chapter 6-10 FRQ Flashcards
what is campaign contributions
it is money given by intrest groups to a candidate for office, they use that technique because it allows the intrest group to gain access to the policy making because amount of money given to candidate
what is litigation
it is when intrest groups take an issue to court to get the court to rule on it and they would use this technique because it is set in stone
What is grassroots lobbying/ mass mobilization
Large public gatherings such as mass meetings and demonstrations, they will take action to get attention of the officials
What lobbying techniques do the american medical association use
They mostly use campaign contributions because they have a lot of money, wouldn’t use grassroots lobbying because they don’t have large membership
What lobbying techniques do the Sierra club use
They use grassroots mobilization, they don’t have a lot of money and membership due is small
What lobbying techniques do the association for advancement of colored people use
They use litigation (Brown vs board) and grassroots lobbying, but they don’t have a lot of contributions to give
What is policy agenda
Set of issues that the government officials decide to talk about or “tackle”
How does the national news media engage in agenda setting?
The media raises awareness, and draws attention to problems, which then gets attention of government officials because of pressure by the people
Explain the primary reason the president has advantage over congress in gaining media attention
The president is one person while there are many members of congress (535). The president also is more powerful then any individual person of congress
Describe difference in the viewing patterns of older and younger age groups
Older people frequently watch the network nightly news nor often then the younger people
Describe the change from 1974-2002 in viewing habits for all ages
Viewer ship of all age groups declined from 1974-2002
Given the information in the table describe one implication for presidents in their use of media to promote political an policy objective to american public
It is going to be harder to reach people on network nightly news, they need to use alternative types of media to get the attention of the of the young people. Going through the network nightly news will still reach the older people
Identify two forms of participation in the political process other than voting
Making a interest group and trying to influence policy making
Running for office to form the political process
Explain advantages of each from of participation: joining interest group
Joining a interest group would allow you to gain influence while participating in the political process because of campaign contributions, litigation, and engaging in protest to get the attention of policy makers and the media
Explain advantage of this form of participation: running for office
You become a policy maker and you get to set policy agenda due to being in office and part of politics
Describe the winner take all feature of the electoral collage
The winner take all feature is called plurality and 48 out of the 50 states give all their electoral votes to the populist voted party in the states to vote for the president
Explain one way in which the winner take all feature of the electoral college affects how presidential candidates from the two major parties run their campaigns
The presidents often go to swing states to win those swings states electoral votes, they go to swing states because their vote can be heavily manipulated for the parties favor
How does the winner take all system of the electoral collage hinder third parties
3rd parties will get a lot of popular votes but will never get an electoral vote because of not being first in the state, and they most go visit all the states
Explain two reasons why the electoral collage has not been abolished: amendment
It would require a constitutional amendment, which requires a super majority and that is hard to do due to people not being able to vote on the same thing because some states like it and will not vote for it
Explain two reasons why the electoral collage has not been abolished: tradition
Tradition keeps people from changing it, because most people in the United States tend to be comfortable with what they are used to and a unable to change
Describe the pint of view in the political cartoon
There is no need to vote for minor parties because they are so insignificant that if you do vote for them you are basically throwing your vote away
How two rules of the United States electoral system acts as obstacles to minor parties
Plurality-winner take all system for electoral votes (they don’t win much)
Hard for them to get federal funds because they don’t qualify
Has to go to each state to campaign
Excluded from presidential debate
How do minor parties make contributions to the U.S. Political system
They give people positive outlook
Gives people more choice for who to vote for
They can enhance voter turnout
Bring different ideas into debate
What is divided government
It is when one party owns the presidency and the other party owns 1 of the 2 houses of congress
Explain how divided government has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in government
Gridlock-nothing gets done due to the government fighting and arguing with each other
Confirmation process gets slowed down so people loose confidence in the govt
Filibusters president nominee holds
Explain how increase cost of election campaigns has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in government
The mass amount of money used to campaign is ridiculous, wasteful spending and people often think that they are just easing money and not doing anything
Officials buy their spot in politics
Wealthy people get a lot of influence
Explain two specific consequences of te decline in trust and confidence in the government for individual political behavior
People are less likely to vote ( decline in voter turnout)
Increase in third party votes (people loose hope in the others)
Political violence, protests movement, unconventional ways of not voting (not participating)
Decline of voting turnout in federal elections can be explained by what factors
decrease in sense of efficacy ( because of electoral college w/ sates who are solid republicans, the minority in that state who are democratic feel like their vote doesn’t count
Dealignment- less likely to vote for specific party
Decline of voting turnout in federal elections can be explained by what factors
Dealignment is caused by less trust in government which leads to rising cynicism (people feel like both party have horns, so they don’t vote) which leads to less voting which leads to relocating
Identify two reasons why voter turnout has been higher in presidential elections then midterms elections
More info is provided for the presidential election the. The midterm election
Media put out more for the presidential election
People tend to think the presidential election is more important
Identify one specific trend evident to the figure above
Percent of southern states seats in the United States House of Representatives have gone down
Incumbency advantage of southern voters between 1948 to 2000
Congress incumbent is mor likely to re run and the south states still gradually vote for them decreasing every year
Gerrymandering of southern voters form 1948 to 2000
Creates safe seat for democratic people in the state so even though state as a whole is republican there are pockets were they are democratic
Change of Catholics in party composition
Used to vote exclusively for democratic but they now tend to vote less reliably for democrats ( now are split in votes for the parties )
Labor unions members change in party composition
Used to exclusively for democrats buT are now less reliable to vote for democratic and there is less of them now
Women change in party composition
Women used to show no difference in 1980, but today there is a gender gap and women vote as much democratic as men vote democratic
Social conservatives change in party composition
Did not exist prior to the 1980s, started with roe vs wade after the court ruling they believed their morals were being attacked by the govt, this group has become a distinctive voting block for democratic a cause they are republican
Identify fundamental goal of interest groups
Influence policy makers
Fundamental goal of major political parties in political process
Control government policy by being elected
Describe two different ways by which interest groups support political parties
Campaign contributions
Spreading word
Mobilization
Endorsement of candidate
For one of the forms of support explain two different ways in which it helps interest group achieve their goal
Contributions
-like minded people come together
- expecting something in return
(Give money now you give me something in return
How is age related to the lucky hood of voting
Older people tend to vote and younger people tend to vote less
Education in relation to likely hood in voting
More educated people tend to vote and less educated people tend to vote less
Identify one current government electoral requirement that decreases voting turnout
You sometimes have to register to vote and people don’t want to take the time to do that so they don’t vote
Age requirement- need to show your id
Closed primaries- eliminates independent voters
How does the media connect people to the government
Informs people and allows them to make decisions on who to vote for
How does the interest groups connect people to the government
People form groups to influence policy
How does the political party connect people to the government
It allows people to get involved in political process
