| Question | Answer |
| the govt provides if you're qualified for... | national security, municiple rights, medicare, etc, food stamps |
| harold lasswell | "who gets what, when, and how?" |
| politics | to resolve conflict and to distribute (scarce) resources |
| we disagree about.. | role of govt, how much & what should we innovate/change/reform, & who should benefit from policy (entitled benefits) |
| coercive power | can make us do things, punish us if we don't, gives govt power |
| authority and legitimacy | resolve conflict, allocate (scarce) resources,equality/entitlement, set goals& agenda for public policy, provide services, preserve culture(mostly done @ local level w/ school system) |
| democracy | people in charge |
| constitutional government | limitations-limits power of govt; govt based on constitution |
| autocracy/dictatorship | one person has power (self-appointed ruler) |
| monarchy-constitutional/absolute | supreme power is absolutely or nominally lodged with an individual; mono=one |
| aristocracy | decided by heredity;a governing body or upper class usually made up of a hereditary nobility |
| oligarchy or junta | form of government in which power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society distinguished by royal, wealth, intellectual, family, military or religious hegemony.junta=military |
| theocracy | government in which a god or deity is recognized as the state's supreme civil ruler |
| elitism | political system in which power if concentrated in the hands of a relatively small group of individuals or institutions |
| pluralism | theory that democracy can be achieved through competition among multiple organized groups & that individuals can participate in politics through group memberships & elections |
| hyperpluralism | so many participates in the policy process that it gets locked down (gridlocked) |
| limited government | separation of powers (branches) that have to agree with each other, checks & balances, bicameral legislature, federal system--divide between national & states |
| democratic republic- who makes decisions? | made by representatives; dictators choose representatives |
| representative democracy | public decisions are made by representatives elected by people, in elections held periodically & open to competition |
| direct democracy | state & local propositions: texas constitutional amendments, bond elections, local initiatives & referendum--not @ national level-must approve amendments to constitution; very rare; |
| majority rule | with protections for individuals & minorities |
| natural rights | liberty |
| property | eminent domain |
| simple majority | 50% + 1 |
| plurality | more than the other guy |
| extraoridinary majority | 2/3 or 3/4 |
| implications of democracy | transparency=open meetings & open records; freedom of speech & press; participation |
| the US population= | 300 million |
| world population | 6.7 billion |
| texas population | 24 million |
| texas is a majority-minority state.. | all ethnic groups are less than 50% |
| US gross domestic product= | $15 trillion |
| ____% of Americans live in poverty (living on $2 a day) | 20 |
| comparative systems- US | congressional/presidential, 3 branches-separated; elected president |
| paliamentary- UK | parliament- legislative/executive branches; prime minister is leader of majority party in parliament |
| Role of US 21st century | globalization- economic (world economic trade); democratization-evolving cultures, security- terrorism; unilateral/multilateral; global warming=mulitilateral |
| house legislative process | 1 proposal (agenda) 2-intro 3-committee consideration 4-rules committee 5-floor debate 6-joint conference committee 7-approve conference report 8-president 9-override |
| senate legislative process | 1-proposal 2-intro 3-committee consideration 4-floor debate 5-joint committee 6-approve conference report 7-president 8-override |
| political culture-ideas in conflict | politics; to resolve conflict & distribute scarce resources; disagree-role of government, how much & what to change, who should benefit from policy |
| locke | equality, natural rights, social contract--mankind is intelligent--can govern himself |
| hobbes | mankind is animal in state of nature-government to control; reasserts himself in constitution |
| equality of opportunity | everyone starts the race @ the same time & same place |
| due process | during the race, the same rules apply to all |
| equality of results | very little support for this in the US; everybody ends up tied @ the end of the race |
| inequality | quintiles (fifths);inequality has increased in recent years; redistribution policies (taxes&benefits);social mobility, class, & education |
| texas- | currently a majority, minority state (no ethnic majority) |
| immigration | 12% population is foreign-born; illegal immigration= 10-12 million;naturalization: legal entry & residency, residency (5 yrs), test & background check |
| conservative prefer.. | status-quo (the way things are today) |
| liberals on the _____; conservatives on the ______ | left; right |
| US is a______ country. | centrist (moderate) |
| opposing parties & ideologies have to ______ to the center. | appeal |
| center is where _______ is made. _______is essential to democracy | compromise |
| when positions become polarized, _____ is difficult. | compromise |
| liberals are more _______ of change & conservatives are less _______ of change. | tolerant |
| role of government | liberals & populists tolerate a larger role of govt. (as protection); conservatives & libertarians prefer a smaller role of govt |
| dissent | protest (legal) vs.civil disobedience(illegal); social welfare vs. individualism&low taxes; religious vs. secular expression & the first amendments;anti-democratic ideologies-fascism & neo-nazism;communism & socialism |
| declaration of independence | announce separation & reasons, appeal to public opinion, philosophical ideals |
| appeal to public opinion | world, at home, England, 3 M's of war--men,money, material |
| philosophy | limited govt, human rights, political participation, john locke |
| structure of government | 3 ways to organize govt, unitary- colonial govt, confederacy--articles of confederation, federal-compromise-US Constitution, great binding law of the iroquois |
| articles of confedertion | revolutionary war lexington &concord april 1775 to yorktown 1781, treaty 1783; articles of confed 1777, ratified 1781; constitution written 1787-effective 1789;colonial govt unitary |
| structure of articles of confederation | national legislature- congress; no national executive; no national judicial branch; unicameral- one branch @ that time |
| weaknesses of constitution | no power to tax, only borrow; no power to raise an army, no power to regulate interstate commerce; no national judiciary; no central monetary control (everybody was printing their own currency $$) |
| strengths of constitution | establish diplomatic relations w/ major european countries-due to the fact we sent out a really good group of ambassadors (ben franklin, thomas jefferson);establish administrative departmentsL state, treasury, war(defense), post office |
| policymaking: northwest ordinances 1787 | territorial expansion--equal states (can apply to admission into that state), tax-supported free public education, no slavery |
| economic difficulty | post war recession, public debt-loans from europe due, private debt-especially revolutionary war soldiers-paid off in land grants-mortgaged land to build farms-prices down-banks threatening to foreclose on farms (shay's rebellion) |
| political unrest- shay's rebellion | needed arms to take over courthouses to stop foreclosures on their farm land, marched on massachusetts armory @ springfield, stopped by massachusetts militia-most farmers ended up in jail, scared aristocracy |
| commercial difficulty | each state own currency, each state own tariffs & duties on goods coming into the state, no central judiciary to artibrate |
| foreign relations | english in great lakes area;spain in new orleans-deny right of passage goods coming down mississippi,france & england impressment of american sailors-force ppl to be sailors, mediterranean-barbary pirates (controlled by group of pirates) |
| constitutional convention | originially based on need for commercial arrangements, 1785 mt. vernon-maryland & virginia commerce on potomac river; 1786-annapolis-invite all to philadelphia; 1787-philadelphia |
| conneticut (great) compromise | representation & structure of govt;large vs. small states;bicameral legislature:senate=representation appointed by state legislatures, house elected based on population, executive-electoral college;appointed judges-senate,advise,consent (proposal=3pres.) |
| is a slave a person or property? | south wanted to call slaves people b/c they count towards more representation (more power); north wanted to call slaves property b/c you can tax property |
| 2nd major compromise=slavery | solution 3/5 & ban importation of slaves after 20 years |
| commerce- in today's language | free trade union within US (interstate),constitution prohibits export tax, monetary union-national economy, congress regulates foreign trade, independent federal judiciary to arbitrate & enforce contracts; protective tariff=taxing all imports coming in US |
| unresolved | who decides if a law is constitutional?-judicial review; who arbitrates between states & national govt? |
| ratification struggle- federalists | going to divide power between states & national govt;federalists support constitution, strong central govt, (wants to ratify constitution) stability & control (hobbes), urban & commercial interests |
| antifederalists | concerrn individual & states' rights; concerned about strong central govt, they fear it's going to override individual power, they insist addition bill of rights to save rights to individuals, rural & agriculture interests |
| federalist papers | letters to editor prominent newspapers urging support ratification constitution, john lay-1st supreme justice of supreme court, alexander hamilton-1st secretary of treasury, james madison-congress representative-virginia |
| james madison | father of constitution-diary constitutional convention,federalist papers, bill of rights: amendments 1-10 & 27, madisonian system- separation of powers & checks & balances and federalism |
| madisonian system | divide power,separation of branches (& checks&balances);federal system: division of power & responsibility between national & state governments |
| self interest | competing self-interest approximation of the public good(pluralism); majority rule-simple majority, individual & majority rights, opportunity for minority to try to persuade the majority |
| sovereignty | 1-supreme in rule & political power 2-power to govern w/o external control |
| organize government | unitary, confederacy, federal-division of power & responsibility between national & state government-both sovereign in their own spheres |
| structure of government | spectrum or continuum |
| federalism is a ______ | compromise |
| mix of powers in federal systems... | differ |
| federalism | both national&state govt derive power from constiutions(&people) not from each other; all govt act directly on people; exact definition of responsibility may change; relationship between states&local govt is unitary |
| US federalism | delegated powers (national govt); reserved powers (states); concurrent- share or both have some power & responsibility |
| fiscal federalism | grants in aid-larger to smaller voluntary; categorial grants; block grants; formulas, matching funds, governors-clearing house role |
| mandates & preemptions | federal govt mandates state & local govt, supreme court dim view of "unfunded mandates"; carrot & stick approach; preemptions by national or by state govt |
| state/state relations | article IV U.S. constitution; "full faith & credit"; extraditon; "priviledges & immunities"; interstate compacts |
| changes in federalism | marbury vs. madison-judicial review; mcculloch v. maryland-national supremacy, implied powers(elastic clause); 14th amendment-equal protection clause & incorporation of bill of rights;increase national power 20th century;devolvement |
