Exam 2: Chapters 4,5,6,9 (need to add 7 and 10) Flashcards
What are political parties?
An organization that tries to win control of government by electing people to office who carry the party label
What is a party platform?
A party’s statement of its positions on the issues of the day passed at the quadrennial national convention
Has the US had a true two-party system?
Yes, more so than any other nation in the world
What sorts of obstacles do minor parties face?
leaders are tempted to merge with a larger party. A disaffected faction within a party is unlikely to strike out on its own because the probability of gaining political office is very low. Getting on the ballot is difficult.
Know the difference between protest, ideological, single-issue, and splinter parties.
Protest: arise as part of a social movement
Ideological: organized around a coherent set of ideas
Single-issue: advocacy groups that run a candidate for office
Splinter: a faction of the two major parties that splits and runs its own candidate
Understand the difference between realignment and dealignment.
realignment: the transition between party eras
dealignment: a gradual reduction in the dominance of one political party without another party supplanting it (taking its place)
Note the number of different political party eras along with which has been the longest running one (Democrats vs. Republicans) (see figure 9.1).
5, Democratic Party
Know what it means to have a divided government.
control of the executive and legislative branches by different parties
Know how major parties are organized.
loose collections of local and state parties, campaign committees, candidates and office holders, and associated interest groups that get together every 4 years to nominate a presidential candidate
Are political parties becoming more candidate-centered?
Yes
What are the governing bodies of the parties?
the national party conventions
understand the difference between public perceptions of liberals and conservatives.
seeing democrats as more liberal and republicans as more conservative;
Are there ideological differences between the parties?
Yes, they’re becoming so marked that some talk about “europeanization of the american party system”
What is a unified government?
control of the executive and legislative branches by the same political party
political culture
the set of core beliefs in a country that help shape how people behave politically and what they believe the government should do
significance of individualism
- Americans will overwhelmingly endorse “equality of opportunity” and reject “equality of rewards”
- Americans are less likely to support government efforts to equalize matters
- Americans are least likely to want gov to determine life’s economic outcomes
public opinion
the agreggated political attitudes of ordinary people as revealed by surveys (important in democracies)
random sampling
must be representative of entire population; ensures that each member has equal chance of being selected; selection of survey respondents by chance
political socialization
the process by which individuals come to have certain political attitudes and core beliefs
agents of political socialization
those institutions & individuals that shape the core beliefs (esp in childhood), i.e. families, schools, popular culture, college education, jobs, news, marriage, retirement
ideology
a coherent system of interlocking beliefs and attitudes about politics, the economy, and the role of gov
what do presidential approval ratings reveal?
A president’s standing with the public, indicated by the percentage of Americans who tell survey interviewers that they approve a president’s “handling of his job”
difference between conservatives and liberals
liberals: favor more goverment regulation and influence
conservatives: prefer less government involvement in economics and society
role of mass media in a democracy
- “watchdog” over government–> free press is important to dig up facts and warn people
- make clear what electoral choices the puiblic has
- present a diverse, full, enlightening set of ideas about public policy
significance of alternative media
virtually unlimimted info and opportunity to express views
significance of media monopoly
- the less powerful can’t air their views
- diminshes the # of viewpoints shown, alternative voices aren’t heard
- adds business presence to politics
how has the media become uniform and what is the result of this
fewer and fewer sources of info for all of the reporters
significance of associated press (AP)
This centralized news/video supplier supplies most stories for newspapers and local news, so the same news is on different channels