Class Slides

Question 1

tyranny

Answer 1

the organized expression of the will of an individual or small group. it will generate fear of the state or the dictator

Question 2

anarchy

Answer 2

the chaotic expression of individual or small group will. it will generate fear or disorder

Question 3

the human predicament cycle

Answer 3

tyranny -> revolution -> anarchy -> competing groups ->

Question 4

why revolutions?

Answer 4

tyrants go to extremes to maintain power

Question 5

collective action problem

Answer 5

how to get everyone together to cooperate in getting rid of the leader

Question 6

points of the constitution of knowledge

Answer 6

checks and balances, free speech, public knowledge is defined by a community and is decentralized, authorities cannot control knowledge

Question 7

plato believed…

Answer 7

government should push virtue

Question 8

david hume believed…

Answer 8

man is self-regarding

Question 9

self-interest

Answer 9

actions are motivated solely by concern for our well-being

Question 10

public virtue

Answer 10

we consider the effect of our actions on others and care deeply about how those actions affect them

Question 11

adam smith believed…

Answer 11

self-interest is global, virtue is local

Question 12

John Winthrop believed…

Answer 12

people should only have civil liberty- the right to do good- not natural liberty- the right to do as one pleases

Question 13

*what mechanism controls society?

Answer 13

self control through public virtue, coercion by government to control self-interest, structures or institutions that use self-interest or virtue for the common good (we want both markets and governments to do this)

Question 14

Jamestown

Answer 14

corporate community

Question 15

God’s elect

Answer 15

John Calvin preached a morality of hard work and constant moralism

Question 16

moral self-governance

Answer 16

the Puritans looked for every family to govern themselves- AND watch for their neighbors

Question 17

Irony of Jamestown

Answer 17

birthplace of American democracy AND American slavery

Question 18

centralized from London

Answer 18

corporate governance to take lands from the indigenous people and produce profits

Question 19

decentralized from London (but locally centralized)

Answer 19

social compacts

Question 20

local democracy

Answer 20

the House of Burgesses & New England town meetings

Question 21

highly locally centralized, and dehumanizing, as things could get

Answer 21

slaveholding

Question 22

most people want _____ for those they govern, but _____ for themselves

Answer 22

centralization; decentralization

Question 23

who provided intellectual grounds for the Glorious Revolution?

Answer 23

John Locke

Question 24

the rule of law implies…

Answer 24

the individual has some autonomy and freedom

Question 25

the laws must be general. they must apply to broad categories of people, not to specific individuals or groups. we should never know in advance who will be helped or hurt by the law

Answer 25

generality

Question 26

the laws should apply prospectively- to action in the future not action in the past

Answer 26

prospectivity

Question 27

the laws should be publicly known and certain. people should know what the is and know that it will be enforced. there should be a fairly standard punishment for violation

Answer 27

publicity

Question 28

the legal process must be applied impartially. justice must not be prejudiced for or against anyone

Answer 28

due process

Question 29

British vs colonist’s view of the Glorious revolution

Answer 29

British: power of Parliament are supreme; colonists: the people are supreme

Question 30

what was the Glorious Revolution about?

Answer 30

decentralization and linking legitimacy and sovereignty

Question 31

consent

Answer 31

the people must consent to the laws

Question 32

the rule of law gives us ____

Answer 32

predictability

Question 33

representation can be- and typically is- based on the idea that elected officials have an ____ to do what the people want

Answer 33

incentive

Question 34

incentive

Answer 34

something that motivated or encourages someone to do something

Question 35

basic threats to the rule of law

Answer 35

politicians, us, both politicians and us working together

Question 36

the root of representation and how governments are designed

Answer 36

incentives

Question 37

Toussaint Louverture

Answer 37

led the Haitian Revolution

Question 38

what kind of society did Toussint Louverture want to build?

Answer 38

economically restricted and authoritarian (with him at the center)

Question 39

Jean Jacques Dessalines

Answer 39

Toussaint’s ruthless successor

Question 40

why did the Haitian Revolution fail?

Answer 40

no institutions were created

Question 41

ingredients of a good founding

Answer 41

commitment to a creating a good society, rule of law, history of self-governance, distance from the center of power, people virtuous enough to want to have this society , legislature that is incentivized to respond to the people, economic prospects

Question 42

conflict of interests between England and the colonies?

Answer 42

colonists wanted economic freedom while the English government wanted an economy regulated for the interests of the Crown

Question 43

British goal

Answer 43

increase the gold and silver reserves of the empire

Question 44

two basic forms of economic organization:

Answer 44

free exchange and command/planned/regulated

Question 45

free exchange: centralized or decentralized

Answer 45

decentralized (capitalism, market economy)

Question 46

command/planned/or regulated: centralized or decentralized?

Answer 46

centralized (socialism, communism, mercantilism)

Question 47

what was the fuse for the American revolution?

Answer 47

economic interests and people’s personal vision of the good society

Question 48

main concept of the good society:

Answer 48

we will want different rules and institutions depending on what we believe about humanity

Question 49

people only accept the sovereign- or the government- only if…

Answer 49

the ideas are legitimate

Question 50

what showed that people can come up with a way to live together?

Answer 50

Mayflower Compact

Question 51

social compacts…

Answer 51

keep everyone in line, establish expectations, put order to the chaos, getting everyone on the same page

Question 52

Adam Smith opposed ____

Answer 52

mercantilists

Question 53

institution

Answer 53

an enduring system or social structure. often tend to involve things like a legislature, courts, councils, etc