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Flashcards by soesja.schelling, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by soesja.schelling
about 9 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| House of Representatives facts (x4) | 1. Entire House elected every two years 2. 435 members 3. Congressional districts equal in population 4. Always directly elected |
| Senate facts (x4) | 1. 1/3 Senate elected every 2 years 2. 100 members 3. Two from each state 4. Directly elected since 1912 |
| House of Representatives: what the Founding Fathers intended (x4) | 1. Most democratic element of government 2. Accurate barometer of public opinion 3. Represents wide variety of groups and interests 4. Power of the purse |
| Senate: what the Founding Fathers intended (x4) | 1. Not very democratic; safeguard against "tyranny of the majority" 2. Less sensitive to public opinion 3. Represents semi-sovereign states 4. Power of advice and consent |
| How to prevent gridlock? (x3) | 1. Loose party discipline 2. Informal "4-party system" enables cross party coalitions 3. All share common interest in securing federal spending for states/districts (pork barrel / log rolling) |
| Congress today (x3) | 1. Increasing partisanship 2. More 'safe' districts (outspending challenges / gerrymandering) 3. 413 of 435 Congressmen beat opponents by margin of at least 10% |
| Roles of the president (x4) | 1. Chief executive 2. Commander in chief 3. Head of state 4. Nation's representative |
| Examples executive orders (x4) | 1. Emancipation Proclamation 2. Fair Employment Practices Committee 3. Integration of armed forces 4. Don't ask, don't tell |
| President: aspects of monarchy (x4) | 1. Treated with reverence on ceremonial occasions 2. Inauguration is a kind of coronation 3. Wife treated as "first lady" (queen) 4. Can pardon criminals |
| Choosing the presidential candidate (x4) | 1. Electoral College 2. Party caucus 3. Party nominating convention 4. Presidential primaries |
| Party has no single leader (x4) | 1. "Dark horse" candidates chosen by party bosses 2. Chief dispenser of patronage 3. President can't count on support of party in Congress 4. Presidents create havoc if they desert the party that elected them |
| The permanent presidential campaign (x4) | 1. Four year campaign 2. Need for instant reaction to news cycles 3. Extension of party primaries 4. Limits on private / corporate funding of campaigns abolished |
| Is the presidency a built-in failure? (x7) | 1. Best candidate is not necessarily the best president 2. Senior senators are not elected for office 3. Does not enjoy an electoral mandate 4. Limited power over Congress 5. "Honeymoon" period short 6. Candidates tend to overpromise 7. Voters expectations unrealistic |
| Canada: characteristics (x4) | 1. Weak sense of national identity 2. Lacks "foundation myth" 3. Persistent Anglophone-Francophone tension 4. Politics shaped by "Westminster model" |
| Canada: influenced by British Westminster model (x5) | 1. Corrupt practices eliminated in late 19th century 2. Patronage eliminated by civil service reform 3. Non-partisan control of elections and redistribution 4. Political parties are membership parties 5. No primaries, first-past-the-post |
| Mexico: How did the PRI manage to stay in power for 71 years? (x4) | 1. Produced political stability and economic growth 2. "Big tent" philosophy 3. Left wing reforms under Cardinas 4. National identity (pre-Columbian symbols) |
| Mexico: The PRI: a perfect dictatorship (x5) | 1. A system based on clientelism/patronage 2. Electoral fraud, but opposition allowed 3. Ban on re-election, powerful party bosses 4. Corruption 5. Ruled through manipulation rather than violence |
| Mexico: impediments to democracy (x6) | 1. Heritage of Spanish autocracy 2. Weak absolutism -> Weak state 3. Wars of Independence led by conservatives 4. Heritage of servile labour (encomienda system, peonage) 5. Absence of foreign wars 6. Rise of drug cartels |
| Hunt: three factors influencing foreign policy (x3) | 1. Conception of national greatness 2. Commitment to racial hierarchy 3. Fear of revolution |
| Williams: US isolationism is a myth (x3) | 1. Fought wars with Britain, Mexico and Spain 2. Aimed to dominate the Western Hemisphere 3. Involved in Pacific from 1854 |
| Spanish-American War of 1898 as a turning point in foreign policy (x6) | 1. A war of choice 2. Justified on humanitarian terms 3. Warmongering of the yellow press 4. Encouraged development of naval power 5. Sparked debate over imperialism 6. United States now sees itself as worldpower |
| Why does the US get involved in WWI? (x4) | 1. Wilson pursued pro-British policy 2. Germany's decision for unrestricted submarine warfare 3. US intervention ensured German defeat 4. Wilson's idealism, his vision of a democratic peace |
| Foreign policy: tradition of dissent (x6) | 1. French Revolution divided public opinion 2. War of 1812 unpopular in New England 3. Northern opposition to Mexican War 4. "Peace Democrats" opposed to Civil War 5. 1898: Anti-Imperialist League formed 6. WWI unpopular with Germans / Irish/ Scandinavians / Russians / Socialists |
| WWII and the US (x5) | 1. American economic dominance 2. Europe first strategy 3. No repression of German-Americans, but internment of Japanse-Americans 4.US opposed reconstitution of empires 5. FDR pushed for United Nations |
| US: leader of the free world after WWII (x6) | 1. Marshall Plan 2. Support for royalists in Greek Civil War 3. Berlin airlift 4. Formation of FRG 5. Formation of NATO 6. Containment of Soviet bloc |
| Basis of US power since 1945 (x4) | 1. Keystone of international capitalist system 2. Nuclear power 3. Covert Action (CIA) 4. Alliances |
| Why did the US fail in Vietnam? (x7) | 1. No European allies 2. Ho Chi Minh embodied Vietnamese nationalism 3. South Vietnamese government corrupt and incompetent 4. US couldn't defeat guerrilla warfare 5. Bombing failed to weaken North Vietnamese will 6. Impossible to isolate the battlefield 7. Loss of public support in the US |
| Crisis of confidence (x7) | 1. Collapse of morale among US soldiers 2. Collapse of South Vietnam 3. Inflation, oil crisis, declining dollar 4. Weakened presidency 5. Soviet Union and Cuba taking advantage of US weakness 6. Soviet invasion in Afghanistan 7. Iranian hostage crisis |
| The "New Cold War" (x6) | 1. Soviet invasion of Afghanistan 2. US arming of Mujahideen 3. Deployment of cruise missiles in Europe 4. Committee on the Present Danger 5. Reagan calls for defeat of evil empire 6. Support for anti-communist movements in Nicaragua, El Salvador |
| 9/11 Impact (x6) | 1. Feeling of insecurity 2. War on Terror 3. Support the US or be punished 4. Overthrow Taliban 5. US bases in former SU Central Asia 6. Regime Change in Iraq |
| Current Issues in US Politics (x6) | 1. Low voter turnout 2. The system of electing the president 3. Money in politics 4. Congressional gridlock 5. Undemocratic Senate 6. Conservative supreme court |
| 2000 Election shined a spotlight on the election / political system (x5) | 1. Lack of consistency: 13000 elections 2. 2% of 85 million ballots rejected 3. Disfranchised ex-felons 2% VAP 4. Electoral college instead of popular 5. Intervention of supreme court |
| Problems with managing elections (x3) | 1. Lack of federal oversight 2. Partisan control 3. Absence of uniformity |
| Manipulating the electorate (x4) | 1. Democrats encourage high registration and high turnout, whereas Republicans discourage both 2. 50 million people are not registered 3. Florida and Ohio: no early voting and no Sunday voting 4. Voter ID laws are multiplying |
| Todays congressional gridlock is worse (x4) | 1. Parties more ideologically coherent 2. Increasing use of filibuster 3. Republican efforts to delegitimize Clinton and Obama 4. Rise of FOX New, MSNBC (abolition of fairness doctrine) |
| Options to reform Congress (x3) | 1. Nonpartisan redistricting 2. Make house bigger 3. A more democratic senate: extra senators for larger state, make ex-presidents "national" senators, end filibuster |
| Options to reform Supreme Court (x3) | 1. 15 year limit 2. Mandatory retirement at 75 or 80 3. Expand Supreme Court from 9 to 12 |
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