POLS Test 4 PDF

CHAPTER 8A 1\. Characterize the comparative sizes of local governments in the US, both currently and across time from 1957-2007. Explain the changes. 90,000ish local governments\ ◦ Counties 3,000\ ◦ Municipalities 19,000\ ◦ Towns & townships 17,000\ ◦ School Districts 15,000\ ◦ Special Districts 3...

CHAPTER 8A 1\. Characterize the comparative sizes of local governments in the US, both currently and across time from 1957-2007. Explain the changes. 90,000ish local governments\ ◦ Counties 3,000\ ◦ Municipalities 19,000\ ◦ Towns & townships 17,000\ ◦ School Districts 15,000\ ◦ Special Districts 37,000 Change from 1957-2007: school districts dropped, special districts rose, all else remained the same 2\. Discuss the relationship between the populations of states and the number of local governments within each state. Explain how Texas, Kansas, and Nevada help us understand the nature of the relationship. Texas -- Texas has many governments, so they aren't anti-government, they just don't like the federal government Kansas -- has many governments compared to the population Nevada -- below average governments compared to population 3\. Describe how own-source revenue from the average local government was broken down in 2010. Include major components and describe the breadth. Sales and property tax made up most of the revenue 4\. Describe how spending by the average local government was allocated in 2010. Include major components and describe the breadth. A big portion went to K-12 education, the rest was split between insurance, utilities, interest, gov. admin, environment and housing, public safety, trans, medical, welfare 5\. Explain the historical role of county governments in the US and how they serve as dual-purpose entities today. Provide direct services such as roads, public health, property records\ Serve as administrator for state functions 6\. Describe the typical roles within a county government in the US. 7\. Sketch or describe the general organizational structure of a typical Texas county government starting with the voters and working downward. Explain the different supervisory structures and their pros and cons. Independent chief executive -- NONE: In TX, the county judge has all executive duties but is also part of the Commissioners' Court\ Legislative body (3-50 members) called a board, court, etc., leads a county in lieu of an executive: Texas example: "Commissioners' Court" may include 4 reps elected from districts + 1 county judge elected "at large"\ Elected officials: Commissioners, judges, justices, two attorneys, sheriff, constables, two clerks, a tax assessor, a treasurer\ Appointed officials: Both individuals and boards: election administrator/voter\ registrar, auditor, health officer, coroner, library board Bureaucracy: In TX, the civil service system is optional, "Neighbors serving neighbors" -- "work in a fish bowl" 8\. List the breakdown of typical revenue sources of county governments. Property tax \>50% of intake in Texas and similar states\ Sales tax\ Licenses and fees\ Grants\ Fines 9\. List the breakdown of typical expenditures by county governments Law enforcement and justice system (\~50%) Roads and bridges (10-30%) Health and Welfare (\~10%) 10\. Describe the "equity problem" in county government expenditures. Equity isn't built into county finances 11\. Describe the nature, purpose, and types of municipal charters in Texas. General Law Charter: Municipalities only have powers specifically granted to them by the state Home Rule Charters: Municipalities have all powers not forbidden by their charters 12\. Characterize the types and frequency of the main types of municipal governments in the US. Mayor-Council (38%)\ ◦ Strong-mayor subtype\ ◦ Weak-mayor subtype\ Council-Manager (58% and growing)\ ◦ Most prevalent form in TX\ Town Meeting (4%)\ Commission (1%) 13\. Describe the organizational structure of the Mayor-Council type of municipal government and explain what makes it unique. A diagram of a group of candidates Description automatically generated 14\. Compare and contrast the strong and weak forms of the Mayor-Council type of government with respect to their strengths and weaknesses, historical usage, and prevalence today. Strong: common among nations larges cities, strong mayors have powerful duties, councils and mayors check-and-balance each other, can lead to political corruption, may divide mayoral duties into 2 jobs Weak: common among small municipalities **[CHAPTER 8B]** 1\. Describe the organizational structure of the Council-Manager form of local government.  2\. Describe when and where this form occurs in Texas. Dallas and San Antonio are 2 major cities using it, but it is most common in mid-sized cities 3\. Explain the role and the job of the city manager, as well as the size of the supervisory and budgetary tasks in for the city manager in College Station. Responsible for hiring, firing, daily ops, and budget preparation In College Station: Responsible for 1000 full-time employees and execution of \$400M+ budget 4\. Discuss the efficiency advantages of this form of government. Allows for some separation of politics and admin 5\. Discuss the role of the mayor, if present, in a Council-Manager city. Use the mayoral duties in B/CS to illustrate that role. Key political leaders and policy developers Preside at council meetings, spokesperson for the community, facilitate communication and understanding between elected and appointed officials, assist the council in setting goals and advocating policy decisions, promote and defend community, key representative in intergovernmental relations 6\. Compare and contrast single-member and at-large seats on a city council, including their advantages and disadvantages. Explain how a petition to alter the Bryan City Council composition was an example of the winner-loser approach to local politics. Single-member - City is divided into pieces (districts, wards, etc.) and residents of that geographic area elect one person to represent them in the legislative body (council, board, etc.) Better represents diversity that appears geographically At-large - Voted on by residents without regard to district, ward, etc. PRO: These members are expected to be non-partisan, take broad view CON: Still can be highly partisan 7\. Describe the organizational structure of the Commission form of municipal government. A diagram of a government Description automatically generated 8\. Explain the background from which this form of government was first created in Galveston at the start of the 20th century. Include why it was considered innovative and why it failed in Galveston and many other locations. Created to meet Galveston's emergency need following the great hurricane of 1900. CONS: Debilitating problem was internal squabbling, individual commissioners tended to become advocated for their departments rather then for public interests. 9\. Explain which types of municipalities might prefer either the Council-Manager form of government or the Mayor-Council form, specifying the differences between the strong and weak-mayor subtypes. Council-Manager -- Most common in midsize cities, very flexible, elected council appoints city manager Weak Mayor-Council -- used by most small cities, not much control within government Strong Mayor-Council -- used by larger cities, provides an elected mayor 10\. Complete and explain a Municipal Government Comparison table like the one included in the lecture.  11\. List the major categories for municipal expenditures and specify which ones make up, when combined, about half of the budget. {Police, fire, streets} 50%, hospitals, sewage, parks and recreation, libraries, poor/homeless 12\. Characterize the influence of the form of government, the type of elections, and city size on measures such as voter turnout, per capita taxes, etc. A table with numbers and text Description automatically generated 13\. Describe the empirical relationship between median family income of a city and the city taxes paid per capita, commenting specifically on the predictability of the amount of taxes paid given a median family income. There is very low correlation between income and city taxes. Graph is very skewed. 14\. Describe the organizational diagram of a school district.  15\. Explain the relationship between school districts and the council-manager form of government. Basis of council-manager for, share progressive-era origins 16\. Describe the theoretical and de facto relationship between a school board and the school district's superintendent. Explain the reasons for this mismatch. The board is always elected and the superintendent is hired by the board not elected. CHAPTER 8C 1\. Describe the organizational diagram of a special district. Local government established for specific purpose by state legislature, overlays other local government boundaries, elected board usually oversees bureaucracy. 2\. Characterize the different purposes of special districts, the permissive limits on their jurisdiction, and who hires and supervises their workers. Utilities, river water flow, fire protection, transportation, flood control, mosquito control, hospital. Unique ability to even span borders, elected board oversees bureaucracy. 3\. Explain the original rationales for establishing special districts. Designed for special needs of rural areas with limited government resources, but special needs occur in urban areas. 4\. Describe the incidence of special districts in Texas since the 1950s. The amount rose very fast from 1952-1990, but has remained steady since. 5\. Explain how land developers have learned to use special districts, as well as the personal and professional advantages they obtain and the tax burden they impose. Developers can leverage the new districts bond-issuing authority to borrow millions of dollars at the same cheap interest rates that governments enjoy. 6\. Describe how local government jurisdictions overlap. 8\. Explain the inherent conflict between states and their local governments. Home-rule cities get use to the hands off approach and it can foster a false sense if independence. However, states do still yank the leash on the local governments. 9\. Describe how this conflict occurs in each of these situations in Texas: a\. Matters of school funding and local debt. States decide to cut funding, school districts must react by either reducing their budgets, raising taxes b\. Energy production Local government in Denton, Tx voted to ban fracking within their city, but the state government overturned local anti-fracking law that exceeds state standards. c\. Bans on discrimination Bill to overturn failed in 2017 d\. Bans on plastic shopping bags Texas supreme court overturned in 2018 e\. Sanctuary laws or behavior overturned by legislature in 2017 10\. Provide examples of this conflict that has occurred in other states Eight states, within last few years, have preempted cities from mandating paid sick-leave for workers Arkansas now has a law forbidding cities from protecting LGBT residents against discrimination, At least 6 other states have bills pending to do the same, Five states won't allow cities to regulate e-cigarettes differently than the state 11\. Characterize the types of local-control bills considered in the 2015 Texas legislative session. Cities must seek state approval on any ordinance that would be more restrictive or\ less restrictive than the state\ Local votes must first be certified by the state as legal before local changes can take effect\ Local decisions to limit oil/gas industry must first be assessed by State to determine extra\ costs to the State---then localities must pay that overage to the State (passed)\ Local governments may not regulate car-for hire services such as Uber and Lyft 12\. Explain the paradox that is presented by assertions of local control by a conservative state government and describe the arguments used by both sides. Whenever there are conflicts of this sort, look beyond the rhetoric used and ask yourself:\ "Who are the winners and losers here\... and why?" CHAPTER 9A 1\. Characterize the presence and type of legislatures across the US states. Every state government has a legislature. Representation function rooted in revolutionary cry "No taxation without representation." Todays cry, "Representation without taxation." 2\. Explain why conservative legislators might see advantages in signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Also explain the potential downsides. It will keep innocent people from getting charged with tax fraud. Downside: Can generate extreme pressure from constituents and other signers to keep this pledge, independent of circumstances. 4\. List the high-level functions of a state legislature. Make statutory laws (or "Pass statutes")\ Some intended to solve problems, others are symbolic or honorific (or favors)\ Amend state constitutions\ "Service" constituents\ Bring government funding to their districts\ More money = more secure seat? 5\. Discuss how state legislatures might be seen as an ideal form of representative government, or at least as more ideal than the US Congress. Members are "sent" by much smaller constituencies than in Congressional elections\ Legislatures remain largely lay bodies 6\. Explain what Dave McNeely said about the legislative system, the value of a legislator, the role of expertise, and the threat of supermajorities. Important to view legislature as a system with a unique culture, Value of a legislator is how many votes he/she can bring to bear for the party or cause, Reliance on expertise of others is routine and necessary, Supermajorities (that vote as a block) mean the party in power doesn't need the other party to govern CHAPTER 9B 1\. Describe how geographic representation works, as well as its drawbacks. Every level of representative government has its own boundaries---may overlap with another level's 2\. Explain how "equal" divisions of populations have been implemented since 1963. Goal: "One person, One vote" 3\. Discuss the phrase "One person, one vote" and how it is interpreted to explain fairness in representation. Each legislator represents same number of people 4\. Compare and contrast "equal population" and "equal number of voters." Not all people included in the population can vote. For example, kids, felons, and unregistered voters cannot vote. 5\. List the political factors that politicians consider when drawing district lines. Party ID, likelihood of voting, registration rate, past record of voting 6\. Explain how a state's apportionment can be both a legally fair and a politically unfair at the same time. This is also a legally fair plan because all districts contain same number of residents. Yet, to many observers, this is a politically unfair result because representatives are NOT proportioned the same as the population by party 7\. List and discuss the legal criteria for fair apportionment. Equality of population, contiguity, protected groups, shape of district 8\. Describe how protected groups are connect to the Voting Rights Act and to apportionment in Texas today. Racial minorities receiving special treatment In Texas: Hispanics and African Americans 9\. Discuss the role of maximum partisan advantage in redistricting and how this led to the Guardian headline: "In America, voters don't pick their politicians, politicians pick their voters." No prohibition against the party in power "stacking the deck" by choosing where to draw district boundaries. Both parties do it. Can do it and still follow all redistricting rules. 10\. Describe gerrymandering, including its origin and how it is done via packing and cracking. No prohibition against the party in power "stacking the deck" by choosing where to draw\ district boundaries for maximum partisan advantage 11\. Explain how researchers were able to accomplish a notional reversal of the 2012 congressional election results in Pennsylvania. map shows how the Democratic districts correspond (mostly) to the areas of higher population density -- map was too bizarre and was done to reduce influence of black votes 12\. Describe what is often the consideration behind whether a district's shape is acceptable or unacceptable. Being too bizarre and targeting a certain subject/race 13\. Describe the strategies that were used by activists to successfully oppose discriminatory gerrymandering for many years. Proving violations of Equality of population, Continguity of district, Representation of Protected Groups, Shape of district\ Use of either of two legal strategies: Arguing that redistricting should only be permitted once each decade (following reallocation driven by census) and Arguing that the state officials redrawing the lines were showing "excessive partisanship"\ Reliance on the federal government to stop most gerrymandering in all VRA-covered states via pre-clearance 14\. Explain the SCOTUS decision in LULAC v. Perry and its consequences. Redistricting map declared unacceptable in 1996 was approved in 2006 Undercut both legal arguments used routinely to overturn gerrymandering: frequency and excessive partisanship 15\. Discuss why gerrymandering is not invincible. The voting in the future is not always predictable 16\. Describe why gerrymandering is a major concern in Texas and other states. gerrymandering can be done better than ever before with computers, databases 17\. Explain how gerrymandering played a role in Republicans gaining and keeping control of the Texas Legislature. Texas Republicans became majority party immediately after districts were gerrymandered in 2001 - Legislative Redistricting Board: 4 Republicans, 1 Dem (at that time) 18\. Describe how independent commissions are being used to push back against gerrymandering, as well as why Arizona and Texas are cautionary cases. Where independent re-districting has been enacted, it hasn't always delivered desired changes 19\. Characterize the use of alternative redistricting approaches in the US states. 20\. Discuss how proportional voting (Chpt 7!) is laid out as a better means of resolving the problem of gerrymandering than are independent commissions. 21\. Compare and contrast congruency and communication-based models of representation. Today's representational model is based on communication, not congruency: Legislators are "linked" to their citizen constituents by political parties, elections, interest groups---all means of communication between them, Communication both directions can be spotty, biased, and minimal, depending on who you are\ Little-to-moderate congruence exists between legislators and citizens - Views and beliefs may overlap, or not, Key attributes often do not match, Parties (via gerrymandering & low-turnout primaries) pick the representative, or at least have much more input than the citizens 22\. Characterize the similarities between state legislators and their constituents. CHAPTER 9C 1\. Describe the different perspectives on the job of at state legislature. 2\. Characterize the number of total bills considered, killed, and passed by a typical legislature in Texas. Killed -- \~75% Passed - \~25% 3\. Describe the differences in likelihood of success for bills introduces in the Texas House vs. Senate. House passed -- 67% Senate passed -- 33% 4\. Trace the path of a successful bill through the Texas legislative process. A table of information Description automatically generated with medium confidence 5\. Discuss the differences in success of HBs and SBs within the House and in the Senate internal processes.  6\. Describe how State Rep Rainey's strategies did not and did succeed in requiring greater accountability from the Blinn College administrators. Amendment to HB 1 (Biennial Budget) that required junior college systems to account for spending campus-by-campus, to highlight any disparities\ HB 2621 required that 2 members of the Board of Trustees for Blinn College be from Brazos County 7\. Walk through the legislative process for a bill, identifying both the uncertainty that exists and who controls the outcome at each step. One or more legislators must sponsor and introduce the bill All bills are assigned to a committee Bills that come out of committee are then assigned to a "calendar" based on content and priority Bills that are voted on in a chamber may not pass\ Bills must pass BOTH the initial floor vote AND reconsideration\ Bills that pass in one chamber must repeat the entire process in the other chamber\ Bills that are passed by both chambers must be exactly alike, or a "conference" must try to find a compromise and resubmit the revised bill to both chambers for approval Then the bill goes to the governor for veto The Speaker (House) and Lt Governor (Senate) can bless or curse a bill, depending on whether they like it or not Since successful bills must pass in both chambers, both the Speaker and the Lt Governor must support the bill\ The governor must also support the bill, or at least be unwilling to veto it, in order for the bill to become law 8\. Describe what and why of the operations tempo in the Texas Legislature from start to finish with respect to how many bills are on the agenda of the two chambers. 9\. Explain how the Texas Legislature permits "clones" of bills and how these are used to increase the chance of success. Duplicate bill -- copy of a bill introduced in the same chamber\ Companion bill -- copy of a bill introduced in the other chamber Increase chances of passage, although only one can survive!\ Shares success between authors of original bill and each identical bill! CHAPTER 9D 1\. Explain the role and importance of readings and calendars in the process of passing (or not passing) a bill. Use the Senate's Local and Uncontested Calendar as an example. calendars dictate both RULES and TIMING, helping the legislature's leadership control:\ \...whether a bill will ever come up on the\ agenda\ \...whether debate will occur on a bill\ \...whether amendments will be permitted to a bill\ \...whether a full vote or an expedited vote (like what we just saw) will be what is required to pass the bill 2\. Explain the reason for the conflict between the efforts of Representative Bristow to pass his bill and his recognition that it was unconstitutional. Not all bills are intended to pass. Of these, some are introduced with acknowledgment they will die immediately, but it Permits member to tell constituent, "I tried" 3\. Describe how legislators determine their position on bills upon which they vote. Sometimes they are the expert on the topic but they often look to whom they trust or special interest groups 4\. Discuss the phenomenon of ghost voting and its pros and cons. Many law makers vote more than once and many also vote on others computers when they aren't looking 5\. Describe how the Texas House reacted to the negative publicity about ghost voting. Members now formally allowed to vote for other members -AND- Cameras and smart telephones no longer permitted on House floor or in House gallery 6\. Explain how Texas State Senator's bill requiring disclosure of donors is a possible commentary on legislative responsibility. Targeted interest groups had not spoken with senators before the vote, but did so quickly afterwards. "I'm not sure it was on anyone's radar until" it passed the Senate 7\. Characterize the role of partisanship and the ability of members of both parties to get their bills passed in Democratic-controlled and Republican-controlled legislatures in Texas. Partisanship was not strongly related to success of Senate bills until Republicans became the majority party in the House CHAPTER 10A 1\. Characterize the similarities and differences in the professional and political backgrounds of Texas governors from 1979 until today. Governors come with considerable prior experience in public affairs\ "Promotion" from other statewide elective office is common, but is not a rule Most are lawyers, but many come out of business backgrounds (sometimes both) 2\. Describe the incumbent advantage in gubernatorial races. 1950s: +2% more votes than opponents\ 1990s: +11% more votes than opponents\ In 2010: 11 sitting governors sought re-election 3\. Explain how governors are becoming increasingly powerful on the national political stage. State governments playing larger role\ Growth in state government has occurred within executive branch, which is led by governor\ Executive branch leadership is pertinent experience because it is composed of full- time, professional, experienced staff\ Media loves a face---focuses on key personalities 4\. Discuss what governors do after they leave office and why. Since not all can run for president, they Appointment to federal Cabinet post (20%)\ Run for U.S. Senate (15%)\ Appointment as federal judge (5%) 5\. Describe the power that governors wield, breaking it out by types and subtypes, and providing examples of each. Discuss how Texas governors are empowered or not. - Institutional - Appointment - Power to choose other statewide executive officials - Key factor in determining "strength" of gov. - Texas among weakest - Tenure Potential - Ability to remain in office - Vary widely across states - Few gov. serve more than 8 years - Managerial - Oversight of administration - Coordination - Executive orders direct agents in executive branch - Fiscal - In 48 states, Governor supervises preparation of budgets - Not so in Texas---has weakest fiscal influence - Legislative - All governors signs bills or veto them - Texas governorship is above average: has line-item veto - Calls special sessions for legislature and sets agenda; legislators limited to that agenda - Personal - What enables governors "to get stuff done" despite institutional limits - Win the de facto leadership role by using the media, public contact, and skillful diplomacy & persuasion - Teddy Roosevelt's "bully pulpit" 6\. Explain how different states and different governors wield different amounts and types of power. Discuss the distribution of gubernatorial power across the states, pinpointing where Texas lies. Describe the measure used. 7\. Explain the term "plural executive," its origin, and what it means for political power in Texas. Mavericks loose on the range CHAPTER 10B 1\. Explain the term "plural executive," its origin, and what it means for political power in Texas. Describe how "mavericks loose on the range" can be an apt analogy. 2\. Describe the legislative and executive powers of the Lieutenant Governor in Texas. Provide examples. - Other statewide elected officials in executive branch - Many powers typically in hands of one office are spread across multiple elected offices, commissions, and boards - This dispersal done intentionally in TX Constitution to create an institutionally weak chief executive---Texans didn't want a king - Key statewide-elected leaders: - Lieutenant Governor - Comptroller (now also incorporates "Treasurer") - Land Commissioner - Railroad Commission (3 seats) - Agricultural Commissioner - Attorney General 3\. Compare and contrast the power of the lieutenant governors across the states and with respect to the power of governors. Pinpoint the ranking of the Texas \#2, how the position compares to the governor's, and describe the measure used. Lieutenant Governor and the Legislature -- "Co-chair" of 10-person legislative budget board, chair of legislative council, member of 5-person legislative redistricting board Lieutenant Governor and the Executive Branch - Executive-type functions almost don't exist, Does serve as acting governor when elected governor is out of the state or incapacitated, Assumes office if governor resigns, dies, or is unable to serve out the term 4\. Describe the office and role of the Texas Comptroller. 4-year term Tax collection, accounting, check writing, audits\ Treasurer of state funds and investments\ Estimating revenue for the state 5\. Describe the office and role of the Texas Land Commissioner. 4-year term Issues permits for exploration & for exploitation\ Collects royalties on oil, gas extracted---all valuable state revenues 6\. Explain how and why state lands are used to general revenue for education in Texas. Valuable mineral leases in parts of this land generate millions of dollars for public primary, secondary, and higher education in Texas. 7\. Describe the offices and role of the Railroad Commission. Differentiate the RRC from the General Land Office when it comes to energy production. RR commissioner regulates the oil, gas, trucking, and mining while Land office just collects the money 8\. Describe the office and role of the Texas Agricultural Commissioner. 4-year term Food inspection, promotion of exports\ Animal quarantine, disease, pest control\ Inspection of gas pumps for accuracy (legacy of duties regulating weights, measures) 9\. Describe the office and the role of the Texas Attorney General. 4-year term as chief lawyer for state Role is mainly civil, not criminal. Files suit for state; defends state when sued 10\. Explain the role of attorneys general in increasing the influence of states nationally. formal opinions (interpretations) of legality or constitutionality of proposed or enacted laws can make major impacts on public policy 11\. Describe government bureaucracies, bureaucratic agencies, and bureaucrats and their growth over time. Federal -- remained steady State -- Small growth Local -- Large growth 12\. Discuss the advantages held by bureaucracies over their elected and appointed bosses. Staff members are in-house experts with command of very large amounts of information 13\. Explain why bureaucracies tend to survive. Mission subjugated to survival, growth\ If mission met (problem solved), they redefine mission