UNIT #3 EXAM REVIEW
Congratulations. You’ve made it
to the point in the semester where everyone either decides to a) give up or b)
press on toward greater things. Ideally,
you’re deciding to do “b” and are sticking with us to the end, which now is in
sight. No, it’s not a train there at the
end of the tunnel. Remember, only you
know how you study best. If you need my
help addressing some of these items, PLEASE ASK!!! Also, remember to read each question on the
exam carefully. Most of my exam
questions are designed so that anyone can take them, whether they have been
through the course or not; answering correctly is often a matter of reading
answer choices and eliminating the most obvious incorrect answers and choosing
from the other two choices that are left.
There should be no reason why anyone should fail any of these
exams.
The format on this one is a
little different than the other two, in that for several questions I will be
asking you to read some excerpts from some presidential speeches, most of which
you should have already read, since they were part of the reading assignments,
and others that you will not have previously seen. You will be asked what role the president is
primarily exercising in those speeches and you may be asked some additional
questions that require you to infer from them using the information you have
gained from the lectures.
Remember also, that you will have
still one exam after this—the final.
PLEASE take notes this last unit.
I’ve seen plenty of you sitting in class and doing nothing but
pretending to be sponges. That’s not the
best way to acquire knowledge. You must be actively engaged in learning. Taking notes is a vital part of that. I know it’s not always easy to pick which
parts of a lecture are more important than others, but that’s all the more
reason to take highly detailed notes and to remember the vast bulk of what has
been discussed each lecture period.
There should never be a time when your pen is not moving!!!! Do not rely on what is on the board or screen
as adequate; it will not be. KTH
PRESIDENT
AS CHIEF OF STATE: ceremonial role, involving the president as the symbol of
the nation or the spokesperson for the national feelings. Activities of the chief of state may include
laying wreaths, first pitches, exhortatory speeches, acting as “national
pastor” in times of crisis, attending state dinners/funerals/weddings, etc.
PRESIDENT
AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE: the real role of power that the president plays, involves
signing and vetoing bills sent from congress, directing the enforcement of the
law and the constitution, determining policy according to laws that have been
passed or may be passed
PRESIDENT
AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF: a foreign policy role and a military role, president is
(civilian) head of the armed forces.
Ultimately, all military strategy and decisions go back to the
president.
PRESIDENT
AS “CHIEF DIPLOMAT”: foreign policy role of the president, involves president negotiating
treaties, making executive agreements with foreign powers, providing economic
assistance, technical assistance, and working to make allies amongst the
nations of the world.
PRESIDENT
AS “CHIEF LEGISLATOR”: policy-proposing role of the president, made more
important by the growing bureaucracy during the presidency of FDR—more offices
within the executive branch, more policy to propose to keep those offices
occupied and funded.
ACTIVE-POSITIVE
PERSONALITY: believed to be the best personality type for a president, it
involves hands-on role in decision-making and the enjoyment of the exercise of
power. Such presidents as FDR, JFK,
Carter, Bush (41), and Clinton have exhibited this type of personality while in
office.
ACTIVE-NEGATIVE
PERSONALITY: believed to be the worst personality type for a president, it
involves hands-on role in decision-making and the feeling of the weight of
office on one’s shoulders. Performance
of the role of president is seen as a duty that must be assumed because no one else
is able to handle the job at the
moment. Active-negatives often become
rigid and inflexible over a specific issue or two that defines their entire
presidency. Such presidents as Lincoln,
Wilson, LBJ, and Nixon have exhibited this type of
personality while in office.
PASSIVE-POSITIVE
PERSONALITY: this personality type lends itself to trusting others to get a job
done while personally enjoying the role of the leader. Delegation of power is a strength for these
presidents, who generally are likeable and laid back. Such presidents as Harding and Reagan have
exhibited this personality while president.
PASSIVE-NEGATIVE
PERSONALITY: this personality type lends itself to delegation of ordinary tasks
of government to others, while bearing the role of president as a burden or
duty. Delegation of power is a strength,
but this type of president may often be seen as aloof and unresponsive to the
public. Such presidents as Coolidge and
Eisenhower have exhibited this type of personality while in office.
CAUCUS: a
method of selecting nominees for the parties’ candidates for president,
involving a very public meeting at a set time and place at the precinct
level. Candidates’ success in caucus
states depends largely on grassroots organization and extensive person-to-person
campaigning. Caucus participation is
limited to party members only. Iowa is
the first and most prestigious caucus of the presidential nomination contests.
PRIMARY:
a method of selecting nominees for the parties’ candidates for president,
involving secret balloting and relatively little, if any, overt
partisanship. Candidates’ success in
primary states depends more on advertising and large-scale campaigning efforts
to encourage getting-out-the-vote on the primary day. Some states have CLOSED
PRIMARIES, which permit only party members to vote in their party’s
primary. Other states have OPEN
PRIMARIES, which permit independents and opposition party members, as well as
loyal party members to vote in a party’s primary. New Hampshire is the first primary in the
presidential nomination contests.
FRONTLOADING: practice of the states to move
their primaries or caucuses further up in the calendar year so as to have a
better selection of candidates from which to choose the nominee and to have a
greater impact on the final outcome of all the nomination contests. E.g., several states in the South this year
moved their primaries up from dates in March to dates in February to have a
better chance at being an important voice in the nomination process.
FRONTRUNNER
STATUS: status given to the leading candidates in each party in either the
delegate count or the state count during the primary season. Candidates who emerge as frontrunners
generally benefit from extensive media coverage, better fundraising capacity,
and momentum from their earlier wins.
MOMENTUM:
candidates who win early primaries or caucuses generally pick up steam as they
move on later into the primary season.
Candidates who prove themselves successful at winning early states by
large margins or winning sever states consecutively even by small margins may
build momentum as they go along into the
primary season, making it difficult for other candidates to catch up in the
delegate count as the season drags on.
Obama benefitted from early momentum coming out of Iowa and South
Carolina; McCain and Huckabee benefitted from
momentum from New Hampshire and Iowa, respectively….
PARTY
CONVENTION: party celebration and convocation at the end of summer that
officially nominates the party’s candidate for president and the party
candidate for vice-president. Delegates
are sent to the convention based upon the outcomes of the primaries and
caucuses that took place in the spring.
Also, the party platform is adopted and the candidates present
themselves to the public through their nomination speeches, etc.
ELECTION
TURNOUT: we expect that more voters will turn out in presidential election
years than in off years. About 55-60% of
eligible voters usually cast their votes in presidential election years.
INDEPENDENT
VOTERS: those who are about 10% of the voting population who have no general
inclination toward one party or the other and who are most likely to be
affected by last-minute information in a campaign. These tend to be only moderately-informed on
the issues and have less interest in politics than the average partisan voter.
PARTISAN
VOTERS: about 75- 80% of the voting population that identifies with one party
or the other and will almost certainly vote a straight-ticket ballot for their
party in the general election. These
tend to be more informed on the issues and are not as likely to be affected by
last-minute information in a campaign.
In fact, they are likely to have made up their mind long before the
campaigning officially kicks off
GENERAL
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: state-by-state election, not nation-wide. Every state’s votes counts separately. Candidates are attempting to win the
plurality of the vote in enough states to
put together a win in the Electoral College, which will win them the
White House.
ELECTORAL
COLLEGE: American method of selecting the president. Each state is assigned a number of electors
based upon the number of people it has in Congress (# reps. + # senators = #
electors). Each state’s electors who
will cast their ballots on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in
December in their respective state capitals are chosen on the November election
day (first Tuesday after the first Monday in November) on the basis of the
plurality of the vote statewide. There
are a total of 538 electoral votes up for grabs nationwide; it takes an
absolute majority of 270 or more to win the presidency.
--it is possible to win the popular
vote and lose the election (as with Al Gore in 2000)
--it is possible to lose the popular
vote and win the election (as with George W. Bush in 2000)
--it is possible to win less than
the majority of the popular vote and win the election (as with Bill Clinton in
1992 and 1996)
--it is possible to win a
substantial percentage of the popular vote and not win a single electoral vote
(as with Ross Perot in 1992—19% of the popular vote , 0 electoral votes) if
voter strength is spread evenly across the country
--it is possible to win a tiny
percentage of the popular vote and win several electoral votes (as with Strom
Thurmond in 1948—2.4% of the popular vote, 39 electoral votes) if voter
strength is concentrated in a small enough region.
Electoral
College system was established to protect the smaller states from the bigger ones,
to give the bigger states more of a voice in the election, and to avoid pure
democracy/majority rule
FOREIGN
POLICY: area of public policy where presidents have the most freedom to act,
largely because of the need for quick and decisive action during an
international crisis
DIPLOMACY: attempts to settle
disputes between nations in a peaceful and negotiated manner, reach agreements
on trade and commerce, form a consensus on security tactics amongst allies,
etc.; primary job of the US State Department
ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE: loans, grants,
credits to foreign states, made primarily to secure alliances, build trust and
protect US security in lands abroad, e.g., more foreign aid goes to Israel than
to anywhere else in the world, because we need that outpost of democracy in the
Middle East region
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE: sending
experts and technological resources to other nations to help improve quality of
life and to build alliances
NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY: defense
and economic integrity must be maintained to avoid opportunism from other
nations who wish to see America’s downfall
PRESIDENTIAL
FOREIGN POLICY POWERS: commander-in-chief of the military and chief diplomat of
the United States—deploying troops where needed around the world; waging war
without prior congressional declaration of war; negotiating and seeking
ratification of treaties; entering into executive agreements with other foreign
leaders; appointing ambassadors and consuls and envoys to other nations; using
the “bully pulpit” power of persuasion, etc.
POLITICAL
REALISM: theory of international relations built upon philosophy of Machiavelli
and Hobbes—assumes the world is anarchic, that the sole concern of any national
leader should be the security of his/her country and that the ends of security
justify the means of getting there. War
is inevitable, and the only thing we can do is to hope to stave it off as long
as possible. Expect to see arms races,
massive economic mobilization and a general state of preparedness for war at
any given moment. Avoid engaging in
conflict with nations that are positioned as allies with great powers—hence,
we’re not going into North Korea because of its traditional alliance with China
and the proximity of both China and Russia to North Korea’s boundaries. Every nation seeks to dominate every other
nation.
LIBERAL
INSTITUTIONALISM: theory of international relations built upon the philosophy
of Locke and Kant—assumes world is anarchic, but not necessarily in a perpetual
state of war. Natural state is governed
by reason, which limits the actions of aggression taken against one nation by
another; every nation is an end unto itself and should be respected as an equal
at the negotiating table.
Constitutionalism and tolerance should be sought and can be
achieved. Cooperation among states is
possible, as is progress.
DEMOCRATIC PEACE: promote
democracies around the world and expect the amount of conflict to decrease,
because democracies do not fight each other
GREAT
POWERS: nations equipped to fight long and protracted wars against other
nations similarly equipped economically and militarily. US, China, Russia are generally on everyone’s
list of great powers, may include Great Britain, France, India, Pakistan,
Germany, Japan, etc., depending on what criteria are used. It is amongst these nations that we should,
according to realism, expect war at some point in the future.
ISOLATIONISM:
foreign policy stand of the United States for most of the 18th
through the early 20th centuries.
United States presidents sought to avoid conflict with European powers
on their own turf. Only with World War I
did we start to see a shift away from this isolationist approach to foreign
policy and move toward more global involvement.
MONROE
DOCTRINE of 1823, 3 key points: 1) Western Hemisphere is closed off to further
European colonization, 2) Europe should stay out of the affairs of newly
independent nations in the Western Hemisphere, and 3) US will stay out of the
affairs of Europe on the European continent—this was the primary foreign policy
of the United States through the early 20th century and the US entry
into World War I
MANIFEST
DESTINY: belief that the United States can and should spread from coast to
coast in an effort to promote Anglo-Saxon culture and enlightenment to those in
the great western part of the North American continent, then later to US
territories and colonies acquired during the Spanish-American War of 1898; at
times took on very overt racial tones and a feeling of American superiority
ROOSEVELT
COROLLARY TO THE MONROE DOCTRINE (1905): America must be ready to back up any
threat of force with real force, if necessary.
“Tread softly and carry a big stick” becomes the theme of American
foreign policy, along with seeking a “just peace” that does not admit mere
cease fires but actually promotes rights and liberties here in America and
abroad
WILSON’S
WAR MESSAGE (1917): US is entering WW I for the sake of “making the world safe
for democracy.” This is the first
indication that America is going to break out of its isolationism, and a first
sign of liberal institutionalism being active in the mind and soul of a
president in power. That liberal
institutionalism is also manifest in Wilson’s attempt to get the US to become
party to the Treaty of Versailles that not only officially ends the First World
War, but also creates the League of Nations.
REAGAN’S
EVIL EMPIRE SPEECH (1983): Soviet Union is the “focus of evil in the modern
world.” America must preserve “peace through strength.” This is quintessential political realism,
expressed even in presidential rhetoric.
SPANISH-AMERICAN
WAR (1898): Marks the US’s arrival as a Great Power after its defeat of the
Spanish Empire and acquisition of several territories, including Puerto Rico,
Guam, American Samoa, the Philippines and Cuba.
BUREAUCRACY:
The largest part of the Executive Branch of the United States Government, also
known as the 4th Branch because of its relative independence from
either Congress or the President.
Literally, “rule by office,” it is the segment of government with which
we come in contact most frequently and is responsible for most of the law’s
routine implementation and administration
WEBERIAN MODEL: Bureaucratic theory that
explains bureaucracy as a natural outgrowth of social complexity and diversity,
a rational and apolitical decision-making machine that attempts to serve the
interests of the public in a timely and efficient manner. Most of FDR’s New Deal program exemplifies as
best as possible the Weberian model in its efforts to
implement a fair and unbiased program of social reform and welfare.
ACQUISITIVE
MODEL: Bureaucratic theory that understands the actions of the bureaucracy
through the lens of inter-agency competition—each part of the bureaucracy
attempts to “sell” its “products” to the public and to the people in Congress
who are in charge of authorizing government programs. For example, Social Security “sells” itself
as the necessary pension fund that will guarantee everyone an income after they
have reached retirement and attained the minimum age to qualify.
MONOPOLISTIC
MODEL: Bureaucratic theory that views government agencies operating like
corporations without legitimate competition from other sectors of society, thus
encouraging wastefulness and inefficiency and providing little incentive to
clean it up the waste and speed things along.
For example, the Pentagon can purchase $600 toilet seats because there
is no outside competition from the private sector for providing national
defense services; nor would there be real competition from private insurance
corporations if the government were to nationalize the healthcare industry and
offer a government insurance plan available to everyone, thus there would be
long waits for care, fewer people going into the medical profession, and less
work in research and development to improve healthcare technology.
GARBAGE
CAN MODEL: Bureaucratic theory that understands much of bureaucracy’s actions
as matters of trial and error—try something, find that it fails, throw it out and try something else instead. For example, after Hurricane Katrina, the
FEMA attempted several things to rebuild parts of New Orleans and other cities
along the Gulf Coast, but failed to ever get it right. This model also explains
in part why sometimes government can be wasteful and inefficient.
CABINET
DEPARTMENTS: 15 major government departments, headed by a secretary (or the
Attorney General) and directly accountable to the president. Cabinet members are the secretaries and
attorney general and serve as the president’s inner circle of advisors under
most administrations. Cabinet
departments include State, Treasury, Justice, Defense, Agriculture, Interior,
Commerce, Labor, Transportation, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban
Development, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security
INDEPENDENT
EXECUTIVE AGENCIES: Government offices that are not directly under one of the
major executive cabinet departments; heads of independent executive agencies
are directly accountable to the president and are in charge of agencies tasked
with implementation of specific areas of policy not addressed by the cabinet
departments. IEAs
include NASA, the CIA, and the EPA
INDEPENDENT
REGULATORY AGENCIES: Government offices not directly accountable to the
president nor accountable to any of the cabinet departments, their primary
tasks are to provide certain services to the public in a rational and
apolitical manner by regulating various areas of the business and commercial
world. For example, IRAs include the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which licenses and regulates TV and
radio stations, the Federal Aviation Administration (which regulates the
airline industries), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which monitors
food and drug safety
GOVERNMENT
CORPORATIONS: Government offices that operate on a for-profit basis and have no
accountability to the president or to congress or any part of the
government. Government corporations
include the US Post Office, AMTRAK Railroad, and the Tennessee Valley Authority
THE
POLICY-MAKING PROCESS: The steps to take from policy ideas to the actual
implementation of policy and its evaluation and revision
IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM: Discover
what congress, the people, the courts, and the special interests will desire or
permit; consult multiple sources such as various media outlets, interest
groups, constituent polls, etc.
AGENDA BUILDING: Making the public
aware that a problem exists, bringing the executive on board and circulating various
proposals among key members of Congress, the executive branch and special
interest groups
POLICY FORMULATION: discussion of
proposals among bureaucrats, legislators, and special interest group lobbyists,
then holding congressional hearings and discovering the presidential position
on certain policy ideas
POLICY ADOPTION: decision made
between two or more policy proposals and then passing it through congress and
getting the president to sign it into law
POLICY IMPLEMENTATION: primarily the
responsible of bureaucrats, but also involves citizens’ acceptance of certain
policies, police enforcement of them, and courts’ willingness to uphold them if
challenged
RULE-MAKING: most policies passed in
Congress require extensive rules and regulations to put them into effect; much
of the bureaucracy’s job is to write rules and regulations and to figure out
ways to enforce them—over 7000 rules a year are passed through the bureaucracy
in an effort to enforce US law
POLICY EVALUATION: study of
effectiveness of a policy and then determining whether changes need to be made
FDR’S
OCTOBER 31, 1936 SPEECH: prime example of a president using his position as
chief legislator, proposing to the people, and thus to Congress, various new
programs that will benefit the public
POLITICAL
CAPITAL: amount of popularity a president has to “invest” in his personal
policy projects. Presidents with much
political capital have either a) a substantial margin of victory in the popular
vote after the general election b) a substantial margin of victory in the
electoral college vote after the general election or c) a high public approval
rating of his job performance. FDR, for
example, had high political capital after his 1936 election because he won all
but 8 electoral votes in the electoral college, which meant that he had little
opposition to his New Deal programs getting passed during his second term;
President Bush, after the 2000 election, however, had little or no political
capital because he lost the popular vote and won the electoral vote by the
barest of margins over Al Gore, thus Bush would have a terrible time getting
many of his programs passed, even with a Republican Congress.