POLS 1101 Exam 2 |213 Questions and Answers
Zell Miller - -- best example of Georgia's old Conservative Democrat politics was Governor
Zell Miller
- Miller was very liberal on economic issues and his biggest achievement was the states
lottery and hope Grants
- but he was very conservative on most social issues
- Miller was active in GA politics from 1959 to 2005 and even as GA became more and more
of a Republican state voters elected him to various offices often by wide margins
- after becoming a Senator his brand of politics led to him supporting George W Bush for
President but he still voted with Democrats over 60% of the time
- after leaving the Senate Miller worked for the NRA and mostly supported Republicans
- despite this though he never left the Democratic Party and continued to occasionally
endorse Democrats. Jimmy Carter would call him an off and on friend
- this characterized a large chunk of GA voters who are mostly no longer with us who held
some loyalty to the Democratic Party but mostly supported Republicans
-Which branch of government and what arm of that branch did the founders originally
intended to most reflect the will of the people? - -- the legislative branch in general and
most specifically the House of Representatives (remember originally this was the only
federal body where voters had a direct say. The Senators were chosen by the state
legislature)
- this is why Congressmen serve two years terms so that they are continuously accountable
to their voters
-What are some of the ways the House and Senate differ? - -- House 2 year terms, Senate 6
year terms
- individual Congressmen not much power, individual Senator fairly powerful
- the Speaker of the House and Majority Party hold all the power, Senate Majority Leader
not as powerful minority party usually gets a lot of input
- Congressmen may specialize and master particular policy areas, Senators more jack of all
trades
- age requirement 25, age requirement 30
- Senate: more bipartisan/moderates have more power
-Why do Senators tend to be more moderate than House members? - -- due to
gerrymandering, geography, or flukes Congressmen often represent very homogeneous
districts where voters can be extreme (only about 30 or so 50/50 districts in the country)
- senators meanwhile by virtue of representing an entire state have a very diverse
electorate meaning they have to have broad appeal
- congressmen can also go long stretches of time without a serious challenger whereas
Senators can expect a quality opponent virtually every six years this means senators have
to go the extra mile to get things done and remain popular to the broad electorate
- people are also slightly more open to voting for a senator from the other party than for
House though this percentage of people has declined in recent years
, -The Senate gives what parts of the nation extra power and policy influence and what
party currently enjoys an edge in the Senate? - -- due to even large states like California
having only two Senators the Senate is the chamber in which rural states get to flex their
political muscles and play a large role in decision making
- because Republicans are currently much more popular in rural communities and there
are more rural states than urban ones for now at least Republicans have a built in
advantage when it comes to seats in the Senate
-What is the term of office for members of the House and for members of the Senate? - --
congressmen(women) are elected every two years
- senators are elected every 6 years though the election are staggered into 3 classes this
insulates the Senate from wave elections
-advantages of incumbent - -- casework
- patronage
- pork-barrel legislation
- early money
- name recognition
-What are some examples of checks and balances regarding Congress and the other
branches of Government? - -- congress provides oversight regarding the executive branch.
Lots of committees meant to monitor activities.
- congress sets the salaries and budgets of high ranking Executive officials and judges
- structure of Federal Courts
- senate must approve high profile Presidential appointments
- technically President needs Congressional permission or inaction to deploy troops
- impeachment
-congress review - -- money and reelection
- candidate with the most money often wins
- congressmen also have 90 plus percent chance of being reelected once entering office
occasionally waves occur 1994, 2006, 2010 but still turn over is fairly low
- gerrymandering
-What are the roadblocks of a bill becoming a law? - -- must get out of committee
- Speaker of the House must allow it to the floor (extremely hard to get around Speaker
opposition)
- must pass both houses
- probably has to overcome filibuster pivot in the Senate (60 votes)
- bills passed by House and Senate must be totally identical or a conference committee is
called
- if vetoed by President it needs 2/3rds of both houses to override
- a bill must be passed in exactly the same form in both chambers
- the two chambers send the bill back and forth until one chamber passes a version passed
by the other
, - sometimes, a conference committee is appointed with members from each chamber to
reconcile differences. Leaders don't like these because committees can go rouge and not
follow their parties wishes
-What is the simplest why of describing the role of the Supreme Court in American
Government? - -- The Supreme Court has the power of judicial review meaning that they
have the final say in whether any act of government local, state, or federal is constitutional
- Somewhat rare for the Court to declare presidential actions unconstitutional and they are
more often to walk back congressional action than overrule it out right
- But the Supreme Court has the final say and may at any time overrule government actions
-What is the so called Rule of Four and how does it impact the Supreme Court's docket? - -
It refers to the custom that the approval of 4 justices is required to place a case on the
docket this both reduces the potential case load and makes it more likely that the Courts
majority faction does not determine the entire caseload
-Why is the judicial branch sometimes referred to as the least dangerous branch of
government? - -- Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist that the judiciary would be
the least dangerous branch of government. He based this on the third branch lacking "the
power of the executive branch and the political passions of the legislature." The judicial
branch has no army to enforce its rulings and no bully pulpit to enrage the citizenry.
- While Supreme Court has issued rulings like Plessy v. Ferguson that legitimized policies
that violated individuals rights the Supreme Court is fairly weak and has difficulty
enforcing its rulings and is less capable of violating individuals rights and liberties
compared the legislative or executive branch.
- Some disagree with this reasoning though arguing that the judiciary is fundamentally
undemocratic. Those who have just lost a high profile supreme court case in particular are
apt to disagree.
-What are the 3 basic models of judicial decision making? - -1. The Legal Model
- Legal Model claims most judges care primarily about precedent and making decisions
based on the plain meaning of the law they are not "political actors"
- Not generally accepted when it comes to the Supreme Court due to how much power it
has but this is how most view lower court judges
2. Attitudinal Model
- Attitudinal Model states that judges have liberal/ conservative biases that cloud their
judgment but they do not play politics
- Liberals make liberal rulings and conservatives make conservative ones because that is
how they are wired and that is the lens through which they often read the law
3. Strategic Model
Strategic Model- popular model for explaining the Supreme Court argues judges are
political actors and they will act strategically to nudge things in a liberal or conservative
direction when they can.
- Ex when it comes to what cases to hear or dismiss cases
Zell Miller - -- best example of Georgia's old Conservative Democrat politics was Governor
Zell Miller
- Miller was very liberal on economic issues and his biggest achievement was the states
lottery and hope Grants
- but he was very conservative on most social issues
- Miller was active in GA politics from 1959 to 2005 and even as GA became more and more
of a Republican state voters elected him to various offices often by wide margins
- after becoming a Senator his brand of politics led to him supporting George W Bush for
President but he still voted with Democrats over 60% of the time
- after leaving the Senate Miller worked for the NRA and mostly supported Republicans
- despite this though he never left the Democratic Party and continued to occasionally
endorse Democrats. Jimmy Carter would call him an off and on friend
- this characterized a large chunk of GA voters who are mostly no longer with us who held
some loyalty to the Democratic Party but mostly supported Republicans
-Which branch of government and what arm of that branch did the founders originally
intended to most reflect the will of the people? - -- the legislative branch in general and
most specifically the House of Representatives (remember originally this was the only
federal body where voters had a direct say. The Senators were chosen by the state
legislature)
- this is why Congressmen serve two years terms so that they are continuously accountable
to their voters
-What are some of the ways the House and Senate differ? - -- House 2 year terms, Senate 6
year terms
- individual Congressmen not much power, individual Senator fairly powerful
- the Speaker of the House and Majority Party hold all the power, Senate Majority Leader
not as powerful minority party usually gets a lot of input
- Congressmen may specialize and master particular policy areas, Senators more jack of all
trades
- age requirement 25, age requirement 30
- Senate: more bipartisan/moderates have more power
-Why do Senators tend to be more moderate than House members? - -- due to
gerrymandering, geography, or flukes Congressmen often represent very homogeneous
districts where voters can be extreme (only about 30 or so 50/50 districts in the country)
- senators meanwhile by virtue of representing an entire state have a very diverse
electorate meaning they have to have broad appeal
- congressmen can also go long stretches of time without a serious challenger whereas
Senators can expect a quality opponent virtually every six years this means senators have
to go the extra mile to get things done and remain popular to the broad electorate
- people are also slightly more open to voting for a senator from the other party than for
House though this percentage of people has declined in recent years
, -The Senate gives what parts of the nation extra power and policy influence and what
party currently enjoys an edge in the Senate? - -- due to even large states like California
having only two Senators the Senate is the chamber in which rural states get to flex their
political muscles and play a large role in decision making
- because Republicans are currently much more popular in rural communities and there
are more rural states than urban ones for now at least Republicans have a built in
advantage when it comes to seats in the Senate
-What is the term of office for members of the House and for members of the Senate? - --
congressmen(women) are elected every two years
- senators are elected every 6 years though the election are staggered into 3 classes this
insulates the Senate from wave elections
-advantages of incumbent - -- casework
- patronage
- pork-barrel legislation
- early money
- name recognition
-What are some examples of checks and balances regarding Congress and the other
branches of Government? - -- congress provides oversight regarding the executive branch.
Lots of committees meant to monitor activities.
- congress sets the salaries and budgets of high ranking Executive officials and judges
- structure of Federal Courts
- senate must approve high profile Presidential appointments
- technically President needs Congressional permission or inaction to deploy troops
- impeachment
-congress review - -- money and reelection
- candidate with the most money often wins
- congressmen also have 90 plus percent chance of being reelected once entering office
occasionally waves occur 1994, 2006, 2010 but still turn over is fairly low
- gerrymandering
-What are the roadblocks of a bill becoming a law? - -- must get out of committee
- Speaker of the House must allow it to the floor (extremely hard to get around Speaker
opposition)
- must pass both houses
- probably has to overcome filibuster pivot in the Senate (60 votes)
- bills passed by House and Senate must be totally identical or a conference committee is
called
- if vetoed by President it needs 2/3rds of both houses to override
- a bill must be passed in exactly the same form in both chambers
- the two chambers send the bill back and forth until one chamber passes a version passed
by the other
, - sometimes, a conference committee is appointed with members from each chamber to
reconcile differences. Leaders don't like these because committees can go rouge and not
follow their parties wishes
-What is the simplest why of describing the role of the Supreme Court in American
Government? - -- The Supreme Court has the power of judicial review meaning that they
have the final say in whether any act of government local, state, or federal is constitutional
- Somewhat rare for the Court to declare presidential actions unconstitutional and they are
more often to walk back congressional action than overrule it out right
- But the Supreme Court has the final say and may at any time overrule government actions
-What is the so called Rule of Four and how does it impact the Supreme Court's docket? - -
It refers to the custom that the approval of 4 justices is required to place a case on the
docket this both reduces the potential case load and makes it more likely that the Courts
majority faction does not determine the entire caseload
-Why is the judicial branch sometimes referred to as the least dangerous branch of
government? - -- Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist that the judiciary would be
the least dangerous branch of government. He based this on the third branch lacking "the
power of the executive branch and the political passions of the legislature." The judicial
branch has no army to enforce its rulings and no bully pulpit to enrage the citizenry.
- While Supreme Court has issued rulings like Plessy v. Ferguson that legitimized policies
that violated individuals rights the Supreme Court is fairly weak and has difficulty
enforcing its rulings and is less capable of violating individuals rights and liberties
compared the legislative or executive branch.
- Some disagree with this reasoning though arguing that the judiciary is fundamentally
undemocratic. Those who have just lost a high profile supreme court case in particular are
apt to disagree.
-What are the 3 basic models of judicial decision making? - -1. The Legal Model
- Legal Model claims most judges care primarily about precedent and making decisions
based on the plain meaning of the law they are not "political actors"
- Not generally accepted when it comes to the Supreme Court due to how much power it
has but this is how most view lower court judges
2. Attitudinal Model
- Attitudinal Model states that judges have liberal/ conservative biases that cloud their
judgment but they do not play politics
- Liberals make liberal rulings and conservatives make conservative ones because that is
how they are wired and that is the lens through which they often read the law
3. Strategic Model
Strategic Model- popular model for explaining the Supreme Court argues judges are
political actors and they will act strategically to nudge things in a liberal or conservative
direction when they can.
- Ex when it comes to what cases to hear or dismiss cases
