Term
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Definition
| the process of putting legislation into effect |
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Term
| How does legislation itself (how the law is written) affect government's capacity to implement programs well? |
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Definition
| it is harder to get a majority to pass the law when the it is more specific |
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Term
| How does the information about the policy issue affect government's capacity to implement programs well? |
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Definition
| there may be inadequate information of lack of agreement on the information |
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Term
| How does the organizational sitting affect government's capacity to implement programs well? |
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Definition
| internal dynamics of large organizations often limit their ability to respond to policy |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| Poor Organizational Communication |
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Definition
| organizations need clear and effective communication from top to bottom, and more importantly bottom to top |
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Term
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Definition
arise when organizations fail to plan
ex. food safety: not enough people to do the job so it doesn't get done |
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Term
| Vertical Implementation Problems |
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Definition
result of the complexity of intergovernmental relations (relations between the federal, state, and local)
ex. Hurricane Katrina: government failed to work together |
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Term
| Horizontal Implementation Problems |
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Definition
between agencies or organizations at the same level of government; these difficulties may arise competing or conflicting goals or agencies
ex. fighting terrorism: CIA, FBI, Homeland Security, Department of Defense, and other agencies have to cooperate, coordinate policies |
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Term
| Laws and policies are often aimed at a target population. What does this term mean? |
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Definition
| group you want to have an impact on |
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Term
| Who is the targeted population for No Child Left Behind (NCLB)? For Medicare? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| describing carefully with words what variable you are trying to measure |
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Term
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Definition
| concrete way of measuring using data |
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Term
| Why is it a good idea to use multiple indicators or measures of a particular goal or outcome? |
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Definition
| you get a better picture of the problem |
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Term
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Definition
| assessing the impact of public policy and the extent to which policy achieves its intended goals |
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Term
| What is the use of before/after comparisons? |
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Definition
| compares results or outcomes in two time periods; before and after implementation |
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Term
| What are the limitations of the before/after comparison? |
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Definition
| hard to sort out direct policy impacts; cannot be certain that policy was the cause of the change; up and down in humans is natural variation |
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Term
| What are with/without comparisons? |
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Definition
| comparisons between groups who do versus do not participate in a program |
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Term
| Limitations of with/without comparisons |
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Definition
1.groups vary greatly; hard to attribute effects to one specific policy and not a broader set of factors
2.it is better to have data before and after the policy for both groups with and without |
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Term
| What is the General Accounting Office (GAO) which is now called Government Accountability Office? |
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Definition
| has the authority to audit operations and finances of federal programs and agencies and report findings to Congress; they have a great sense of mission |
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Term
| What kind of work does the GAO do? |
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Definition
Defense: exposed fact that defense was being wasteful
Drug policy: 40 some year year? and what have we done?
Health care: we spend more money than any other country in the world here. |
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Term
| Why is it important that the GAO be perceived as non-partisan? |
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Definition
| we want to know that their evaluations are based on facts and evidence |
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Term
| Why are policy change and the termination of policies so difficult in the U.S. political system? |
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Definition
-clear winners and losers
-benefits of programs are concentrated and the costs are dispersed
-it's not on our minds everyday and all of us pay for it through taxes
-trend to resist changes; protecting your turf
-logrolling and pork barreling
-incrementalism: baby steps |
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Term
| Government operates under conditions of economic scarcity. What does this mean? |
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Definition
| even in wealthy countries like the U.S. resources are scarce. |
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Term
| What are utilitarian values? |
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Definition
| "the greatest good for the greatest number"; max benefit over cost |
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Term
| What non-utilitarian values? |
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Definition
| notions of the goodness or badness, rightness of wrongness of certain policies that go beyond one's own preferences or interests |
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Term
| conflicts related to the value of preserving life |
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Definition
| what constitutes a human life and when is it okay to end a life; scarce resources do not allow us to save every life or aid every need |
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Term
| What values are involved in the debate over capital punishment? |
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Definition
| When is the death penalty justified? How do we balance the value of preservation of life with the value of security or safety from criminals? |
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Term
| What values are involved in the debate over abortion? |
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Definition
| many people who oppose abortion (on sanctity of life grounds) believe in the death penalty; uder what circumstance, if any, is it justified? |
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Term
| What values are involved in the debate over assisted suicide? |
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Definition
| is autonomy (making decisions about your own life) or authenticity (making meaningful choices in accordance with your life goals or plans) a necessary characteristic of a truly human life? |
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Term
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Definition
| making decisions about your own life |
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Term
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Definition
| making meaningful choices in accordance with your like goals or plans |
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Term
| Preservation of Individual Liberty |
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Definition
| autonomy or freedom to make decisions about his/her own life should be maximized; people should be free to act as they wish as long as their actions do no harm others |
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Term
| When is government intervention in choices of citizens justified? |
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Definition
| sme choices that appear to be individual choices can be constructed to have public or social impact; ex. smoking and taking drugs.; society may deem unacceptable |
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Term
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Definition
| government imposes restrictions on liberty to prevent citizens from harming themselves (seat belt laws, helmet laws); protection of less competent individuals (children, elderly); recipients of public assistance |
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Term
| Why is it important for public officials to be truthful? |
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Definition
| lying to the public officials is wrong because it limits citizens' autonomy be depriving them of information to make fully informed political choices |
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Term
| Is lying or other deceptive practices by public officials ever justified? |
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Definition
| war and national security issues (Osama Bin Laden killing/raid) and to prevent panic or public harm (3 Mile Island); NEVER to protect one's own career |
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Term
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Definition
| a person or a groups of people who expose fraud, corruption, and wrong doing even at the cost of their career |
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Term
| What is the value of desert? |
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Definition
| what people deserve just for being born in a certain place |
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Term
| How does desert relate to out discussion of entitlements? |
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Definition
| All AICs have entitlements but they differ in each country |
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Term
| What are entitlements and what are out main entitlement programs in the U.S.? |
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Definition
| benefit provided by government that overtime becomes perceived as a right; social security and medicare |
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Term
| What are social insurance programs, and what are they designed to do? |
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Definition
| programs through with citizens share the risks associated with human vulnerabilities such as old age, disability, orphans |
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Term
| How do social programs and entitlements differ across the AICs? |
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Definition
| some AICs are more generous; the U.S. is less generous |
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Term
| What is a "welfare state" in political science terms? |
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Definition
| countries with sufficient development to address basic human vulnerabilities |
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Term
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Definition
| Have 3 sectors; public, private, non-profit |
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Term
| What does it mean to treat all citizens fairly? |
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Definition
| general agreement on the notion that government should enforce civil and political liberties with as much equality as possible |
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Term
| What are some competing conceptions of fairness? |
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Definition
| government should address inequalities in the distribution of goods and services that result from the operation of free markets and citizens' unequal starting point in that competition |
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Term
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Definition
| government should strive to level the playing field for all citizens so that in the competition for jobs, income, education, etc.; all people have an equal chance and not be hindered by disadvantages of birthright; based on how hard people are willing to work; a lot of inequality but it is earned |
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Term
| End-Result Conception of Equality |
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Definition
| we should judge the fairness of a distribution or practice by the results it produces |
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Term
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Definition
| fairness of distribution should be judges by criteria of process (legal and voluntary process)where everyone knows the rules; do not favor redistributive policy; minimal interference with liberty; property is individual; people are motivated by acquisitive values; inequality is a given because some people work harder |
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Term
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Definition
| favors redistributive policy to remedy injustice and to benefit the least advantaged; interference of liberty is justified to ensure basic human welfare; property is collective; humans are naturally motivated to work; takes equality of certain crucial resources as norm, deviations from this must be justified |
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Term
| Which worldview generally favors private markets (with fewer regulations) as the preferred mechanism of distribution? |
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Definition
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Term
| How do the two views deffer on the following: redistributive policy and view of human motivation? |
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Definition
Conservatism: doesn't favor; motivated by acquisitive values
Liberalism: favored; naturally motivated |
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Term
| What are acquisitive values? |
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Definition
| driven by desire to acquire stuff; desire to have a good quality of life |
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Term
| Which view is more tolerant of inequalities in society? |
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Definition
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Term
| Conservatives often argue that markets are self-correcting. What does this mean? |
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Definition
| markets regulate themselves overtime; people wont but bad product because they know it wont get them anywhere |
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Term
| How do "family values" or Christian conservative differ from other conservatives on particular issues? |
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Definition
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Term
| How are the original position and the "veil of ignorance" about about one's birthright important to John Rawl's theorizing about justice and equality? |
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Definition
| Most people would want a society with a floor below which no one could fall |
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Term
| What are the primary goods that Rawls thinks should be equally distributed in a just society? |
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Definition
| basic political and civil rights, and some economic rights; primary goods provide decent standard of living; |
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Term
| Under what conditions are inequalities tolerated in Rawls' just society? |
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Definition
| when they work to the advantage of all and are attached to all positions open to all; ex. surgeon |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| getting the most output for a given input |
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Term
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Definition
| satisfactions of a minimum level of need |
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Term
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Definition
| freedom to do as you wish as long as your actions don't harm others |
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Term
| What are the four key values of American policymaking? |
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Definition
| Equity, efficiency, security, and liberty |
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Term
| What is the equality-efficiency tradeoff? |
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Definition
| idea that we have to give up some of one thing to get more of another; in this case, to get more equality, you lose some efficiency |
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Term
| How does government interference in the economy or markets produce distortions (interference with people's choices and their capacity to innovate and be creative)? |
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Definition
| curbs innovation and experimentation |
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Term
| What does the "leaky bucket" concept say about redistribution? |
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Definition
| any redistribution from rich to poor is like carrying money in leaky bucket since some of the money must go to administrative machinery like welfare agencies (Okun's Law) |
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Term
| What are zero-sum relations? |
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Definition
| the more we have of one thing, the less we have of another |
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Term
| Are all political choices in zero-sum related to each other? |
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Definition
| political actors often portray public problems/issues in zero-sum relation to one another as a persuasive strategy or tactic to make one choice look better than another |
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Term
| Name a social investment that may pay for itself down the road? |
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Definition
| high-quality early childhood education |
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Term
| Positive Liberty Tradition |
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Definition
| liberty is the availability of meaningful choice and the capacity to exercise it; liberty is expanded whenever a person's control over his/her own life is increased |
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Term
| Negative Liberty Tradition |
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Definition
| liberty conceived as freedom from interference |
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Term
| Inequality by Design: What is the hidden welfare state? Who principally benefits form the home mortgage interest deduction? |
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Definition
| middle and upper income households benefit the most |
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Term
| Inequality by Design: the authors discuss the lingering effects of discriminatory federal housing policy. How did federal housing policy in the postwar period discriminate against African Americans? Describe one long lasting impact. |
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Definition
| policy discouraged racial mixing of neighborhoods; this kept African American families from obtaining low-cost loans to move to better off mostly white suburban neighborhoods; explains the very low levels of wealth among African-American families. |
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Term
| Ineq. by Design: Why is housing wealth important in America today? |
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Definition
| used as leverage as needed to pay different expenses and to make investments like college education fro kids |
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Term
| Ineq. by Design: the authors argue that all Americans are subsidized by the larger society simply by virtue of being Americans. What are some of the ways in which we are subsidized? How are businesses subsidized? |
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Definition
public health improvements; sanitation, clean water and air; public schooling; college education
businesses: benefit from the excellent U.S. business climate; benefit from our infrastructure |
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Term
| What percentage of the poverty line is probably needed to get by decently in America? |
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Definition
| 2 times poverty line; poverty line is 22,000 for a family of four; our poverty line does NOT change with geography |
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Term
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Definition
| sets fixed threshold below which harm is likely; ex. minimum calories to prevent starvation or malnutrition; fixed poverty line |
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Term
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Definition
| pegs concept of need to some place in social distribution; recognizes that people often feel deprived or poor in comparison to others in their own society and that living standards are defined in accordance with norms of one's community; ex. poverty defined as below 50% of median income) |
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Term
| The article "Kendra's Law" is about striking a balance between two core values. Explain. |
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Definition
| values: liberty vs. security |
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Term
| What is the main point of the reading "Dimensions of Equality"? |
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Definition
| one agreed upon conception |
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Term
| What is political socialization? |
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Definition
| the process whereby individuals acquire political knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs |
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Term
| Who are the agents of socialization? |
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Definition
| the family, school, religious institutions, peer groups, the media, and events |
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Term
| When measuring public opinion pay attention to what eight criteria? |
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Definition
1. Who sponsors the poll?
2. is the sample representative?
3. is the population being sampled identified correctly?
4. is the question worded fairly?
5. are survey topics understood well by citizens?
6. is the response rate good?
7. how does the poll compare to other polls on the same topic?
8. are the results carefully evaluated and the margin of error clearly stated? |
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Term
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Definition
| every member of the poll's universe has just as much chance of being polled as any other member of the universe |
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Term
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Definition
| the order of survey questions may affect a survey's results. researchers try to control this effect by rotating the order of the questions |
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Term
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Definition
| refers to people who have an active and continuing interest in a particular political issue. Political views are held with varying degrees of intensity, and public opinion waxes and wanes. |
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Term
| Interviewer-Respondent Interaction |
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Definition
| the race of gender of the interviewer can affect the response of the respondent |
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Term
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Definition
| ultimately, even the most carefully conducted survey is only a snapshot of public opinion on the day of the poll |
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Term
| Are Americans well informed about politics and government? |
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Definition
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Term
| How are political trust and political legitimacy related? |
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Definition
| political trust is essential to political legitimacy in a democracy; political legitimacy is the popular acceptance of a government and its officials as rightful authorities in the exercise power; some political scientists believe that declining trust in government officials contributes to a decline in political legitimacy |
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Term
| Internal Political Efficacy |
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Definition
| the assessment by an individual of his or her ability to influence the policymaking process. |
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Term
| External Political Efficacy |
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Definition
| the assessment of an individual of the responsiveness of government to his or her concern. |
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Term
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Definition
| a political philosophy that favors the use of government power to foster the development of the individual and promote the welfare of society |
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Term
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Definition
| the political philosophy that government power undermines the development of the individual and diminishes society as a whole |
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Term
| Importance of Social Class |
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Definition
| lower-income Americans are more liberal than middle and upper-income people on some issues and more conservative on other issues |
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Term
| Importance of Race and Ethnicity |
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Definition
| African Americans and Hispanics hold more liberal views on economic issues that white Americans do |
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Term
|
Definition
| religious values and affiliation with different religious denominations affect many Americans' political views; church attendance correlates with political participation |
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Term
| Importance of Generation or Age |
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Definition
| younger people are more tolerant than their elders |
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Term
|
Definition
| difference in political views among people from different geographical regions are less evident than they once were, but they still exist |
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Term
|
Definition
| studies have found major differences between men and women on a number of issues, particularly those concerning war and peace and spending on social programs |
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Term
| Explain how support for the parties varies according to income |
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Definition
| Republican candidates typically do better among upper-income voters and Democrats typically among lower-income voters |
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Term
| Explain how support for the parties varies according to race and ethnicity |
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Definition
| White voters lean Republican and minorities back Democrats |
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Term
| Explain how support for the parties varies according to education |
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Definition
| Democratic party is strongest at either end of the education ladder, but the two parties split college graduates. relationship between education and party support reflects differences n income. |
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Term
| Explain how support for the parties varies according to gender |
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Definition
| Number of women Democrat supports has risen while male supports has fallen |
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Term
| Explain how support for the parties varies according to age |
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Definition
| younger voters have been moving toward the Democratic party; the two parties split votes of people 45 to 64; and older Americans tend to vote Republican |
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Term
| Explain how support for the parties varies according to family and lifestyles status |
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Definition
| Traditional families tend to vote Republican; unmarried adults and people who are gay, lesbian, or bisexual generally back Democrats |
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Term
| Explain how support for the parties varies according to region |
|
Definition
| democrats run best in the Northeast and on the West Coast; Republicans are strongest in the South, the Great Plains, and the Rocky Mountains. The Midwest is split. |
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Term
| Explain how support for the parties varies according to political ideology |
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Definition
| Liberals vote Democrat; Conservative vote Republican; and Moderates are swing voters |
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Term
| Explain how support for the parties varies according to religion |
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Definition
Democratic:Jews,
Republican:Conservative white evangelical Protestants, Mormons
Swing vote:Catholics, Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians |
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Term
| Explain how support for the parties varies according to place of residence (urban, rural, suburban) |
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Definition
| Democrats win urban ares; Republicans win rural ares; and suburban is a swing vote |
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Term
| Who favors educating children of illegal immigrants in public schools? |
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Definition
| Democrats; Republicans DO NOT |
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Term
| Who supports abortion rights? |
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Definition
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|
Term
| Who supports a constitutional amendment outlawing all elective abortions? |
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Definition
|
|
Term
| This party favors legislation to end discrimination against gay men and lesbians. |
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Definition
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Term
| Oppose extending civil rights protections to homosexuals. |
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Definition
|
|
Term
| Which party favors tax cuts? |
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Definition
| BOTH just in different ways |
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Term
| Party positions of the environment. |
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Definition
| Republicans favor less environmental regulation by government |
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Term
|
Definition
| Democrats favor some gun control while Republicans do not. |
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Term
| Affirmative action policies? |
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Definition
| Democrats favor; Republicans do not |
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Term
| Which party prefers more market-oriented solutions to the Social Security and healthcare problems? |
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Definition
| Republicans; Democrats prefer more government solutions in both areas |
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Term
| What is divided government? |
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Definition
| occurs when one party controls the presidency and the other party controls the legislative branch (Congress) |
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Term
| The Constitution sets the stage for divided government how? |
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Definition
|
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Term
|
Definition
| the division of voter loyalties between two major political parties, resulting in the near exclusion of minor parties from seriously competing for a share of political power |
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Term
| Plurality Election System |
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Definition
| a method for choosing public officials that awards office to the candidate with the most votes, favors a two-party system |
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Term
|
Definition
| several political parties are able to influence public policies |
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Term
| Proportional Representation |
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Definition
| a party receives representation in political office approximately equal to the votes received by that party |
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Term
| How does Israel's party system differ from ours? |
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Definition
Israel has proportional representation, a multiparty system (12 parties), and a parliamentary system of government;
The U.S. has a winner-take-all electoral system , two major parties, and separation of powers with checks and balances |
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Term
| What is split ticket voting? |
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Definition
| voting for candidates from different parties for different offices on the same ballot |
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Term
| What are the structures of the party organizations? |
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Definition
| the organization of political parties in the U.S. reflects the federal system, with organization at the local, state and national levels of government |
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Term
| What tasks do the national party organizations perform for party candidates? |
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Definition
| Financial support; recruit candidates for office; and advice, polling, campaign strategy |
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Term
| What does the term realignment mean? |
|
Definition
| shift of voter loyalty from one political party to another |
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Term
| What is the role of political parties in the policymaking process? |
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Definition
| Political parties are a means whereby individuals and groups can make their policy preferences known to government decision-makers and then hold those officials accountable for their adoption and successful implementation |
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Term
| What is the author's main argument in the article "The Purple Party"? |
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Definition
| Moderates are not well represented by either political party |
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