveness towards decentralization with countervailing forces as well
-Note an increase in federal power post 9/11 with the Department of Homeland Security, TSA, all to enable coordination
What factors increase federal power?
-Creeping categorization (turning block grants into categorical grants)
-Federal preemption (laws passed by congress that explicitly limit future legislation by states on the same issue)
(limits include ceiling limits which means that states may not impose stricter regulations than the national standard, and floor limits which means that states cannot pass laxer regulations that the national standard but may set stricter ones.
What factors increase federal power?
-Venue shopping (Interest groups select the level and branch of government that allows them to best promote the policies they want, abortion, same sex marriage, civil rights, etc.)
-Discretionary enforcement (making policy on formally a national issue for example immigration)
-The California effect (massive economy and therefore standards become de facto national standard.)
