Political Science 206 Texas A M University Midterm Review I You should be comfortable with the following terms and concepts Keep in mind that these are just some but by no means all of the more important topics we ve covered in lecture the readings What is politics o Harold Lasswell Politics is the struggle of who gets what when and how o Politics is all about conflict resolving conflict in a peaceful way o Politics consists of negotiation bargaining and compromise War resolves conflict by other means the use of force o It exists when people are interdependent and have to make collective decisions What are institutions o Rules by which conflict is resolved o Examples of political institutions Electoral laws Congress Presidency Bureaucracy Judicial system o Definition of government collective set of political institutions Deals with a lot of complex decisions How can government resolve conflict o Government has coercive power o Government has a monopoly on the legitimate use of force o If you break the law you go to jail o Government can enforce collective agreements because of its coercive power Basic forms of government o o Similarities and differences Core democratic values Pluralism o o Public vs private goods o Definitions of o Examples of o Why government Collective action problems o Definitions of o Examples of Declaration of Independence Articles of Confederation o What were they o What were its major features o Why did it break down Bill of Rights Who were the Federalists Anti Federalists o What did they stand for Constitution o What events precipitated the Constitutional convention o Who wrote it o What were the major proposals Federalist 10 51 o What is the main logic o What are factions o Difference between majority minority factions o How to tame factions Direct democracy o What is it o How does it differ from a republican representative democracy Constitutional powers of president congress judiciary o How are these individuals selected o Length of term o Constituency o Size o Apportionment o Powers o Cumulatively what do all of these differences mean Parliament vs U S Congress o How does a parliamentary system work o Implications of a parliamentary system for party strength citizen information executive legislative relations accountability divided vs unified government House Senate similarities differences o Implications of differences Leadership in the House and Senate Advertising o What are the major positions o What responsibilities do these positions entail o What is this o Examples of o Is this activity problematic Why or why not Position taking o What is this o Examples of o Is this activity problematic Why or why not Credit claiming Pork barreling o What is this o Examples of o Is this activity problematic Why or why not o What is this o Examples of o Is this activity problematic Why or why not Norm of universalism o What s the logic behind this Perquisites of office o What is this o Examples of o What are the implications of this Concepts of representation o Different types of responsiveness Tenure and career patterns Impeachment process Backgrounds of MCs Congressional pay and perquisites Leadership in the House and Senate The committee system o Why do we have committees in Congress o Examples of o What is the seniority system Role of parties o Why do we have parties in Congress How a bill becomes a law o What are the basic procedures o What are the implications of these procedures
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