Institutions, Federalism, Civil Rights/Liberties
What is the institutionalist framework? What are institutions?
The use of institutions as a means of analyzing a political system. A means of providing a framework for an overarching structure with which we can analyze multiple political systems.
Institutions exist to solve collective action problems.
What did the Declaration of Independence do, and when was it signed?
Signed in 1776, declared the 13 colonies independent from Britain. It lays out principles for new regime, but not institutions.
What are the three branches ofthe US government, and what is the role of each?
Legislature (create laws)
Executive (enforce laws)
Judiciary (interpret laws)
What are the three functions of a constitution?
Establish governing institutions.
Guarentee the Rights of Private Individuals.
Entrenching Rights and institutions through elevated procedures.
What is the collective action problem, and how are instituions thought to fix it?
Collective action problem: when individuals fail to cooperate to achieve a common goal because each person has an incentive to free-ride on the efforts of others.
Institutions are thought to exist to solve the CAP by creating rules (we escape the state of nature by creating rules/structures - Hobbs) which get people to put aside their individual interests for the gains of collective benefit to society.
What did the Articles of Confederation do?
Established a loose alliance between the 13 independent states. Set up decentralized taxes, courts, and military system. (no federal supremacy).
Changing the articles required all 13 states to agree, thus making change difficult. The weaknesses of the Articles showed that a stronger federal government was needed, leading to the creation of the U.S. Constitution in 1787.
Describe the structure of the legislatitive branch of government, and it's role is in relation to the other two branches of government.
The legislature is a bicameral system that includes the House of Representatives (proportional representation) and the Senate (2 per state). It's role is to create laws.
To amend the constitution, what fraction of the legislature must approve? What happens after its approved in congress?
2/3 of Congress- of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Afterwards, 3/4 of the state legislatures (38 out of 50 states) must approve the amendment.
Define both Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Civil rights guarantee citizens’ participation – government must provide
Civil liberties guarantee freedom from intrusion – government must refrain
What were the different arguments between The Federalist Papers and the Anti-federalist papers?
Federalist papers: argued in favour of the constitution thus promoting a strong centralized government to ensure stability and order. They emphasized the need for a unified nation, the benefits of a strong federal government, and the importance of checks and balances to prevent tyranny.
Anti-Federalist papers: argued against ratifying the Constitution, fearing it would create a government that was too powerful and threaten individual rights and state sovereignty. They feared the potential of government overreach.
Describe the Tsebelis framework
Institutions are made up of Agenda Setters and Veto players. Policy making occurs between these players and requires comprimise. The more veto players there are, the more political stability there will be.
What is the significance of Marbury v. Madison (1803) in relation to the constitution?
The significance of Marbury v. Madison (1803) for the Constitution lies primarily in the establishment of judicial review, which allows the Supreme Court to invalidate laws and actions by Congress and the executive branch that are found to be unconstitutional.
What did the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) Supreme Court Case do? What was the case that overturned this ruling?
Plessy v. Ferguson allowed states to segregate based on race.
This was overturned in Brown v Board of Education (1954) when the court unanimously ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.
What were some of the differences between the North and South's socioeconomic structures pre-Civil War?
North: industrial and commercial economy, with growing factories, trade, and small-scale farming driving urbanization and economic growth. Its labor system was based on wage labor, with a focus on free workers and immigrants.
South: economy was heavily dependent on agriculture, especially cash crops like cotton and tobacco, with large plantations dominating the landscape. It relied on a slave labor system, with enslaved Africans working on plantations, and its society was more rural and socially stratified than the North
What are the first 10 amendments of the US Constitution called? and what do these ammendments protect people from?
The Bill of Rights
The government
What is the 2nd Amendment? Why is it controversial today in relation to when it was written?
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
It was originally written to ensure citizens could form militias for defense in a time when the U.S. had no standing army, and we thus able to protect themselves against a potentially tyranical government.
Today some argue it protects an individual’s right to own guns for self-defense, while others believe modern gun regulations are necessary to address issues like gun violence that has developed in modern society.
What are four elements of "institutions"?
Institutions are man-made structures that constrain human behaviour, they determine the distribution of resources and the meaninf of "rule of law", they are composed of principal-agent relationships and are thus subject to agency loss, and they are the solution to the collective action problem.
What was the irony behind Thomas Jefferson's liberal work?
He played a key role in the establishment of many freedoms for men in early America, many of his friends were abolitionists, yet he himself owned over 600 slaves.
Describe US federalism, including the supremacy clause and commerce clause.
U.S. federalism is a system of government where power is divided between two levels: the national (federal) government and the state governments. Each level has its own responsibilities and authority.
The supremacy clause: constitution says that when there is a conflict between the two, national law usually wins.
Commerce Clause: allows Congress to manage trade and economic activity on a large scale, both between states and with other countries.
What is a veto override, and (Bonus) where is it found int the constitution?
The Veto Override is constitutional mechanism that allows Congress to override a presidential veto, but it requires a 2/3 vote in Congress.
Article 1 Section 7