Political Science 1041 01 Spring 2013 Some preliminary preparation suggestions for Exam 1 Tuesday February 12 The first exam will consist of approximately 60 multiple choice questions You will need to be familiar with the first five textbook chapters chs 1 5 in Kernell Jacobson and Kousser s The Logic of American Politics 5th ed and the classroom material Some advice on reviewing terms concepts and topics In most instances looking up a one sentence definition or explanation does not prepare you to deal effectively with an exam question You should have an understanding of why a term concept or topic is important within the context of the chapter and or classroom presenta tion what I would refer to as a working definition There are no quick substitutes for reading and reviewing the chapters and reviewing a good complete set of class notes The textbook web site http college cqpress com sites logic Home aspx contains on line quizzes that should provide you with some indication of your familiarity with the textbook chapters Some important terms concepts and topics from the classroom presentations remember that you are also responsible for the textbook chapters political science political what we study science how we study theory hypothesis a generalized explanation for the behavior or outcome of interest a tentative statement or educated guess that follows from the theory and that can be tested with data purposes roles of government provide public and collective goods preserve order security and freedom state of nature refers to a condition of humanity in which no governing body ex ists There are no rights only freedoms State of nature Public goods a public good is both non rivalrous and non excludable This means that no one individual is limited from accessing this good more than the other some examples of this would include fresh air street lighting and national defense collective action problems occurs when individuals pursue own self interest each individuals thought do benefits costs for me an example would be listening to music too loud Olson s free rider problem once good or benefit is provided you cannot exclude anyone from enjoying it no one individual makes the difference in terms of whether that good is provided each individual has a selfish interest to free ride Hardin s tragedy of the commons and how to address acting in self interest each individual keeps extracting from using public good leading to the destruction of that public good ex polluting the clean air Robert Putnam s social capital indicators of decline of and his explanation of why a de cline social capital interpersonal networks norms or behaviors and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation research suggests that areas where social capital is high do better politically and economically Articles of Confederation This was an agreement among the original 13 states that established the U S as a confederation of sovereign states and served as our first constitution how why a stronger government under the Constitution Constitutional features to prevent abuse of power e g separation of powers with checks and balances guiding principles and motives of the Framers what is some of the evi dence here There are 3 features of the constitution that prevent the national government from Separation of powers with checks and balances abusing its great power 1 2 3 Federalism Bill Of Rights made specefically to protect individual rights The constitution gave us greater order while still protecting individual freedom conflicts or trade offs among basic social values political ideology conservative liberal libertarian populist ideologies a liberal will not sacrifice freedom for order a conservative believes very heavily in order and not so much about equality a libertarian places their priority on freedom populist tend to be known as the peoples party and hold more communistic views Madison s view of human nature madison held a realistic view on human nature He believed that man in his natural state was capable of self discipline and reason Federalist 10 Madison s concerns and importance of design of new government Madison claimed that the republican form of government created under the new constitution would allow all the factions the room and venues to express themselves and to influence the working of gov by getting their members elected and appointed to of fices Minority groups would be protected under this form of gov Under this system the majority would rule but the minority would have to be taken into consideration numer ous factions would also keep one group from taking complete and total control of govern ment Madison discussed the problems with factions and how a large republic would be the perfect remedy if it were framed by the constitution He states 2 methods for dealing with violence of faction including 1 removing the causes or 2 controlling the effects Madison makes an argument for a large republic stating that in a small republic there will be a lower number of variety of interests making a majority more frequently prevalent Federalism the division of power and responsibilities between the national gov and state gov Unitary system Voters central gov state and local Federation state and local gov Voters Central gov Confederation Voters state and local gov central gov Dual Federalism in dual federalism there is two important distinct levels of government including 1 the government and 2 the state There is a limited national government This is how a libertarian would prefer it McCulloch v Maryland 1819 state of maryland levied tax against second bank of U S congress told ppl of second bake not to pay tax McCulloch refused to pay the taxes 2 questions are raised in this case 1 does congress have power to create bank of United States 2 does state have ability to tax the national gov National gov has implied powers through necessary and proper clause article 1 section 8 congress can make al laws that shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution those powers expressly given to congress when their is a conflict between national law and state law na wins tional implied powers powers that are authorized in a legal document and are not physically stated but rather implied by the powers stated necessary and proper clause The congress shall have Power To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the forgoing powers and all other Powers vested by this
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