Chapter 1 Flashcards
Elderly tend to have more:
Political knowledge
Political interest
Political participation
Time to engage
Machiavelli’s name is synonymous with
tough and dirty politics
Machiavelli
One of history’s first political scientists.
Harold D. Lasswell
Who gets what, when, and how. (and where)
Politics
The process by which we select our governmental leaders and what policies these leaders produce. Produces authoritative decisions about public issues.
Who?
Voters, candidates, groups and parties
What?
The substance of politics and government (medical care for the elderly, new taxes, etc)
How?
Through voting, supporting, compromising, and lobbying etc…
Government
The institutions and processes through which public policies are made for society.
policymaking system
The process by which policy comes into being and evolves over time.
Policy (1)
People have a problem
Policy (2)
Linkage Institutions
Policy (3)
Policy Agenda
Policy (4)
Policymaking Institutions
Policy (5)
Policy is carried out
Policy (6)
Policy impacts people
Democracy
A system of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy represents and responds to the public’s preferences.
Characteristics of democracy
Equality in voting - One person, one vote
Effective participation - Adequate and equal opportunities
Enlightened understanding - A market of ideas
Citizen control of the agenda
Inclusion - All citizens deserve and get a say
Participatory Democracy
Supported by Brutus 1, HOR, voting related amendments
Pluralist Democracy
Supported by Fed. 10, political parties, & Interest groups
Elite Democracy
Supported by Electoral College, Representative govt, & Iron Triangles
Participatory Democracy
Emphasizes broad participation and an active role for individual citizens in politics & civil society
Pluralist Democracy
Emphasizes the role of groups (group-based activism) in policy making
Pluralist Theory
A theory of government and policies emphasizing that politics is mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies.
Elite Democracy
Emphasize limited or filtered citizen participation in politics and civil society
Elite/Class Theory
A theory of government and politics contending that societies are divided along class lines and that an upper-class elite (top 1%) will rule, regardless of the formal niceties of governmental organization.
Representative Democracy
Citizens elect representatives
Majoritarian Theory
= leaders are forced to follow the wishes of the people because majority rules
Pluralist Theory
= groups compete and compromise with each other to get the gov’t to do what they want
Elite/Class Theory
= groups or people who possess the most power (money or influence) dominate gov’t
Bureaucratic Theory
= appointed officials dominate the gov’t through unelected jobs
Hyperpluralism
Many interest groups trying to gain control of the government and thus the government cannot operate/weakened
The US holds mainly elections where the person who receives the most votes wins.
Participatory
Most US representatives are upper class people.
Elitist
The President appoints hundreds of people for gov’t jobs or judgeships, all have special powers.
Pluralist
Interest groups spend millions of dollars toward campaigns of favored candidates.
Pluralist
Gov’t can call for referendums, or votes by the people to pass or strike down potential laws.
Participatory
The candidate who raises the most money for an election almost always wins.
Elitist
American Individualism
Individualism is the belief that individuals should be left on their own by the government.
Which of the following best describes the relationship between socioeconomic status and participation in politics?
a. The lower one’s socioeconomic status, the more likely it is that one will run for public office.
b. The higher one’s socioeconomic status, the greater the probability of active involvement in the political process.
c. Adults who are unemployed have a greater personal interest in policy & tend to participate more actively in politics than do employed adults.
d. People in the lower middle class are the most likely to participate in politics.
e. There is no relationship between socioeconomic status and political participation.
B
Which of the following statements reflects a pluralist theory of American politics?
a. American politics is dominated by a small elite.
b. Public policies emerge from cooperation among elites in business, labor, and government.
c. Public policies emerge from compromises reached among competing groups.
d. American politics is dominated by cities at the expense of rural areas.
e. The American political area is made up of isolated individuals who have few group affiliations outside the family
C
“Voting is partly a matter of habit: the more frequently a person has voted in the past, the more likely she or he is to vote in the current election.” All of the following support the observation above EXCEPT:
a. Immediately after the 26th Amendment in 1971 gave 18-21 year olds the vote, the proportion of eligible voters who actually voted declined.
b. Immediately after the 19th Amendment in 1920 gave women the vote, the proportion of eligible voters who actually voted declined.
c. Immediately after the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 the participation rate of Black voters in the South was lower than that of White voters in the south.
d. Unmarried persons over the age of 65 are less likely to vote than are married persons in that age group.
e. Newly naturalized citizens may need special inducements to vote.
D
