Final Exam Review

POLS 220                                                                                                             

BERCH

SPRING 2014

 

FINAL EXAM REVIEW

Hi, everyone!  The final exam for this class will be held in our regular room on Monday, April 28, from 8 am to 10 am.  It will be closed-book and comprehensive.  All you need to bring is a pen and photo ID.  The exam will cover all material from the semester including lectures, blog posts and linked readings, and the comments of your colleagues.  Material will be fairly evenly distributed from throughout the semester, except that material covered since exam #3 is more likely to appear on the exam.  The format will be similar to that of the quizzes.  Specifically, there will be five "short essay" sections, and two true-false sections (each with 5 questions).  You will answer 4 sections (you may answer 4 short essay sections OR 3 short essay sections plus one true-false section OR 2 short essay sections plus both true-false sections.  Each section is worth 5 points.

Besides going over this review sheet and reviewing the material (and I urge to understand rather than memorize), you will have a number of opportunities to ask questions:
1.  You may email me at the address on the syllabus (berchnorto@msn.com).
2.  You may ask questions in the form of comments on this blog post.  I will reply to those questions on the blog, until 8:00 pm on April 27 (same for emailed questions).
3.  We will have an in-class review on April 21.
4.  I will have regular office hours on April 21 and April 23.

 
Material you should understand includes:
1.  How political scientists explain differences between states and why they use states as a laboratory.
2.  The three types of political culture.
3.  The origins of federalism, including the choices the constitution writers faced.
4.  The major events in the history of federalism, including court cases, amendments, etc.
5.  Fiscal federalism, including types of grants, the role of conditions of aid, the changes made by Ronald Reagan, and why some states get more federal aid than others.
6.  The general trends toward greater national control and marble cake federalism.
7.  The role of regional bodies.
8.  Dillon's Rule and Home Rule.
9.  How interest groups are affected by the free rider problem, and why some interest groups are more likely to form than are others.
10.  The reasons for the decline of political parties in the states.
11.  The difficulties facing third parties and why they are sometimes able to overcome them.
12.  Why some states have higher voter turnout than do others, and the ways in which states might try to raise turnout (including the article you read on incentives).
13.  How the legislature has become more professionalized.
14.  The role of committees in the legislature.
15.  The role of norms in the legislature.
16.  Cue voting.
17.  The types of representation voters expect from legislators.
18.  Gerrymandering, including when it is legal and when it is illegal.
19.  The increasing power and competence of governors.
20.  The line item veto, including its variations, arguments for and against it, and whether it works in the states.
21.  Why governors have a harder time getting reelected than do other officials.
22.  The reasons for the growth of bureaucracy.
23.  The general characteristics of bureaucracy.
24.  The problems and good points with bureaucracy.
25.  The ways in which elected officials control bureaucracy.
26.  The different methods for choosing judges, including their advantages and disadvantages.
27.  The different structures for local government, including their advantages and disadvantages.
28.  The difference between progressive, proportional, and regressive taxes, including which taxes fall into which categories, and why some states have less regressive tax systems than do others.

 

 Ask questions, study hard, and good luck!.--NB

      

 

Blog Assignment #7, Due April 21

This blog assignment, worth 3 points is being giving to you as a gift.  Everyone who takes the final exam will get full credit for the blog assignment.--NB

Lecture Notes #5

POLS 220

N BERCH

SPRING 2014

 

Taxes

 

I.                     “Who Pays What?” is important and less noticed=incidence

A.      progressive taxes

B.      proportional taxes

C.      regressive taxes

 

II.                  Look at different taxes

A.       Federal income tax is generally progressive

1.        rates are very progressive

2.       not as progressive as they used to be

3.       tax breaks make it less progressive

B.       FICA (Social Security/Medicare) tax is regressive

1.        seems proportional

2.       only on earned income

3.       cap of a little over $100,000 on most

C.       Federal excise taxes are regressive

1.       poor spend greater percentages of income on gas, alcohol, tobacco

2.       other purposes for tax

D.       State income taxes vary

1.        WV somewhat progressive (not as much as it used to be)

a.        mini-version of Federal

b.      sometimes brackets outdated

2.        PA almost proportional—slightly progressive

3.       Some MW states have single rate with exemptions

a.        slightly progressive

b.      examples:  IL, MI, OH

4.        ME system--% of federal income tax

a.        currently   about a third

b.      efficient

c.       most progressive

d.      politically challenging

5.        tax breaks make system less progressive

a.       deductions similar to federal

b.      deducting federal tax itself

E.        State sales taxes are regressive

1.        poor consume more of their income

2.       tax breaks usually make it less regressive

a.        PA exempts most food and clothing

b.      some states offer small income tax rebates

F.       State and local property taxes are regressive

1.        doesn’t appear that way at first

2.       renters pay property tax

3.       assessment process favors wealthy

4.       fixed income elderly

5.       you can only own so much home

6.       tax breaks (circuit breakers and homestead exemptions) make property taxes less regressive

G.       State excise taxes are regressive

H.      State and Federal corporate income taxes are progressive

 

III.                 Overall tax incidence

A.       Federal system is mildly progressive

1.        especially progressive with respect to the poor

2.       progressive tax outweighs other regressive taxes

3.       less progressive than it used to be

B.       state and local systems vary

1.        HI, VT, MN, OR, MT, DE are proportional to slightly regressive—rely on progressive income tax

2.       TX, TN, SD, FL, NH, WA are all highly regressive

a.        average poor person pays 15%

b.      average wealthy person pays 3%

c.       no income taxes

d.      rely on property and/or sales taxes

e.      Tiger Woods, , Phil Mickelson, Papa Bush all rational actors

3.        average state and local system is pretty regressive

a.        poor pay 14%

b.      wealthy pay 6%

4.        WV is pretty close to average

a.        poor pay 13%

b.      wealthy pay 7%

c.       progressive income tax is offset by sales tax with few exemptions

d.      property tax is less important

C.       Combined federal, state, and local system is barely progressive

D.      Why do some states have more progressive tax systems than others?  History, income, interest groups, parties, brackets.

Blog Assignment #6, Due April 14

This week's assignment is on the methods that states use to choose judges.  There are basically 5 methods, which are described in the paper linked here  http://media.law.fsu.edu/journals/lawreview/issues/231/webster.html
(though gubernatorial appointment and legislative election/appointment are combined.  They are appointment (by governor or legislature), partisan election, nonpartisan election, and Merit plans.  Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

In legislative appointment/election, the state legislature chooses judges.  This system is currently used in just South Carolina and Virginia.  It is largely discredited, because current and former legislators are often chosen in secretive deals.

A handful of states use gubernatorial appointment.  The governor picks judges, and they usually have to be confirmed by one or both houses of the state legislature.  Some argue that this produces the perfect balance between accountability and independence (see the article for a more detailed discussion).  Others argue that it simply results in cronyism.  Also note that while only a few states use this method as the primary way of choosing judges, almost every state uses it as a backup to fill vacancies that occur when a judge dies, resigns, is convicted, etc.

Partisan elections are just like elections for most other offices.  Candidates run for judge in party primaries, with the winners facing off in a general election.  Proponents claim that this is the most democratic way to choose judges.  Critics argue that these elections are issueless, low turnout personality contest that depend on name recognition, thus requiring candidates to raise large amounts of money from interest groups (some of which will then try cases in front of the successful candidates).

Nonpartisan elections are similar to partisan elections, except without party labels.  Arguments for and against them are similar to those for and against partisan elections, with a few exceptions as noted in the article.

Finally, a growing number of states use a merit selection process, as described in the article (that number as also increased since the publication of Professor Webster's article).  The general idea is that in these states, when there is a vacancy, an independent judicial selection commission evaluates applications.  They choose the few best (sort of like the Rule of 3 for bureaucratic hiring) and send their list on to the governor.  S/he then chooses a candidate (in some states, the governor can ask for additional names), who is often subject to legislative approval.  Finally, the judge is subject a few years later to a retention election, where voters decide whether they should continue in office.  Proponents argue that this gets around the worst elements of both elections and gubernatorial appointment.  Critics claim that merit systems actually produce similar judges to those chosen under other systems (especially gubernatorial appointment) and that retention elections are useless (almost everyone is "reelected").

Your task is to make an argument for which judicial selection method is best.  Consider the arguments here, the arguments in the paper, the "compromises" suggested by Professor Webster, and any other arguments you can find.  Be thoughtful and logical in your responses.  Again, better answers respond to the arguments of classmates, contain original ideas, and link to (and explain) other perspectives.  The assignment is due at 2 pm on Monday, April 14.  Good luck!--NB

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