PSC 1113 Test one

Why do young Americans not vote?

1. Lack of interest in the electoral system. Young people do not identify with a candidate because most candidates are marketing their speeches and plans towards the older audiences. 2.Inconvenient, especially for those who just turned the legal voting age and move away to college.

Federalist paper 10

10 addresses how to guard against certain groups of people that share an idea. -the strongest arguments in favor of the Constitution is the fact that it establishes a government capable of controlling the violence and damage caused by factions. Madison defines factions as groups of people who gather together to protect and promote their special economic interests and political opinions.

Federalist paper 51

51 states that there are checks and balances within our government. the essay helps the readers understand how the structure of the proposed government makes liberty possible. Each branch should be, in Madison's opinion, mostly independent. To assure such independence, no one branch should have too much power in selecting members of the other two branches.

Latent Preference

A simple, sometimes quick and on the spot preference that are not held deeply and change over time. (ex: public opinion poll)

Interstate compacts

Agreements between states on how to do something--such as how to go about sharing between two states a natural resource like water. For example, there is an interstate compact between states over who gets how much water from the Red River. I happen to think Okla should get more than Texas but that doesn't happen. :) Interstate compacts must be approved by Congress.

Intense Preference

Based on strong and intense feelings toward a topic. likely to be educated and involved.

Why is Civic Engagement important? (power/quality of life)

Citizens play an important role in influencing what policies are pursued, what the government supports, and what initiatives are funded. Power- A more engaged citizen will have more influence over their democracy. Quality of life-Greater participation means a healthier democracy.

Social Capital

Degree of interconnectedness of people in a community. Trust and reciprocity. Helping each other.

ideology and engagement

From lecture- reviewed that as America has become more ideologically polarized between the two political parties, that engagement has declined--meaning some people are turned off by the partisanship, including younger Americans.

What did the Great compromise do?

Gave back power to congress that was lost under the Articles of confederation.They were now able to: tax, maintain an army and a navy, regulate trade and commerce,coin and borrow money, grant patents and copyrights, declare war, and establish laws regulating naturalization and bankruptcy.

Public good

Goods/Services provided by the government due to their ability to tax (ex: national security, education)

Common Good

Goods/Services that all people may use free of charge provided by the government, but are in limited supply. (ex: water, fish in the sea)

Toll good

Goods/services made available to those who can purchase them. Toll goods are in between private and public goods (ex: private school, toll roads)

Private good

Goods/services that are provided by private businesses to earn a profit. (ex: clothing, food)

where do we draw the line between Individual rights vs community well being

It would depend on what one values and what is prominent at the time of the discussion. There is no external way to draw that line--therein lies democracy.

Positives and negatives of having a federal system

It's basically thinking of the upsides and downsides of having a layered system. We can develop that list analytically but the overall call on whether the system works well is a matter of opinion.

Pre-Founding challenges

Lectures from crisis and tradeoffs. All the problems during the AofC.

New federalism

New Federalism is a devolution from government power and towards a more state concentrated approach

Federalism and city & state competition (ex: OKC Thunder)

OKC thunder coming to OKC involved competition between Seattle and OKC to get/keep the team. What a town or city will pony up in tax breaks and public investment affects where a team will go. Similar to how Moore and Norman battled for the Warren Theatre, but Moore was more willing to cut down their taxes to get the theatre than Norman.

Political Participation/Civic Engagement

Participation that connects citizens to the government.

Layer Cake- Past

Programs and authority are clearly divided among the national, state, and local government

Marble Cake- Present

Programs and authority are mixed among the national, state, and local government

Why do we need government

Protection, National security, economics, representatives, public goods and services.

Bicameral legislature

The "Virginia Plan"- consisting of two houses. Representation was based on population of each state.

Representative Democracy

The citizens do not govern directly, but elect representatives on the behalf of the people.

Great Compromise

The decision that was made during arguments about whether bicameral or unicameral legislature was more suited. The legislature consists of two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives. -Each state, regardless of size, would have two senators, making for equal representation as in the New Jersey Plan. -Representation in the House would be based on population. Senators were to be appointed by state legislatures, a variation on the Virginia Plan. -Members of the House of Representatives would be popularly elected by the voters in each state.

3/5ths compromise

The product of when states were trying to count their census's for the purpose of the house of representatives, and weren't sure what to do about slaves and their rights. slaveholding states were allowed to count all their free population, including free African Americans and 60 percent (three-fifths) of their enslaved population.

Who leads?

When clarity isn't present on which level of legislature, the decision becomes the object of political choice. It is decided through political action (eg. Court cases, statues.. etc)

Enduring institutional issues

an open question in our system of government which level of government will lead on new issues, and it is an enduring question where we draw the line between individual rights and community well-being. What we do with both of those things plays out in the political system as objects of political choice.

Separation of Powers-

dividing the national government into three separate branches and assigning different responsibilities to each one 1. Executive 2. Judicial 3.Legislative *Also implemented "Checks and balances" between the three branches in order to restrict power and require a team effort. Krutz- Which level of government should lead, as I stated above, is an enduring institutional issue that was not solved by the Constitution. it depends on the issue. Our political system has to figure that out. In recent years, marijuana use, marriage equality, immigration are all topics that have raised this questions.

Supremacy Clause- Stronger cent. gov.

in constitution and proclaims that laws passed by Congress, and treaties made by the federal government were "the supreme Law of the Land." -So basically if states v nation ever became an issue, nation would trump.

why didn't the articles of confederation work?

it created a central government too weak to function effectively. -Economic woes -State (not national) taxing -Army/navy nonexistent

categorical grants

more targeted, less flexibility as federal government dictates what it can be used for. are smaller and come with clearer directions on how to spend the money (e.g. less flexibility for the states/cities)

Elastic Clause- Stronger cent. gov. Enumerated Powers

or also known as the necessary and proper cause -enables Congress "to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying" out its constitutional responsibilities. -It is open-ended and has given nat. gov. the legal means to fulfill those responsibilities. However, has also allowed gov to expand its authority beyond what is specified in the Constitution. Enumerated Powers-enumerated powers are the boundaries in which federal government has authroity and elastic clause enables congress to pass laws as a check/balance.

Federalism

power is divided between national, and subnational (state) government. -Each possessing the capacity to act directly on behalf of the people with the authority granted to it by the constitution

Social contract

proper tradeoff between individual rights and community well being from Krutz-And they vary over time. For example, individual rights were much more at a premium before Sept 11, 2001. Since 9/11 individual privacy has been sacrificed in the name of community well being (homeland security), e.g. mobile devices can track our lives pretty closely--something that prior generations would have considered too big government-ish.

Forms of Civic Engagement

reading about politics Listening/watching news Discussing politics Attending debates Donating to campaigns Voting Protesting Writing letters to representatives and congressmen.

block grants

states, and localities get flexibility They are larger and give states/cities more flexibility in how to spend the money

Framer's view of executive authority

they distrusted it. Yet they knew they needed more of it for the Constitution to function. Hence, they faced a tradeoff in terms of how powerful the presidency should be.