Midterm #3 Flashcards
Narrowcasting
When media focuses on one topic and is aimed at distinct people
News Management
The efforts of a politician’s staff to control news about the politician
Citizen Journalism
Movement among journalists to be responsive to citizen input in determining what news stories to cover
Media as Gatekeepers
Deciding what gets covered and how. Two types are priming and framing.
Priming: influence the public perception of certain people, events, and issues by emphasis given to particular characteristic of them
Framing: process through which the media emphasize particular aspects of a new story, thereby influencing public perception of the story
Retrospective vs Prospective Voting
Retrospecfive: basing voting decisions on reactions on past performance; approving the status quo or signaling a desire for change
Prospective: basing voting decisions on well-informed opinions and consideration of the future consequences of a given vote
Interest Group vs. Political Action Committee
Interest Group: organization of individuals who share a common political goal and unite for the purpose of influencing government decisions
Political Action Committees (PACs): fundraising arms of interest groups
Rational Voter Model (costs versus benefits)
People will vote if the benefits are larger than the costs. Someone’s vote is unlikely to swing an election so it might not take any costs to outweigh the benefit
Responsible Party Model
Party government when four conditions are met: clear choice of ideologies, candidates pledged to implement ideas, party held accountable by voters, and party control over members
Media as Agenda Setters
Media influences what people think about. A lot of the public gets their information from the media so the media essentially able to dictate what people see
Citizens United v. EFC
2010, Supreme Court ruled that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited because private corporations have the freedom to spend money on campaigns thought the first amendment
Publicly Funded Elections
From 1976 until 2008, every major-party general election campaign for president was publicly financed for the two major parties and for any third party that did well in the previous election.
Defection Rates of Partisans
People believe that their vote is not needed or that their party is strong enough that it is okay that they do not show up and vote. This weakens the party if a large majority of the public do this.
Free Rider Problem
Free Rider problem is people taking advantage of being able to use a common resource, or collective good, without paying for it, as is the case when citizens of a country utilize public goods without paying their fair share in taxes.
Free riders can make it hard for interest groups to attract members. They have created selective incentives for membership
Madison’s conception of Faction
According to Madison, factions are groups of citizens who advocate for their own interests over the common good. Madison wanted to limit them.
Revolving Door in media and lobbying
Revolving door is the tendency of public officials, journalists, and lobbying to move between public and private sectors. Movement of personnel between roles as legislators and regulators
Collective Action
Action taken together by a group of people whose goal is to enhance their status and achieve a common objective
Why interest groups form
They attempt to influence policy, organize lobbying, and mobilize groups to influence congress for people with a shared/similar interest
Role of Parties in Democracies
Group of like-minded people who work together as a unit to influence the general public, context elections to gain control over the government. Members of the same political party share a common goal, aims and objectives. Political parties formulate public policies, educate public opinion, and provide political stability.
What a Democrat and Republican believe
Democrat: government action to solve social problems. Government should stay our of the people’s personal, religious and moral lives
Republican: government should provide social and moral order and should play little role in the economy
Party Systems
System of government by political parties in a democratic country.
Types of Interest Groups
Public: organize to influence government to produce collative good or service that benefit the general public (in their view)
Equal Rights: organize to promote the civil and economic rights of underrepresented or disadvantaged groups
Economic: interested in their own interests and say no to the “greater good” and that their interests benefit the greater good but it is secondary at best
Government: foreign government lobby the government as well. This is very controversial
Role of Parties in Democracies
Group of like-minded people who work together as a unit to influence the general public, context elections to gain control over the government. They provide a link between voters and elected officials by helping tell voters what candidates stand for, help overcome some of the fragmentation in government, and provide a clear opposition of the ideas and policies of those elected to serve in government.
External and Internal Pressure on Parties
The public putting pressure on the parties and members of the party putting pressure on one another
‘Ideal Citizen’ vs. Actual Citizens in terms of Public Opinion
Ideal: basing voting decisions on well-informed opinion and consideration of the future consequences of a given vote (prospective)
Actual: basing vote decisions on reactions to past performance; approving the status quo or signaling a desire for change (retrospective)
Trends of Americans participation in government
Up and down but for the most part it is maintaining the same turn out for presidential and midterm elections.
Influence of Opinions
The biggest factor when someone is deciding who to vote for is the party they identify with. There is direct influence of the vote and indirect which affects the perception of issued and the candidate evaluation
Faithless Elector
Member of the Electoral College who does not vote for the presidential or vice-presidential candidate for whom they had pledged to vote
Divided vs. Unified Government
Divided: political rule split between two parties where one controls the White House while the other control one or both houses of Congress. Theoretically, this puts the nation into gridlock
Unified: political rule is not split between two parties. One party has complete control over the White House and one or both houses of Congress. Theoretically, this makes it easier for policies and laws to be passed
Political Party Evolution - why has realignment occurred
Realignment is when there is a major shift in a nation’s political system that occurs when a parties existing principles are altered after a major event
Functions of Political parties
They bring people together to achieve control of the government, develop policies favorable to their interests and the groups that support them, and organize the persuade voters to elect their candidates to office.
