Exam 2

Question 1

Dred Scott v Sanford

Answer 1

Scott was an escaped enslaved person
Controversy regarding his liberty/freedom
He moved into a new territory, Missouri, which was a free territory
Under Fugitive Slave Clause, he technically didn’t escape to a free state, he escaped to a territory
He believed that he is a free person since he escaped to free territory

Ruling: enslaved people and descendants of those people, could never become American citizens

Question 2

name the three civil war amendments

Answer 2

13th, 14th, 15th

Question 3

13th amendment

Answer 3

Abolished Slavery

Question 4

14th amendment

Answer 4

guaranteed equal protection under the law

Question 5

15th amendment

Answer 5

guaranteed voting rights for African American Men

Question 6

Plessy v Ferguson

Answer 6

Law passed (RR car act) where passengers in the train cars shall be segregated by race
Civil disobedience: plessy buys white person only car seat, and is immediately arrested
?: can Louisiana segregate people like this?

Ruling: established precedent that public accommodations could be segregated by race
As long as the facilities were “equal”

Question 7

Brown v Board of Education

Answer 7

Q: did Linda Brown have the right to attend an all white school in Kansas?

Ruling: yes, erasing the “separate but equal” precedent found in Plessy v Ferguson
Received backlash

Question 8

civil rights act of 1964

Answer 8

Outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin
See EEOC v Abercrombie and Fitch
School, employment, and other public accommodations could no longer be segregated
Created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

Question 9

voting rights act of 1965

Answer 9

Banned the uses of literacy tests as a condition to vote
Made it a crime to interfere with efforts to vote
Review:

Question 10

Literacy tests

Answer 10

What was used as a way to limit the electoral influence of African Americans

Question 11

Which cases upheld segregation? What about overturned?

Answer 11

Plessy v Ferguson upheld, brown v board of education overturned

Question 12

literacy tests

Answer 12

measures a person’s proficiency in reading and writing. Beginning in the 19th century, literacy tests were used in the voter registration process in southern states of the U.S. with the intent to disenfranchise Black voters.

Question 13

grandfather clause

Answer 13

A half-dozen states passed laws that made men eligible to vote if they had been able to vote before African-Americans were given the franchise (generally, 1867), or if they were the lineal descendants of voters back then

Question 14

equal rights amendment

Answer 14

mandated equal treatment for all regardless of sex.

Question 15

title IX

Answer 15

applies to all educational institutions that receive federal aid and prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in academic programs, dormitory space, health-care access, and school activities including sports

Question 16

elk v wilkins

Answer 16

NATIVE AMERICANS

John Elk, denied the right to vote after he left his reservation and began living among white people, the Supreme Court found that Native Americans were not citizens by birth under the Fourteenth Amendment and could therefore be denied the right to vote.

Question 17

nationality act of 1940

Answer 17

outlined the process by which immigrants could acquire U.S. citizenship through naturalization. The law specified that neither sex nor marital status could be considered in naturalization decisions, but it did outline specifications concerning race and ethnicity.

Question 18

trail of tears

Answer 18

Between 1831 and 1838, members of several southern tribes, including the Cherokees, were forced by the U.S. Army to move west along routes shown in Figure 5.15. The forced removal of the Cherokees to Oklahoma Territory, which had been set aside for settlement by displaced tribes and designated Indian Territory, resulted in the death of one-quarter of the tribe’s population.

Question 19

chinese exclusion act of 1882

Answer 19

prevented Chinese from immigrating to the United States for ten years and prevented Chinese already in the country from becoming citizens

Question 20

korematsu v united states

Answer 20

Although Japanese American Fred Korematsu challenged the right of the government to imprison law-abiding citizens, the Supreme Court decision in the 1944 case of Korematsu v. United States upheld the actions of the government as a necessary precaution in a time of war.

Question 21

american disabilities act of 1990

Answer 21

greatly expanded opportunities and protections for people of all ages with disabilities. It also significantly expanded the categories and definition of disability. The ADA prohibits discrimination in employment based on disability. It also requires employers to make reasonable accommodations available to workers who need them. Finally, the ADA mandates that public transportation and public accommodations be made accessible to those with disabilities.

Question 22

Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.

Answer 22

The owner of Hobby Lobby Stores, for example, a conservative Christian, argued that his company’s health-care plan should not have to pay for contraception because his religious beliefs are opposed to the practice.; Scotus ruled in his favor

Question 23

american fundamental values

Answer 23

In a democracy, public opinion is important

Americans value liberty, equality, and democracy (in order of decreasing support)

Question 24

ideology definition

Answer 24

a set/collection of underlying ideas;
An underlying worldview

ex: Liberalism, Conservatism, and more

Question 25

liberalism

Answer 25

generally support:
Increased govt spending on healthcare, education, and social welfare programs
Regulations on business, including taxes and fines
Environmentally friendly government policies
Civil rights protections and enforcement
On foreign affairs:
Oppose American military intervention in the domestic affairs of other countries
Support the use of international organizations instead ie NATO
United Nations

Question 26

conservatism

Answer 26

generally support:
Reduced govt spending and influence in domestic policies
Lower taxes and deregulation on businesses and individuals; believes the individuals should be in charge of their money rather than the govt
Traditional ideas of marriage, religion, and liberty
On foreign affairs:
Support stronger military power and spending
Less supportive of international organizations
“American first” - Donald Trump

Question 27

socialism

Answer 27

Collective benefits > individual liberties
TLDR: the collective/community should be put first
Healthcare, education, family leave
Increased govt spending
Taxing the wealthiest Americans
Differ from liberals bc they believe in govt taking over core services like the collective benefits

Question 28

libertarianism

Answer 28

Stronger emphasis on individual liberty
Same sex marriage
Gun ownership o-o
Decriminalization of “vice”
Vice: could include smoking cigarettes, gambling, prostitution
Reduce government power and taxation
Differ from conservatives because conservatives have more emphasis on traditional moral values than libertarians

Question 29

agents of socialization

Answer 29

the ways by which public opinion is built

Family: the biggest, not exclusive, source of political socialization
Children “absorb” their parents’ beliefs
Peers: friends, colleagues, online communities
Education: children acquire values of liberty,, equality, and democracy from their formal education
College educated voters often have differing views from non college educated voters
Religion
Media
Other impacts
Trends show that americans may have differences in opinion depending on their race and/or gender

Question 30

random sample

Answer 30

Achieved through random digit dialing

Question 31

sampling error

Answer 31

Not having enough ppl in a poll; A large enough sample size for Americans is around 1100 ppl (gold standard for it to be statistically reliable)
As the sample size increases, the margin of error decreases

Question 32

measurement error

Answer 32

Asks precisely worded questions to avoid measurement error
It needs to be free of bias and free of poor vocabulary

the difference between a measured value of a quantity and its true value

Question 33

social desirability

Answer 33

Respondents may not offer honest opinions if they’re not socially desirable
Ie racism

Question 34

push polling

Answer 34

Not really a scientific poll, but an attempt to shape the respondent’s opinion; a persuasion tactic
Ie Jerry Springer’s run for governor

Question 35

compulsory voting

Answer 35

also called mandatory voting, is the requirement in some countries that eligible citizens register and vote in elections. Penalties might be imposed on those who fail to do so without a valid reason

Question 36

voter turnout definition

Answer 36

the percentage of eligible individuals who actually vote

Question 37

voting eligible population

Answer 37

Ppl who are eligible: at least 18 years old, and a citizen

Question 38

three factors to voter turnout

Answer 38

1) Socioeconomic Status
Individuals are more likely to vote if they are:
Higher educated
Income is higher
If they are older
2) Political Environment
Mobilization efforts attract voters to the polls
Electoral competition
There is higher turnout in more competitive elections
Ballot measures
Campaign outreach
3) State Electoral Laws
All states implement voting and election laws differently
Different voter turnout rates by state (ie 2016)
70% in Minnesota; higher than national avg
45% in mississippi
Registration requirements vary by state and can reduce turnout

Question 39

how voters decide

Answer 39

Three major factors influence voters decisions:
1) Partisan loyalty
2) Issues and policy references Voter choice
3) Candidate characteristics
The candidates race, ethnicity, religion, and gender are sometimes factors

Question 40

primary elections

Answer 40

elections held to select a party’s candidate for the general election

Question 41

general elections

Answer 41

follows the primary elections and determines who is ultimately elected to office

Question 42

limits on individual contributions to campaigns

Answer 42

$2700 per candidate per election
Unlimited $$$ donations to Super PACs (loophole) freedom of speech

Question 43

Buckley v. Valeo

Answer 43

MONEY = FREE SPEECH

introduced the concept that money is “speech”
Allows unlimited spending by candidates on their own campaign

Question 44

citizens united v FEC

Answer 44

CORPORATIONS

Supreme Court asserted that corporations are people and removed reasonable campaign contribution limits, allowing a small group of wealthy donors and special interests to use dark money to influence elections

Super PACs (Groups that form around specific interests) allow for unlimited donations and spending
Can call for the election or defeat of specific candidates, but they cannot coordinate with a particular campaign
They also cannot make contributions to candidates, parties, or other political committees

Question 45

Why are Civil Rights reform successes often met with backlash? How do Social Dominance Theory and Racial Threat Theory help explain this phenomenon?
What social dominance theory is, know what racial threat theory is (in lecture slides); compare the two, and talk abt which one you think is more useful

Answer 45

advances in civil rights, while often achieving both short and long term successes, are often met w a backlash because whites traditionally had more power. Whites power at risk whenever advancements are made, and they dont want to level the playing field

I think social dominance is more useful since it can be applied to many other demographics, not just race. ie sex

ie Law:
13: ended slavery
14th: guaranteed newly freed slaves equal protection of the law
15th: guaranteed that individuals had a right to vote regardless of race
(All on paper)
Reality:
Blacks were often forced to work for those who had enslaved them due to sharecropping and vagrancy laws
Society remained segregated w the rise of Jim Crow and doctrine of separate but equal
Blacks kept from voting bc of poll taxes, unfair literacy tests and grandfather clauses
Threat of violence

social dominance theory: Societies tend to be organized in a hierarchical structure, w a dominant group at the top and other groups below them. These groups tend to be arbitrary
Some individuals are predisposed to hold anti-egalitarian preferences and to believe in their groups superiority
Groups preserve their dominance through individual and institutional level discrimination
Legitimizing myths: socially dominant members of the dominant group form stereotypes to justify belief in their groups superiority

racial threat theory: increased presence, salience or power of other groups causes the dominant group (ie whites) to feel threatened driving negative racial attitudes
Type of threat:
Symbolic: related to feelings of undeserving news, psychological esteem
Material: related to tangible benefits, competition over scarce resources
Status: fear of losing status, more symbolic
Power: fear of losing power, more material

Question 46

Trace the historical developments of Civil Rights for African Americans in the United States. How was the history of discrimination overcome with several reforms?
Chapter 5; slavery, civil war amendments

Answer 46

Dredd Scott v. Sanford (1857)
Scott was an escaped enslaved person
Controversy regarding his liberty/freedom
He moved into a new territory, Missouri, which was a free territory
Under Fugitive Slave Clause, he technically didn’t escape to a free state, he escaped to a territory
He believed that he is a free person since he escaped to free territory
Ruling: enslaved people and descendants of those people, could never become American citizens

Emancipation Proclamation: All slaves are now free
States secede from the US
Form the American confederacy
The Civil War (1861-1865)
Union v Confederacy, the Union eventually wins

Post-Civil War Amendments (Confederate States would have to agree to all these amendments to be accepted back into the Union):
13th: Abolished Slavery
14th: guaranteed equal protection under the law
15th: guaranteed voting rights for African American Men

the bad:
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Law passed (RR car act) where passengers in the train cars shall be segregated by race
Civil disobedience: plessy buys white person only car seat, and is immediately arrested
?: can Louisiana segregate people like this?
Ruling: established precedent that public accommodations could be segregated by race
As long as the facilities were “equal”

was overcome by:
Brown v Board of Education (1954)
Q: did Linda Brown have the right to attend an all white school in Kansas?
Ruling: yes, erasing the “separate but equal” precedent found in Plessy v Ferguson
Received backlash

Question 47

Non-primary presidential elections

Answer 47

In CA:
Top two primary election system: where two candidates w the highest total votes in the primary advance to the general election
Can have multiple candidates from the same party
Used in all statewide elections:
- Governor and executive branch,
- US Senate and house members,
- All but the president

Question 48

When gauging sexism among Americans, how would a political scientist conduct a poll to find out what portion of the U.S. is sexist? What challenges would arise?
Social desirability bias
Chapter 6; a section called scientific polling and its challenges (all 4 ideas); maybe not push polling tho

Answer 48

Random Samples: they have to make sure that the sample is random ensure that there is no bias from certain groups

Sampling Error: they have to make sure that the sample size is large enough (gold standard is 1100 ppl for entire US population)

Measurement Error: they have to make sure that the questions arent biased and they are precise and easily legible to prevent mistakes due to misunderstandings and such

Social Desirability: they have to make sure that the questions they ask dont pressure ppl into answering it in a way that is socially desirable