• Shuffle
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
  • Alphabetize
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
  • Front First
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
  • Both Sides
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
  • Read
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
Reading...
Front

Card Range To Study

through

image

Play button

image

Play button

image

Progress

1/68

Click to flip

Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;

Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;

H to show hint;

A reads text to speech;

68 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
How is public opinion linked to policy in the states?
Public opinion effects who becomes a public elite which effects statewide politics

Part of the reason we get what we want is because of who we put in the legislature
What are the shifts in opinion and partisanship that have taken place recently?
Partisanship has changed in the south

The northeast has become more liberal

Where direct correlation between state partisanship an state ideology used to be minimal it has emerged
What factors shape state opinion and policy?
Population diversity
-More diverse = more liberal

Political competition
-More competitive states produce more liberal policy

Opinion diversity
-More liberal opinion produces more liberal policy
What states adopt policies first?
Wealthier states
More diverse populations
Moralistic cultures
States facing specific problems
Who do new policies spread?
Learning from other states
Competition with other states
Both processes are facilitated by:
-Geographical proximity
-National professional organizations
-National interest group organizations
What is the snowball effect?
Local adoptions create pressure for state to act

-More likely in states with pro legislatures and with strong interest groups in the policy area
What is the pressure valve effect?
Local adoptions reduce pressure for states to act
What are the fiscal constraints faced by states?
National economy
State economic base
Amount of federal aid
Legal constraints
-Tax limits
-Balanced budget amendments
What about sales tax?
Generally retail
Generally levied as a flat percentage
Regressive
Not particularly stable
Efforts to broaden it to include services
Difficult to levy on internet sales
What about sales tax and the internet?
Businesses must collect and pay if they have a physical presence in state

If not - citizens must pay a use tax
What is sin tax?
Type of sales tax

Used to raise revenue and discourage immoral behavior

Can be levied at local level in certain areas
What about income taxes?
41 states have it on individuals

Usually progressive
About 5 brackets
Easy to administer
Flat rate in a few states

On corporations
-Usually flat rate
Businesses threaten to relocate if rate is too high
What about property tax?
Oldest type of tax
One of earliest ways for gov to raise money
Primary source for revenue for local governments
levied as a flat rater per 1,000 value of a property (aka mill rate)
Originally progressive but becoming more regressive

Rising housing values rise tax
What is Proposition 13?
California rule that capped property tax rates - imposed 2/3 majority rule for state legislature to raise other taxes

Forces trade offs in policy responsibility
Which taxes do people prefer?
Sales
Income
Property
User Charges
What are user charges?
Education tuition
Tolls
Fees to park
What are other revenues?
Income from pension funds
Rents, royalties, fines
Liquor stores
Utilities
Investments, trust funds
Lottery
What about state lotteries?
Popular with voters (in 41 states)
Viewed as voluntary tax
About 30 percent of sales actually collected as taxes
Generally regressive, though the majority of tickets are not purchased by poor people
Most earmarked for education
What is morality policy?
Conservative attempts to use government to restrict immoral behavior

-Prohibition
-Abolition

Black and white debates about policy goals rather than shared goals

Book says only one side makes morality argument
What is difficult with morality policy?
Monitoring morality is hard
Many still want to engage in activity
Those charged with enforcement may not want to
What about health and welfare?
Responsibility for such polices started at local level and then state levels

Health care spending has been fastest growing part of state government budgest in the last 10-15 years
What are the major health and welfare programs?
Social security
-Retirement program
Unemployment insurance
-Joint Federal and state program
Medicare
-Healthcare for elderly
Medicaid
-Healthcare for poor
When did the federal government get involved with state education?
When desegregation came

now NCLB
What do new federal education provisions include?
Certified teachers in classroom
Measurement for performance
Public school choice for students in failing schools
Threat of loss of federal funds for failing
What are the criticisms of federal government involvement with education?
Not fully funded
Limits of standardize tests
Encourages schools to set low expectations and alter performance
What are proposed education reforms?
Spend more money
Empowerment movement
Higher education funding
What are the conflicting needs among public universities?
People want:
-Affordability
-Quality
-Access prep
-Career prep

Faculty wants:
-Resources
-Freedom
-Prestige

States want
-Happy voters
-Economic development
What is politics?
Process of making collective decisions that resolve conflicts
What do collective decisions require?
Rules
Means to monitor compliance
Means to sanction violations

Institutions provide structure and stability
What is a social contract?
Agreement between individuals and groups regarding rights of citizens and role / power of government
What are the key elements to liberal theory?
Popular sovereignty
Emphasis on reason
Development of citizen rights
Limits on government
What about institutions and social contracts?
Institutions formalize social contracts

Emphasis on protection from each other, government or positive pursuit of socially good outcomes dictates institutional design

Institutions define the rules of the game and they are not neutral to the outcome
What is federalism?
Interplay between levels of government that plays out everyday
Why is healthcare so expensive?
Demand for:

Quality
Aggressive care
Choice

Those without coverage turn to expensive alternatives

Unhealthy society

Legal costs of malpractice
Why are healthcare costs rising?
Prescription drug costs

Decline of managed care

Rising costs and demand for long term care
What is tax equity?
Who bears the burden of paying the tax
What is a progressive tax?
When the wealthier people pay a larger proportion of their total income to cover the tax
What is a regressive tax?
When the poor people pay more of their income to cover the tax
What is elasticity?
How stable or volatile the tax revenues are depending on times of economic boom
What do elastic and inelastic demand refer to?
How responsive people are to certain items or goods

Inelastic items are items people must have
What are tax and expenditure limitations?
Set formulas that determine how much revenue and spending can grow
What is a grant in aid?
Money from government to the state
What are the two types of government grants?
Categorical grants - limit how much discretion state and local governments have in using fed money

Block grants - allocated by broad functional area such as community development
What is fiscal illusion?
Inflation of public spending for their own purposes
What is a capital budget?
Long term bonds to finance capital investment projects
What is a balanced budget?
When revenues must equal spending
What is Leviathan?
Model of government as an entity that seeks to increase revenues beyond even what the public might demand
What is issue evolution?
How issues come into public agenda
What is policy equilibrium?
When state and local public polices are in sync with the opinion of the majority of the general public
What is policy shock?
When something happens to change policy equilibrium
What are policy entrepreneurs?
People willing to put policy issues on the political agenda
What are vice laws?
Rules to crack down on sinful activity
What is a cause celebre?
Issue causing heated controversy and widespread notoriety
What is DOMA
Defense of Marriage act

Explicitly allowed an exception to full faith and credit allowing states not to recognize same sex marriage in other states
Defined marriage for purposes of federal law as man and woman
What is the feminization of poverty?
Rise in poverty of female headed households
What is policy diffusion?
When policies spread
What are public assistance programs?
Cash and in-kind aid providers to the poor
What does means tested refer to?
Available only to the individuals falling below the predetermined level of income or assets
What is welfare?
Range of public assistance services provided by government to aid and protect the most vulnerable individuals in society
What is an entitlement program?
Government program guaranteeing level of benefits to participants
What is temporary assistance for needy families?
Program to help move recipients off welfare
Who are the working poor?
Employees earning minimum wage
What is a living wage?
A wage that allows people to live decently
What is a single payer healthcare system?
Doctors and other private health care professionals have fees paid by government at a fixed rate
What are school vouchers?
Financial assistance in the form of vouchers to parents who have children in poor performing public schools
What are charter schools?
Publicly funded and operated freed from administrative staffing and pedagogical constraints facing traditional public schools
What is the achievement gap?
Separation of students across dimensions of race, ethnicity an income
What is adequate yearly progress?
Based on performance on annual achievement tests