How do she work that poll w/ a cad marg in hand
One way to predict the future success of a candidate is to assess their past performance Promotes accountability and encourages elected officials to deliver on their promises Very much about measurable outcomes and tangible achievements
What is Performance Voting?
- Individual’s psychological attachment or allegiance to a political party
- Can be shaped by family, social influences, education, and personal experiences
- Strong party identification can contribute to political polarization
What is "Party Identification"?
Interpret constitution based on its original meaning- Put yourself in the shoes of the founding fathers to make decisions about current day things
What is "Originalism"?
Individuals or groups benefit from resources/goods/services without paying or contributing. Typically arises in the context of public goods because everyone can use them - If too many people free ride there may not be enough funding or support to continue providing
(e.g. all citizens benefit from national security regardless of whether or not they pay taxes)
Created a bicameral legislature with a House (based on population) and a Senate (2 senators/state)
- Made during the Constitutional Convention (1787)
- Settled an argument over how small and large states would be represented
What was "The Great Compromise"
Ongoing conflict in which results of many scientific studies are difficult/impossible to reproduce. Particularly hard in social sciences where studies involve human beings – can’t have identical samples
What is "replication crisis"
Parties receive a number of seats in the legislature that corresponds to their share of total vote - Promotes fair representation/increase voter turnout/results in more diverse viewpoints being expressed
What is "proportional representation?"
- Power of courts to examine laws, statutes, and gov. actions to determine if they’re constitutional
- Acts as a check on the legislative and executive branches
- Helps uphold the supremacy of the Constitution as the highest law of the land
What is "Judicial Review"?
- Electoral dynamics become increasingly influenced by national factors rather than local considerations
- Citizens view political matters primarily in terms of broader national narratives/ideologies/parties
- Second-order elections → vote in local elections based on national party preferences
- Decline in local news coincides w/ lower voter turnout in local elections
What is "Nationalization of Politics"?
- Temporary bipartisan committee in Congress formed to resolve differences between the House and Senate on a particular bill
- Helps reconcile differences when each chamber passes a slightly different version of the same bill
Began in 1909 to represent black defendants throughout the South and to use the federal judiciary to challenge the legal structure of segregation.
What is the "NAACP"
A primary election in which all candidates for
elected office run in the same primary regardless of political party. Also known as the "Nonpartisan Blanket Primary" or "Top Two Primary", the
top two candidates who receive the most votes advance to the next round, similar to a runoff election.
What is a "Jungle Primary"
Judges using their own experiences to make new laws
What is "Judicial Activism"
With a group voting on a decision the majority is likely to be right (as long as each person has a better- than-random chance of being correct)
Probability of a majority arriving at the right answer becomes close to certain as the # of ppl increases
What is "Condorcet's Jury Theorem"
The parties themselves are more internally homogeneous
Increases inter-party conflict and makes cross-party compromise more difficu
What is "party sorting"
was an American civil rights activist from Mississippi who worked to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi and gain social justice and voting rights. Active in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s. He became a field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
Who is "Medger Evers"?
Voters mark their choices in privacy on uniform ballots printed/distributed by the gov
System spread to Europe and US to meet growing demand for voter protections
What is "Australian ballot"
Court process that allows higher court to review a decision made by lower court or gov agency
Order the lower court to deliver its record
What is "Writ of certiorari"
Two individuals might not cooperate even if it’s in their best interest to do so - Each have an incentive to betray each other (possibility of no consequence if the other confesses)
- Message: individuals acting in their own self interest is detrimental to the whole
- Example: one person thinking their vote doesn’t matter - voter turnout is lower and less representative
What is "Prisoner's Dilemma?"
- Act of lawfully attempting to influence actions, policies, or decisions of govt officials
- Involves direct, face-to-face contact
- Carried out by voters/constituents/private citizens AND corporations/non-profits
- People do this all the time and rarely get the things they want
What is "Lobbying"
Unequal division of assets in a population
Important because people w/ more wealth can influence elections/power
Ex: poll tax/discrimin. during Jim Crow – prevented african americans from voting b/c they’re low
income
What is "Wealth Inequality?"
In countries where elections are held in single-member districts (like the US) there tends to be a two party system
- In countries w/ proportional representation there tends to be multiple parties represented in the gov
- Third party voters get tired of wasting votes if it’s a guaranteed loss
What is "Duvergers Law"
- Means “let the decision stand” - following rules or principles established in previous judicial decisions
- Put simply it means courts and judges should honor precedent
What is Stare Decisis?
Statement that expresses an opinion/belief
What ought to be, rather than what is
What is a "Normative Claim"
Two house system of Congress - House of Representatives and the Senate
Provide checks and balances and prevents tyranny
Provides equal representation to the states
What is "Bicameralism"