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Notes and Review Questions for Exam 1 in American Government | PS 110, Study notes of Political Science

Material Type: Notes; Professor: Kash; Class: AMERICAN NATIONAL GOVT; Subject: Political Science; University: Western Kentucky University; Term: Fall 2009;

Typology: Study notes

Pre 2010

Uploaded on 11/29/2009

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PS110 Kash
Notes and Review Questions for First Exam in American
Government
Introduction: A Political Perspective on Federal Government
1. What is "politics"?
- - Conflict over allocation of values
2. Why is conflict inherent to society?
- - Material scarcity
- - Philosophical disagreements
3. How do societies deal with conflict?
- Government: authoritative allocator of societal values
4. What makes government authoritative?
- - Legitimacy (sense of obligation)
- Coercion (preponderance of force)
5. How do governments deal with conflict?
- - Governments make rules
- - Rules as value allocations
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PS110 Kash Notes and Review Questions for First Exam in American Government Introduction: A Political Perspective on Federal Government

  1. What is "politics"?
    • Conflict over allocation of values
  1. Why is conflict inherent to society?
    • Material scarcity
    • Philosophical disagreements
  1. How do societies deal with conflict?
  • Government: authoritative allocator of societal values
  1. What makes government authoritative?
    • Legitimacy (sense of obligation)
  • Coercion (preponderance of force)
  1. How do governments deal with conflict?
    • Governments make rules
    • Rules as value allocations

Structural rules: (rules of the game) Definition - Rules that establish the organization, procedures, and powers of government. Policy rules: (rules of substance) Definition - A decision a government institution reaches on a specific political question within its jurisdiction.

. Bias in rules - no neutrality

  1. Implications:
  • Societal conflicts gravitate to government.
  • A political perspective on government focuses on how government manages the conflicts of society. Federal Government Rules of the Game: The Constitution I. Political Sources A. Colonial Era Experiences

3/5ths Compromise

  1. Executive Power : Enumerated (Article I) vs. Implied Powers (Article II) D. Politics of Ratification
  2. How many states needed to ratify?
  3. Who in states does the ratifying? E. Politics of Preempting Opposition: The Bill of Rights Summary: The Constitution is a product of the conflicts that shaped politics II. Philosophical Sources of the Constitution A. Intellectual Roots: Classical Liberalism
  4. Classical Liberalism's Goal: Protect individual freedom: - inalienable rights - individual equality - government protects rights
  5. Classical Liberalism's Implication:

Government should be:

  • Democratic
  • Majority Rule B. Paradox: Permanent Majorities Democratic majority rule endangers minority rights: majority tyranny Kash Federal Government Rules of the Game: The Constitution II. C. Solution: Three Sets of Modifications
  1. Deter permanent majorities Republicanism: (Representative vs. Direct Democracy) Indirect election rules Separation of powers Checks and balances
  1. political: concession by nationalists to supporters of states' rights III. C. Evolution of the Meaning of Federalism
  2. National Supremacy McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
  3. Interposition/Nullification (mid-1800's) States' Rights Doctrine
  4. Reasserting National Supremacy (1860's) Civil War and 14th amendment
  5. Dual Federalism (late-1800's - 1930's) 'Layer Cake' Metaphor
  6. Reasserting National Supremacy 'Marble Cake' Metaphor - Dimensions of Aid
  • Forms of Aid
  • Consequences of Aid: Fiscal Federalism

"Picket Fence Federalism"

  1. Limiting National Supremacy (today)
  • Lopez (1995) Gun-Free Schools Act
  • Brzonkala (2000) Violence Against Women Act Rules of the Game: The Constitution IV. Characteristics and Biases of the Constitution A. High value on protecting individual rights b. Status quo-oriented procedures c. Political flexibility because it is: Amendable Ambiguous Silent on specifics, e.g. bureaucracy, parties Rules of the Game: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

" actual malice" c. Obscenity:

  • not protected but hard to define
  • Miller v. California - (1973)
  1. Religious Freedoms: two components a. No Establishment: no official church, and more
  • Lemon v. Kurtzman - (1971)
  • 3-part test b. Free Exercise: protects beliefs & actions
  • Religious Freedom Restoration Act (1990)
  • 3 B. Criminal Suspects' Protections
  1. Search & Seizure (4th):
  • When is warrant needed?
  • Expectation of security: varies with circumstances: e.g., home vs. automobile
  • Exclusionary rule: Mapp v. Ohio - (1961)
  1. Self-Incrimination (5th):
  • When is confession voluntary?
  • Miranda v. Arizona - (1966) read rights
  1. Right to Counsel (6th)
  • Gideon v. Wainwright - (1963) C. Implied Protections:
  • Privacy: Griswold v. Conn.- (1965)
  • Abortion: Roe v. Wade - (1973)
  • Assisted Suicide:? III. Civil Rights A. Race-Based: earliest, most established
  1. Slavery Initially Legal: Constitution (I2: 3/5ths, I9: 1808, IV2: escaped slaves) Dred Scott (1857) Emancipation Proclamation (1863) -- only rebelling states
  2. Slavery Abolished: 13th Amendment Southern states' Response: Black Codes: limit property ownership, entry into contracts, service on juries
  3. Discrimination Denied: 14th Amendment "due process" and "equal protection"
  4. Discrimination Stays: Separate but Equal Dual Federalism: limits national government Jim Crow laws - segregation Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) - dejure segregation is legal NAACP forms (1909) uses courts to fight Jim Crow
  5. Segregation Prohibited: separate not equal Truman desegregates military (1948) Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Civil Rights movement (1950s-1960s)
  6. Civil Rights Broadly Protected -- Civil Rights Act of 1964 EEOC -- Voting Rights Act of 1965 more African-American elected officials
  7. Equal Opportunity and Equal Outcomes: dejure discrimination illegal, but defacto discrimination remains response: affirmative action

PS 110 Review Sheet Exam 1 The answers to the following questions should demonstrate your knowledge of the course concepts. In general, each answer should satisfy the following goals: 1) define important terms, 2) explain why they are important in the context of the book, and 3) answer the question. Note: use examples whenever possible to illustrate your answers. Chapter 1 Questions:

  1. Explain why conflict is inherent in society? Conflict is inherent in society for two main reasons. First, all societies have competition for scarce resources that leads to conflicts between citizens. This condition is called material scarcity. Second, citizens have different philosophies which, leads to disagreements about how to solve societal problems. Because these two conditions exist in all societies, they create a situation where conflict is inherent. The inescapable nature of conflict leads societies to develop governmental systems to address the conflict. 2.What makes government authoritative? Two things make a government authoritative. First, the legitimacy of the government must be reflected by its people. Legitimacy is the sense of obligation felt by its people. Second, the government must exert coercion. Coercion is the preponderance of force (i.e. military, police) created by the government to control its people. 3.How do governments settle conflicts?

Governments make rules to deal with conflict. These rules represent value allocations of its people. 4.Why are government rules seen as biased? Government rules are seen as biased because there is no neutrality when dealing with the values and beliefs of many people. What is good for some, may not be good for others and vice versa.

  1. Explain what it means to have a political perspective on government?
  2. In Bush vs Gore what reasons did the US Supreme Court give for not allowing a recount? Chapter 2 Questions:
  3. How did the experience of colonial rule under England affect the founders’ choice of governments when they wrote the Articles of Confederation?
  4. What problems under the Articles of Confederation led to the development of the Constitution?
  5. How did the Founders deal with the problem of how to determine the means of representation in the Constitution?
  6. What are the differences between enumerated and implied powers? Give examples to support your answer.
  7. What were the implications of Classical Liberal ideology on the design of the US Constitution?
  8. Explain three ways the founders dealt with the potential problems caused by permanent majorities.
  9. What were the political and philosophical reasons for adopting federalism?
  10. Explain how the ideas of interposition and nullification help to define the state's rights doctrine. 9.What are the differences between the layer cake and marble cake interpretations of federalism?
  11. Explain how "picket fence federalism" helps to explain the relationships
  1. In what ways did the founders address the issue of race in the Constitution? 3.What protections are provided citizens under the 14th^ Amendment? 4.What are the differences between de jure and de facto segregation (use examples from the book to support your answer)? 5.How has the US government tried to solve the problem of de facto segregation?
  2. Why do the solutions to de facto segregation generate potential problems under the 14th^ amendment?
  3. Why are civil rights considered a horizontal relationship?
  4. What amendment gave women the right to vote in the United States?
  5. What is civil disobedience and why would a person or group choose to use it?
  6. What is the importance of the Voting Rights Act of 1965?