midterm Flashcards
Most Durable Regime
US followed by Swiss
Institutions
*Man-made structures that constrain human behavior
*Composed of principal-agent relationships, subject to agency loss
*Based on constituent rules, hierarchies, and punishments
*Determine the distribution of resources and the meaning of “rule of law”
*Institutions reflect the interest groups that made them, create others
THE “OLD WORLD”
*Europe defined by religious wars and conflict over centralized decision-making
*Established churches, rule of monarchs and landowners
*Romanus Prefex (1455) and Inter Caetera (1493) promote “discovery”
*English Civil War (1642-1651) and Treaty of Westphalia (164
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
*Ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia
*56 Signers representing the 13 Colonies
*Lays out principles for new regime, but not institutions
*Discusses justification for declaring independence
*Passages discussing slavery removed – what do these passages tell us?
REDACTED SECTION of Dec of ind
THE FOUNDING FATHERS
*Generational wealth (Washington, Madison, Jefferson)
*Working-class backgrounds (Franklin, Adams, Jay)
*Military leaders through personal connections (Washington, Madison)
*Lawyers known for cases on slavery and liberties (Jefferson, Adams, Jay)
Thomas Jefferson’s liberal work
*Declaration of Independence (1776)
*Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)
*Bill 64 (1779)
*Statute on Religious Freedom (1786)
*French Declaration of the Rights of Man & Citizen (1789) (Contributed)
Sally Hemmings
Jefferson’s enslaved 14 year old black gf who he impregnated and was also the half sis of his wife
THE CONNECTICUT COMPROMISE
*Upper house equally apportioned
*Every state gets two senators
*Popularly elected lower house elects senators for upper house
*Slaves counted as three-fifths of a person in apportioning electors and levying taxes
*Even so, Constitution doesn’t actually mention slavery
THE GEORGE TSEBELIS FRAMEWORK
*Institutions made up of “agenda setters” and “veto players”
*Veto players – actors whose agreement is necessary to change status quo
*Agenda setter – the first veto player, offers proposals for others
*Policy-making occurs within space, compromise between preference spaces
*More veto players means more policy stability
Hypocrisy of Thomas Jefferson
Abolishing slavery when he had 600 enslaved people
Proposals applying to new states but not the original 13 colonies
The articles of confederation 1777
- Colonies set up as independent states with only some cooperation
- Set up Decentralized taxation, courts and military
- Weak economic development law enforcement lead to shay’s rebellion
- Working class vs wealthy
- Started by shay, war vet who got screwed
- High tax/debt burden
- Lack of coordinated policy
- No centralized military so made it hard to deal with threats
New jersey & Virginia Plan
- New jersey every state is equally represented
- Virginia upper and lower house and is represented based on population size
Institutional designs of USA
- Bicameral legislature (house of rep and senate)
- Fed supremacy on (Artiucle 1, section 8)
- Independent executive, elected indirectly by electoral college
- Three branches of gov
Ernest A Young on Purpose of a constitution
as foundational rules of the game
Ernest A Young 2 elements of a constitution
- Canonical structures - map of gov hasn’t changed
- Extracanonical norms
Ernest A Young 3 functions of a costititution
- Establishing governing institutions
- Guarantee the rights of private individuals
- Entrenching rights and institutions through elevated procedures
(Hard to change laws means stable over time)
Constitution Amendment procedures
- Constitutive extracanonical and entrechment canonical aspects
- Requires approval by ⅔ of Congress of State legislatures
- 3/4 of states must be ratified
Louisiana Purchase as setting precedent
- Thomas jefferson bought it without congress approval despite him being anti-federalist
- Making the precedent that executive comes first in foreign affairs
First Amendment
Freedom of Speech
Second Amendment
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
Third amendment
freedom from quartering soldier
Fourth amendment:
right to people to be secure in their propert
FIFTH AMENDMENT
-Due process – no one can be deprived of freedom or property w/o trial
-Rights of criminals, proportionality, and grand jury established
-Private property seized by government must be compensate