POSC 225 EXAM 2 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
SET A+
✔✔Tragedy of the Commons - ✔✔-individuals' costless consumption of a public good
that results in its ruination
-collapse of cod fishing industry off coast of New England
✔✔republic is perhaps the most complex gov't in the world/what we have - ✔✔-smaller
"r" is the republican form of democracy
-citizens delegate governing to elected officials
-representative democracy
-the republic addresses the costs of collective action above
✔✔not a direct democracy, which - ✔✔-citizens make policy decisions themselves via
referenda, initiatives, and town hall meetings
-all citizens deliberate and vote
-we would have an indirect democracy
✔✔Costs of Collective Action include - ✔✔-collective actions i action taken together by
a group of people whose goal is to enhance their status and achieve a common
objective
-conformity costs
-transaction costs
✔✔Conformity Costs - ✔✔-when collective decisions obligate individuals to act counter
to their preferences and interests, etc.
✔✔Transaction Costs - ✔✔-time, effort, resources required to make collective decisions
✔✔Our government minimizes conformity costs partly by maximizing - ✔✔-transaction
costs
-this would be opposite for kings and dictators
,✔✔Therefore, to protect against "tyranny of the majority" and other threats, there is -
✔✔-checks and balances
-separation of powers
-many other constraints on federal gov't (to some extent the end of state modified
politics)
✔✔The Declaration of Independence
-5 points - ✔✔-Continental Congress Olive Branch Petition was last resort and DoI
occurred one year later
-SC/PA worried about resources against British Empire...collective action problems
✔✔Thomas Paine's Common Sense moved independence to center stage - ✔✔-3
months and 120,000 copies later, America supported independence
✔✔June 1776 VA delegate Richard Henry Lee called for creation of a new nation
separate from Britain - ✔✔-John Adams clip
-committee to draft resolution that became DoI
-wanted Jefferson to write it bc he was a Virginian (most powerful colony), elegant pen,
and Adams obnoxious
✔✔Number of Jefferson's grievances were removed - ✔✔-condemnation of slavery
offended southern delegates
✔✔July 4th, 1776 members of 2nd Continental Congress signed documents with some
abstentions - ✔✔-John Dickenson
-loyalists to crown
✔✔2nd Continental Congress - ✔✔-started form of gov't that would be implemented
-fund war
-declared independence
✔✔Articles of Confederation - ✔✔-drafted nation's first constitution during 2CC that
served as constitution during war
✔✔Confederation is a - ✔✔-highly decentralized governmental system, which means
the nat'l gov't derives limited authority from the states
✔✔Key features - ✔✔-major laws required endorsement from 9/13 states
-taxes and constitutional amendments required 13/13
-no real executive or judiciary branches
-weak federal gov't that was ineffective during wartime
, ✔✔The Confederation at War (problems conducting war) - ✔✔-states responsible for
recruiting and outfitting troops (Congress attempted to coordinate state regiment into a
single fighting force, but couldn't raise revenue tax)
-no executive branch, so Congress administered
-precarious military situation (lots of free-riding...reluctance of some states to contribute)
-Congress was pressured to take on more authority (responded the best it could, but
worked under a limiting and frustrating constitution)
-France entered as vested ally, defeat of Cornwallis @ Yorktown
-victorious in war, but problems persisted
✔✔The Confederation's Troubled Peace - ✔✔-war over and peace treaty signed, new
perils arose
-war-torn economy
-trade barriers at home and abroad
-mounting debt
-popular discontent (Shay's Rebellion)
✔✔1786 - ✔✔-VA and other states convened in Annapolis to consider ways to
strengthen federal gov't (commerce)
✔✔1787 - ✔✔-55 delegates met in PA
-drew from war experience
-conversant in enlightenment ideas from people, such as...
✔✔John Locke - ✔✔-popular sovereignty
-citizens influence gov't
-delegate authority to their agents in gov't and may rescind that authority
-individual rights, limited gov't
✔✔Montesquieu - ✔✔-limited gov't
-nuts and bolts
✔✔David Hume - ✔✔-competition among contending interests
✔✔Overall, - ✔✔-most states were expecting a limited agenda
-others like Madison were plotting to scrap the articles
✔✔Drafting a new constitution - ✔✔-VA Plan
-NJ Plan
-The Great Compromise
✔✔VA Plan - ✔✔-shifted focus from patching up AoC to creating an effective nat'l gov't
-active nat'l gov't like parliament
-favored by larger states bc size determines representation
SET A+
✔✔Tragedy of the Commons - ✔✔-individuals' costless consumption of a public good
that results in its ruination
-collapse of cod fishing industry off coast of New England
✔✔republic is perhaps the most complex gov't in the world/what we have - ✔✔-smaller
"r" is the republican form of democracy
-citizens delegate governing to elected officials
-representative democracy
-the republic addresses the costs of collective action above
✔✔not a direct democracy, which - ✔✔-citizens make policy decisions themselves via
referenda, initiatives, and town hall meetings
-all citizens deliberate and vote
-we would have an indirect democracy
✔✔Costs of Collective Action include - ✔✔-collective actions i action taken together by
a group of people whose goal is to enhance their status and achieve a common
objective
-conformity costs
-transaction costs
✔✔Conformity Costs - ✔✔-when collective decisions obligate individuals to act counter
to their preferences and interests, etc.
✔✔Transaction Costs - ✔✔-time, effort, resources required to make collective decisions
✔✔Our government minimizes conformity costs partly by maximizing - ✔✔-transaction
costs
-this would be opposite for kings and dictators
,✔✔Therefore, to protect against "tyranny of the majority" and other threats, there is -
✔✔-checks and balances
-separation of powers
-many other constraints on federal gov't (to some extent the end of state modified
politics)
✔✔The Declaration of Independence
-5 points - ✔✔-Continental Congress Olive Branch Petition was last resort and DoI
occurred one year later
-SC/PA worried about resources against British Empire...collective action problems
✔✔Thomas Paine's Common Sense moved independence to center stage - ✔✔-3
months and 120,000 copies later, America supported independence
✔✔June 1776 VA delegate Richard Henry Lee called for creation of a new nation
separate from Britain - ✔✔-John Adams clip
-committee to draft resolution that became DoI
-wanted Jefferson to write it bc he was a Virginian (most powerful colony), elegant pen,
and Adams obnoxious
✔✔Number of Jefferson's grievances were removed - ✔✔-condemnation of slavery
offended southern delegates
✔✔July 4th, 1776 members of 2nd Continental Congress signed documents with some
abstentions - ✔✔-John Dickenson
-loyalists to crown
✔✔2nd Continental Congress - ✔✔-started form of gov't that would be implemented
-fund war
-declared independence
✔✔Articles of Confederation - ✔✔-drafted nation's first constitution during 2CC that
served as constitution during war
✔✔Confederation is a - ✔✔-highly decentralized governmental system, which means
the nat'l gov't derives limited authority from the states
✔✔Key features - ✔✔-major laws required endorsement from 9/13 states
-taxes and constitutional amendments required 13/13
-no real executive or judiciary branches
-weak federal gov't that was ineffective during wartime
, ✔✔The Confederation at War (problems conducting war) - ✔✔-states responsible for
recruiting and outfitting troops (Congress attempted to coordinate state regiment into a
single fighting force, but couldn't raise revenue tax)
-no executive branch, so Congress administered
-precarious military situation (lots of free-riding...reluctance of some states to contribute)
-Congress was pressured to take on more authority (responded the best it could, but
worked under a limiting and frustrating constitution)
-France entered as vested ally, defeat of Cornwallis @ Yorktown
-victorious in war, but problems persisted
✔✔The Confederation's Troubled Peace - ✔✔-war over and peace treaty signed, new
perils arose
-war-torn economy
-trade barriers at home and abroad
-mounting debt
-popular discontent (Shay's Rebellion)
✔✔1786 - ✔✔-VA and other states convened in Annapolis to consider ways to
strengthen federal gov't (commerce)
✔✔1787 - ✔✔-55 delegates met in PA
-drew from war experience
-conversant in enlightenment ideas from people, such as...
✔✔John Locke - ✔✔-popular sovereignty
-citizens influence gov't
-delegate authority to their agents in gov't and may rescind that authority
-individual rights, limited gov't
✔✔Montesquieu - ✔✔-limited gov't
-nuts and bolts
✔✔David Hume - ✔✔-competition among contending interests
✔✔Overall, - ✔✔-most states were expecting a limited agenda
-others like Madison were plotting to scrap the articles
✔✔Drafting a new constitution - ✔✔-VA Plan
-NJ Plan
-The Great Compromise
✔✔VA Plan - ✔✔-shifted focus from patching up AoC to creating an effective nat'l gov't
-active nat'l gov't like parliament
-favored by larger states bc size determines representation
