Exam 1

Question 1

Electoral Impact

Answer 1

Any Democratic nominee began the process with 200+ Electoral Votes

*Any Republican nominee began the process with 100+ Electoral Votes

*This did not mean the Democrat would win

*ADVANTAGE – Democrats

Question 2

Arguments for “GOP” (Grand Old Party/ Republcians) Advantage

Answer 2

*This advantage occurs only in close elections

*Democrats tend to win large states by big electoral
Democrats tend to lose swing states by small margins

Question 3

How does Swing States Decide the Race?

Answer 3

Toss-Up States
Definition: States where neither major party has a clear advantage, making the election outcome highly uncertain and competitive.

Leans States
Definition: States that show a slight preference for one party over the other, indicating a competitive but somewhat predictable voting tendency.

Question 4

The Three P’s

Answer 4

Partisanship
More major legislation passed on party lines

*Fewer Split-Ticket Voters ( select varying parties)

*Polarization

*Activists more antagonistic to other party

*Parity

*Overall votes cast for House members almost equal

Question 5

What was the Democratic advantage in Presidential elections? What trends seemed to enhance this advantage? What circumstances might lead to a Republican advantage?

Answer 5

Democrats have more electoral votes than Republicans because they can depend on 18 states aka the blue wall. e. Democrats tend to rack up big popular votes in California and in the largely Democratic states.
Republicans tend to do better in close elections in the swing states because their voters tend to want to show up more.

Question 6

Why are the swing state so important?

Answer 6

The swing states determine who wins the election.

Question 7

What are some of the basic justifications for governmental formation?

Answer 7

It maintains order, provides public goods, collects taxes to pay for services, provides public services, fosters political socialization, and promotes equality.

Question 8

What is important about the State of Nature and Social Contract concepts?

Answer 8

The “State of Nature” refers to what life is like before any government exists. It helps determine the kind of government needed. In this natural state, there’s no structure or authority, so people might live in chaos or conflict, leading to the need for a government to bring order and security.

The “Social Contract” is the idea of an agreement between the government and the people. The government promises to maintain peace and protect the citizens, while the people agree to follow the rules and laws in return for this protection and stability.

Question 9

How does Locke and Hobbes contribute to our understanding of the principles of social contract and why people leave the state of nature?

Answer 9

Locke and Hobbes developed their ideas of a social contract and the reasons why people leave the state of nature.

Locke – the people have a contract with the government on what the government can and cannot do, in other words, the government can only do the things that it was contracted to do

Locke- people leave the state of nature to protect LIFE, LIBERITY, PROPERTY

Hobbes – The government has the power to do ANYTHING it needs to do in short of taking lives to try to create order

Hobbes- people leave the state of nature because
1. Life in the state of human nature is horrible because of selfish and violent tendencies,
and people fear violent death. Thus, they want a strong government to restrict and regulate their bad behaviors to get order and protection

Question 10

What are the basic principles of freedom, order and equality?

Answer 10

Freedom – freedom to do things (Personal autonomy and Civil liberties ) and freedom from things (Protection from oppression and Security)
Order – gives structure, rules, and when rules are clear, citizens know how to act
Equality – 3 E’s
1. political equality (one person, one vote),
2. equality of opportunity (everybody gets the same chance), 3. Equality of outcome (Equalizing results for everyone)

Question 11

What was the historical dilemma for government? the modern dilemma?

Answer 11

Historical dilemma – Trade-off between Freedom and order; modern dilemma – trade-off between freedom and equality

Question 12

What are some of the various interpretations of equality?

Answer 12

Political equality (equal voting rights, Equal access to political participation, Non-discrimination) equality of opportunity (everyone gets the same chance, Access to resources, Non-discrimination), and equality of outcome (equalizing results, Minimizing disparities like in education and social welfare)

Question 13

Why does conflict in politics seem inevitable?

Answer 13

1. Limitation of resources: can’t afford to please everybody
2. Incompatible values: people want different things
3. Tradeoff between freedom and order and freedom and equality

Question 14

What are the key differences between modern American Liberals and Conservatives?

Answer 14

Size of government, Powers of government; the role of government; How they stand on social, political, military, & economic issues

Question 15

What kinds of actions are supported by Liberals?

Answer 15

Liberals- For big government, want more liberties, more likely to regulate businesses economically, for abortion and same-sex rights, less military, increased equality, higher taxes on the wealthy, greater provision of social benefits, less government interference

Question 16

What kinds of actions are supported by Conservatives?

Answer 16

Conservatives- against big government, stronger military, against abortion and same-sex marriage, lower taxes, favor rules that uphold traditional moral values

Question 17

What types of government are associated with the number of people who rule? Explain.

Answer 17

Monarchy & dictatorship (rule of one), oligarchy & aristocracy (rule of few), democracy (rule of many)

Monarchy: Rule by a single sovereign or monarch, often hereditary. or power.

Dictatorship: Rule by a single leader with absolute power, often without consent from the governed.

Oligarchy: Rule by a small group based on wealth (lords over servants)

Aristocracy: Rule by a privileged class (political power, Sparta) or nobility.

Democracy: Rule by the majority or the people through elected representatives.

Question 18

2. What are the two major Views of Democratic government? How do these Views differ in their understanding of what makes a democratic government?

Answer 18

Procedural- procedures and rules in place to meet certain criteria (by the rules), and everyone should participate,
Questions: 1. How much should each individual preference count? - 1 person, one vote - should be equal,
2. How many votes are needed to reach a decision? - The majority government does what the majority wants,
3. How responsive is the government? - Do what the majority wants, if there isn’t a majority, then the government shouldn’t act. Everybody needs a chance to vote and put in their reasoning

Substantive - concerned with the content of government policy and actions taken by the government. 1 Evaluates the substance of politics to see if it protects the minority rights, 2. usually requires guarantees for civil rights and liberties, 3. sometimes adds social economic rights

The procedural view prioritizes the methods and fairness of the democratic process, while the substantive view focuses on the outcomes and ethical implications of government actions.

Question 19

What are the key principles of the Majoritarian view

Answer 19

Majoritarian-government by the people- majority; meshes well with the procedural view of democracy, assumes mass participation, people are well informed, people know what they want, encourages direct citizen participation, includes: initiative petition: petition to take action, action taken by the people, and Referendum: asking for approval, voter approved

Question 20

What are the key principles of the Pluralist view?

Answer 20

Groups are the key element, gov by the people is gov by group, groups in competition, and individuals have impact through groups, You want to have an impact? Form a group.

Pluralism assumes decentralized decision making, assumes that persistence will pay off; how do supporters understand: May not win right away but if you keep working then it will come will be effective but not immediately, what is an interest group: any association of like-minded individuals with a shared attitude. Their Opinion, or their value, that makes demands on others in society and action to be taken by the gov.

Question 21

What are the major criticisms of each of these models?

Answer 21

Majoritarian- how knowledgeable are the citizens? What is the citizen participation rate?
Are citizens rational?

Pluralist? Do individuals make a difference? Is there a group competition? Assist established groups are even ok? Yes bc persistence pays off

Elite- empirical observation issues, who is the elite? Is economic power all that matter?

Question 22

What are you e key principles for the elite theory?

Answer 22

Elite- power is in the form of a pyramid; gov. Is always run by the few; who do the few represent?? Power is based on economic power; if you don’t have economic power then you can get political power; elections don’t matter, and the masses don’t matter either, only the wealthy few matter, irony of democracy. C. Wright Mills “The Power of the Elite” The people at the top of the pyramid matter; Busineess economic elite, government officials-poliyical elite, wealthy peopel

Question 23

How democratic is the US system?

Answer 23

It depends. Can argue half participation that voting is better now than the 80s or argue the opp.

Key issues;
1.Low expectations 2. VAP and VEP 3. Are people educated on the issue? Increased political interest and participation while decreasing Trust and Efficacy ( the gov looking for the benefits of the people) and that there is a fairly free socoety