Exam 4 Flashcards
interest groups
Groups of citizens with shared interests
Theory of collective action
-groups overcome collective action problems by providing benefits
selective incentives
benefits only members of a group receive
moral incentives
- personal satisfaction from feeling like you contribute to a cause
- form of self-expression
policy feedback
the idea that policy makes politics
Policies (the outputs of government)
-give different groups benefits or burdens
- limit a sense of shared group interest
Policy Characteristics that influence feedback
-size, duration of benefits
-how visible is the program?
Target populations
groups affected by a policy
Policies typically specify the target population by
-specifying the policy’s goals
-eligibility
-the different policy tools used
Social Security
-gives them money and time to get involved in politics
-gives them a shared group interest based on receiving these
benefits
-sends clear messages that they deserve benets
-sends clear messages this is a government benefit
Student loans
-meant to be temporary, not rest of their lives
-eligible recipients have to initiate contact with govt.
-money is paid back, with interest
-administered by private companies; not dealing directly w/ govt.
pluralist society
-Different groups compete for resources
-no one group wins over the others
The pluralist counter-argument: no one group dominates across all of
American govt.
-coal companies aren’t influenced over media regulation
-Apple isn’t really influenced over agriculture policy
iron triangles
congressional committee,
bureaucratic agency,
interest groups
subsystems
-often multiple agencies, committees, interest groups on a particular issue
lobbying
appeals from citizens for favorable policies
Lobbying is (mostly) about three things:
-access to key policymakers
-providing information
-blocking action
Access
it doesn’t do the group you represent any good if no one
will meet with you or listen to what you have to say
revolving door
when people go from govt. to
lobbying and back
Information
policymakers have access to lots of information, but
they need to know what to prioritize
policy (what your book calls technical) info
what will happen
if this policy passes?
political
what other groups and policymakers support or
oppose a policy?
Blocking action
the prospect of govt. action,
attracts more lobbying activity
Why do groups spend so much money on lobbying to prevent
something from happening, if it may not happen anyway?
Insurance
-govt. spends a lot of money, stakes are high
The Federalist didn’t really discuss political parties
Madison, et al. saw institutions as the problem with the Articles
of Confederation
Downsian view
politicians want to win elections, use parties to do it
Coalition view
parties are coalitions of dierent groups who develop
mutually acceptable policies
Stability, durability
-don’t need to create an entirely new coalition every time you
want to do something; the party already exists
Spreads the cost
coalition partners can work together to mobilize voters, doesn’t
only fall on one group
Innovation
dierent groups/candidates can try out new electoral strategies;
if it works, then others can adopt it
parties as having three components:
-party organizations (PO)
-parties-in-elections (PIE)
-parties-in-government (PIG)
Functions of the party organization (PO):
-Identifying and recruiting candidates
-Training candidates and campaign sta
-Aggregating the interests of party coalition members
-Articulating the party’s collective interests
Functions of parties in elections PIE:
-Educating voter on who the candidates are and the party’s
goals/platform
-Generating symbolic loyalty, sense of teamsmanship
-Simplifying choices for voters
-Mobilizing the public to participate in ways beyond voting
Functions of parties in government (PIG):
-Creating govt. majorities (if in a proportional
-representation/parliamentary system)
-Organizing the government (and specically the legislature)
-Implementing the party’s objectives through law/oversight
-Organizing dissent (minority parties)
-Contributing to stability in govt.
A responsible party system by denition has several features:
-internally cohesive parties
-parties facilitate internal compromise and are held accountable by
-public for that compromise
-party elites are also accountable to party rank-and-le
-some system of party loyalty
-effective opposition party; gives the public a true choice
The U.S. has a system of:
-plurality voting rules; whomever gets the most votes wins
-winner-take-all; whomever comes in second gets nothing
The big third parties (like the Reform Party) tend not to be very
durable
they become tied to one person’s ambition/personality
Why wouldn’t parties compete for median voter?
-despite what we see in polls, very few Independents or
undecideds
-rather than try to win over the median voter, change election
rules to limit the other party’s ability to succeed
Which of the following is a standard collective action problem that must be overcome for an interest group to promote or defend a shared interest?
Rational self-interest leads to universal free riding, which dooms the organization as well as the effort unless some way can be found around this difficulty.
How did James Madison propose to deal with factions?
by dividing authority among federal institutions
Why does modern politics breed professional lobbyists?
The growing scope and complexity of government requires agents who understand how institutions work.
Inattentive publics Inattentive publics Inattentive publics Inattentive publics
people who might eventually start paying attention
Public opinion is an important part of democratic accountability Public opinion is an important part of democratic accountability
the agents (elected politicians) making sure they know what
their principals (the public) want
attitudes
organized, consistent manner of thinking, feeling, and reacting
to what’s happening around us
Ideologies
are organized sets of attitudes
political socialization
Our ideologies often start with our parents, then become inuenced
by our environment as we get older
Party identication
-because we have only two major parties, they tend to separate
themselves based on ideology
-party ID acts either as a strong personal identity or just a
shortcut
Comprehensive rationality assumes:
-we know every possible solution to every aspect of the problem
we’re trying to solve
-we can rank those solutions in order of what we like the best
and least
-we then choose the option that maximizes our preferences and
goals
Answers to surveys and other questions depend on:
-what information we have oating around in our heads
-what we’re paying attention to when the question is asked
-which of that information we reach for when we express our
answer
But with public opinion, systematic error could come from:
-how a question is worded/what the answer options are
-the order in which you ask the questions
-if any additional information or context is given
Priming
any additional context given that makes people think of
their response in relation to something else
Framing
dierent ways of talking about an issue
Two big indicators in macro public opinion:
-Most Important Problem question
-policy mood
what’s the most important problem facing the country?
-what’s the most important problem facing the country?
- the data on this question are backwards compatible: we can
compare today to previous eras and the data mean the same
thing
Bounded rationality and the logic of appropriateness in action
lots of important problems at any time, but the economy seems
like it should be more important so people say the economy
One prominent debate within political science: whether politicians
lead public opinion or follow it?
-The reality is a little of both
-politicians are generally responsive to public opinion
issue uptake
when their electoral challenger starts talking
about new issues, members of Congress also start talking about
those issues
What is the term used to describe elaborately organized sets of political attitudes?
ideologies
Most scholars who study public opinion believe that expressed opinions ______.
generally reflect underlying attitudes
What ideological label do we use to describe those who distrust government, have greater faith in private enterprise and free markets, and are more willing to use government to enforce traditional moral standards?
liberals
Elections allow ordinary citizens to, in aggregate, ______.
eward or punish elected officials for their performance in office
Every expansion of suffrage since the adoption of the Constitution has had to do which of the following?
overcome both philosophical objections and mundane calculations of political advantage
Opponents have voiced numerous objections for expanding the franchise, but what has not happened as a result of reducing barriers to voting?
Incumbent officeholders failing to get re-elected at high rates
