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62 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Constituency service
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congressmen do favors for people in their district. By doing favors they make friends and make the people in their district happy
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Pork Barrel
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refers to legislation that brings money to specific states/projects/districts. Members of Congress are always trying to bring money to their district. They don’t care about how much money there is to spend. Congress compulsively overspends—they have appropriation committees
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Committees
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committees are used to fragment the power from being centralized. Power in congress is distributed and decentralized. Committees are working subgroups of congress specialized by function. For example, the Rules Committee helps from being centralized; it controls the agenda of the House.
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Speaker of the House
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the most powerful person in the house. Influential over the Rules Committee and can choose who are chair leaders in the committee. The House is centralized and the Senate is chaotic & decentralized.
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Senate Majority Leader
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cannot tell senators how to vote. He can only try to persuade them or offer them pork.
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Health Care Reform Bill
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2010. Democrats had majorities in both Houses. The bill passed through the House, but not through the Senate because the Republicans threatened a filibuster, even though the Republicans were the minority. The Democrats had to keep compromising.
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Filibuster
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this is possible in the Senate. A filibuster is endless talking. Senators can yield the floor to friends endlessly, and this brings the government of the US to a halt. Laws cannot be passed in a filibuster. The filibuster is not in the constitution. In 1806 they threw out the “previous question rule” which means you cannot stop a person from talking, and this created the filibuster. You can stop a filibuster with a vote of closure. A minority of senators can bring the government to a halt. No other government allows for this degree of minority power. This is why the Senate does not have a Rules Committee.
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Veto
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the president has the power of the veto. The president returns the bill to the house of origin with a message saying what he doesn’t like. The house/congress must vote again with a 2/3 vote. The president can choose not to sign the bill again, and if he doesn’t sign it within ten days it becomes a law. If congress is not in session within the ten day period then the bill will die. The president will not sign it if he disapproves, and he wants people to know that he doesn't, and this is called a “pocket veto.” If he vetoes it, congress can override it, but they can’t override a pocket veto. The president can stop things easily, but he cannot do things easily.
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The paradox of Congress
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Congress is good at serving individual district interests. They are not good at serving public interest. Policy making by Congress is incoherent and irresponsible. Localism leads to fragmented power and irresponsible policy making. Distributive policy is the easiest to pass—this is made when you take money and give it to specific interests (water projects, highways, etc.). Congress passes distributive legislation through logrolling.
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Logrolling
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logrolling occurs when a congress member says “I’ll vote for a highway in your district if you vote for one in mine.” Everybody gets projects in their district, vote for other people’s projects without taking notice of what is actually in the budget to spend, leading to overspending. Projects are called pork barrel when they are passed by log rolling.
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The Distributive Tendency
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the tendency of congress to want distributive policy to bring money to their districts.
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Rider
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an amendment that has nothing to do with the subject of the bill. If you’re project has not made it out of the appropriations committee, you can amend your project on another bill.
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African Drought Bill
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a drought in Ethiopia, subsequent famine. There was a national sentiment to do something. The House wanted to give 60 mil to Africa. Senator decided to attach 100 mil to the bill for his state to alleviate unemployment. 36 riders attached to this bill. All added up to about 1.1 billion dollars, and president Reagan signed the bill so that he wouldn't be blamed for not wanting to help Africans. Reagan wanted 60 mil for El Salvador and 60 mil to Nicaragua, so the president and congress logrolled together.
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Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005
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Republicans are in charge of House/Senate. There were 11,772 riders on this bill and 16 billion in pork.
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NAFTA
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oftentimes it is difficult to decide who to blame for irresponsible policy making. Clinton urged congress to pass NAFTA, and republicans in congress passed it and democrats voted against it. If you do not like NAFTA, then who is to blame? This is an example of irresponsibility.
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Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
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this was the bank bailout. Bush administration needed 800 million to bail out the big banks that would then bail out the medium banks, who would then bail out the small banks. Paulson lobbied Congress to pass it. Democrats supported and passed the bank bailout bill while the republicans voted against it. Who do you blame? Another example of irresponsible-- the inability to place the blame on any single person/party.
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Head of State
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the person who symbolizes the country and what we have in common as Americans. Our affection for the president has to do with our patriotism.
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Head of Government
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makes the deals that allow government to function and makes choices about things that divide us. Head of State/Government are the two functions of chief executive.
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The transformation of George W. Bush
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After 9/11 happened people rallied for Bush because of their patriotism. When people should have just been supporting their head of state, they also ended up supporting Bush as a head of government. The two roles not being separated causes simultaneous support for both functions of chief executive.
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Bully pulpit
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the president is the national preacher and can tell people what he thinks is moral. Presidents try to galvanize public opinion. Most of the time, it doesn’t make a difference how congress votes. It does make a difference the national conversation: makes people talk about issues. The “bully pulpit” is not very successful.
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Power to pursuade
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the power to bargain with people. President lets the congress take pork if congress gives the president what he wants. The president only has negative power—the power to veto, but not positive power.
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Debt Ceiling Bill
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Democrats had a majority in the House in 2010. Republicans took over. The US government borrows money by selling bonds to foreign bodies. Every eyar congress raises the ceiling how much we pay off, which prevents us from defaulting. Congress always coted to pay off debt to prevent default. Republicans voted to lower the debt ceiling unless they would cut the national budget. Republicans were going to destroy the economy unless Obama and the senate did what they wanted. If the house/senate of the opposing party is in control, then the president will have problems.
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Capital-gains taxes
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George HW Bush’s number one domestic policy was to lower capital gains taxes—taxes on profits from investments. Capital gains are taxed differently than ordinary taxes. Conservatives want to get rid of capital gains taxes to enourage taxes. Liberals disagree because usually conservatives have more money to invest. He wanted to lower taxes to encourage investing which he believed was in the interest of the public. Bush’s bill was defeated by democrats in congress. A president who faces a congress dominated by the opposing party is basically helpless in domestic policy making.
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health care reform (1993-94)
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bill Clinton wanted to reform the American healthcare system. Americans pay more for healthcare than any other nation. Paying more and covering smaller percentage of the population. Clinton is a democrat, and both houses of congress has a democratic majority. State of the union he talked about healthcare, and many supported. Insurance companies lobbied against it and had commercials attacking it. Those who were against it said it would be a nightmare of bureaucracy. Clinton underestimated how much it would cost and this undermined his credibility. Clinton withdrew his plan. Even when the party controls both houses, and even with public opinion on his side, a president’s domestic policy initiatives can still fail.
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ANWR
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Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. A bird sanctuary on the north coast of Alaska. Birds flew there to breed in the summer. It is 60 miles E of the largest oil reservoir. Some people thought there was more oil underneath the refuge, more than in the largest oil reservoir. Both houses would have to pass a law exempting ANWR from the ban on oil drilling. Bush wanted to open up ANWR to drilling. Both house and senate had a republican majority. Environmentalists argued that drilling would damage the integrity of other wildlife reserves, and end the legitimacy of reserves. Republicans from NE&NW were very environmentally sensitive. It passed in the house and failed in the senate. Both houses were republican and bush was still unable to get the measure passed.
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Deepwater Horizon
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name of the drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2010 there was an explosion. On May 1st Obama imposed an executive order that said no more drilling in waters greater than 500 ft for new drills until they could find out what caused the explosion. No more drilling till we figure out the problem. People that worked in the gulf filed suit. Federal judge issued an injunction that stopped the executive order. An activity that was within the president’s authority was blocked by another institution of government.
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Opening to China
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in 1949 communists took over china. US withdrew diplomatic recognition of china and extended it to Taiwan. Loss of diplomatic recognition means country no longer exists. This lasted to the late 1960s. Nixon elected in 1968—an anticommunist. Nixon wanted to maintain a relationship with china as a counter weight to the Soviet Union. He took a state visit to Romania, a communist country. This was a signal from the US to china to reopen relations, and china invited the American ping pong team. Nixon was invited to Beijing after this. Chinese wanted US to unrecognize Taiwan and recognize Chinese instead. Carter unrecognized Taiwan, and recognized China instead. Significance: president has absolute authority over diplomatic recognition.
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Iran-Contra Affair
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Westerners had been kidnapped in Lebanon, and the US wanted them back. In 1979 government of Nicaragua had been overthrown by communist revolution. The contras were fighting to overthrow the communist in power and Reagan was funding the contras. Democrats who had majorities blocked reagan’s ability to fund the contras. In 1984 Reegan continued funding by giving pork (African drought bill). Law was passed forbidding more money to go to contra. Reagan told national security to find a way to fund the contras without him knowing how. Gives job to North, a marine. North sells missiles to Iranians at a profit and puts the money back into the treasury. Uses the profit to fund the contras. North hoped that the Iranians would think of him as a friend and let the hostages go, but they didn’t. Reagan claimed he didn’t know. The president was able to get away with going against the expressed wishes of congress, and he escaped responsibility
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Libyan Bombing Campaign
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the president can place troops somewhere without the congress’s approval. The US was interested in helping the rebels in Libya. Obama did not ask congress to declare war, and he went through NATO to combat against Gaddafi. If a president stations troops, they must be removed within 90 days. However, Obama did not station troops. He just bombed Gaddafi’s military supplies. The presidential power to make war has evolved to a point that congress is almost irrelevant despite what the constitution says. Presidents usually ignore the War Powers Act.
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"Imperial presidency"
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since WWII presidential power has expanded to a point that it is called “imperial presidency” because the president has almost complete control over foreign policy. Congress has almost gone into an “eclipse” because of the president-- only where foreign policy is concerned. Congress has tried and failed to regain power.
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Korematsu v. United States
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in WWII Roosevelt issued executive order to move Japanese immigrants and Americans into concentration camps. Korematsu sued the American government because she was an American citizen and she felt she didn't belong behind bars. The supreme court upheld that the president can take away all legal rights—people do not second guess what a president has to do during times of war. The president becomes almost dictator-like during times of war.
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unitary executive theory
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president has the absolute responsibility/authority to defend the nation and cannot be interfered by the courts or Congress. Whatever Bush did after the terrorist attacks, neither the courts nor congress could review what he did. The constitutional system of checks and balances no longer operates.
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signing statements
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a written statement by president when he signs a bill saying some parts may be unconstitutional, and therefore he may choose not to enforce some unconstitutional parts of the bill. Presidents rarely used signing statements; however, bush used 107 that he kept secret. Bush issued all these statements saying that these laws infringed on his authority. This gives the president a new form of veto, a line-item veto (can pick which parts of bills he disagrees with).
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non-political myth
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it is a “ “ that judges are not politicians, and that the courts are not political institutions. The Supreme Court interprets the constitution, which is a political act. Judges do not like to be thought of as politicians.
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judicial review
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the court can call a law unconstitutional and the actions of the president or state unconstitutional/ illegal. US is the only place with “ “and lifetime positions of federal judges.
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partisan appointments (of federal judges)
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presidents appoint judges who are of the same party. Democrats decide court cases in a certain way, as do republicans. Party allegiance makes a difference to the judges. The president appoints, and the senate must approve.
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Robert Bork
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a conservative intellectual who criticized decisions made by the liberal Supreme Court (abortion, environment, etc.). An anti-Bork coalition formed containing people who had previously been annoyed by Bork (pro-abortion, gay rights, civil rights, Hollywood, etc.) and ran national campaign speeches attacking Bork. Senate, who was democratic, voted down Bork. This is an example of how the courts are political because Bork getting into the Supreme Court was a political campaign with an ideological fight (Democrats/Republicans).
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Wesberry v. Sanders
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1964. Supreme court ruled that all districts everywhere must have the same population. With this the Supreme Court applied the one person one vote rule. The reason they did this is because previously rural districts had dominated the state legislature.
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Roe v. Wade
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in 1973 there was no national abortion policy and it was left up to the state. In Connecticut contraceptives couldn’t be sold, which was a violation of the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution also protect privacy. In 1973 they applied this principle to Roe v Wade, which argued that you may not interfere with a woman’s right to get an abortion in the first trimester. This became a national law, and social conservatives opposed. This is an example of the courts taking a political stance and making a political decision.
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Texas v. Johnson
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Many states had a law against desecrating the American Flag. Radical liberals burning a flag opposing the law, and Johnson and the other radicals were arrested and eventually brought to Supreme Court. Since burning the flag was a political opinion, it is protected by the constitution. Since Johnson was arrested for expressing a political opinion, this was illegal. Freedom of speech is meaningless if it only protects popular ideas, and the court declared all flag burning laws unconstitutional. The court made stance on a political issue and made a political decision.
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Bush v. Gore
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Gore was ahead in popular vote but tied with electoral votes, so it eventually came down to Florida. Democrats sued, demanding that there be a hand count in the large districts in Florida. Republicans sued, barring further recount and reversed the decision made by the FL Supreme Court, allowing bush to win. The courts allowed Bush to win the presidency, which is a political decision.
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Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission
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corporations have so much money that they can swamp the speech of individuals. The Federal Elections Commission forbade Citizens United from playing attack videos thirty days before election. Decision based on the notion that corporations are people, and money is speech. Because of Citizens United, there is much less money spent in campaigns by corporations.
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imperial judiciary
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this term is used by people who disapprove of the power that the courts have. How can we justify the judges’ power? An independent judiciary is undemocratic—do not appoint them for life, or chance the federal court’s jurisdiction. Some people think that an independent judiciary is good—majorities can be protected from the tyranny of the minority (Wesberry v. Sanders) and vice versa (Texas v. Johnson).
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bureaucracy
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government agency created to implement policy. They are large and have specializations. UT is a “ .” They have rules—fixed and official rules about how they are supposed to what they do. They have a hierarchy. They also have a certain amount of freedom from outside control from politicians. Politicians do not interfere because the “ “ do not want politicians to pass judgment over their actions, considering the people in these “ “ are experts. Politicians decide how resources will be distributed. People want expertise to be free of political interference.
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bureaupathology
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When an institution gets to be independent, it takes on purposes of its own—this is called “ “or “good displacement.” Bureaucracies always try to expand their authority, even beyond its original intentions.
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N.A.T.O.
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an example of a bureaucracy expanding its authority.
“ “ was created by the countries of west Europe to control the expansion of the Soviet Union. It was created to make a united front against the Soviet Union. Once the Soviet Union was liberated, NATO still remains. NATO has taken on more projects outside of its original goal. NATO evolved into a world-wide peacekeeping force for good. |
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fireman first principle
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whenever bureaucracies are faced with budget cuts, bureaucracies begin to resent their loss of money, and as a result they try to make it worse for citizens- this is called “ .” Instead of cutting their programs, they will fire “ ,” close national parks, etc.
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Parkinson's Law
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work expands to fill the time available for its completion or expenses rise to meet income. However long you have to complete the project is how long it will take you to do it. However much money you make is how much you will spend. If you give bureaucracies two years and 100 mil, they will take two years and spend 100 mil. Bureaucracies will only be as efficient as they have to be.
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Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
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Bureaucracies will always take on new jobs, even if what they’re doing contradicts something else they are doing. Persuades Americans to eat less cheese.
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Dairy management
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encourages Americans to eat more cheese. Contradicts the Center for Nutrition’s Policy and Promotion.
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National Intelligence Director
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someone who has all of the information from the CIA and FBI. Many bureaucracies had information that they were not willing to share with each other, and as a result 9/11 was preventable. Congress created the
“ “ to make the bureaucracies share information, but this did not succeed because the “ “ was not given enough authority because the CIA & FBI maintained their authority and said no to the director. |
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FEMA
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Federal Emergency Management Agent. Moves in after a national disaster and houses/feeds people. Hurricane Katrina destroyed the Aquarium of America. “ “ gives the aquarium money to buy new fish. The aquarium knew that many of the fish were local fish, so they went fishing and only spent a fraction of what they were given. “ “ said “that breaks our rule, you must buy the fish.” The rules become overly important to the bureaucracies.
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Sibel Edmonds
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worked for the FBI to translate documents into English. After 9/11 she complained that her coworkers were doing shabby work and committing espionage, and the FBI ignored her and she decided to speak to the press and she was fired. She sued under the whistle blower protected act and that failed to protect her because the attorney general threw out her lawsuit.
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Peter Principle
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in a bureaucracy people keep getting promoted as long as they are competent, if they are incompetent the stay where they were last promoted. This is an example of bureaucratic inefficiency.
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American Postal Workers Union
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had an election for its national offices. The election had to be postponed because so many ballots were lost in the mail. The reason bureaucracies are so inefficient is because they are independent of outside influence.
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Pendleton Act
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Civil services could fire and hire people in bureaucracies. The " " made it to where politicians could not control bureaucracies, and instead the bureaucracies could fire and hire.
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implementation
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to carry out/enforce a law. The problem with " " is that is sometimes fails. One of the reasons is that the American system is so complicated. When laws are passed and fail it is because they are involved in a complicated system.
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New Towns
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There wasn't enough low-cost housing for poor people. Wanted to give builders grants to build low cost housing for the poor. San Antonio-- Fort Sam Houston not being used, so HUD(housing urban development) declared it wasn't needed. General opposed this plan and convinced various important ppl to oppose as well & New Town's program failed. Washing D.C.-- people who lived around Fort Hood were middle class black and they didn't want to live around poor blacks. Program failed. San Francisco-- Nike missile base unused, failed because people didn't want poor housing marring the view.
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Nuclear Waste Policy Act
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wanted to bury waste geologically stable underground formations. Nobody wants nuclear waste near them-- NIMBY. Place in TX was good--- Bush opposed, plan failed. Place in Nevada good--- politicians in Nevada opposed, plan failed. Obama put the plan on a hold. The complexity and veto points put into the American system has stopped the " ."
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Project Apollo
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This was successful because NASA was able to concentrate on the technological problems of the space initiative and avoided the complexities of our system by having the American population's full support.
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Head Start
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the poor children are given food and schooling before they attend school. They designed it to avoid getting caught in politics. It is not administered through politicians. Most studies have concluded that this is a successful program.
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60%
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How often do people get what they want done? The issue has gotten into the public conversation. If an issue doesn't, then there can't be a public opinion. If there is something in public conversation, then it has to be clear what the public opinion is. If those two criteria are satisfied, then about 60% of the time the government has done what the people want.
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