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Texas Government > Exam 1 Material > Flashcards

Exam 1 Material Flashcards

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1
Q

How did Harold Laswell define politics?

A

who gets what, when, and how

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2
Q

What are the 2 aspects of politics?

A
  1. distribute scarce resources (produces winners and losers)
  2. inherently conflictual due to aspect #1
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3
Q

What’s political culture?

A

shared preferences and expectations about govt and what it should do

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4
Q

What are the 3 types of rules (Hans Morgenthau)? Explain them.

A
  1. Ethics - personal moral code; own sense of right and wrong; your conscience
  2. Mores - large groups of people believe a behavior is right or wrong
  3. Laws - govt classified a behavior as legal or illegal
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5
Q

What did Hans Morgenthau believed about laws?

A

they’ll eventually represent our collective beliefs about what is right or wrong

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6
Q

What is the standard definition for government?

A

legitimate use of force to control human behavior within a territory

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7
Q

What are the 3 purposes of government?

A
  1. provide order
  2. represent political culture
  3. provide collective goods
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8
Q

What’s the quickest and cheapest way for government to provide order? Why is it not effective?

A

violence; short term

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9
Q

Can we determine Texas to have a single political culture? Why?

A

no; due to diverse influences; primarily shaped by its constant immigration and its role

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10
Q

What kind of culture can we say that Texas has developed? Where does it stem from?

A

frontier; individualism and limited government

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11
Q

Who settled the Texas German Belt?

A

German immigrants

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12
Q

What does the Texas Culture reflect? (4)

A
  1. Deep South
  2. Greater Appalachia
  3. The Midlands
  4. El Norte
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13
Q

Explain the El Norte culture.

A

reflects Spanish colonial influence; distinct

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14
Q

Explain the Deep South Culture.

A

favored aristocratic govt.; believed democracy should only be extended to a few; cotton plantations and widespread slavery epitomized these values

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15
Q

Explain the Greater Appalachia culture.

A

stresses individual freedom and hard work, but rebuffs the aristocratic values of the Deep South

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16
Q

Explain the Midlands culture.

A

stresses communal values over individualism; most likely to believe in a govt. that works for the benefit of the community

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17
Q

What is political science?

A

science that deals with the theory and practice of politics and the description of political systems and behavior

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18
Q

What do collective action problems arise from?

A

govt focusing on providing public goods to society

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19
Q

What is the role of game theory in political science?

A

provides analytical framework with which collective action problems can be understood and analyzed

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20
Q

What does comparative politics involve?

A

study of politics of different countries

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21
Q

What is international relations?

A

study of international system

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22
Q

What is political theory?

A

involves the study of philosophical thought about politics from ancient Greece to the present

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23
Q

What is public policy concerned with?

A

theoretical and empirical investigations

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24
Q

What is public administration?

A

study of govt organizations and their relation to other parts of govt; concerned with practical applications of admin tools

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25
What are the 5 major subfields of political science?
1. comparative politics 2. political theory 3. public policy/public administration 4. american politics 5. international relations
26
What are the 4 major theories of american govt?
1. majoritarianism 2. pluralism 3. elitism 4. institutionalism
27
Explain majoritarianism.
a majority of the population is entitled to a certain degree of primacy in society; has the right to make decisions that affect society; reflects normative value
28
Explain pluralism.
many groups within a society use their resources to exert influence over governmental actors
29
Explain elitism.
power concentrated among the wealthy
30
Explain institutionalism.
institutions are social structures and mechanisms of order and cooperation; govern the behavior of communities, societies and states; public polity produced through the filter of institutions
31
What's a transaction cost?
cost incurred in making an economic, political, or social exchange
32
What's a conformity cost?
occur when collective decisions differs from that of an individual's ideal preference
33
What is the goal of the actors in game theory?
actors choose different actions in an attempt to max their returns
34
What 2 primary assumptions does game theory rests on?
rationality and common knowledge
35
What is backwards induction? What is it a product of?
working from the end result of a series of choices; rationality and common knowledge
36
Explain the coordination problem.
all players in the game realize mutual gains, but only by making mutually consistent decisions
37
Explains the nash equilibrium.
no player has anything to gain by unilaterally changing only his/her strategy
38
What makes a public good a public good?
hard to produce for private profit; non-excludable (difficult to prevent access) and non-rivalrous (everyone benefits)
39
What are externalities?
consequences of a transaction not born by those who participated in it
40
What's pareto-optimal?
collective outcome that would be best for everyone
41
Explain the Prisoner's Dilemma.
conflict where parties don't trust each other
42
Explain the Free Rider Problem. What does it lead to?
situation when actors who consume more than their fair share of a resource/shoulder less than a fair share of its production; difficulty of large group membership
43
Explain the Tragedy of the commons. What does it lead to?
conflict of resources between individual interests and the common good, unrestricted access to a resource; over-exploitation
44
What are solutions to the free rider problem and tragedy of the commons?
govt regulation or private property orientated
45
When was the republic constitution created?
after Texas declared independence from Mexico (1836)
46
What were the components of the republic constitution? (2)
chief executive (president) bicameral legislature
47
How many years did the chief executive serve under the republic constitution? What did it prohibit the president to do?
3 years; serving consecutive terms
48
How many years did the House and Senate members serve under the republic constitution?
house - 1 year senate - 3 years
49
What influenced the texas constitution? What were some of the policies?
spanish and mexican culture 1. women could own property and share ownership with husband 2. separation of church and state; prohibited clergy members from holding office 3. prohibited imprisoning someone for debt
50
What's homestead protection? Which constitution protected this?
family's homestead could not be taken to pay their debt; republic constitution
51
Explain the immigration policy under the republic constitution.
anyone residing in texas on the day of declaration of independence would be considered a citizen except for africans and indians, allowed immigrants to vote
52
Explain the policies of slavery under the republic constitution. What did the policies do to the number of slaves in Texas?
protected prohibited texans from freeing slaves without consent prohibited free africans from residing in texas without approval; increase
53
What's the texas declaration of clauses?
list of complaints against fed govt after texas seceded
54
What are the 2 reasons for the US to not allow Texas to join the Union immediately?
1. fear of war with Mexico since Texas was back under Mexican control after the renouncing of the Treaty of Velasco 2. fear of civil war since Texas was a slave state
55
Explain the components of the statehood constitution of 1845. Why is is significant?
1. governor serve 2 year term; could not serve 4 years 2. house members - 2 year terms; senate members - 4 year terms 3. expand protection of slavery 4. state required to set aside money for education next 3 constitutions were based on this
56
Explain the components of the confederacy constitution 1861. Why was it created?
1. changed references from the US to the confederate states of America 2. required state officials to take an oath of allegiance to the confederacy 3. illegal to free a slave under any circumstance needed a new one after leaving the union
57
Explain the components of the 1st reconstruction constitution 1866. Why was it created?
1. forbid secession 2. renounced civil war debts 3. abolished slavery 4. made it legal for individuals to acquire and retain mineral rights on their property needed a new one after the south lost the civil war (forced)
58
Explain the components of the 2nd reconstruction constitution 1869. Why was it created?
1. empowered the governor and weakened local govt 2. called for new govt 3. prevented ex-confederates from voting or participate in the creation of the constitution 4. reconstruction acts passed needed a new one after the republicans gained control of congress; wanted to punish the South
59
What are the reconstruction acts?
divided the south into military districts and assigned military leaders to districts
60
What are the components of the current constitution?
1. steered away from EJ Davis and previous constitutions 2. created the executive, judiciary, and legislature branches 3. reflects popular sovereignty 4. created weak governor by plural executive 5. prohibit state income tax and state property tax 6. limit power of big businesses (banks, railroads, etc.)
61
What's plural executive? What was the purpose?
elected offices would share the traditional responsibilities of the governor; weaken the governor's power
62
What can be said about the current constitution?
does not act like a constitution, very specific

Texas Government (1 decks)

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