1.

Power- definition: the ability of one person to make another act in accordance with
his/her intentions

2. Authority- definition: the right to use power

- Connects to legitimacy…political authority given by law or by a state or
national constitution

3. Representative Democracy- a government in which leaders make decisions by winning

a competitive struggle for the popular vote
-“Elitist theory” of government
- Direct = likely to lead to bad decisions (fleeting passions and popular demand)

4. Pluralism- theory stating that several groups representing the people govern the US
-Special interest groups (NRA, MADD, NAACP)
-Open system with overlapping loyalties
-Public support

5. Liberty-
1) Right to bring legal cases before an independent judge rather than ones
subordinate to the kind
2) No troops quartered in-house
3) Engage in trade without burdensome restrictions
4) No taxation without representation
- John Locke: “Natural Rights” Life, Liberty, and Property – later changed to
“pursuit of happiness by Thomas Jefferson (omitted all reference to slave
trade)
- Unalienable rights

6. Federalism- Government authority shared by national and state governments

- Enumerated, reserved, and concurrent powers
- Checks & balances
- Federalists: “nationalists”
- Antifederalists- “state’s righters”

7. Federalist Papers 10 & 51

- Written by James Madison in response to Antifederalists’ complaints about
Federalism proposed in the Constitution
- Fed 10: large nation means citizen’s rights are protected
 Can’t control causes of factions, but can control effects
 No one can judge his own cause, would be biased
- Fed 51: Separation of powers- direct reflection of 3 branches
 Checks & balances- each dept. gets will of its own
 Federalism- two points, checks and balances/ power given by
people, guard interests of minority to secure rights

8. McCulloch v. Maryland- Could Congress charter a national bank?

 - Yes, although the power is not explicitly in the constitution (Necessary &
Proper) “elasticity clause”
- Could states tax the national bank?
- No, “the power to tax is the power to destroy”
- Established supremacy of the National government over the states

9. Grants- money given by the national government to the states

- Categorical: specific purposes defined by federal law
- Block: general purposes w/ few restrictions
- Revenue Sharing: no matching funds & can be spent on almost any
governmental purpose

10. Devolution- effort to transfer responsibility from federal government to the states
- Devolution Revolution of 1994: headed by Congress, no the president =greater
support

11. Political Culture- a distinctive patterned way of thinking about how politics &
economics ought to be carried out.

12. Political values- American political values include…

- Liberty: preoccupied w/ rights
- Equality: equal vote & chance to participate
- Democracy: government officials accountable to the people
- Individual Responsibility: Civic duty

13. Political efficacy- A belief that you can take part in politics or that the government
will respond to the citizenry
- Sharp drop in external efficacy since the mid 60’s

14. Political ideology- a more or less consistent set of beliefs about what policies
government ought to pursue
- Liberal, conservative, socialists, radicals
- Inconsistencies are normal

15. Conservative- on both economic policy & personal conduct

- Government intervention
- Low taxes
- Lock up criminals

16. Liberal- on economic & conduct

- Reduce economic inequality (government)
- Regulate business
- Tax the rich heavily
- Allow abortions

17. Liberitarian- conservative on economic matters but liberal on social ones

 - Small, weak government: little control over the economy or personal lives of
citizens

18. Interest Groups- also called factions

- See Pluralism or Fed 10

19. Public Policy- created by elites (state the norms)

- Then help determine the range of acceptable and unacceptable policy options
- Elites have influence on public (AIDS)

20. Incentives- something of value someone cannot get without joining (mass-
membership organizations)
- 3 kinds of incentives…
 Solidary- social rewards (sense of pleasure, status, or
companionship)
 Material- money, things, or services readily valued in monetary
terms
 Purposive- the appeal of the group’s stated goals (Strong sense of
duty)

21. Public opinion- how people think or feel about particular things
- In business, public opinion can spell the difference between profit and loss
- Opinion in government can be invalid as studies have shown that most are ill
informed

22. Media-
- Early Years of Republic: Newspapers defined by parties they’re created by
(most created by presidents)
- Changes in society led to rise of self-supporting newspapers (high speed
rotary press)
- Electronic journalism
- Internet
- Radio
- Roles of Media: Gatekeeper, Scorekeeper, Watchdog

23. Bicameralism- “Bicameral Legislature”

- A lawmaking body made up of two chambers or parts
- Congress: House of Representatives & Senate
- Keeps system in “check”

24. Filibuster- A prolonged speech or series of speeches used to delay action in order to
stop a bill from being passed

25. Congressional Voting Behaviors-

- Attitudinal (act on own beliefs)
- Representational (act to please constituents
 - Organizational (voting based on colleagues)
- Delegate & trustee (methods of decision making in politics)

26. Senate Leadership

- Majority Leader: Sets agenda

27. House Leadership

- Speaker of the House: Sets agenda and throws dentures at others who disturb
her

28. Propinquity- The ability of a presidential assistant to affect the president

- Power is wielded by people who are in the room when a decision is made
- 3 degrees of propinquity: White House office, Executive office, & the Cabinet

29. Congressional Staff

- Has greatly grown over the years through growth of committees
- Spend most of time servicing requests from constituents
- Staff Agencies: Work for Congress as a whole
 CRS- information
 GAO- accounting
 OTA- technology
 CBO- Budget

30. Veto- to reject legislation

- Veto message- must be produced within 10 days of bill passage
- Pocket veto- within 10 day president does not sign and Congress has
adjourned, bill is automatically vetoed
- Line-item veto- Unconstitutional

31. Executive Privilege- privilege of confidentiality

- Based on 2 things (separation of powers doctrine and principles of statecraft
that require the right of confidentiality)
- Issue met for 1st time with United States v. Nixon
- Stated: “no absolute, unqualified Presidential privilege of immunity from
judicial process under all circumstances
- Hence: the lying cheater had to hand the tapes over…Ha Ha Sucker

32. Bureaucracy-
- Has grown with times
- Grows during crisis/war/economic hardships
- Competitive service, now more qualifications of specialists rather than general
smarts
- Buddy system & name-request jobs (networking) (In other words…cheating)
- Red tape- waste, duplication, conflict, imperialism

33. Merit System- Pendleton Act, 1883

 - Slow but steady transfer of federal jobs from patronage to merit system
- Republicans willing to relinquish its patronage
 Public outrage
 Fear of being fired
- Gained presidential support
- “Blanketing in”

34. Strict Constructionist- view that judges should decide a case based strictly on the
language of the laws and the constitution
- Activist approach- interpret laws
- Cannot be defined as liberals

35. Federalist 78-

- Alexander Hamilton
- Reassures critics of Constitution that the federal judiciary will not
trample/take advantage of individual rights, interfere/get in the way of state
governments or rival/compete with other branches in power
- Original intention of the framers…not necessarily true today
- Supposed to be the least dangerous
- Executive: sword
- Legislature: purse & rules
- Judiciary: judgment

36. Dred Scott- Roger B. Taney

- Slave residing in free territory with owner was not a free person
- Missourri compromise- unconstitutional

37. Precedent-
- Comes from power to make policy & judicial activism
- Once precedent is set courts use it in other cases to achieve consistency and
reduce appeals

38. Certiorari- Latin word meaning “made more certain”

- Writ of Certiorari: Order by a higher court to direct a lower court to send up a
case for review

39. Brief- written statement by an attorney that summarizes a case & the laws & rulings
that support it
- Most important, holds most important information

40. Blacks & voting-

- Literacy test
- Poll tax
- Grandfather Clause
- White Primary
- All used to keep blacks from voting
41. Political participation-
- 18 year olds voting: no difference in participation
- Voting = most common form of participation
- Four categories of limited forms of participation
 Voting specialists
 Campaigners
 Communalists- more non-partisan nature
 Parochial participants- do not vote, but will contact local officials
about personal problems
- Participation higher among educated and people with money

42. Founders- Hamilton, Madison, John Jay

- Conserve unalienable rights
- Wrote Federalist papers

43. 527 organizations-

- Named after a provision of the Internal Revenue code
- Raise money to advance political causes
- Started after laws stating only so much money could go to a particular person
running for election
- Instead of supporting a person, they just support their cause