Midterm Examination Answer Key

Definitions: There were 13 (not 12, as it said) terms, of which you had to define 8. Each definition was worth 4.5 points.

You received substantial or full credit if you stated what appears in the first paragraph after each term below. To receive full credit for republicanism, you could frame an answer based either on the text pp18-19 or the Notes on Republicanism. For the Anti-Federalists, you needed to make at least one of the points given in the second paragraph, for example, that they insisted upon the need for a bill of rights in the Constitution. For pack journalism, you had to mention at least one explanatory factor listed in the second paragraph.

Republicanism: A body of thought that inspired and framed the American struggle for independence and heavily influenced the constitutions of the newly independent states. The right of people to govern themselves through elected leaders was basic to republican thought. Leading republican ideas included the need to protect liberty from the danger of tyrannous government; the image of legislatures as defenders of liberty and of executives (both monarchs and presidents) as likely threats to that liberty; the importance of cultivating civic virtue among citizens, that is, an awareness of and dedication to the common good; and the theory that the ideals of republican government could only be achieved in a small republic where social homogeneity and close bonds between legislators and citizens would make it possible to find a genuine common interest.
    In addition, republicanism included the belief that citizenship required economic independence and rational judgment (thus excluding both propertyless laborers and, in the dominant view of the time, women); an emphasis on written constitutions as a way to safeguard liberty by basing government on the rule of law rather than of men; and the concept of society as an organic community whose well-being depended on the right ordering and coordination of its parts. (text pp18-19 and elsewhere; "Notes on Republicanism")

Articles of Confederation: The first American system of national government, adopted during the revolutionary war but not actually approved by all thirteen states until 1781. Under the Articles, the states retained their sovereignty and the national government was weak. In the Confederation Congress each state had one vote. Congress had the authority to levy taxes and raise troops, but both had to be done in the form of requisitions from the states. Should states fail to meet their quotas, there was little the central government could do.
    In addition, all decisions required a three-quarters majority (9 of 13 states), and amendments to the Articles required the assent of all the states. (text 21-23; 2^nd and 3^rd lecture notes on the Constitution)

Hamilton's Plan: In a long address to the Constitutional Convention Hamilton proposed what has been termed an elective monarchy. It's main features were a President and Senate elected for life, an absolute veto power for the President over legislation, and a popularly elected House.
    Hamilton also favored Senate election of the governors of the states and high property requirements for voting. (2^nd and 3^rd lecture notes on the Constitution)

Great Compromise: Agreement that resolved the protracted dispute over representation between the large and the small states. Under it, House representation would be apportioned according to the population of the various states, while each state would have two representatives in the Senate.
    Senators would be selected by their state's legislatures. (The compromise brought to an end an effort by the large states to apportion representation in both houses by population.) (text p27)

Anti-Federalists: The Anti-Federalists opposed ratification of the Constitution because they regarded it as a threat to liberty and popular rule. They defended the sovereignty of the states against the nationalism of the Federalists.
    They upheld the republicanism of the American Revolution in the face of the Federalists, and especially Madison's, attempt to redefine it. In particular, they defended the ideals of the small-scale republic, the need for a close bond between legislators and those they represented, the desirability of concentrating governmental power in the legislature, the importance of civic virtue, and the need for constitutional protections of basic freedoms (bills of rights). On all these points they clashed with the Federalists. (text pp33-39 and elsewhere; 2^nd and 3^rd lecture notes on the Constitution; "Anti-Federalist and Federalist Models of a Republic")

Corporate capitalism: A form of capitalism in which most people labor for wages, markets exist on a global scale, and the conditions of work and consumption are established by huge economic units. (text p83).

Military-industrial complex: The alliance between the Pentagon and military contractors that developed during the Cold War as a result of its permanently high military expenditures, and which has continued in its aftermath. Production and services for the military constitutes nearly a twelfth of the U.S. economy, and is largely sheltered from market competition due to guaranteed demand and, often, guaranteed profits.
    Military contractors and the Pentagon are a formidable lobbying duo in favor of continued high military expenditures. (text p94)

Military Keynesianism: The use of military expenditures as a form of demand stimulus in the United States throughout the Cold War and since.
    Military expenditures have also functioned as state subsidies to industries in key technological areas (computers, aviation, missiles and satellites, etc.). (lecture notes on the political economy)

Wagner Act of 1935: New Deal legislation that guaranteed workers the right to organize and bargain collectively.
    Union membership soared after the act's passage. (The act also established the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to protect workers trying to unionize from employer harassment and to make sure that unions and employers bargained in good faith.) (text p90-91)

Political socialization: The process through which basic views of the political and social order are formed early in life. Attitudes and beliefs about race, class, ideology, democracy, and nationhood develop in childhood and adolescence, mostly prior to any understanding of specific policies and issues. The most important influences on political socialization are the family, schools, peers, and the mass media. (text 60-61)

Constrained pluralism: Most of the news consists of reporting what government agencies, political leaders, a narrow set of experts, corporations, and the largest nongovernmental organizations have to say. While this undeniably constitutes a plurality of sources of information and points of view, it is a highly constrained plurality.
    Political perspectives outside the narrow range of the Democratic-Republican axis; forms of expertise critical of dominant techno-economic developments; and the knowledge, outlook and experiences of smaller grassroots organizations and marginalized groups (Native Americans, inner city youth, etc.) are seldom consulted or communicated. (lectures on public opinion and the media)

Pack journalism: The tendency among print and TV reporters to cover the same stories in similar ways.
    Pack journalism is the consequence of several factors, including a fear of not covering what everyone else is (conformism); the power of major sources (the White House, Congress, and other governmental institutions; major corporations; well-funded interest groups) to shape the news; the high proportion of journalists concentrated in a few locations (e.g., Washington, DC); and the capacity of a few prestigious news organizations (including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post) to make events newsworthy by their coverage of them. (text p156; lecture notes on public opinion and the media).

Civic journalism: A movement born of anger over the increasing failure of news media to cover important political issues in a sustained and serious manner. In place of offering news as entertainment, civic journalism seeks to engage people as thinking citizens.
    Some media organizations have sought input from "citizens' panels" concerning coverage of long-term issues affecting the economy, culture, and society. (text p162)

Multiple Choice Questions: There were 32 questions, each worth two points.

1. C 2. C 3. C 4. C 5. B

6. D 7. D 8. C 9. B 10. A

11. B 12. D 13. D 14. A 15. B

16. C 17. D 18. C 19. D 20. D

21. A 22. D 23. C 24. A 25. C

26. B 27. D 28. A 29. B 30. A

31. B 32. C