| A | B |
|---|
| Levels of Government? Connection? | Federal, state, county, city, town= All have own rules and power but are all connected= All have sub departments |
| Problem with having many sub departments? | Have overlaping tasks= Hurts effective gov (i.e. response to emergencies) |
| Why Complexity? | Orig. designed to be complex= Would result in division of power to spread power and opportunity (thus allows competing groups/ideas, voices and prevents monarchial monopoly)= Complexity linked with liberty and political opportunity |
| Problems with Complexity (Paradox of political life) | Hard for citizens to participate (because many levels of gov.)= In Dictatorship, authority is simple but opport. is scarce; In America, political opport. is plentiful but their use is confusing |
| Focal Point of Politics | Electoral process (because it is not complex) |
| Clear vs. Hidden Political Struggles | Clear struggles (i.e. outsourcing) get support groups (thus struggle is known); Hidden struggles involve lying/deceiving and are unknown by public (i.e. say they want to help one thing but are secretly helping themselves) |
| Government | Describes the formal institutions through which a land and its people are ruled= Composed of institutions/processes that rulers make to strengthen and advance their power or control over a land and its people (control is the basis of government) |
| To Govern | To Rule |
| The State | Abstract concept refering to the source of all public authority (complex government) |
| 2 questions that determine difference between governments | Who governs and how much government control is allowed |
| Autocracy | Governing done by 1 person |
| Oligarchy | When a small group of landowners, military officers, or wealthy merchants control most of the governing decisions |
| Democracy | Government where more people participate and the populace is deemed to have influence over decision making |
| Substantive Limits | Limit governments in terms of what they can control |
| Procedural Limits | Limit governments in terms of how they exercise their control |
| Constitutional/Liberal Governments | Very limited governments |
| Authoritarian | Governments where the law imposes few real limits but, nevertheless, the government is kept in check by other political/social institutions that it is unable to control but must come to terms with (i.e. church, businesses) |
| Totalitarian | Governments that are free of legal limits and also seek to eliminate those organized social groupings that might challenge/limit their authority= Typically try to dominate/control all parts of political, economic, and social life (i.e. Nazi, Soviets) |
| 2 universal components of all governments | Means of coercion (use of force [police/army] to get people to do something) and a means of collecting revenue |
| Conscription | (Part of coercion) Where government requires certain involuntary services of its citizens (i.e. draft, jury, tax) |
| Problems with taxation | Distribution of tax burdens versus distribution of program benefits= Some get more benefits from government than they pay in taxes while others get less for their tax dollar |
| Why is government necessary to maintain order? | So people can live together peacefully= Governments purpose is to maintain order (which includes controlling territory and its people)= Necessary sacrifice since absence of rules/laws is anarchy |
| Although government power can threaten freedom... | Government is needed to keep order so we can enjoy freedom |
| Why is government necessary to protect property? | After safety of people comes security of a person's labor/property/private property (the right to own means nothing in the face of greater power)= Private property is meaningless without government of laws that makes trespass illegal |
| Property | All the laws against trespass that permit us not only to call something our own but also to make sure that our claim sticks |
| Why is government necessary to provide public goods | To prevent Free Riding= Without government's coercive powers, providing public goods (i.e. national defense, etc.) would not be done (since there is no incentive) |
| Free Riding | Idea that all people of similar interests can get the same benefit while only a few of them do the work |
| Public Good | A benefit that neighbors/members of a group cannot be kept from enjoying once any individual/small minority of members have provided the benefit for themselves |
| Politics | Conflicts over the character, membership, and policies of any organization to which people belong= Who gets what, when, and how |
| Goal of Politics | To have a share or a say in the composition of the governments leadership, how the government is organized, or what its policies are going to be |
| What do the rising levels of skepticism mean? | Means that many Americans doubt the capacityy of the political system to provide them with influence (i.e. less people voting) |
| 5 Principles of Politics | All political behavior has a purpose, all politics is collective action, institutions routinely solve collective-action problems, political outcomes are products of individual preferences and institutional procedures, history matters |
| Reason for government and why people are "political" | People have goals and want to obtain goals through political actions (i.e. reading newspaper)= All actions are done for a reason/have a goal (some for entertainment, others to influence an issue/cause) |
| Difference between public politics and governmental politics | US= for fun, a goal, and has minimal risks; GOVERNMENT= all important, tons of risk (thus think ahead) |
| Instrumental | Done with purpose, sometimes with forethought/calculation (done by politicians to reduce risk of decisions) |
| Making decisions means... | Weighing probabilities, determining personal value of different outcomes |
| Goal of politicians in decisions is... | Stay in control/office; keep their jobs |
| Retail Politics | Dealing directly with constituents (helps a person directly) |
| Wholesale Politics | Appealing to collections of constituents (helps a group of people [passing a bill]) |
| Why are elections so important? | Motivate politicians to help the people in order to stay in office (is motive) |
| How is working collectively achieved? | Politicians/groups offer incentive to unite differing views |
| Informal Bargaining | Agreements made without legal influence (sometimes fairly work, sometimes favor 1 group if beliefs are too strange)= Result in "split the difference" outcomes= Give a little to get a little |
| What allows informal bargaining | Repetition of mixed-motive occasions |
| Formal Bargaining | Interactions governed by rules (i.e. who makes first offer, etc.)= Common in official institutions= Result in many rules (i.e. bill is passed, new bill limits first bill, etc.)= Bargaining patterns are standardized (reducing unfair opportunity) |
| Collective Action | Gathering of resources and the coordination of effort and activity by a large group of people to achieve common goals (government is necessary to prevent free riding) |
| By-Product Theory | Idea that groups provide members with private benefits to attract membership= Possibility of group collective action emerges as a consequence |
| Why does free riding occur in collective action? | Most people in a big group don't make a big difference in the final outcome (doesn't hurt outcome or their interests but is dangerous if all free ride) |
| How is free riding solved in collective action? | Things of interests are offered to only active participants |
| Selective Benefits | Benefits that do not go to everyone but are distributed selectively (only to those who contribute to the group enterprise)= Done by charging members (thus people will work for selective benefits) |
| Rationality Principle describes... | Individual initiative (what caused an action) |
| Collective Action describes... | Paradoxes encountered, obstacles that must be overcome, and the necessary incentives to unite people |
| Institutions | The rules and procedure that provide incentives for political behavior, thereby shaping politics (allow for collective action) |
| Common | Owned by everyone and therefore is the responsibility of no one person |
| Tragedy of the Commons | individual purposes may clash with collective welfare (resulting in a common being overgrazed, etc.) |
| Jurisdiction | (Feature of institution) To designate someone with power to apply rules/make decisions= Members recognize jurisdiction and impose limits if power is abused |
| Decisiveness | (Feature of institution) Rules for making decisions= More rules made for a broader participation (i.e. power to open/close/finalize discussions/decisions)= WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN |
| Agenda Power | Who determines what will be taken up for consideration in the first place |
| Gatekeeping | Power to make proposals and the power to block proposals from beingmade (keeps stuff off an institutions agenda) |
| Veto Power | Ability to defeat something even if it does become part of the agenda |
| Delegation | Where citizens (through voting) delegate the authority to make decisions on their behalf to representatives rather than exercising political authority directly |
| What is the basis of representative democracy? | By delegating, citizens don't have to be specialists and can focus on other things |
| Principal Agent Relationship | Relationship between a principal and his agent= Relationship may be affected by the fact that each is motivated by self-interest, yet their interests may not be well aligned |
| Transaction Costs | Cost of clarifying each aspect of a principal-agent relationship and monitoring it to make sure arrangements are complied with |
| Policy Principle | Political outcomes are the products of individual preferences and institutional procedures |
| Why is change difficult? | Status quo prevails since many people must be satisfied (compensation is needed) |
| Pork-Barrel Legislation | Act of promising great things and not truly following through |
| History Principle | All problems and their solutions/outcomes have a history (must understand) |
| Path Dependency | Idea that certain possibilities are made more likely due to historical path taken |
| Why does history matter? | Rules and procedures (past choices affect us today), loyalties/alliances, past events/views shape current views/opinions |
| Ambition + institutions = ? | Policy |
| Taxes: Which give the government the most money (in order)? | Individual income tax--> corporate income tax--> social insurance tax--> excise/state/gift tax--> customs duties tax |
| Anarchy | Life outside the state= Life of continual fear and danger of violent death and life is poor, short, and brutal |
