8-31-11SI – POLS 207Sunday 7-8pmTuesday 7-8pmWednesday 8-9pmChapter 1- Americans want to take the easy way out; avoid difficulty- Immigration Reform Act of 1960: higher fertility rate, more optimism explains higher growth rate of Hispanics compared to whites- Chinese Exclusion Act: allowing more Asians in because China was our ally; lifted Act- Highest per capita income: White- Highest level of education: Asian- Highest level of household income: higher for Asian Americans; lower for whiteso Asians have larger households (they live together) More paychecks- States created the federal government and states create/oversee local governments- Government programs that do not bring benefits should not be copiedo Why do states enact policies that have not worked in another state?1. Other states may be unaware of failures2. Those making decisions may think their state offers a better chance for the program to work; what failed elsewhere will succeed in their state3. They may not care that it’s failed before as long as it benefits certain interests4. Those making the decision may be under pressure to take effective action, at least temporarily, by enacting a program that’s failed before5. Voter demands may result in what is popular rather than what is truly effective6. If a state is in trouble, they may grasp at any program that offers help, even unsuccessful ones7. If it helps elected officials get reelected, they may pass policies that will fail8. In states where voters can enact policies, they may do so without knowledge of other failures in other stateso Why would a state fail to enact a policy that has worked in another state?1. Those making decisions may be unaware of other state’s successes2. Legislators may think their state does not offer a chance for the program to work3. Those making decisions may not care that a program will succeed if the program does not benefit the interests they care most about4. Those making decisions may be unwilling to reallocate resources from other programs or obtain additional resources to implement the successful program5. Voters may be ignorant of successful programs elsewhere6. Those making decisions may ignore successful programs elsewhere if they believe inaction will not reduce their chances for reelection7. Voters may be indifferent to successful programs that benefit a small or unpopular segment of the population8. Those making decisions may not think the problem is sufficiently important- Administration costs makes healthcare costs high- Healthcare is the first highest expenditure for the U.S. governmento Healthcare is one of the highest costs Not in correlation to quality More than half is paid by federal gov’t- National defense is the second highest expenditure for the U.S.o Paid completely by federal gov’t- Social Security is the third highesto Paid entirely by federal gov’t- Elementary and Secondary Education is the fourth highest expenditureo Primarily paid for by the state government State choice9/7/11Comparing States and Communities- Physical and demographico Size and populationo Percentage metropolitan (50K/110K)- Wealtho High income- Social Problemso Murdero Unemploymento Educating children- Coping with social problemso Death penaltyo Costs of public education9-9-11- Elementary and secondary education is state controlled- Each different state expands how they wanto TX: state spending went down from 80% to 40% until TX Supreme Court steppedin; because ruling was based on our TX constitution- We want to use our federal spendingo In terms of percentage, our federal spending is at its highest level (2009) Over time, it bounced back and forth between state being higher- Fairly consistent starting in the 50’s of federal being higher than state- *Went down during the 90so Surplus under Clinton (wanted to reduce gov’t spending)- Highest during WWII- Correlations (not the same thing as Cause and Effect)o Technique for expressing relationships in quantitative termso The degrees of inherent association which exists between any two variables occurring simultaneously in the same universe o Run between 0 to 1 (perfect relationship) and 0 to -1 If it is between 0-1, the slope runs from left to right; positive correlation If it is between 0—1, the slope runs from right to left; negative
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