UMD GVPT 170 Midterm Exam #1 Questions with correct
answers
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) - ✔✔Supreme Court decision that the federal
government has powers other than that are explicitly stated in the constitution;
they can do things that are necessary to facilitate their constitutional powers (in
this case, a federal bank helps them handle taxes.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954) - ✔✔Supreme Court decision that education
should be desegregated because separate is not equal. Overruled Plessy v.
Ferguson
Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) - ✔✔Supreme Court decision that slaves are not
citizens and therefore do not have standing to sue in federal court, even if they
are in free states.
Politics - ✔✔the process through which individuals and groups reach agreement
on a course of common, or collective, action—even as they disagree on the
intended goals of that action.
Institutions - ✔✔The organizations of government, as well as the rules and
procedures that government must follow. They bestow authority and disperse
goods. They solve collective action problems and disperse goods.
Institutional design - ✔✔The structure that ultimately decides the outcomes of
politics, which privileges some interests over others.
Authority (as opposed to power) - ✔✔The acknowledged right to make a
particular decision. Explicit.
, Power (as opposed to authority) - ✔✔An officeholder's actual influence with
other officeholders and, as a consequence, over the government's actions.
Implicit.
Collective action - ✔✔An action that is taken or enforced on the entirety of the
group.
Coordination problems - ✔✔The decision doesn't matter but we all need to do
the same thing and someone needs to pick one. Solutions are delegation or
picking a focal point.
Prisoner's dilemma - ✔✔Anyone could individually be better off by not
cooperating, but the whole group is better off if they cooperate. Solved by adding
a cost outside of original dilemma that makes reneging difficult, changing the
incentives, and setting up enforceable contracts beforehand.
Free rider problem - ✔✔Subset of Prisoner's dilemma. An entity realizes that they
can benefit from a public good without contributing. Solved by coercion (taxes,
private goods in exchange, entreprenaurs.
Tragedy of the Commons - ✔✔Flipside of the free rider problem. Anyone can take
a bit of a public good and be fine, but everyone cannot or we run out. Solved by
privatization, regulation.
Transaction costs - ✔✔Time, effort, and resources that go into making a decision.
Inversely related to conformity costs.
answers
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) - ✔✔Supreme Court decision that the federal
government has powers other than that are explicitly stated in the constitution;
they can do things that are necessary to facilitate their constitutional powers (in
this case, a federal bank helps them handle taxes.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954) - ✔✔Supreme Court decision that education
should be desegregated because separate is not equal. Overruled Plessy v.
Ferguson
Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) - ✔✔Supreme Court decision that slaves are not
citizens and therefore do not have standing to sue in federal court, even if they
are in free states.
Politics - ✔✔the process through which individuals and groups reach agreement
on a course of common, or collective, action—even as they disagree on the
intended goals of that action.
Institutions - ✔✔The organizations of government, as well as the rules and
procedures that government must follow. They bestow authority and disperse
goods. They solve collective action problems and disperse goods.
Institutional design - ✔✔The structure that ultimately decides the outcomes of
politics, which privileges some interests over others.
Authority (as opposed to power) - ✔✔The acknowledged right to make a
particular decision. Explicit.
, Power (as opposed to authority) - ✔✔An officeholder's actual influence with
other officeholders and, as a consequence, over the government's actions.
Implicit.
Collective action - ✔✔An action that is taken or enforced on the entirety of the
group.
Coordination problems - ✔✔The decision doesn't matter but we all need to do
the same thing and someone needs to pick one. Solutions are delegation or
picking a focal point.
Prisoner's dilemma - ✔✔Anyone could individually be better off by not
cooperating, but the whole group is better off if they cooperate. Solved by adding
a cost outside of original dilemma that makes reneging difficult, changing the
incentives, and setting up enforceable contracts beforehand.
Free rider problem - ✔✔Subset of Prisoner's dilemma. An entity realizes that they
can benefit from a public good without contributing. Solved by coercion (taxes,
private goods in exchange, entreprenaurs.
Tragedy of the Commons - ✔✔Flipside of the free rider problem. Anyone can take
a bit of a public good and be fine, but everyone cannot or we run out. Solved by
privatization, regulation.
Transaction costs - ✔✔Time, effort, and resources that go into making a decision.
Inversely related to conformity costs.
