Political Science Review
Chapter 1
Themes:
 Collective dilemmas
o Collective action
o Prisoners dilemma
o Coordination problem
o Unstable coalitions
 Delegation problem
o Principle- agent problem
 Because of these problems we have numerous different institutions
 Collective Dilemmas- group goals vs. individual goals
o Collective Action- collectively better off if we all cooperate but
individuals have incentives to free ride
o Coordination- shared goal but different preferences in the specifics
o Prisoners dilemma- only 2 acts and both are better off if they
cooperate but individuals have incentives to betray each other
o Cycling coalitions- collectively better off if a stable winning coalition
happens but there are incentives to raid the existing winning coalition
if there are better offers
 Principle agent problem
o Principe hires the agent and the agent works and preforms on behalf
of the principles
Chapter 2
 Articles of Confederation
o Weak central government could not raise revenues or enforce laws
o Depended on states cooperation
o Required unanimous vote to amend
o States were free riders for collective goods
 States had to resolve major issues
o Strong national gov and individual liberty
o Large and small states
o Slave states and non slave states
 3/5th compromise
 Institutional features
o Separation of powers
o Checks and balances
o Expressed powers for national gov
o Elastic clause
o Supremacy clause
o F
 Living Constitution
o How the rulings of the Constitution has changed
 Relative powers of branches
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 Growth of presidential war powers
National vs state government
 Interpretation of commerce clause
Expanded political participation
 Voting rights
Implied fundamental rights and liberties
 Griswold vs. Connecticut (the right to privacy)
Chapter 3
 Federalism
o A system of government system in which there are 2 different levels
(federal and states), each of which have independent authority
o Articles of confederation were too weak to solve collective dilemmas
between states
o Federalism solved a variety of collective action and coordination
problems between the states by giving certain powers to the national
government
o Can be used to govern large and diverse countries
o Tiebout: whenever we have people who can move freely across
borders, people and businesses have a reason to compete. people can
choose what kind of state to live in, which leads states to want to
compete for residents and businesses. This competition leads to a
more innovate government
o Peterson: if people have this competition then people will not
contribute as much to public goods like public education
 Reserved powers- the 10th amendment
 Supremacy clause
Chapter 4 Civil Rights and Liberties
 14th amendment
o ratified in 1868 passed after the civil war
o made to resolve a gap in the legal framework- the 5th amendment only
applied to the federal government and not to the states
o supreme court interpreted narrowly until the early 20th century
 prvious rulings help that bill of rights only applied to the
national gov
 ruled that fraters did not intend for amendment to apply to bill
of rights
 Incorporation
o Court began applying the Bill of Rights to states under the 14th
amendment
 Court incorporated gradually applying the amendment to
specific provisions in bill of rights on a case by case basis
 Equal protection and due process
o Equal protection- law must apply fairly to all
o Due process- legal process must apply fairly to all
Examples
 Right to double jury
 Right against self incrimination
 When can the law discriminate?
o Who does it effect?
o Does the gov have interest to justify discrimination?
o Level of scrutiny
 Rationall basis
 Intermediate
 Strict scrutiny
o Rational Basis
 Who does it affect?
 Disfavored criteria (wealth, income, age, diability)
 Does the gov interest justify discrimination?
o Intermediate
 Affect?
 D
 Does gov interest justify?
 Law must serve important gov objectice and mist be
substially related to achieving the objective
o Strict
 Government justification
 Court presumes law unconstitutional
 Gov must show compelling state interests that meets
through least restrictive means
 Affirmative action
o State has interst in correction historical inequalities
o Rare discriminatory policy that passes strict scrutiny
o Court has held
 Racial diversity in college student body is compelling state
interst
 Racial quotes or point systems are unconstitutional
 Race can be considered as part of a holistic college admissions
process
 CASES--- see pic on phone
 Civil rights issues
 Abortion (
 US vs WInnson, obgerfell v hedgers
Amendments
1,2,5,10,14
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Chapter 5 Congress
 How do congress coordinate their actions so they can make laws?
o Congress has developed a series of instiutions to help solve its
collective dilemmas

Dilemmas
o Political representation is partly the reason for the dilemmas
 Members seek reelection and represent their constituents
 Sets up the self interest they each have and that clashes
with the collective good
 Solving Collective Action Problems
o Party leadership and committees help to solve these problems
o Party leaders seek to coordinate the actions of members to produce
bills (act as agenda setters)
 Making a bill
o House Rules committee- determines which bills are voted on in the
full chamber; determines whether amendments can be offered
o For bill to become a law, the house and the Senate mucg agree on a
final version and once a bill is approved by both, a conference
committee is formed
 4 models of Congress
o Distributional model
 Committees exist in order to help their members of congress
produce pork spending
o Informational Model
 Committees exisr to provide laws and information
o Partisan Model
 Exist to serve the party in power
o Elitist Model
 Exist to serve the rich and campaign donors
Chapter 6
 Main points
o Presidential power has increased over time
 Second face of power: works through expectation
o Presidential can be influential without actually using veto
o Congress’ prediction about presidents veto—make concession
 Picture
o State quo
o Presidential ideal point
o Congress ideal point
Chapter 7 Bureaucracy
 Bureaucratic agencies are on the front line of collective dilemmas
 If the agency provides a public good—collective action problem
 Principle agent problems
o Police patrols vs fire alarm
 Administrative procedures Act