American Political Science Flashcards

No matter the winner of the vote, there is always a majority that prefers someone else. (A > B > C | C> A > B | B > C > A )

"organized groups of people seeking to influence public policy"

Represent and organize public preferences, influence
government officials by promoting specific policies.

determining the alternatives

- whoever sets agenda -> influences outcomes

A long term coalition of groups seeking to influence elections and public policy

- parties form coalitions share interests or differences

A citizen's feeling of personal attachment to a political party

happens thru 1. cog. bias 2. social identity 3. rational self-interest

Signals that party leaders send to voters, which voters can use as "shortcuts" in taking a position (exmpl. calling something woke or liberal? for maga?)

The collection of issue positions and political principles advocated by party leaders

- different groups w/i a party coalition affect the party ideology

- not all parties have a coherent or single ideology

in a unidimensional policy space, electoral candidates choose policy platforms at the preference of the median voter

median voter is uncertain about positioning and ideology of parties OR vote based on other factors

one rep per constituency

vote in the party list

- In PR systems, voters cast their ballots for a party rather than
for a candidate, and the percentage of votes a party receives in a
district determines how many of that district’s seats the party will
gain.

Voters select a single candidate, and the candidate who receives the most votes wins even if they did not receive a majority

40% > 30% > 27% > 3%

in PVR systems, at most there will at most be 2 electoral canindates

Voters rank candidates and if no candidate receives a majority of voters’ first choices, then the lowest scoring candidate is eliminated and second-choice votes used. This is repeated until a candidate receives a majority.

the structure of political party competition in a country

No one group dominates policymaking because cross-cutting cleavages
allow groups to form ad hoc alliances on issues of greatest concern to
them.

system in which two or more states, groups, principles, sources of authority, etc., coexist. (political power is distrubuted)

Multiple dimensions of conflicting interests among groups in society

Individuals fail to act together despite everyone being potentially better off

individual benefits to contributing

Individual benefits from expressing or communicating one’s self-conception to others

benefit without contributing

Effort by an organized group or individual to influence decisions of government.

information (?)

ability to influence voters

Lobbyists influence legislators by decreasing legislators’ cost to working on specific policies

who wins?

what do we fight about? (agenda setting)

how government policies match public preferences | "top-down"

The degree of public attention to an issue

Everyday citizens who constitute the vast majority of voters

Government officials, electoral candidates, party leaders, etc. who pay close attention to politics and pursue policy goals.

A system or structure of beliefs about politics / society

A perspective that is at its core an identity rooted in place and class . . . infused with a sense of distributive injustice—a sense that rural folks don’t get their fair share”

- Cramer

the knowledge of the particular circumstances of time and place | more likely to be at the disposal of particular individuals

- Hayek

knowledge of an institutional system

A research tool for measuring public opinion in which questions are asked of a sample (the “respondents”) in order to learn about a larger population.

what goes with what ( a liberal would hold liberal positions on all beliefs )

Association between two variables

Association between two variables that are not causally related

the same individuals are surveyed on multiple occasions over time

- Allows for the potential to measure change in individual beliefs

innocent of ideology

- kinder and kalmoe

closely connected with ideology

refers to a professional army maintained in time of peace

First 10 ammendments

Rights an individual holds by nature (pre-government) that are not transferred to government when the government is established, and hence that the government cannot violate.

- Thomas Jefferson

governments derive their power from the consent of the governed

that endowed with natural and unalienable rights (life, liberty, pursuit of happiness)

Specific powers of government explicitly listed (“enumerated”) in the Constitution

- Article 1, S8 (18 granted)

Powers of government granted in the Constitution, but not explicitly listed. (granted to congress)

(implied power, A1 S8) Congress shall have Power . . . To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers

Four laws based by Congress, supported
by Federalists | Alien Enemies Act: “To give the president additional powers to detain foreigners during times of war, invasion, or predatory incursion”

Freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition government

Reserved Rights: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not
be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people

Enumerated powers: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

incorporates the bill of rights, applying rights to state and local governments

- Madison

An extended republic is a large-scale representative democracy governing a vast territory and diverse population, designed to prevent tyranny and control factions.

number of citizens, united by an interest/passion for rights of citizens or interests of community

centralized / small forms of gov

establishes constitution as supreme law of the land, (federal law over local)

contriving the interior structure of the government as that its several constituent parts may, by their mutual relations, be the means of keeping each other in their proper places

supporter of a strong central government, wanted constitution ratified

argued against ratification, wanted more power to states

representative acts according to the interests or preferences of the people who elect them

rep "looks like" or is a member of the same group they represent

consist of a Senate and House of Representatives

narratives that a nation tells to unify people

The president is selected by a majority vote in the Electoral College.

number of electors corresponds to the number of House + Senate members from each state.

Statutory and constitutional interpretation

a system of government that divides and shares power between a central national government and regional state/local governments, allowing both to coexist within the same territory.

official, usually elected, lawmaking branch of a government, responsible for creating, amending, and repealing laws

first constitution of the united states

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest federal court in the nation, established by Article III of the Constitution as the final arbiter of law.

cost spread over a large group of X

policy only benefits one group

the part of an individual's self-concept derived from membership in social groups (e.g., race, religion, party) that shapes political attitudes and behaviors

the formal rules, laws, and organizational structures—such as constitutions, parliaments, and judiciaries—that govern political behavior, distribute power, and structure decision-making