Term
| Free and open elections are a solution to what in America? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the agency problem? |
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Definition
| The struggle to address the needs and wants of the people. The need to enable a large body of people to represented. |
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Term
| Elections have both positive and negative effects. What are they? |
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Definition
Positive: Encourages citizens to become more informed. (info provided in campaigns)
Negative: The never-ending campaign (stupid media- fuels the problem) |
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Term
How many members do we have in our congressional district?
What kind of electoral system does this require? |
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Definition
Single-member districts
Winner-take-all system |
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Term
What is redistricting?
How is gerrymandering related to redistricting? |
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Definition
The redrawing of lines of congressional districts.
Gerrymandering is when the lines are drawn to benefit a particular interest (political parties, usually) |
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Term
| There are 3 kinds of gerrymandering discussed in class. What are they |
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Definition
1. Partisan gerrymanders- benefit political party
2. Incumbent gerrymanders- benefit the incumbent
3. Racial gerrymanders- (illegal) decrease or increase racial minority influence |
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Term
| What are the 2 different ways candidates are NOMINATED? |
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Definition
| Caucuses and primaries (can be open or closed based on party membership) |
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Term
| What is the "invisible primary"? |
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Definition
| The period of time between the election of one president and the nomination of another |
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Term
| Which 2 primaries tend to set the stage for presidential nomination? |
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Definition
| The Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary |
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Term
| In the end, where do presidential candidates get selected? What else is decided there? |
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Definition
National Party Conventions
1. Approve a candidate's platform
2. Try to unify party
3. Showcase party on nat'l TV
4. Adopt rules to govern parties between elections |
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Term
| How are delegates for national conventions selected? (2 ways) |
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Definition
1. Caucus method: chosen at state conventions
2. State presidential primary: voters directly elect delegates |
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Term
| What is a "magic number"? |
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Definition
| The number of national delegates a nominee needs to get to become his or her party's presidential candidate (50% + 1) |
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Term
| What is "Super Tuesday"? Why is it important? |
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Definition
| A Tuesday in early March when a lot of states with a lot of delegates hold their primaries (In 2008, 24 states) |
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Term
| True or False: The president is elected by the people of the United States. |
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Definition
| False. The president is elected by the Electoral College. |
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Term
| What is a "runoff primary"? Why are they held? Where are they held? |
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Definition
| They are primaries held in 10 states if none of the candidates get the majority of the votes. |
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Term
| True or false: All primaries emphasize partisanship. |
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Definition
| False. Louisiana has a nonpartisan primary. |
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Term
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Definition
| Readjusting the number of seats among the states to account for population shifts. |
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Term
| How many electoral votes does a presidential candidate have to have to get elected? |
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Definition
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Term
| There are a number of ways that have been proposed to reform the electoral college. What are they? |
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Definition
1. Proportional plan- proportion of a state's electoral votes for a candidate reflects the proportion of the population that voted for that candidate.
2. The district plan- each district gets one vote
3. The direct popular election plan- no electoral college. Direct election by the population |
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Term
| What did the court case Baker v. Carr decide? |
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Definition
| It decided that legislative apportionment was within the jurisdiction of the courts and it would hear cases related to the issue. |
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Term
| What did the court case Wesberry v. Sanders decide? |
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Definition
| It invalidated malapportioned districts in Georgia. It also ruled that one person's vote should be worth as much as any other (1 vote/person) |
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Term
| What is descriptive representation? |
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Definition
| A concept that suggests that the racial makeup of the nation should be reflected in Congress |
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Term
| What is substantive representation and how does it differ from descriptive representation? |
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Definition
| It is representing the interests of minorities rather than racially representing them. |
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Term
| Which states have the greatest effect in the outcome of presidential elections? |
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Definition
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Term
| What are three elements of competitive campaigns? |
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Definition
1. Candidate
2. Message
3. Vehicle for projecting message (media advertising, debates, personal campaigning, etc.) |
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Term
| When trying to run an effective campaign, what three things should a candidate balance? |
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Definition
1. Effectiveness of negative advertising v. demobilization effect (negative advertising works, but too much gives a bad impression)
2. Message simplicity vs. the inexperience issue (be simple but don't seem dumb)
3. Mobilizing new voters vs. alienating the party base (get new voters but don't abandon old ones) |
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Term
| True or False: Running for election is cheap or affordable. What does this mean for democracy? |
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Definition
| False. Only those who are either born with money or are really good at raising money generally run for national office (not very democratic) |
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Term
| The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 did what? |
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Definition
-Limited the amount of campaign donations a candidate could receive from individual donars
-Created the Federal Election Commission (FEC) |
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Term
| What did the case Buckley v. Valeo decide? |
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Definition
-Upheld reporting of contribution limits
-Rejected spending limits because they restricted the right of political speech |
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Term
| How did Congress liberalize the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 in 1979? |
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Definition
| Allowed the unrestricted contribution of "soft money" |
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Term
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Definition
| The money used for party-building and get out the vote activities |
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Term
| Was the donation/acceptance of soft money ever restricted? |
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Definition
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Term
| True or False: The money going to candidates is unregulated, while the money going to parties is highly regulated. |
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Definition
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Term
| True or False: The maximum dollar donations are much lower for political parties than they are for individual candidates or political action committees. |
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Definition
| False. Political parties are allowed to receive the highest dollar amount donations followed by PACs and individual candidates |
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Term
| Who is limited bi-annually regarding donations? How much may they donate every 2 years? |
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Definition
| Individual donors may donate up to $115,500 every two years. |
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Term
| Candidates get money from four sources. What are they? |
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Definition
1. Individuals
2. PACs
3. Personal finance
4. Political Parties |
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Term
| Where else do presidential candidates get money? |
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Definition
| Federal dollars, our tax money |
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Term
| Who typically receives more in support: the incumbent or the challenger? |
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Definition
| The incumbent--people like winners and tend to stick with what they know |
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Term
| Who do individual donors typically donate to and why? |
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Definition
| Incumbents, people like winners and are more likely to invest in winners than contenders |
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Term
| Party money comes in two "flavors". What are they and what do they entail? |
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Definition
1. Coordinated expenditures- coordinated between candidate & party (polling, advertising, research, etc.)
2. Independent expenditures- independent of candidate influence (advertising, PR, etc.) |
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Term
| When is money the largest role in campaign outcomes? |
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Definition
| Elections with higher uncertainty and Congressional elections |
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Term
| Fundamental changes in the electoral system are unlikely because of... |
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Definition
1. There is no consensus for a better alternative
2. The collective action problem (change from the status quo will mean increased conformity costs for everyone who helps design the bargain) |
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Term
| There are four forms of political participation. What are they? |
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Definition
1. Voting
2. Campaign activities
3. Citizen-initiated contact with government
4. Cooperative activities |
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Term
| Among other democracies, where does the US rank regarding voting, campaign work, contacting government, and community work? |
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Definition
| lowest, highest, highest, highest |
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Term
| The right to vote is also known as what? |
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Definition
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Term
| When was the franchise extended to African Americans? Women? Young adults? |
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Definition
African Americans- 1965 (Civil Rights Act)
Women- 1920 (19th Amendment)
Young Adults- 1971 (26th Amendment) |
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Term
| When was the requirement of property ownership for voter eligibility dismissed? |
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Definition
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Term
| What are four things that contribute to low voter turnout rates? |
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Definition
1. Voting laws- not required
2. Voter registration- a hassle
3. The 2 party system- vote makes little difference
4. Election schedules and frequency- often |
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Term
| Is voter turnout on a decline? |
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Definition
| Depends. From 1860-1924 turnout appears to decline (because of a denominator increase) but has remained relatively stable since then |
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Term
| There are three things that affect an individual's desire and ability to participate in politics. What are they? |
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Definition
1. Socioeconomic status (class)
2. Psychological engagement (passion)
3. Political/social context (involvement) |
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Term
| Describe the sociological model of voting behavior. |
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Definition
| Model explaining voter choice based on factors like religion, place of residence, and socioeconomic status |
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Term
| Describe the social-psychological model of voting behavior. |
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Definition
| Model explaining voter choice based on individual attitudes |
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Term
| Describe the rational choice model of voting behavior. |
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Definition
| Model where individual chooses whether or not to vote and then base candidate selection on rational calculations |
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Term
| Scholars try to explain vote choice in three ways. What are they? |
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Definition
1. Party identification
2. Candidate image
3. Issues |
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Term
| What is political efficacy? What is it's opposite? |
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Definition
The belief that a person's views and opinions are important and that the government will respond to their wants and needs.
Political alienation |
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Term
| What is retrospective voting? |
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Definition
| Basing one's vote on the past performance of a candidate (easier with incumbents, obviously) |
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Term
| What is prospective voting? |
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Definition
| Basing one's vote on their perception of how a candidate will perform if elected |
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Term
| True or False: Prospective assessments tend to be stronger and more influential than retrospective assessments. |
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Definition
| False. Retrospective assessments are generally stronger and more influential. |
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Term
| There are four steps in the policy-making process. What are they? |
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Definition
1. Agenda setting
2. Policy formulation and adoption
3. Policy implementation
4. Policy evaluation |
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Term
| What is the difference between the delegate model and the trustee model of leadership? |
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Definition
-A delegate should vote just like you would
-A trustee will vote based on the greater good, not necessarily your opinion |
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Term
| There are a number of levels of constituency. What are they? |
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Definition
1. Geographical
2. Reflection
3. Primary
4. Personal |
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Term
| How does a bill become a law? What is the process? |
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Definition
1. Bill introduction
2. Referral
3. Committee deliberation
4. Bill comes to the Floor
5. Debate and Amendment
6. Vote
7. Conference |
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Term
| What is the difference regarding bill passage between the Rules Committee and unanimous consent? |
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Definition
-The Rules Committee determines what bills will make it to the floor in the House.
-Unanimous consent determines what bills will make it to the floor in Senate |
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Term
| True or False. It's pretty easy to get a bill passed through Congress. |
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Definition
| False. It is super hard to get a bill passed. The desire of Congressional members to get a bill passed and actually accomplishing that is very difficult |
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Term
| There are three different problems that face Congressional members when they are trying to get a bill passed. What are they? How are they solved? |
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Definition
Problems: Information, Coordination, Preference conflict
Solutions: Committee system, party leadership, collegiality, and automated decision proccesses |
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Term
True or False: Congressional parties are a recent development.
Who started them? |
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Definition
False.
Hamilton and Jefferson |
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Term
| The coordinating of parties in Congress depends on what? |
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Definition
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Term
| True or False: The power of political parties in Congress has been consistently weak. |
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Definition
| False. Strong in the 19th century. Parties stripped of many powers back in 1910. Gained them about around 1970. |
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Term
| Something happened because parties became more unified. What was it? |
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Definition
| Parties became more polarized |
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Term
True or False:
All Republicans are conservative and all Democrats are liberal |
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Definition
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Term
| What does the majority party leadership look like in the House? |
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Definition
Speaker of the House
Majority Leader
Majority Whip |
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Term
| What does the minority party's leadership look like in the House? |
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Definition
Minority leader
Minority whip |
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Term
| True or False: Political parties have more power in the Senate than they do in the House. |
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Definition
| False. House parties are much stronger than Senate parties |
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Term
| What does majority leadership look like in the Senate? |
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Definition
President
President Pro Tem
Majority leader |
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Term
| What can the minority party do to prevent the vote on a bill? (the major one) |
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Definition
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Term
| What are some of the notable types of groups in Congress? |
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Definition
Ideological groups
Demographic groups
Bipartisan regional groups
Bipartisan economic groups
Issue groups |
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Term
| True or False: Today's committees are the same ones that existed when the Constitution was written. |
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Definition
| False. We have way more committees now than we did when our nation was founded. |
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Term
| Who gets to be on which committee is determined by what (and whom)? |
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Definition
Seniority
Speaker of the House |
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Term
| What are the special types of committees? |
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Definition
Special and Select (temporary)
Joint (watch executive)
Ad hoc (deal with touchy issues)
Conference (resolve differences) |
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Term
| What are the three jobs of the lawmaker? |
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Definition
1. Representation
2. Oversight
3. Lawmaking |
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Term
| What is the difference between the police patrol and the fire alarm methods of oversight? |
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Definition
Police patrol: looking around for problems
Fire alarm: waiting until a problem arises to address it |
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Term
| What kind of Congressional system do we have? Was it always this way? |
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Definition
Bicameral system
Yes, under the Articles of Confederation |
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Term
| What is the distributive model? |
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Definition
| A model that suggests that the primary goal of Congressional members is to get reelected. They do so by engaging in advertising, position taking and credit claiming. |
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Term
| What is the informational model? |
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Definition
| A model that suggests Congressional members take into account the costs and benefits of alternative policies before they support or oppose legislation. |
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Term
| What is the partisan model? |
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Definition
| The model that suggests that political parties operate like cartels. The majority party stacks committees and hears bills that best serves its interests. |
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Term
| What are Congressional benefits called? What are some of these? |
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Definition
Perks
1. Money to run office/get equipment
2. Franking privilege (mail)
3. A private staff |
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Term
What are the two presidencies?
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Definition
1. Individual v. Institution
2. Foreign v. Domestic
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Term
| What 4 factors have contributed to the strengthening of the presidency? |
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Definition
1. Feature of the individual executives
2. Vague constitutional provisions of power
3. Changing of public expectations of the office
4. Congressional delegation of power/authority through law |
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Term
| What is the enjoyment/energy approach referring to the presidency? |
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Definition
| Presidential success determined by the energy and effort put into the office |
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Term
What is the policy role approach to the presidency?
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Definition
Entrepreneurs v caretakers
Success determined by presidential personality and historical context |
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Term
| What are the elements of the presidential organization? |
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Definition
1. president
2. vice president
3. cabinet |
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Term
| True or False. The power of the president has been fairly static over time. |
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Definition
| False. The power of the presidency has slowly increased over time. |
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Term
What was the purpose of the Electoral College?
|
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Definition
| Prevent the rule of the masses (popular vote) from determining outcomes of presidential elections |
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Term
| What are the president's three constitutional responsibilities? |
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Definition
1. Chief Executive
2. Commander in Chief
3. Chief Diplomat |
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Term
| How does the Electoral College violate democratic values? |
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Definition
Small states have far more power (via their electoral votes) than large states
Also violates majority rule principle |
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Term
| What is the "coattail effect"? |
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Definition
| When the electoral support of the president is passed to lower offices/issues. |
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Term
| What are two ways that the President interacts with Congress? |
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Definition
1. State of the Union Address
2. Agenda setting |
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