3Midterm Study guide.docx

And because of that, the way that officials frame the policy debate, becomes the way the media will frame the policy debate. So, the argument in congress is public option, no public option. When the media covers healthcare, they simply cover it as public option, no public option. The media coverage is simply a reflection of the policy debate at the upper levels. - Leading US news organizations generally cannot sustain critical reporting without support form within political institutions - Therefore, the most prominent media bias is one in favor of officialness. - As long as you can enter a story that says republicans want this, demoracts want that, they are indexing their knowledge - indexing is an example of our bias The electoral connection + Incumbent advantage - relates very well to the electoral connection. The advantage that an incumbent member has when they are elected to congress is that 90% of incumbents get re-elected in congress. As long as you don?t screw up, you can keep your job. One of the main reasons that it?s easy to keep your job is because of this electoral connection. The fact that you?re your number one priority is getting re-elected and you use the resources of your office in order to do so, really makes it easy to secure your seat. Things that representatives do in office that prepares them to get reelected: - Advertising [if you have a difficult last name, it will be harder] - Credit claiming [taking credit for government action, in particular, if there is anything good that happens in your term, the economy is picking up, no particularly creditable, doesn?t matter, take advantage and take credit] - Position taking [it is best to have the right position, then it is to have the winning position. Lose in a way that matches your constituency] pork ? bring home a lot of bacon, and Credit claiming. If you want to take credit for a bill, you can co-sign to be a sponsor. Co-sponsorship example: bill. Makes it look like you?ve done more work than you have. How do they credit claim? Through advertizing through the media and congressional privileges--Franking privileges. You can use the free-mail system as ?updates?. Pork barrel politics + ? pork is useful for congress men and women because it allows them to focus on their electoral connection and ensure their reelection. Marbury v. Madison + Hamilton ? the significance of Marbury v. Madison in a nutshell: established judicial review. (Expect background]. The power of a rit of memandus [power that allows the court to give you what is due you, a decision that you have been denied something that is rightfully yours, it?s the right to give you that] was given to the court in that act. Marbury is sued. Most important supreme court ruling ever. Importance: the precedence that the ruling set. At the midnight appointments, John Adams made midnight appointments. Madison was at the time secretary of state in the Jefferson administration. Madison was responsible for giving out appointments, he refused to gibe Marbury (one of Midnight appointments) a position.