Review for Exam #3

Hi, everyone!  This thread will serve as a review for exam #3 (I'll go over this review in class on Monday as well).  Exam #3 takes place in class on Wednesday, April 2.  It will be of similar format to exams #1 and #2.  You simply need to bring pen and photo ID.

To prepare for the exam, you should read through the blog assignment on term limits for legislators.  You should be familiar with my post, the articles I link to, and the comments of your colleagues.  In terms of material covered in class, you should be familiar with all of the material on legislatures, as well as all of the material on governors (all from the third set of lecture notes), and all the material on the bureaucracy (from the fourth set of lecture notes).  Both sets of lecture notes were distributed in class and are also on the blog. Specifically, from class, you should be familiar with:
The reasons people run for the legislature.
The different types of representation people expect from legislators.
The professionalization of the legislature.
Legislative norms and cue voting.
Committees in the legislature.
Gerrymandering and multimember districts.
The increased power of governors.
The line item veto, including its variations, and arguments for and against it.
Why governors have a harder time getting reelected than do other officials.
The reasons for the growth of bureaucracy.
The general characteristics of bureaucracy.
The problems and good points with bureaucracy.
The ways in which elected officials control bureaucracy.

I will have my usual office hours on Monday and Wednesday in case you want to ask questions.  You can also email them to me at the email address on the syllabus.  Finally, you can use the comments section on this thread for questions.  You'll then be able to ask your questions on the blog and read my answers to questions from other students in the class (this really has worked for people!).  Emailed and blog questions must be submitted by 11 pm on Tuesday.  Good luck!

Lecture Notes #4

POLS 220

N BERCH

SPRING 2014

 

Bureaucracy

 

I.                     Comparison of WVU bureaucracy with that of Marlboro College

 

II.                  Size of bureaucracy (as % of workforce)

A.       1954—federal = 2.4%            total = 7.2%

B.      1984—federal  = 2.9%            total = 16.0%

C.      pretty stable since then

 

III.                Reason for rise of bureaucracy

A.       complexity of society—two ways

B.      complexity of legislation—leads to puff-ball

C.      fiscal federalism

 

IV.                 General characteristics of bureaucracy

A.       merit-based civil service

1.        didn’t used to be (Garfield)

2.       states were slower to eliminate patronage—moralistic states moved most quickly

B.       testing—rule of 3

C.      hierarchy

D.      specialization—Jimmy Carter and the mouse

E.       job security—has advantages and disadvantages

F.       adherence to rules

 

V.                   Problems with bureaucracy

A.       tough to abolish useless agencies

B.      overlap between agencies

C.      impersonality

D.      lack of control by elected officials (especially with part-time government at the local level)

E.       hard to fire people

 

VI.                Good points

A.       Fairness?

B.      regulation is often needed and good for the public

C.      any better ideas?

 

VII.              Checks on bureaucratic power

A.       Budget control

B.      oversight

C.      gubernatorial appointment—some

D.      sunset laws

1.        theory behind

2.       drawbacks—morale and recruiting

3.       WV has limited sunset laws

 

 

The Judiciary

 

 

I.                     How are judges chosen?

A.       Partisan elections

1.        high on responsibility

2.       low on independence

3.       costly—involve interest groups

4.       can exclude qualified judges

5.       democratic

6.       couldn’t campaign on judicial issues—now changed

7.       fairly high turnout

B.       Nonpartisan elections

1.        lower turnout

2.       still costly

3.       are they really non-partisan?

4.       popularity contests

C.       gubernatorial appointment

1.        often with confirmation

2.       appointed by elected official

3.       sometimes a payoff

4.       sometimes happens in other systems

D.       legislative elections—leads to ex-legislators

E.       merit systems

1.        often a variation on the Missouri Plan

2.       panel chooses candidates

3.       governor picks

4.       sometimes confirmation

5.       retention election

6.       merit may not work

7.       non-retention is a rarity

 

II.                   Key issues facing judicial system

A.       Plea-bargaining

B.      backlogs

C.      jail space

 

 

Local Government

 

I.                       General  impressions of local government

A.       accessible

B.      less competent (perhaps)

C.      honesty?

D.      spoils system

 

II.                  local government deals with complex, heated issues

A.       often NIMBY (sometimes PPIMBY)

B.      resources

C.      waste

D.      education

E.       race and class

 

III.                Four structures

A.       council-mayor (strong)

1.        responsible executive

2.       often has an administrator

3.       big cities of Northeast and Midwest

4.       too much power?

B.       council-mayor (weak)

1.        small towns (and others)

2.       power in hands of council

3.       Jerry Springer

C.       commission

1.        expertise

2.       fiefdoms

3.       largely discredited

D.       council-manager

1.        removes politics from administration

2.       usually in medium-sized cities

3.       manager can control council

4.       council can try to micromanage

 

IV.                 Morgantown

A.       council-manager

B.      seven members chosen by ward—sort of

1.        about 4000 people per ward

2.       elections are city-wide—hurts student representation

C.       mayor chosen by council

D.      non-partisan elections, but many party ties

E.       some conflicts with managers before Boroff.  After Boroff??  Looks like more conflict

F.       college towns are different

 

 

 

Blog Assignment #5, Due March 24

This assignment is about term limits for legislators.  Just to be clear, term limits are different from "terms".  In every state, every legislator serves for a specified term, usually 2 or 4 years.  At the end of that term, if s/he wants to remain in office, s/he must run for reelections.  Term LIMITS limit the number of two or four year terms that a legislator may serve (for instance, a state may say that a House member may serve no more than 4 2-year terms--or 8 years--after that, they may not run for reelection, no matter how popular they may be).

As we discussed in class, about 1/3 of the states limit the time that state legislators can serve in the legislature.  Some limit them consecutively, some over a lifetime; some let legislators move from one house to the other, others do not.  Most of these term limits were instituted through voter initiative. 
Here is a chart showing the current status of term limits:
http://www.ncsl.org/legislatures-elections/legisdata/chart-of-term-limits-states.aspx
Arguments for term limits include that they reduce corruption, create citizen legislators, increase diversity in the legislature, and create more competitive elections.  Arguments against include that they put more power in the hands of the governor, the unelected bureaucracy, and lobbyists, that they reduce the quality of those seeking office, and that they do NOT increase diversity or competition.  Further, opponents argue that they are inherently undemocratic, as they take choice away from voters.
This is a good summary of arguments on both sides (be sure to click both tabs):  http://idebate.org/debatabase/debates/philosophical-political-theory/house-would-enforce-term-limits-legislative-branch-government

Here is a link to a short article against term limits:  http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/07/the_case_against_legislative_t.html

Here is a link to a short piece in favor of term limits (though they focus on the national level, the arguments aren't that different at the state level):
http://termlimits.com/answers.htm

You can find a ton of arguments out there on related issues.  Indeed, part of your assignment is to find sources that make sense rather than any random stuff out there on the Internet.  You can find pieces on how term limits impact women candidates, how they affect competition, their impact on the minority party in a state, and much more.  Assignments are due at 2:00 pm on Monday, March 24.

Your task is to write about whether you think legislative term limits would be a good idea for West Virginia.  Better answers use reasons and evidence, and they also address the comments of your colleagues.