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Class Notes

Political science - a social science concerned with the theory and practice ofpolitics and the analysis ofpolitical systems and political behavior

Theory a generalized explanation for the behavior or outcome of interest Hypothesis a tentative statement of educated guess that follows from the

theory that can be tested with data. (If X then Y) Social sciences probabilistic explanations and statements of tendency

Purpose/Role of Government

Maintain order enforce laws and regulate behavior to protect life and property Absence of govt state of nature (Hobbs) Provide public and collective goods things that benefit all, but not likely produced

voluntarily (national defense, clean air)Social Values Promoted by Government (Controversial)

Order but should government preserve the social order

Equality political good, but social and economic is debated Freedom/Liberty to do and act Freedom vs. Order How much individual freedom to surrender to government for

the sake of order.

Freedom vs. Equality pursuit of social and economic equality restricts freedoms.Political Ideology

Consistent set of beliefs about the values that the government should pursue (howdoes someone make the values trade off?

Collective Action Problems Arise when individuals pursuit of own self-interest yields bad collective outcomes

for society.Olsons free-rider problem

Once a public good is provided, it cant exclude anyone from enjoying it. Its ineveryones best selfish interest to free ride and not contribute because no one

person makes the difference.

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Stop people from free-riding with sticks (fines, penalties, and sanctions) and withselective carrots (motivators)

Hardins tragedy of the commons

Acting in your own self-interest, people keep extracting from or using up the publicgood resulting in the destruction of it. Or in the case of pollution or traffic, keep

contributing to it. Can be prevented by taxes, privatization, appeals to the conscience and

responsibility usually dont work because of our selfish interestsPutnams social capital

Argues that historically we havent always been selfish actors and we dont need tobe

Interpersonal networks, norms of behavior, and social trust facilitate coordinationand cooperation

Decline: voter turnout, trust in government, political efficacy, partisanship, andfollowing politics has declined

Decline explained by the fact that the civic generation that has always been morecivically engaged and trusting is passing from the scene, and that there is a rise ofTV, and TV viewers are not civically engaged.

Value Trade-offs

The American Revolution fought to achieve greater freedom in response toperceived excess of British authority and order

The Articles of Confederation reflected a victory of freedom over order;government didnt have control of money or and army.

The Constitution attempt to produce greater order by creating stronger nationalgovernment while preserving freedom; lack of attention to social equality. Created a

stronger national government with a president, supreme court, supremacy ofnational law, control of foreign policy, ability to tax, raise an army, control over $and interstate trade. Separation of powers, federalism (states still had power), bill ofrights)

The Declaration of Independence Jeffersons justification for Revolution Unalienable rights cant be given or taken away People create a government to protect these rights If government fails to protect them, people have to revolt

Social Contract Theory John Locke

Individuals choice to give up freedom for political and economic order, and creatinga governmentGuiding Principles and motives of Framers

Issue of slavery 3/5th compromise, slave trade, fugitive slaves Driven by selfish economic motives bonds? No

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Madison and Federalist #10 Concerned with factions and pursuit of self-interest Control factions by removing the cause and controlling the effects. He hoped for avast republic enabled by representation. Many competing interests but

constitutional checks on power could keep factions in check.

Federalism the division of power and responsibilities between the national and stategovernments

Dual Federalism (lasted until 1930s) had national and state governments but limitednational government internally

MuCulloch v. Maryland (1819) national government has implied powers through

necessary and proper clause (elastic clause)

Doctrine of nullification

States could reject national laws they saw as unconstitutional, no longer exists. Civil war resolved supremacy of the national government by overturning the

doctrine of nullification and secession.

Cooperative/Shared Federalism Beginning with FDRs New Deal, national government became more involved in a

wide variety of public areas and began to share more responsibilities with state andlocal governments

Tremendous expansion of size and power of national government Grants-in-aid federal money to state and local governments have risen from

nothing in the 1920s to over $400 billion/year today.

Civil Rights Equality of rights for all people. The initial focus was on the policy of racial

segregation, which the Supreme Court upheld until the 1950s. Plessey v. Ferguson (1896) established separate but equal doctrine in case

involving trains in Louisiana.

14th amendment (equal protection clause) everyone gets equal protection underthe law.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) case involved segregated school system inKansas. Separate facilities are inherently unequal and violate the equal protectionclause

Movement associated with MLK promote racial equality in access to publicaccommodations, jobs, housing, etc. Emphasis on civil disobedience, unlawful butnonviolent violation of unjust, immoral laws. Birmingham, AL and March onWashington (1963).

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Civil Rights Act (1964) outlawed segregation. Advanced employmentopportunities by making I illegal to discriminate on basis of race or sex.

Voting Rights Act (1965) illegal to deny voting rights because of race. Outlawedliteracy tests

Quotas or set-asides only allowed if recent history of deliberate systematicdiscrimination

Reverse discrimination University of California v. Bakke, University of Michigan point system too rewarding for race.

Civil Liberties

Freedoms from government interference guaranteed to individuals Establishment clause congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of

religion

Free exercise clause - congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise ofreligion.

Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) and the lemon test law or government policy musthave a secular purpose, its primary effect must not be to advance or inhibit religion,it must not entangle government too much with religion

Engale v. Vitale (1962) organized school prayer is unconstitutional Employment Division v. Smith (1990) determined that the state could deny

unemployment benefits to a person fired for violating a state prohibition on the useofpeyote, even though the use of the drug was part of a religious ritual.

Hialeah Case (1993) held unconstitutional an ordinance passed in Hialeah, Floridathat forbade the "unnecessary" killing of "an animal in a public or private ritual orceremony not for the primary purpose of food consumption." Law made because of

Santeria. Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) forced Amish exposure to outside world through

schooling isnt allowed Prior restraint - a form ofcensorship in which one is prevented, in advance, from

communicating certain material, rather than made answerable afterwards

Clear and present danger test limits freedom of speech at times of war Seditious speech - Speech that has an obvious and immediate danger of creating

unrest or violence

Direct incitement test - states may not forbid advocacy of the use of force or of lawviolation, except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminentlawless action.

Fighting words and hate speech Libel and actual malice test requires proof to slander government Miller v. California (1973) obscenity test determined what could be stopped from

being aid because it is obscene

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Chapter 1

Collective Action Problems: Coordination Members of the group must decide individually what they want,

what they are prepared to contribute to the collective enterprise, and how tocoordinate their efforts with others. Problems increase as the size of the groupincreases. Problems arise from uncertainty and insufficient information.

Prisoners Dilemma Individuals decide that even though they support somecollective undertaking, they are personally better off pursuing an activity thatrewards them individually despite undermining the collective effort.

Costs of Collective Action: Conformity costs The difference between what a person ideally would prefer and

what the group with which that person makes collective decisions actually does.Individuals pay these whenever collective decisions produce policy outcomes thatdo not best serve their interests. Differ greatly from transaction costs, when onerises the other falls.

Transaction costs the time, effort, and resources required to make collectivedecisions. Costs rise as the amount of participants whose preferences have to beconsidered increases.

Overcoming Problems of Collective Action:

Majority Rule or simple majority one-half plus one Delegation - The act of one person or body authorizing another person or body to

perform an action on its behalf.

Principals those who possess decision-making authority may delegate theirauthority to agents.

Agents exercise authority on behalf of the principles. Agency Loss the discrepancy between what a principal would ideally like its

agents to do and what they actually do.

Private Goods

Relative to public goods Private goods are the things people buy and consumethemselves in a marketplace that supplies these goods according to the demand forthem. Public goods are supplied by everyone through tax dollars. Anyone can freelyconsume them as he or she desires. Their costs are borne collectively and no onecan be excluded from their benefits.

Externalities A public good that is generated as a byproduct of peoples privateactivities. Such byproducts are usually undesirable and are called public bads such

as pollution.

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Chapter 3

Nationalism in response to Coordination problems: Such a huge country that we naturally face some

coordination problems. Even when the states agree to cooperate, thereby allowingeach to deal more effectively with a common responsibility, they may have difficultyfiguring out how to work together.

Reneging and shirking: Even though its not necessarily its place to do so, sometimesthe national government brings states together for a common goal such as pollution.

Cutthroat competition: Competition among states that involves adopting policiesthat each state would prefer to avoid. For example, states engage in this when theyunderbid one another on tax breaks to attract businesses relocating their facilities.

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) Only congress possessed the authority to regulate interstate commerce.

Grants

Categorical grants: May be spent only for narrowly defined purposes.Additionally, recipients of categorical grants are often required to match aportion of the federal funds.

Block grants: The government gives each state or local government an exact amountof money to spend for some purpose.

Unfunded mandates: regulations or conditions for receiving grants that imposecosts on state or local governments or private entities for which they are notreimbursed by the federal government

Chapter 4

Missouri Compromise: Missouri wanted to become a slave state, but this wouldve messedup the balance of slave to free states. When Maine agreed to become a free state, theycompromised and allowed Missouri to become a slave state.

Dredd Scott v. Sandford

The federal government could not prevent slavery in the territories. Later whenLincoln said they would try, the southern states began to secede sparking Civil War.

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Chapter 5

Selective incorporation via the 14th Amendment The Supreme Courts gradual process of assuming guardianship of civil liberties by

inserting the Bill of Rights into the 14th Amendment to control state laws andpractices.

4th Amendment

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects,against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants

shall issue, but upon probable clause, and particularly describing the place to besearched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Exclusionary Rule: A judicial rule prohibiting the police from using evidence at atrial obtained through illegal search and seizure.

Mapp v. Ohio (1961): Applied the exclusionary rule to the states.4th Amendment

Miranda v. Arizona (1966): Police custody is inherently threatening and confessionsobtained during that period can be admitted as evidence only if suspects have beenadvised of their constitutional right to remain silent. Moreover, defendants must bewarned that what they say can be used against them in a trial, they have a right to

have a lawyer, and told of the right to end the interrogation at any time.

6th Amendment

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963): Anyone charged with a felony must be offered legalrepresentation. This was later expanded to include anyone whose conviction mightresult in incarceration.

8th Amendment Cruel and Unusual punishment; excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive

fines imposed.

2nd Amendment The right to bear arms