FSOT United States Govt

Robert Dahl and others have written about the American political system as being pluralistic.

Income distribution has become more unequal. This was a focus of a recent American Political Science Association Task Force. Inequality can be shown on a Lorenz curve, which now bows further out, representing greater inequality. The area under the curve is measured by the Gini coefficient, which is an index of income inequality ranging between 0 (perfect equality) and 1 (absolutely inequality).

The Marshall Plan called for the reconstruction of Europe to prevent Soviet incursion. Point Four was aimed at developing countries. The other two -- NATO and SEATO -- were collective security agreements.

The War Powers Act was enacted in 1973 over the veto of President Nixon. It allows the president to engage in military actions (also instituted if troops are moved into harm's way) for 60 days (90 to get troops out safely). The Congress must pass a resolution or the troops must come out. The Court has said that an appropriation to support the action constitutes a resolution supporting the engagement. The Supreme Court has never ruled on the constitutionality of the act, and there are no penalties specified in the act. Several presidents have questioned the constitutionality of the act but have followed it.

Realigning elections have been extensively discussed in the party literature. Clearly, 1932 was a realigning election. Speculation is that the election of George W. Bush could represent another, but we have not seen massive change that occurred in previous realigning periods and it is uncertain whether the realignment will be long term. Some political scientists are considering this a realignment, while others are not sure.

Laissez-faire is associated with Adam Smith in his book The Wealth of Nations. It indicates that the market will do the regulating and that government should avoid intervention. The invisible hand of the market will regulate.

Medicare's Part B, which goes for physicians and other outpatient services, includes tax dollars. Three-fourths of the cost comes from general taxes. Part A, which pays for hospital care, comes only from money in the trust fund, which people pay into while they are working. Custodial nursing home care is not covered by Medicare, nor are experimental procedures.

The 25th Amendment said a new vice president could be appointed by the president and approved by a majority of the Congress to serve out the term. Prior to the 25th Amendment, the office remained vacant.

The Federalist Papers were written by Jay, Hamilton, and Madison. It was a series of newspapers pieces to encourage the ratification of the new constitution.

The spoils system is based on the idea that jobs are given to supporters of the winning candidate. "To the victor belongs the spoils" is not dead, but such patronage has been reduced on the national level by civil service reforms, beginning with the Pendleton Act in 1883 that followed the assassination of President Garfield by a disappointed office seeker. State and local governments have civil service systems that vary in the completeness of their coverage.

The president, unlike many governors, does not have an item veto. There was an attempt to give him the equivalent of one through legislation, but the Supreme Court ruled that attempt unconstitutional.

Judiciary review allows the courts to overturn a statute on the basis that it is not constitutional. Marbury v Madison is the famous case in a decision by John Marshall that overturned a portion of the Judiciary Act of 1789 on the basis of its constitutionality, establishing the judicial review precedent for the Court.

Public figures may sue, but they have to prove that the person making the false statement knew that it was false and it was done maliciously. The requirement to prove slander is greater for those in the public eye, whether officials or actors, than those not. This was the decision in New York Times v. Sullivan.

The court has ruled in all of these areas. The only one protected are the Amish, who do not have to send their children to school after the 8th grade (Wisconsin v. Yoder).

This case was the major ruling that defendants had a right to counsel and if they could not afford one, one would be appointed at government expense. Many courts then used appointed counsel from members of the bar for indigent defendants. Public defenders offices were created in many states to provide this representation at the public's expense.

Many individuals are typically included in a class-action suit. Many suits charge injury by a firm, such as against a medical equipment company, for faulty medical equipment.

Progressive taxes are taxes that take a greater precent income from the rich than the poor. They are advocated based upon the principle of the "ability to pay." Of the taxes listed, the income tax with its graduated tax brackets is typically progressive. All the other taxes are regressive. Few sales taxes are progressive -- only those that exempt many necessities and also tax services such as attorney's fees that wealthy people use more tend to be.

Trust in government has declined over the years, although there have also been some years of improvement. For example, more people believe that government wastes money than it did in former years. Trust in government represents an attitudinal index based on several public opinion questions. The most often cited trust index is derived from the regular survey done by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.

The literacy test, among other means, was used by a number of states to keep blacks from voting. It tended to be implemented in an inequitable way. Whites were given simple tests, while blacks were given tests that required knowing provisions of their state constitutions. The 1965 Voting Rights Act suspended the test in many states, and this was extended in the 1970 Voting Rights Act.

Party voting has been very strong in the United States, especially since the Republicans took control of the majority in 1994. In earlier periods, such as the 1950s and 1960s, although party was important, cohesion was far less (significantly less than in the British House of Commons). For the Democrats, party cohesion most notably was reduced by southern Democrats who voted more conservatively than their northern colleagues. Some political scientists thought it important to have strong party cohesion so that the wishes of the voters could clearly translate into the Congressional majority, a school of thought known as the Responsible Party Model.

In some states, but not all, laws have been passed to allow journalists to protect their sources. These laws are called shield laws. There is not a shield law at the federal level.

A separate Director of Intelligence was created to coordinate the 15 agencies in the intelligence community. Prior to this time, the Director of the CIA was also the Director of Intelligence. However, it was argued that it was difficult to be director of one agency in the intelligence community while also coordinating all agencies, because in doing the latter role, the individual had little power. In establishing the new office, there was conflict over whether to give the new director personnel and budget authority. The final bill establishes limited budget authority.

A number of states, especially in the South, created districts where African Americans (the minority) were a majority in the district. Some of these districts have strange shapes, including one that ran virtually the full length of North Carolina. The Supreme Court, in several decisions, especially Shaw v. Reno, allowed these districts but said that it must be shown that, although race could be taken into account, it could not be the predominant factor in drawing the district.

Riders are in order in the Senate but not in the House. They add a provision to a bill that has nothing to do with the bill. A rider may be added to gain the president's signature, save time to get provisions passed, or bypass a particular committee.

Conference committees are used when differences exist between House and Senate bills. Each house's conferees vote separately and both sets must agree to approve a provision. Ultimately, the floors of each chamber must approve a Conference Committee's report.

Open primaries, such as in Wisconsin, allow the voter to vote without declaring a party affiliation but still must vote only in one party's primary. Closed primaries require the voter to declare a party's affiliation (in many states, a number of days prior to the primary) and to vote only in his or her declared party's primary (this is true in Maryland). Only the blanket primary in Washington and Alaska allows voters to vote for candidates of different parties for different offices in the primary.

Political Action Committees (PACs) are formed by groups such as drug companies to contribute money to candidates' campaigns. They are restricted in how much they can contribute. One way around these limits is to form conduits, which bundle money from individual contributions to give to candidates. PACs have been controversial because of a concern that they unduly influence policy.

A, B, and D are all methods of direct democracy. A is the recall and D is the referendum. B is the initiative. In some states the ballot measure is referred to as propositions.

The Supreme Court had ruled against many New Deal programs. He recommended adding members to the court for every member who was over 70.

Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) has been the U.S. defense policy. It worked to keep the Soviet Union from acquiring a first-strike capability, which meant that if the Soviet Union struck first, the United States would be able to knock out an effective retaliation. The MAD doctrine said that if a nation struck first, the other side would be able to retaliate and inflict unacceptable damage. Based upon this policy, the international system was said to be in balance.

States are required to give full, faith, and credit to papers and legal decisions made in other states. Marriage has generally been considered part of the full, faith, and credit provisions. Historically some states had refused to accept mixed racial marriages if their own state did not allow it. Today, states may not accept same-sex marriage. The federal law known as the Defense of Marriage Act explicitly excludes same-sex marriage from the full, faith, and credit provisions. However, it still remains to be seen whether the courts will accept this act as constitutional, because it provides an exception to the full, faith, and credit constitutional provision.

The Constitution does not include any requirements for a Supreme Court justice. There are also no requirements in the judiciary statutes.

Devolution refers to the national government giving more power and discretion to the states. TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families), which replaced AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children), is an example.

Political socialization is the learning of beliefs and information about the political system. The early agents of socialization are family, school, and peer groups.

Youth received the vote by constitutional amendment in 1971 -- the 26th Amendment. Women were granted the right to vote by the 19th Amendment, and African Americans by the 15th Amendment.

The writ of certiorari is the main way that cases go to the Supreme Court. The writ asks for Supreme Court review. Only a small percent of writs received by the Court are granted.

Medicare's Part B, which goes for physicians and other outpatient services, includes tax dollars. Three-fourths of the cost comes from general taxes. Part A, which pays for hospital care, comes only from money in the trust fund, which people pay into while they are working. Custodial nursing home care is not covered by Medicare, nor are experimental procedures.

National turnout in presidential elections is around 50 percent; some years in which the contest is close, the percentage is a bit higher. Turnout in local elections is even lower, sometimes no more than 15 percent.

All proposed rules issued by federal agencies are published in the Federal Register, allowing comments on these rules to be submitted. Once the rules have been approved, they are codified in the Code of Federal Regulations. The Congressional Record contains debates of Congress. The U.S. Code is for federal laws (statutes) not rules.

Structural unemployment refers to unemployment because individuals lack skills required in the job market. (Structure refers to the structure or job demands of the market.) Frictional unemployment refers to people between jobs, and both inadequate aggregate demand and cyclical refer to unemployment because of a weakened economy.

A person who is politically efficacious believes that he or she can have a say in the system. These citizens are confident that their votes count and can make a difference. Therefore, those with a greater sense of political efficacy are more likely to vote.

TANF's main feature is that welfare is limited to five years, although there can be some people exempt from this requirement. AFDC did not have any such time limit. AFDC did go to immigrants, while TANF restricts immigrants who are not citizens from getting funding.

The executive department and vice president declare disability. In case of dispute, the Congress decides, and by a two-thirds vote can continue the vice president as acting president. This procedure was adopted in 1967 in the 25th Amendment.