Political Science Review #2

Ch 7.- Governors

 Impeachment- Charged/endite
o National- congress/house of reps votes to charge; senators vote on
guilty/innocent
o Governor- lower house charges
 47 states allow impeachment
 Recall- remove via early election, last one was Greg Davis
o 18 states allow
o Petition signed to intact recall
 States officers
o Attorney general- interprets the laws, legal advisor for other state
official
o Lt, Governor- no formal duties, serve/be ready to replace Gov,
elected separately, can be from opposite party
o Treasure- money manager, makes sure state bills are paid
o Auditor- make sure money spent legally, no corruption
o State comptroller- do a pre-audit, checks budget
o Secretary of state- official records

Ch. 8- Bureaucrats

 Bureaucratic Power
o Implement laws-the development of procedures and activities to
carry out policies enacted by the legislative body
o Regulation-the development of formal rules for implementing
legislation
o Adjudication- settle’s disputes between agency/citizen
o Discretion- (street level)decide how/when to enforce laws
o Goals- determine if they want to implement or not.
 Patronage system-system of government employment is based on party
loyalty, electoral support, and political influence
  Merit System-is government employment based on competence,
neutrality, and protection from partisanship.
 Budgeting
o Incrementalism-the forming of new programs by bureaucracies
without reviewing previous costs or how to revise current programs.
Getting as much money as in the previous year or more
o Ear marking- practice of allocating specific revenue sources to
specific programs
o Uncontrollables-are government spending increases that cannot be
easily limited because of prior commitments to existing programs.
o Non programmatic budgeting-no specific category for where the
money goes. More money tends to be spent this way

Ch. 9- Court System

 Type of liability
o Expanded liability- liable for something you didn’t really do,
implication expand/ affect others
 3rd party lawsuit- on behalf of someone else
o Joint and Separable Liability-2 or more people are liable
o Tort reform- who is liable and who is not( can/can’t sue)
 Hate crime-WHITE PEOPLE
 Prosecutor- represent state, district attorney; reviews what cases go to
court
 Public defender- paid by state if you don’t have money
 Punitive, 3 strike laws-

Ch. 10-

 Community political system

o Provide services and goods
o Serve political role, peace
 3 major ways people cope with dissatisfaction
o Apathy, (do nothing), most common
 o Move, relocation
o Involve yourself
 White/wealthy= involvement
 Middle class(poor)= move to suburbs
 Immigrants= not involve
 Black middle class=move
 Poor blacks=involvement
 Later generations of immigrants got more politically involved
 Functions
o Urban- property tax, city services priority, high policies
o Rural- life, property tax, less on others/ demand lower
 Special district- provide special service that provides only one
function(special police, education, fire department)
o Represent the largest number of local governments in the U.S.
 Levels of county government
o Board of County Commissioners
o Elected officials- (Sheriffs)
o County commission position
o Bureaucracy- street level, police, teachers
 County Government
o Town meeting- ? times per year, citizens vote on issues, Direct
Democracy (republic vs. democracy)
 4 different types of government officials
o Sheriff
o Tax collector
o Auditor
o County clerk
o Tax assessor
 Types of Charters
o Special Act Charters-
 Has charter that does something specific that other cities can’t
do (casino)
 o General Act Charter-
 Rules done by size of the city
 Having the choice to become whatever city you want to be
 City Government
o Commission- elected officials, combined equal power…manager
worries
o Council Manager System(mid-size town)- city council makes political
decisions, about business aspect
o Mayor council system-
 Weak mayor- symbolic, council executive power
 Strong mayor- sets agenda, political leader

Ch. 11- Participation

 Volunteering
o 548 volunteering, about 54% participate
o 111 Million participate voting or donating money
o 25%-35% local voters

Ch. 12- Metro Politics

 Boom burg- growing trend in suburbs, 100,000+ population, but not the
main city
 Sprawl- outward extension of low density residential and commercial of the
core city; measuring sprawl-number of people living per square mile
o Fed government support for highway/ road funding
o Deduction or mortgage payments, easier to build in suburbs
 Arguments for consolidation and fragmentation
o Consolidation (efficiency through coordination)
 More efficient/cheaper public services/resources
 Coordination= less confusion
 Equality-invest in city government to make it better
 Responsibility, concerns greater on transportation
o Fragmentation (want more personal roles in effective politics)
  Greater identity
 Government access is more reliable
 Sense of personal effectiveness
 You set agenda, Influence
 Education better\
 Inter-jurisdictional agreements
o 3 things
 One government providing service for another city
government for money
 2 cities agreeing to perform a function jointly
 2 or more government assist each other
 Councils of government
o Councils with members from different city government and come p
with recommendations on how policies should be regulated
o Come up with solutions to issues
o Doesn’t force anyone to do anything