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Pols 207 Dyer Exam 3

Terms in this set (60)

Describe some of the major 'jobs' of state legislatures. How might these showcase the tension between the legislature's role as both a representative institution and a lawmaking institution?
enactment of statutory laws, state constitutional amendments, budgetary powers and oversight authorities. Representative institution (retail politics) includes representative interests of constituents, bringing funds and projects to districts, constituents services
What are the two types of political representation that a state representative might provide for his/her constituents? Define each and give an example.
descriptive- mirroring politically relevant characteristics ex: age/sex/race
substantive- representing interest groups (legislature doesn't have to belong to group) ex: LGBT Law
How do the demographic characteristics (e.g. race, ethnicity, gender, education, income, occupation, etc.) of the members of state legislatures compare to those of the population at large?
Most people with the exception of middle class white citizens are under represented by people of their race
What are legislative apportionment and malapportionment? What legal principle guides legislative apportionment
A-= representation when drawing lines
M- was common before the 1960s and unequal number of people in legislative districts creating inequality of representation
What is redistricting? What principles and/or criteria are supposed to guide this process?
redrawing of electoral districts. The principles for this are equality of population, contiguity, protected groups and district shape
What is gerrymandering? What are some of the ways in which gerrymandering can be accomplished?
redrawing of electoral districts to ensure the votes fall a certain way, partisan gerrymandering and racial gerrymandering. Spilterning/cracking= dividing minorities to dilute, packing= concentrating one party in a certain area
Which institutions have traditionally 'drawn the lines' for legislative districts for both state legislatures and for the U.S. House of Representatives? What have some states adopted as a less partisan alternative? Which institution draws maps of legislative districts in Texas?
State legislatures can draw the lines, independent committees can draw the lines, or sometimes even both. Some states have adopted third party people to draw the lines so it is less partisaned are more on population. The Texas State legislature draws the lines in Texas but it also has a back up plan of third party.
How has redistricting in the states been affected by recent legal decisions regarding a.) how frequently legislative redistricting can occur, b.) the ease of claiming that a partisan gerrymander is unfair, and c.) Voting Rights Act protections against discriminatory gerrymandering?
In Shelby County v. Holder Texas was no longer a covered state/cleared preclearance , redistrcing can happen every 10 years after US Census, because of Abbott v. Pere puzzling shapes like CD 35 are allowed to stand
What is meant by legislative institutionalization
Development of rules, patterns of behavior & organizational structures. More professionalism and complexity of rules/procedures.
What kinds of features distinguish 'professionalized' state legislatures from those that are less professionalized?
the act of volunteerism, salary, terms, part time/ full time
What are some ways that bills can die? Where in the legislative process do most bills meet their end?
bills can die at every step in the bill process, most die when assigned to committee and after they go through the committee
How do committees help organize lawmaking in state legislatures?
they are assigned bills and help craft them then make points to bring to houses
How often does the Texas state legislature meet?
-How long is its regular session?
-Every 2 years
-140 days
What is the title/office of the presiding officers of the TX House of Representatives and of the TX Senate?

-How might these legislative leaders help a priority bill pass the
legislature or assist in killing a bill they dislike?
-Lieutenant Governor Senate & speaker of the house HOR
(currently.....Dan Patrick) (Joe Strauss)


-Bills needs support from BOTH presiding officers. They can give special priorities to certain bills, or sign impossible committee or do nothing spot of calendar or use procedural techniques to limit the debate.
Describe the growing partisanship in legislative politics in the U.S. states. What other forms of intra-state division has partisanship largely eclipsed?
-Partisanship dominates over other divisions (i.e. geographical divisions within states, interest-based divisions)

-Growing polarization of party-in-government

-Party cohesion & party-line votes
(Even division ~> Risk of gridlock; One-party supermajority ~> can "shut out" minority party)
According to the textbook, what are some effects of legislative term limits on the lawmaking process?
-The power of the governor legislation increases
-Power is shifted to the upper chamber
-Bipartisanship and consensus-building are more difficult

-Overall legislative policy knowledge is reduced, especially in part-time with small staffs

-More likely to be motivated by issues than non-term-limited legislators and are more likely to possess progressive ambition
What kinds of background and experience are common for U.S. governors?
Tradtionally: sons of state 'power families'

Legal Background is common

Public figure
Differences between the gubernatorial elections and state legislatures elections?
G- partisan, competitive, expensive, midterm L-incumbancy= less competitive, less media, less informed voters
Recall
- removal of an elected official from office
-elected officials can be removed before end of reg term
-NOT impeachment (political not criminal)
-in 13 states(not TX)
Impeachment
-legal procedure w/ political overtones to remove a governor from office
-available in 49 states but NOT Oregon
What is the difference between the formal (or institutional) and informal (or personal) powers of governors?
Formal powers are given to the governor by the state constitution and statutes while informal powers vary w/ individual connections & circumstances.
Describe the major components of a governor's formal power. (To what extent does the Texas governorship share in each of these components?)
appointment(weak), tenure potential(strong), managerial/oversight(low), fiscal(LOW), legislature(state of state speech/veto/line item veto above average)
What is the difference between a veto and a line-item veto? What degree of veto power does the Texas governor have?
A veto is for any proposed bill, but a line item veto is only for approportionate bills like budget, the texas governor has this power and is above average
In terms of formal powers, how does the office of governor in Texas compare to that of other states? In terms of informal power?
Texas is weak in Appointment, Managerial and Fiscal Formal Power, but strong in tenure potential and legislature. Texas is extremely strong on Personal/Informal Powers
What is the difference between a unitary and plural executive? Which do we see at the executive level at the Office of the President of the United States? Which does Texas have?
A unitary executive is like the POTUS where all the power is invested into one person, while a plural executive like Texas is where the power is invested in to many different people
How does having a plural executive affect the strength of the governship?
Plural executives make the government weaker by dispersing the power and allowing points of access for interest groups
How does having a plural executive affect the ability of lobbyists to influence the executive branch?
The lobbyists can go directly to the person in charge of their problem instead of going to someone who is in charge of all areas of problems
Which members of the Texas executive are elected in statewide elections (as opposed to appointed by the governor)
Lt. Governor, Land Commissioner, Railroad Commission, Ag Commissioner, Attorney General and State Board of Education are elected. The Secretary of State is appointed by the Governor
What are some of the formal powers of the Lieutenant Governor of Texas?
The Lt. Governor is strong in formal powers as he is the President of the Senate/Chief Legislator, appoints bills to committees, procedural oversight
What are the powers and official responsibilities of the Comptroller?
-broad financial responsibilities
-tax collection, accounting, check writing, audits
-treasurer of state funds & investments
-estimate revenue
-has to approve budget
What are some of the formal powers of the Lt. Governor in Texas? How do these compare to those of the Governor?
Lt. governor has more formal powers than the Guv as the president of the TX senate and co-chair of the LBB
What are the powers and official responsibilities of the Attorney General?
-chief legal officer for state
-gives legal opinion of legality/constitutionality of statutes
-enforces anti-trust & child support laws
What are the powers and official responsibilities of the Land Commissioner?
-heads General Land Office
-manages public lands & resources
-issues permits for exploration & use
-collects royalties on oil, gas extracted
What are the powers and official responsibilities of the Secretary of State?
-appointed by guv
-administer state election laws
-maintains public records & filings
-keeper of state seal
What are the powers and official responsibilities of the Agricultural Commissioner?
-heads dept. of ag
-enforces ag state laws
-food inspection
-promotion of exports
-animal quarantine, disease, pest control
-consumer protection & environmental laws
What are the powers and official responsibilities of the TX Railroad Commission?
-regulates oil, gas, pipelines, etc.
-writes regulations & adjudicating implementation of state energy laws
What is a bureaucracy? What are some features of bureaucracies and how they operate
rational organization of people who work together to do public policy by performing separate tasks
What does it mean that bureaucracies implement public policy
They are putting laws into practice, Creating concrete operational rules and procedures to carry out public policy
What do bureaucracies do when they engage in regulation? What about adjudication?
When they engage in regulation they are creating the rules that set the parameters for firms and individuals, Adjudication is when they are judging the laws in cases to see if people are in compliance with them
What are some of the most common types of state level bureaucrats? How was hiring and promotion of government jobs commonly done in the past? Which practices are much more common now?
Schools, Corrections, Fire and Police, healthcare. In the past hiring and promotion was done by patronage, now a more common system is a merit based system based on civil service
What is policy incrementalism? How does it contribute to bureaucratic growth?
the idea that new policies and rules are passed every year and this contributes to less review of laws that are already in place.
What is Bureaucratic culture? In what ways does it contribute to the difficulty of reforming bureaucracies and curbing their growth?
workers believe their work is important and due to their long tenures. It stunts bureaucratic growth because the bosses are appointed, others are elected and most civil workers must work their entire life to achieve higher status
What are some of the ways in which government services might be privatized so that they are no longer directly provided by the government?
Government services might be privatized by contracting, franchising, grants and vouchers
What is criminal law? What is the standard of guilt in a criminal case?
Deals with actions harmful to the state as a whole. The standard of guilt in a criminal case is beyond a reasonable doubt
What is civil law and what kinds of cases does it include? What is the standard of judgment for a civil case? How can responsibility for a wrong be apportioned differently in a civil case than in a criminal case?
legal dispute between individuals and includes cases such as divorce, contracts, monetary. The Standard of judgement is preponderance of evidence. You can be partially at fault in a civil case
Approximately what percentage of legal cases in the U.S. are matters for state courts?
99.8-99.9%
Describe the process by which the (federal) Bill of Rights has been applied to the states? What are some of the U.S. Constitutional protections against unlawful investigation, prosecution, and punishment for crimes with which states must now comply?
States get final say in matters that pertain to state statutes and constitutions however some may apply to federal law
What are original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction? Describe the difference between courts of original jurisdiction and courts of appeals.
A courts power to hear case for the first time, appellate jurisdiction is a courts power to review decision coming from lower court.
In general terms, what are the levels of courts in a state court system?
Court of Last Resort (Top), Appellate Courts, Major Trial Courts, Courts of Limited Original Jurisdiction (Bottom)
Explain the roles of grand juries and trial juries in the legal system.
The roles of grand juries is to review the states evidence and decide to indict (have trial) accused. The role of trial juries is to determine whether the accused is innocent/guilty
What are some of the arguments for and against the popular election of judges?
Why appoint
- Low voter knowledge
- Judicial independence and insulation
Why elected
- Why shouldn't people choose
- Better descriptive representation
- Appointment cant really take judges out of politics
What is the difference between violent crime and property crime? Give examples of each. What distinguishes a criminal act to make it a hate crime?
violent crime is crimes against a person, including murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, and assault

property crimes are crimes committed against property like burglary, larceny, arson and theft

hate crimes are those committed on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation
How has the U.S. crime rate changed since the 1960s? What are some explanations for these trends?
US Crime rate has actually fallen due to..........

i. Success of "get tough" movement (Conservative/Republican theory)
ii. Success of rehabilitation efforts for felons
iii. Demographic changes: boomers aging out of "high crime" years
According to criminal justice theory, what are the five rationales for punishment?
retribution- Wrong to community must be repaid
incapacitation- Societal protection; "Get 'em off the streets"
deterrence- Keep others from committing same crime
rehabilitation- Reintegrate offender into society
restoration- About justice & a return to the proper communal order
How does the nationwide U.S. incarceration rate compare to that of other countries? In which states and regions of the U.S. is the incarceration rate highest?
We imprison more people than any other country

Southern states have higher incarceration rates
According to the U.S. Supreme Court, what makes a punishment cruel and unusual? What happened as result of the court case in which these legal principles were established?
Furman v Georgia (1972) where the court actually invalidated all the current death penalty laws in the US. "Bombshell" All were converted to life in prison.

Court's Answer:
1. degrading to human dignity
2. inflicted in wholly arbitrary fashion
3. clearly and totally rejected throughout society
4. patently unnecessary
What are some of the common arguments for the death penalty? What are some of the common arguments against it that seem to be contributing to its overall decline?
Arguments For:
1. Punishment severe enough to repay wrong (retribution)
2. Deterrence effect

Arguments Against:
1. Delays
2. Expense
3. Possibility of errors (wrongful deaths)
What are some examples of 'tough on crimes' sentencing laws?
a. Determinate sentencing
- Criminal sentences enacted into state law
b. Mandatory minimums: State statutes establishing min. sentences
c. 'Three strikes' laws: Significant sentencing increases w/ previous felony convictions
Furman v. Georgia (1972)
The death penalty, as administered, constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
Gregg v. Georgia (1976)
Overturned Furman vs Georgia. Death penalty is not "cruel and unusual punishment" in cases of murder
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