Revision Lecture Summer Term IDP USA (1)

8/17/2019 Revision Lecture Summer Term IDP USA (1)

1/21

US politics

INTRODUCTION TO DEMOCRATIC POLITICS

Tips for the examRevision lectre Smmer Term !"#$

San%ra Le&n


2/21

A summary of the topics on the US…(checks notes on the revision lecture in Spring)

• Institutions – Separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism

• A (not so) perfect democracy – lections, political parties and competition

• A (not so) perfect democracy – !olitical participation

• !olitical e"uality and economic ine"uality – #he origins of representative democracies

• conomic ine"uality and political e"uality – Interest groups


3/21

$evision

• $evise actively, not %ust simply reading and re&reading the notes

•

'ercise visual memory, verbal memory, audiomemory – or e'ample, now that the US electoral primaries are

going on, check some news *an you use what youhave learned in the module to discuss them+• *an you say something on pros and cons of primaries+

• *an you say something on the current vs past role of theparty convention+


4/21

!ractise writing

• !ractise thinking and writing "uickly-et your hand trained to write fast

• .o the past e'ams against the clock

•

/eet with others to discuss answersor ask the lecturer (0- #hursdays1,23&44am)


5/21

Ask for guidance

• Usual problems…

– 5I cannot manage to develop a long argument

on any topic6 (lack of in&depthknowledge7connections)

– 5I cannot 8nd the way to do comparison6

– 5I found out that I do not "uite understand a

topic6 – 5I am not sure whether my response is right or

wrong6

…


6/21


7/21

In the e'am


8/21

$ead "uestions carefully

• $ead and re&read each "uestion

• :ou might think a topic you have good command on isnot in the e'am %ust because the wording is unusual

• A topic you have good command on may not bespeci8cally addressed in the "uestion, but is part of theanswer in di;erent "uestions

•


9/21

>hat e'ams "uestions arenot…

• 'am "uestions are not about writing downeverything you know about a topic because – :ou may run out of time to answer other

"uestions – #he te't may look incoherent7patchy

– :our writing may look illegible

• #ry to get the best mark you can bybuilding a narrative in the answer (acoherent and structured answer)


10/21

>hich "uestion 8rst+

• .o the easiest "uestion 8rst >hy+

– -etting one "uestion safely will increaseyour con8dence and reduce stress

– #he easiest "uestion will take you less

time so you will leave more time tospend on the more di?cult "uestion


11/21

!lan before you write

• I cannot insist enough about the importance ofthis -et your ideas across clearly and conciselywill help you to@

– Identify the main topics and discussion areas

– *hoose the points7arguments about which you can write

– See how they are linked

– Structure your answer (and make it more coherent)

• So please make a mini&plan as detailed as possiblebefore you start writing It is never a waste of time


12/21

Structure the answer

• Show in the introduction how you understandthe "uestion and outline how you will answer it

• /ake one point or argument per paragraphan% smmarise to sho' ho' it ans'ersthe (estion

• In your conclusion summarise the argumentsto answer the "uestion


13/21

If you are running out oftime

• .ont panic 9ook at the points7arguments youhave left and divide up your remaining time tocover them all

• If you really cant 8nish in time, list in bulletpoints the arguments you wanted to make B thatcould help the reader to assess your knowledgeon the topics you cannot fully cover


14/21

Cuestion 4

5'plain rationale, bene8ts and challengesassociated to 5checks&and&balances6

institutions in the US6

• #he answer to this "uestion is easier toorganise because the "uestion itself providesa way to structure the answer around three

aspects@ rationale, bene8ts and challenges – Alternatively, you may want to focus on rationale

and challenges if you want to spouse the argumentthere are no bene8ts in *0D


15/21

Introduction

• State very brieEy what the checks&and&balance system is

• Summarise the three main points youwant to make in answering the"uestion@ the origins, the main

bene8t of *0D and the mainchallenges associated to *0D


16/21

$ationale

• It is asking you about the origins@ the reason why the ounding athersdecided to introduce a checks&and&balance system in the US institutionalstructure

• Aspects you may want to cover (you do not necessarily have to cover all ofthem=)

– The fears of the )on%in* )athers a+ot t,rann,- the a+se of po'er

– *0D together with separation of powers and federalism

• 9iberalism and tyranny

– #he discussion on the role of the e'ecutive (how strong it should be) in theconstitutional convention in !hiladelphia illustrates the importance of the "uestion

• #he failed *onfederation is related to a too weak e'ecutive= #hatFs why a second constitution wasneeded=


17/21

Dene8ts

• .escribe here (or earlier in the te't) the basicstructure of *0D

– .istribution of powers between the e'ecutive and the

legislature and viceversa (do not spend too much time inthe description=)

– Gote that you may have partially discussed the potentialbene8ts when discussing the ideas of the ounding athers• :ou can complement them by referring more generally to the

bene8ts of the separation of powers (by comparing presidentialsystem vs parliamentary systems) or instance, a more directaccountable e'ecutive+


18/21

*hallenges

• ramers had a greater fear of the ADUS of power than of an IGADI9I#: toe'ercise it

• Worried about separation of powers, not about deadlock

• Illustrate the comple'ity of the legislative process due to division ofpowers between House and Senate

•

9imits of *ongress to control the e'ecutive

• *onse"uences in policy making of deadlock• or instance, slower adaptation to short&term changes in preferences of citiens+

• volution B deadlock more fre"uent under dividedgovernment7polarisation (is it more fre"uent now than before+)

• US political parties and their limited capacity to impose discipline onlegislators (organisation of parties)

•


19/21

Cuestion J

• 5!olitical e"uality will bring economice"uality .iscuss6

• #his type of "uestion re"uires fromthe student a stronger e;ort inorganising the answer, but it allows

more Ee'ibility in the response


20/21

!otential answersThe more philosophicalapproach

• 9iberalism and the idea of politicale"uality (AG. protection ofproperty)

• #he origins of representative

democracies based upon asyllogism

• How the 5fear of democracy(tyranny of the ma%ority)6 of theounding athers can be traced inthe@

– .iscussions in the !hiladelphia*onvention (who elects the *hambers+)

– #he design of the US constitution (limitson democracy)

The more empirical approach

• .escribe fears of the oundingathers

• Have they actually beenaccomplished+ .iscuss economicine"ualities in the US (or acrosscountries)

– 9imits to political e"uality

• !olitical participation andsocioeconomic status in the US (andhow it may a;ect representation)

• #he role of interest groups

– >hy economic ine"ualities persist

• Koters do care about other issues

• !oliticians ignore low&income voters(even if they vote)

• Interest groups contribute to anunbalanced representation of interests


21/21

If unable to attend e'am…

• Submit a medical certi8cate or a fullreport of anymitigating circumstances

• !lease note that misreading of the e'amination timetable is notregarded as a mitigating circumstance
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Documents

Revision Lecture Summer Term IDP USA (1)