Government Test #1 Concepts

Front 1

"Voter Identification" Law

Back 1

Definition:
Required to show ID to vote in Georgia, Indiana. Republicans sponsored the use of an ID.
Importance:
Politicians are always "fiddling" with the rules of the "game" to benefit them. In this way, they can be sure to win. Rules are not neutral. There will always be consequences.

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Politics

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Definition:
The public resolution/management of conflict within a basic consensus.
Importance:
All politics involve conflict.

Front 3

The Keating Five

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Definition:
5 senators influenced the process of Lincoln's saving and loans and it cost tax payers $1.5 billion.
Importance:
This is a direct example of private influence over public policy.

Front 4

Ideology

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Definition:
system of beliefs and values
Importance:
There are many different ideologies in the world. Americans tend to think differently than the rest of the world.

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Classical Conservatism

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Definition:
humans are born unequal;different classes there entire life.
Importance: is not found in our ideology b/c it left with the explusion of the Tories and because it is impossible to have classical conservatism in a democracy according to prindle

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Political Ideology

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Definition:
system of beliefs/values about politics and legitimacy
Importance:
The reason why people obey the law is because they believe the government is legitimate.

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Classical Liberalism

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Definition:
Everyone is equal(liberty).humans are individuals and there class is determined by there skills, not how they are born. Value individual liberty.
Importance:
The U.S was the first country to be run by classical liberals when they won there revolution.

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Classical Socialism

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Definition:
Everyone is born equal(equality). Individualism is misleading;everyone is in a class. Religion is an illusion to make people stop protesting. Competition is bad.
Importance: not important till after 1930's; modern day Democrats are mixture of classical liberalism and classic socialism; socialist in the fact that we believe gov. is responsible for welfare

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Modern Conservatism

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Definition:
Believe government should not meddle with economic life, but should meddle with personal life.
Importance: pro-government activism in personal life

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Modern Liberalism:

Back 10

Definition:
Believe government should not meddle with personal life, but should meddle with economic life.
Importance: ?

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"rally 'round the flag" effect

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Definition:
People start being patriotic and begin to support there government when the country is being attacked. This is only temporarily though.
Importance: illustrates that sentiment varies within historical circumstances

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Legitimacy

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Definition:
The belief that the people think the government is right or moral and therefore have an obligation to obey the law.
Importance:
Legitimacy underlines the US government and it can come in three categories: tradition, charisma, and religion.

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Democracy

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Definition:
everyone has equal representation
Importance:
Because democratic theory requires only the laws to people who participate in government prescribe to themselves can be legitimate, democracy is the only legitimate form of government.

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Majority Rule

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Definition:
When people disagree, then the majority wins(with minority rights)
Importance:
This is a problem that conflicts the legitimacy of government. The philosopher Lock listed this as a problem to be fixed. Also, it’s impractical to ask everyone in country…that’s why there is representatives which is necessary for a democracy

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Personal Liberty

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Definition:
Provide certain freedoms available to every individual;their freedom to make decisions is without coercion
Importance:
A government must have this in order for it to be considered legitimate(Prindle).

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Ideological Opinions

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Definition:
General attitudes to policies
Importance:
People who have ideological opinions tend to be against the government

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Operational Opinions

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Definition:
Specific attitudes to policies
Importance:
People who have operational opinions tend to be pro-government

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Legal Equality

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Definition:
everyone gets one vote
Importance:
It is an essential concept that the government must have in order for it to be considered legitimate(Prindle)

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Choice Among Alternatives

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Definition:
People must have many choices from which they can decide
Importance:
This is essential for a government to be considered legitimate(Prindle)

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Freedom of Speech

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Definition:
One has a choice among alternatives to say what they want.
Importance:
This is an important concept that a government must have in order to be considered legitimate.

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Public Process

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Definition:
process of law making must be able to be observed by everyone to see.
Importance:
It is an importance concept that a government must have in order for it to be considered legitimate

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22nd Amendment

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Definition:
(1951) - limits the president to two terms
Importance:
This is against democratic theory because you do not have the freedom to choose the candidate you like. This violates sovereignty.

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Consent

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Definition:
You yourself volunteer to do or believe or/in something.
Importance: it shows participation in community

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Self-evident Truths

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Definition:
It's a phrase from the Declaration of Independence which tells us that the founders wanted to base a community on natural laws;laws that were obvious to everyone
Importance:
It is what the founding fathers wanted the country to be based on

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Republicanism

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Definition:
the people who wrote the constitution had a notion of virtuous and corruption.
Importance:
They were skeptical that people couldn't act virtuous when confronted with power so they dispersed the power over the whole society

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Articles of Confederation

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Definition:
system that gave minimal power to the government: can't tax, no national court...etc.
Importance:
when people began to realize that this form of government was failing, they decided to give power to the central government and the constitution was born

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Reconcile the irreconcilable

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Definition:
the writers of the constitution wanted to give the power to the government but didn't trust people with power
Importance:
because of this, a system of checks and balances was created: equalized power for all and made everyone compete for power(Madison)

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Ambition to counteract ambition

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Definition:
(Madison)a way to make sure corrupt men did not oversee other men
Importance:
made men compete with each other for power;in this way, they were nice and kind when running for a position.

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Separation of Powers

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Definition:
Separated the powers of the government into three branches: executive, judiciary, and legislative.
Importance:
forced by competition to act virtuously;This was the writers of the constitution way of making sure that the power is distributed evenly throughout the society and also made sure that no one person held a majority rule

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10th Amendment

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Definition:
no implied powers; federal govt and congress only have powers specified by Article I of Constitution.
Importance: ppl who wrote constitution wanted federal govt to stay small and inactive

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Necessary and Proper Clause

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Definition:
If we give power to congress, then they have the means of carrying it out
Importance: gives Congress the right to do just about anything

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Contract Clause

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Definition:
phrase from constitution stating that no state shall pass a law impairing a contract.
Importance: basically to protect property.

Front 33

Annexation of Texas(1845)

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Definition:
Texas was not allowed at first to join the US because they did not want to be a slave state, but the Democrats used a join resolution to get Texas into the US
Importance:
This is one of many situations in which the US has ignored there own constitution to get what they want

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1st amendment

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Definition:
amendment from the bill of rights that saying that everyone is entitled to freedom of speech and expression.
Importance:
Gave the people choice among alternatives and that is a necessary concept a government must have to be considered legitimate.

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Tyranny of the majority

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Definition:
The people who have the majority tend to suppress the minority who they find unpleasant.
Importance: US public doesn't support things like freedom of speech for people they don't like, even though they're in favor of it abstractly and in general

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Clear and Present Danger

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Definition:
After people were arrested after urging people to resist the draft, they were arrested but they argued they were only expressing there opinions. In 1919 court's decision stating that telling others to resist the draft presenting a "clear and present danger" among the people.
Importance: ?

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Marketplace of Ideas

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Definition:
A US supreme court case of abrams vs US. Holmes argued that that competing ideas is necessary for this country and that good judgement always wins.
Importance:
Convinced generations of law students to come back and argue against the government.

Front 38

NYTimes vs. Sullivan(1964)

Back 38

Definition:
A supreme court case in which the new york times placed false information regarding a public official. Supreme court went back to the marketplace of ideas and allowed as much freedom of expression as possible.
Importance:
Freedom of expression is essential to democratic theory

Front 39

Skokie vs. National Socialist Party(1978)

Back 39

Definition:
the NSP marched down the streets of Skokie to insult jews, but the town of Skokie denied there march as a parade. The NSP sued them stating that marching was a freedom of expression.
Importance:
even though they marched because of hatred, hatred is still considered an expression due to the marketplace of ideas. therefore, hate speeches is not illegitimate.

Front 40

Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act(2006)

Back 40

Definition:
an act the protest at cemeteries of ceremonies for fallen soldiers within 300 feet.
Importance: Protesting is considered an expression, but expressions can be limited if necessary.

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Freedom House

Back 41

Definition:
An organization that measure the freedom of expression among different countries and ranks them.
Importance:
The US looks good on this rank, but when it comes to national turnout, the US is one of the worst.

Front 42

Clear and Present Danger

Back 42

Definition:
After people were arrested after urging people to resist the draft, they were arrested but they argued they were only expressing there opinions. In 1919 court's decision stating that telling others to resist the draft presenting a "clear and present danger" among the people.
Importance: ?

Front 43

Marketplace of Ideas

Back 43

Definition:
A US supreme court case of abrams vs US. Holmes argued that that competing ideas is necessary for this country and that good judgement always wins.
Importance:
Convinced generations of law students to come back and argue against the government.

Front 44

NYTimes vs. Sullivan(1964)

Back 44

Definition:
A supreme court case in which the new york times placed false information regarding a public official. Supreme court went back to the marketplace of ideas and allowed as much freedom of expression as possible.
Importance:
Freedom of expression is essential to democratic theory

Front 45

Skokie vs. National Socialist Party(1978)

Back 45

Definition:
the NSP marched down the streets of Skokie to insult jews, but the town of Skokie denied there march as a parade. The NSP sued them stating that marching was a freedom of expression.
Importance:
even though they marched because of hatred, hatred is still considered an expression due to the marketplace of ideas. therefore, hate speeches is not illegitimate.

Front 46

Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act(2006)

Back 46

Definition:
an act the protest at cemeteries of ceremonies for fallen soldiers within 300 feet.
Importance: Protesting is considered an expression, but expressions can be limited if necessary.

Front 47

Freedom House

Back 47

Definition:
An organization that measure the freedom of expression among different countries and ranks them.
Importance:
The US looks good on this rank, but when it comes to national turnout, the US is one of the worst.

Front 48

Rules of Citizen Participation

Back 48

Definition:
Stronger are the formal institutions, the less class biased are the participation rate;weaker are the formal institutions, the more class biased are the participation rate
Importance:
The people who participate the most have the greatest influence over policy

Front 49

American vs Foreign Party Organizations

Back 49

Definition:
Foreign has no party identification and they have hierarchy and discipline, and formal organizations while the US has informal party identifications, no hierarchy and no discipline.
Importance: ?

Front 50

Weak Parties

Back 50

Definition:
The less class participation which leads to weak parties
Importance:
The US has weakest political parties because we have a big class biased which in turn caused low participation and weak parties

Front 51

Party Identification

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Definition:
emotional membership of a certain party, but no formal affiliation with the party.
Importance:
Most of the US has informal party identifications

Front 52

Comparative National Turnout

Back 52

Definition:
the percent of the citizens of a country that vote
Importance:
The US has the lowest national turnout among other democracies due to the fact that the US has low participation rates and has weak parties which are caused from a big class biased

Front 53

Single-member District System

Back 53

Definition:
Each district sends a representative and each state sends two senators. Each state has a certain # of districts based on the population of the state.
Importance:
The reason the US has only two parties is because of this. This system creates a two party system

Front 54

Proportional Representation

Back 54

Definition:
If one group gets 47% of the vote then they get 47% of the seats. The number of seats is directly proportional to the number of people voted
Importance:
This system creates a multiple party system which is why foreign countries has multiple parties and the US only has two

Front 55

Party Voting Cohesion

Back 55

Definition:
Tendency of the members of a party to vote together in a legislature
Importance:
The US cohesion is really low; so low in fact that it can not be measured and it can not be compared to other countries. This is because each representative comes from a different district and they each have different ideas.

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Class Biased in Voter Turnout

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Definition:
The more money and education means more voting and the less money and education means less voting.
Importance: why we have such weak parties and/or why we have such a low voter turnout come election time

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Direct Primary

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Definition:
A election held within a party to nominate candidates for the general election
Importance:
This is the reason why we have weak parties because every senator has there own idea unlike in other countries where the leader of the party chooses who gets to run and they vote on what the leader says unlike in the US where everyone has there own separate opinion.

Front 58

Linda McMahon & Meg Whitman(2010)

Back 58

Definition:
Linda McMahon has the most expensive campaign run in 2010 while running for the senate and spent $42 million and lost. Meg Whitman spent $140 million on a campaign run for governor and lost.
Importance:
Money is the most importance resource for elections and campaigns, but this shows that just because you have the most money doesn't mean you will win

Front 59

Jim Nicholson(1999)

Back 59

Definition:
Former national republican party member who wrote a letter to the pharmaceutical company asking for $250 million proposing a pharmaceutical coalition. They give him the money and he will make the laws they want.
Importance:
This is a direct example of private influence over public policy

Front 60

Rules of Formation

Back 60

Definition:
1.People who feel emotional intensity are more likely to join an interest group. 2. If you feel importance within the group or have a significant influence, then you will most likely participate more. 3. The groups have offer individual goods are more likely to organize a larger percentage of their potential membership.
Importance:
Interest groups are a big factor when it comes to private influence over private policy by hiring lobbyists to persuade congress to vote in their favor

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Individual Goods

Back 61

Definition:
An item that is used by an individual person like a cell-phone
Importance: By giving away individual goods, interest groups give people more incentive to joining there particular group

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Collective Goods

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Definition:
An item that must be shared like national defense which are usually paid through taxes
Importance: Not as good compared to individual goods when it comes to convincing people to joint there group

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Access

Back 63

Definition:
Personal relationship with a policy holder
Importance:
By giving money to congress, you have a sense of personality and influence over them and this is a good way on influencing public policy with private influence

Front 64

PhRMA

Back 64

Definition:
Largest lobbying organization in the US. There budget is ~ $17 million.
Importance:
Lobbyist are specifically hired by an interest group to try to persuade congress to vote in there favor. This is private influence over public policy.

Front 65

Graduate School of Political Management(GSPM)

Back 65

Definition:
A university that teaches students how to be a lobbyist in Washington DC
Importance:
Interest groups hire lobbyists and they are an example of private influence over public policy

Front 66

Iron Triangles

Back 66

Definition:
refers to the three way relationship between the interest group, the committee in congress, and the federal agencies.
Importance:
It is through this relationship that interest groups influence public policy.

Front 67

Farm Security and Rural Investment Act(FSRIA)(2002)

Back 67

Definition:
a law that gave a lot of money to farmers due to the fact that a big farmer interest group influence public policy and made congress pass this act
Importance:
This is private influence over public policy and because of this farmers get more money from this act than from the cotton itself therefore it is a net loss

Front 68

MADD(2002)

Back 68

Definition:
a public interest group of people who is against drunk driving especially mothers
Importance:
They created the law of an open container in a car by intense lobbying.This is an example of how ordinary citizens can influence public policy, not just the rich or producers of goods.

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Reagan Coalition

Back 69

Definition:
The democratic coalition consisted of economic and social liberals. Clinton won with this coalition in 1992 and 1996.: prior to it, Republicans had only been economic conservatives but by combining with those that were social conservatives they were able to broaden their potential voting population

Front 70

Democratic Coalition

Back 70

Definition:
The Reagan coalition, formed in 1980, came about when Reagan put together social and economic conservatives. Reagan won with this coalition in 1980.
Importance: ?

Front 71

Retrospective Voting

Back 71

Definition:
If the economy is good, then the people will vote for the party that is currently in power and if the economy is bad, then the people will vote for the party that is not currently in power
Importance:
The 2008 election was based off of retrospective voting

Front 72

McCarthyism

Back 72

Definition:
attacking candidates not based on political facts
Importance:
The McCain campaign has a lot of this towards the Obama campaign in the 2008 election. They created negative ads to create an impression that Obama was a radical, but it was not politically oriented.

Front 73

A good democratic election?

Back 73

Overall, the 2008 election was good because it has a lot of national arguments.

Front 74

Shay's Rebellion-(1786)

Back 74

uprising caused in response to Articles of Confederation and the 1784 economic depression; led by Daniel Shays in Springfield, MA
Importance:
showed that the central gov't couldn't protect the public welfare

Front 75

Great Compromise-(1787)

Back 75

broke deadlock between the New Jersey and Virginia plan; dictated that the House of Reps would be given proportional representation by population (+ 3/5th's of slaves) and that the Senate would have 2 members per state
Importance: Resolved the controversy between small and large states

Front 76

checks and balances

Back 76

each branch of the gov't can check the actions of the others; includes judicial review/Congress's "power of the purse"/presidential veto/etc.
Importance:
Keeps the federal government from being too strong in addition to keeping one branch of the government from becoming too powerful; keeps government relatively inefficient (in a good way)

Front 77

Engel v. Vitale-(1962)

Back 77

prayer implemented in NY public schools by the State Board of Regents; challenged by parents saying that it violated the establishment claus; parents lost case but Supreme Court ruled that regents' actions were unconstitutional
Importance:
Supreme Court ruled against officially sponsored prayer and Bible-reading sessions in public schools; separation of church and state

Front 78

Gitlow v. N.Y.-(1925)

Back 78

radical group member urged violent overthrow of government; "clear and present danger"; court ruled that the First Amendment afforded protection against state incursions on freedom of expression (first time that the 1st amendment was ever invoked against a state government)
Importance:
The Supreme Court incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment the other basic freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment

Front 79

Edwards v. Aguillard-(1987)

Back 79

court declared Louisianan law to teach biblical creation alongside evolution unconstitutional because it promoted a particular religious belief
Importance:
Separation of church and state

Front 80

Washington v. Glucksberg-(1997)

Back 80

Supreme Court said liberty interests protected by the Constitution did not include the right to commit suicide (with or without physician's assistance) but left it up to the states; assisted suicide is only allowed in 2 states: Washington, Oregon, and Montana.
Importance:
The “right to die”; physician-assisted suicide

Front 81

Declaration's 'consent of the governed'

Back 81

political theory that the government and law-making bodies derive their legitimacy from the consent of the people; inspired by Locke; 2nd paragraph of Declaration of Independence
Importance:
Basis for modern-day democracy

Front 82

Federalist #51's 'opposite and rival interests'

Back 82

written by James Madison; said its necessary to establish separate powers of gov't so that each has will of its own and this rival interests provide a check on each other; "ambition counteracting ambition"
Importance:
Guard the public interest

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civil rights

Back 83

right rooted in the 14th Amendment's "equal protection under the law" and specify what the gov't must do to ensure equal protection and freedom from discrimination; (1) civil rights movement of the 1950/60's and (2) women's movement of the mid-1800s
Importance:
Political equality

Front 84

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka-(1954)

Back 84

unanimous decision that established that segregation of races in public schools was unconstitutional; the end of the separate but equal doctrine; overturned Plessy v. Ferguson
Importance:
End of the separate-but-equal doctrine

Front 85

Voting Rights Act-(1965)

Back 85

outlawed discriminatory voter-registration tests and authorized federal registration of voters and federally administered voting procedures in any state that discriminated electorally any particular group; also prohibited certain political subdivisions from modifying voting procedures without federal approval
Importance:
Allowed for more African Americans, particularly in the South, to register to vote and to vote

Front 86

Equal Pay Act-(1963)

Back 86

amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act; required employers to provide equal pay for equal work; males cannot legally be paid more than females who perform the same job; did not address the fact that traditionally female jobs paid lower wages than jobs held by men

Front 87

University of California v. Bakke-(1978)

Back 87

Allan Bakke, white student was turned down for medical school at UC-Davis and sued on allegations of reverse discrimination; court did not rule against affirmative action programs but maintained that Bakke had to be admitted b/c admissions had used race as criterion for admission

Front 88

Card-check bill

Back 88

permit unions to be bargaining agents for workplace if majority of workers sign a card showing their support; pro-bill: it will level playing field between mgmt. and union members and prevent employers from intimidating workers leading up to secret ballot; anti-bill: say secret ballot is the most democratic method and that there is no guarantee that union organizers won't intimidate workers into signing card checks

Front 89

AARP

Back 89

nation's largest interest group and one of the most powerful in D.C.; strongest lobbying group in the U.S. with 40 million members; called for creation of Medicare and Medicaid as well as increases in Social Security payments

Front 90

Astroturf lobbying

Back 90

artificially manufactured grassroots activity; when an interest group mobilizes large # of constituents to lobby for their goals and are only effective when the responses are many

Front 91

platform

Back 91

developed as each partys' national convention; it sets forth the party's position on the issues and makes promises to initiate certain policies if the party wins the presidency.