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| 1. To maintain order; 2. Provide public goods 3. Promote equality |
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Life w/o govt is state of nature. Life is unpleasant & dependent on survival of fittest. In state of nature, no arts, no letters, no society, fear and danger, life of man is poor, solitary, brutish short.
Monarchs get power from citizens |
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| Social contract theory/John Locke |
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| . Citizens agree on laws democratically decided upon by govt. and govt helps them. Citizens break, they are punished. Govt breaks, govt is overthrown. Govt is equal, not above citizens. Govt is not all powerful |
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| Govt needs to protect natural social rights of life, liberty, property, and pursuit of happiness |
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| benefits and services provided by govt available to everyone but where an individual can’t provide on own (roadways, sanitation, education, etc) |
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| idea that each person should be treated equally under law and discrimination is wrong |
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| promotes income redistribution; narrow gap between rich and poor. Opposite of capitalism and American dream |
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| autocracy (govt ruled by single person), oligarchy(govt ruled by few elite, aristocracy), democracy (govt ruled by people) |
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| Core values of a democracy |
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Definition
| value of individual, political equality, equal protection under law, majority rule, minority rights, direct/indirect democracy, popular participation, free meaningful elections, regular elections, meaningful accountability, regularized procedures |
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| power of govt derived from people |
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| majority rule/minority rights |
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| goal reflects will of most number of people; minority rights-majority rule becomes tyranny sometimes |
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| direct/indirect (republic) democracy |
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| citizens make own votes; indirect-citizens vote for people to represent them |
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| elite w/ influence over people=power |
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| Structure of govt under Articles of Confederation |
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| Confederacy, loosely unified legislature, weak presidency, no nat judiciary |
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| Disunity as nation, no power to tax, no regulation of interstate commerce, lack of uniform currency, no nat, judicial system, weak executive/leadership, no centralized foreign relations control |
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| 55 constitutional delegates |
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| “elite” of society (educated, wealthy, politically experienced) except Rhode Island |
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| “Great Issues” of the Constitutional Convention – consensus and conflict |
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| consensus-operate under republic, agreed that national law is supreme over state law, limited govt power, separation of power; conflict-state representation, slaves for congressional representation, how much power govt should have |
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| separation of powers: key govt power separated in 3. Exec, leg, jud. People avoid dangerous conc of power |
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| Organizing principles of the constitution |
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| written document, republic structure, dispersed power, vigorous executive, creation of national judiciary, mixed govt |
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| Separation of powers, Checks and balances, Federalism |
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| Exec-autocracy, decisive leadership advantage; legislative-democracy, pop sovereignty; jud-oligarchy, deliberative thought/wisdom |
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| James Madison, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton wrote articles to convince NY to support constitution;few documents that say why the constitution is the way it is |
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| businessmen/upper-class, supported the Constitution –where nat govt had significant powers |
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| farmers/working-class, did NOT support Constitution loss of state sovereignty & lack of bill of rights, thought constitution would give preference to business class |
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| freedom of speech, assembly, religion, press; right to bear arms; right of the accused; state rights |
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| methods to change the constitution |
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| by constitutional amendment, political practice, judicial interpretation |
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| Benefits of federal system |
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Definition
| limits govt power, deal with nat diversity, used states as “laboratories”, mischiefs of faction can be contained, ensured ratification of constitution¬ |
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| implied powers of congress |
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Definition
| necessary and proper clause |
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| Prohibited powers of congress (ex-post facto laws/bills of attainder) |
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| (“ex post facto” laws-retroactive laws/bills of attainder-law that allows legislature to accuse someone of the guilt of a crime and not allow trials |
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| Reserved powers of states |
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| Amendment 10-establish local govt, administer elections, oversee education, police/fire protection, establish license requirements |
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| Concurrent powers of congress/states |
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| levy/collect taxes, make/enforce laws, establish courts, borrow money |
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| Changes in american federalism |
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| growth of government –supreme court came out as congress powers are broad, southern states seceding the Union, new deal made govt growth |
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| FDR made New Deal, created jobs, soc security—cooperation between states and national govt; |
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| money given for an overall purpose, but no strings attached to how states can achieve goal; prefers block grant |
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| funds meant to be spent a specific way as dictated by govt. |
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| fed govt establishes mandates to be followed by states but don’t fund them |
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| influences on political socialization |
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Definition
| Family, Religion, School, Peers, Socio-economic status, Job/career, Mass media |
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| internal/external efficacy |
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| Internal: understand machinery of govt and to express opinion; external: understand machinery of govt & influence it |
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| issues that are considered the most important in peoples’ lives. (top 3 issue: 1. Economic issues 2. Social issues 3. Foreign policy |
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| Factors causing sampling error |
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Definition
| timing/age/duration of poll, formulation of poll questions, invalid poll responses, poll budget, agenda of the pollster |
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| Impact of polls on politics/elections: good/bad |
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Definition
| Good: facilitate info flow between govt & citizens; Bad: Ignorance of good v. bad polls, elected officials forego own judgment, negative effect on campaign/elections(may disagree on good candidates from running, bandwagon effect, horse race v. focus on issues, early poll results on Election day discourage voters) |
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| set of consistent beliefs about size and scope of govt (how much influence govt should have on social life and economy) |
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| Dems: defend underprivileged, working class interest; imperfect democracy; income redistribution; faith in what govt can accomplish(big govt); promote quick social change; personal setting of moral standards |
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| GOP: defend business interests, personal wealth; Hard work = success; keep hard earned money; faith in individual & private enterprise; preserve status quo & learn from past; govt setting of moral standards |
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| Reasons why there are so many interest groups in America-Tocqueville |
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Definition
| Democracy in America)-Americans are “joiners”; Americans are so diverse in so many ways that we associate to find people like ourselves (cultural diversity), because we can (freedom of speech/assembly), federal structure of govt (people can bring issue to local, state, nat govt) |
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| Reasons why interest groups form |
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Definition
| Industrialization (labor unions), Social/economic stress, govt expansion of power, technological advancement (facebook) |
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| why people join interest groups |
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| group benefits, psychological satisfaction, social benefits, access to information, career/job requirements, self interest |
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Definition
Private -lobby for policies that will benefit only their groups(corporate, union, industry)
Public-not limited to just members
Multiple issue-groups that advocate a wide variety of issue(NOW)
Single issue-group that advocates single issue (NRA) |
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| Tactics interest groups use |
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Definition
Kinds of Direct lobbying-lobbyist has direct interaction w/ govt official; making personal contacts, providing expertise, testifying at congressional hearing, campaign donation, lobby the bureaucracy, lobby the courts (Amicus curiae briefs-friends of the court)
Kinds of Indirect lobbying –sway public opinion on issue before influencing govt; mobilizing “grass roots” supporter, molding public opinion, coalition building, protest |
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Definition
| laws considered immoral or unjust are broken to make a point-Rosa Parks |
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| Arguments pro and con – influence of money in politics |
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| pro: broadens political debate, high cost of running a campaign, necessary cost of democracy, donating $ a form of free speech (Buckley v. Valeo-stopping spending is a violation of free speech); con: deters good candidates from running for office, buy campaign victories, buy unequal access, buy favorable legislative votes, extortion by aggressive politicians |
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| Issue/advocacy ads and 527 groups |
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Definition
| unregulated independent spending on behalf of candidate w/o giving $ to candidate, bundling of individual donations |
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| General criticisms of our system of campaign finance |
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Definition
| too much time spent on fundraising, more money given to incumbents, republicans, too much money outside of constituency |
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| Political machines – 2 reasons why were they so powerful in the early 1900s |
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Definition
| machines had control over party nominees, control over the electorate/voters |
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| Reasons for the decline of political party power in the 20th century |
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Definition
| ntroduction of primary elections, television media, less discipline among party candidates, split-ticket voting, rise in number of “independents” |
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| Requirements to win party nomination |
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Definition
| need good campaign organization, big “war chest” (lots of $), favorable media expectation, establish early momentum |
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Definition
Bias for established institution and value: established ideals. Ex: democracy is the best
Commercial/Advertising Bias-suppress negative stories & highlight positive ones
Personal Bias-reporter bias-leading words/visuals-subtle
Editorial Bias-front page v. pg 19 |
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