Poli Sci Test 1

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politics

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process by which individuals and groups reach agreement on a common course of action even as they continue to disagree on the goals that action is intended to achieve

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bargaining

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form of negotiation in which two or more parties who disagree propse exchanges and concessions to find a course of acceptable collective action

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compromise

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settlement in which each side concedes some of its preferences in order to secure others

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preferences

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individuals choices reflecting economic situation, religious values, ethnic identity or other valued interests

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institutions

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organization in a democracy that manages potential conflicts between political rivals, helps them to find mutally acceptable solutions, and makes and enforces teh societys collective agreements.
exp include congress, presidency and the supreme court

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constitution

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document outlining the formal rules and institutions of government and the limits placed on its powers

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government

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institutions and procedures through which people are ruled

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authority vs. power

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authority: right to make and implement decisions assigned to office, not individual

power: officeholders actual influence with other officeholders and as a consequence, over the governments actions

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why have institutional reform and how does it generally occur?

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reform is undertakento make institutions preform more efficiently. also, they enable institutions to accomplish new collective goals

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collective action problem

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an action taken by a group of likeminded individuals to achieve a common goal

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coordination

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act of organizing a group to achieve a common goal. coordination remains a prerequisite for effective collective action even after the disincentive to individual participation have been solved

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prisoners dilemma

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a situation in which 2 or more actors cannot agree to cooperate for fear that the otheer will find its interest best served by reneging on an argreement

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free riding

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situation in which individuals can receive the benefits from a collective activity whether or not they helped to pay for it, leaving them with no incentive to contribute

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tragedy of the commons

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situation in wh ich group members overexploit a common resource, causing its destruction

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cost of collective action

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officers participants benefits they could not achieve on their own, but participation may require some cost (time/money). key is to minimize cost...cost can be material or not

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transaction cost

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time, effort and resources required to make collective decisions

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conformity cost

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difference between what a person ideally would prefer and what the group with which that person makes collective decisions actually does

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seperation of powers

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distribution of government powers among several political institutions

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principle-agent relationship

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principals are those individuals who possess the authority--the right--to make certain decisions. principals can then choose to delegate to agents teh authority to make and impmlement these decisions for them

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agency loss

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discrepancy between what principals would ideally like their agents to do and how these agents actually behave

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representative government

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political system in which citizens select government officials who, acting as their agents, deliberate and commit the citizenry to a course of collective action.

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direct democracy

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citizens participate directly in collective decision making

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republic

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form of democracy in w hich pwer is vested in elected representative

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coalition

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alliance of unlike-minded individuaals or gorups to achieve some common purpose such as lobby, legislating, or campaigning for the election of public officials

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why do politicians act strategically?

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they subordinate their sincere preferences over what is best for their constituents in order to achieve results that stand a better chance of success

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private goods

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things people buy and consume themselves in a marketplace that supplies these goods according to the demand for them

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public goods

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goods that are collectively produced and freely available for anyones consumption

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collective goods

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less restrictive term than public goods

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externalities

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public goods or bads generated as a byproduct of private activity (exp. air pollution is an externality, public bad, b/c it is, in part, the byproduct of the private activity of driving a car)

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why were we well suited to break with the monarchy?

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graphically-distance limited britians capactity to govern colonies and american enjoyed home rule

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home rule

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power given by a state to a locality to enact legislation and manage its own affairs locally. applies to britians administration of the american colonies.

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what eevents led tot he dismanting of colonial home rule?

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frances defeat in 1763...britian claims america
britian was broke by end of the war
stamp act of 1765
colonies united against britian
britian continued imposing taxes and administrative laws to weaken colonial assemblies
boston massacre
boston tea party

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stamp act

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imposed a ta on all printed materials

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franklins plan of the union

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american army to plan for the colonies defense, a popularly elected national legislature and an executive appointed by the kind.
created a national government

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first continental congress

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adoptiion of the declaration of american rights (reasserted home rule, ban all trade w/ britian), "committees of observations"

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second continental congress

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1776. continental congress became national government. no legal authority to conduct a war. need for coordination. created state governments and governships

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declaration of independance

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declared the independence of the 13 colonies from great britian. dreafted by thomas jefferson and adopted by 2nd continental congress on july 4, 1776

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common sense

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thomas paines pamphlet that brought attention to the issue of speration forom england. argument that only in the creation of an independent republic would people find contentment

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articles of confederation

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first written constitution that created a confederation (decentralized and national government recieved limited authority from states) each state had 1 vote (9/13 to pass law and unanimous to ammend.) created a new permanent government

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weakness of the articles of confederation

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inability to regulate trade and levy taxes
problems of free riding and coordination
no uniform currency
no executive/judiciary
difficult to pas laws/ammend

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great compromise

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agreement between large and small states at teh constitutional convention (1778) that stated that the house (determined by population) and a senate (2 per state) would make up congress. authority to levy taxes reserved to lower chamber.

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state rights

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guards against a too pwerful national government. favored by one group at teh convention. they wanted to retain state powers like their role in selecting national officers

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necessary and proper clause

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article 1, section 8...congress can make any laws taht they deem "necessary and proper"
supports supremacy clasue

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checks and balances

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each branch has a certain amount of control over the other two

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montesquieu

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french philopher who gave teh ideas of branches and a limited government

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veto

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presidents power to reject a bill.
can be overridden by 2/3 vote in each house

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electoral college

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electors in each state formally elct president/vice.
# electors = states representation in congress

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supremacy clause

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article 6...states national laws are supreme over state laws

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judicial review

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court can declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional

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logroll

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legislative vote trading

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how is slavery in the constitution

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slaves counted as 3/5 of a person

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how is the constitution ammended

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proposed by 2/3 vote of both houses in congress or a con stitutional convention called by congress on petition of 2/3 of 50 states
ratified by 3/4 of 50 state legislature of 3/4 special constitutional conventions called by 50 states

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roadblocks to the constitutions ratification

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disagreement between national and states advocates

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what did the federalist argue?
anti-federalist?

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federalist: strong centralized national government
anti-federalist: argued only local democracy could approach true democracy

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federalist papers

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essay to persuade people to be for ratification. showed people what constitution actually meant

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federalist paper 10

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large republic cannot survive...how we deal with factions

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federalist paper 51

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seperation of powers and checks and balances

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bill of rights

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first ten ammendments to the constitution. compmromise that madison had to make with the antifederatlist to ratify the constitution.

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federalism

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division between national and smaller government

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unitaray

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authority is centered at state and local governments administering authority delegated from central government

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federation

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authority divided between state and central government

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confederation

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authority at state governments and delegated to central government by consensus agreements

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three condidtions required of a federal system

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smae people and terriotry included in both levels
national constitution protects units at each level of government from encroachment by others
each unit is in position to exert some leverage over the other

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difference beteween dual and shared federalism

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dual says national and state government presdie over mutaually exclusive spheres of influence and
shared says that they both have to supply services to the citizenry

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exclusive powers of national and state government

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national: coin money, treaties, war, postal system
state: run elections, protect public health

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powers denied to national and state government

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nation: tax state exports, change state boundaries, impose religious tests
state: coin money, enter in treaties

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how do state and national governments share power?

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tax, charter banks and corporations, take property, enforce laws

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argument against nationalization

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federal government has intruded into the responsibilities of the state so much that it is not a shared federalism anymore.
national government calls the shots

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how us became nation of nationalized public policy iinstead of segmented communities

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collective action and political consideration
america was a nation of segmented communities, but over time, changes occured and the desire for public goods could not be met locally

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example of coordination problem

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regulation of electrical transmission

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example of reneging and shirking

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air/water pollution

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example of cutthroat competition

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looking for workers in other states who will work for cheaper

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what does teh constitution say about federalism?

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tries to specify boundaries between the two governments. gives powers to the state that are not delegated to the federal government

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how did the senate aid the cause of states righteres until the 17th amendment was passed?

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senators regardedthemseles as agents of the state and voted for whatever the states wanted

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supremacy clause

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national government can only act in a way that conforms to a constitution that prohibits certain kinds of federal activities

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10th amendment

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states get powers not delegated ot the national government

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mcculloch vs. maryland

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protected national government from actions of states (supremacy and elastic clause)

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gibbons vs. ogden

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only congress possesses teh authority to regulate commerce

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preemptive legislation

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sate governments must "bow" to national governments

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grant-in-aid

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funds given by congress to states for a specific purpose. give teh federal government th epower to define the way these programs should run

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block grant

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lots of money from federal government, but leave it up to states to decide how to spend it

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categorical grant

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money from federal government to states for specific cause with federal guidelines for spending

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unfunded mandates

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states required to administer policies they might object to.
may also be asked to pay for the adinistration of the policies

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cross-cutting reuirements

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recieve a grant for one thing, but must obey to rules for another, totally seperate, thing

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crossover sanctions

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stipulations that a state has to adhere to guidelines of an unrelated program to remain eligible for full fedeal fundign for one program

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direct orders

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requirements that can be enforced by legal and civil penalties