POLS 2311 1st EditionExam # 1 Study Guide Lectures: 1 - 9Lecture 1 (January 22)Chapter OnePolitical Thinking: Becoming a Responsible CitizenConcepts covered in this lecture: Political thinking.Political thinking is when one carefully and thoughtfully examines information and evidence of politics and forms a knowledgeable, intelligent opinion on political issues. However, an “unwillingness to make the effort to self-inform,” biased media consumption, and prevalent faulty perceptions get in the way of political thinking.Since POLS is “the systematic study of government and politics,” it can contribute to political thinking by helping students learn to think more analytically when it comes to politics.Lecture 2 (January 27) Chapter One, ContinuedPolitical Thinking: Becoming a Responsible CitizenConcepts covered in this lecture: Politics, power, and political systems.Important people mentioned in this lecture: Harold Lasswell and Michel Foucalt. Lasswell described politics as “the struggle that determines who gets what, when, and how.” Foucalt, a French philosopher, described it as “war by other means.”Definitions: Politics—the means by which society settles its conflicts and allocates the resulting benefits and costs. Power—the ability of persons, groups, or institutions to influence political developments. Authoritarian and totalitarian governments—nondemocratic, repressive regime types. Majoritarianism—the majority effectively determines what government does. Elitism—a small number of influential groups/people control public policy. Authority—the recognized rightof officials to exercise power. Constitutionalism—the idea that there are lawful restrictions on the government’s power. The Constitution—a document of elaborate checks and balances and the Bill of Rights. Judicial action—the use of the courts as a means of asserting rights and interests.Three political systems mentioned in this lecture are the democratic system, the constitutional system, and the free market system. The democratic system is governed by the people, either directly or through representation; historically, having a democratic system in place leads to a majority rule. The constitutional system is where a constitutional document defines the rights for the people, places checks and balances on the government, and also puts restraints on majority power. The free market system works through private transactions and government regulation. Thanks to this, the tax rate is much lower in this country.Lecture 3 (January 29)Chapter TwoConstitutional Democracy: Promoting Liberty and Self-GovernmentConcepts covered in this lecture: Events before the Constitution, the three most important documents in American history, the split of the country, compromises, and the framing and ratification of the Constitution.The colonists’ dealings with democratic institutions before the Constitution were Parliament and colonial charters. The way they were treated by the British Empire—such as the Stamp Act and the Townsend Act—made them wary of a powerful central government. Tired of the taxes from Britain, the colonists created the First Continental Congress to define their wants. The Battle at Lexington and Concord came soon after, leading to the Declaration of Independence, the first majorly important document.Eventually came the Articles of Confederation, written during the Civil War. Due to the colonists’fears of the British monarchy happening again in the colonies, the Articles were meant to put a weak central government in place. Because of this Congress, which was a compromise to settle the desires of small states and large states who wanted proper representation, had very little authority.Most importantly of all American documents is the Constitution. It was created to make the government strong enough to provide for the country’s needs since the Articles of Confederation made it too weak. It was also meant to protect the liberty of the people and basethe government off the consent of the governed.The Three-Fifths Compromise was made due to concerns of slavery and trade. Because of this, Congress would not tax exports or outlaw slavery, and three-fifths of the slave population counted for apportionment of taxes and representation.Important people mentioned in this lecture: John Locke—the man whose ideals Jefferson pulled from while writing the Constitution. Locke believed in life, liberty, and property, as well asthe social contract—meaning the government is responsible to protect the people’s rights. Lecture 4 (February 3)Chapter Two, ContinuedConstitutional Democracy: Promoting Liberty and Self-GovernmentConcepts covered in this lecture: Liberty and Self-GovernmentGrants and denials were one way U.S. politicians tried to protect liberty. Grants were meant to limit government by stating powers, whereas denials were meant to limit government by statingprohibitions.Another way they wanted to protect liberty was by using power to offset power, such as the checks and balances the three branches (executive, judiciary, and legislative) have on each other.The Bill of Rights protected liberty by stating the rights of the people and making sure the government can’t establish laws that infringe the rights of the people.A democracy and a republic were both debated as a means of providing self-government for thepeople. Of course America ended up with both. The majority rules, but the Electoral College andfederal judges are put in place to limit majority rule.Lecture 5 (February 5)Chapter ThreeFederalism: Forging a NationConcepts covered in this lecture: Federalism and sovereignty.Definitions: Dual federalism—the separation of national power from state power. Laissez-faire capitalism—“do as you please” capitalism. Cooperative federalism—shared policy responsibilities. Fiscal federalism—federal funds for state programs. Categorical grants—federal funds restricted to certain state programs. Block grants—federal funds for the state programs addressed to a general concern. Devolution—shift of power to the states.As with any system, there were people for and against federalism. These people are known as the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Federalists supported federalism because they believed authority was supposed to be divided into national and regional levels, it protected liberty, promoted responsive government so the people could get the help they needed