Test 3 Course Worksheets Flashcards
Positive and negative roles of factions
Madisonian theory: a good constitution encourages multitudes of interests so that so single interest can ever tyrannize the other (pluralism)
Negative: Fear of factions becoming too powerful
Interest groups vs. political parties
Interest groups are relatively small, specialized, and focus on specific area of policy
Three broad theories of how American democracy works say about the role of interest groups
Pluralism
Elitism
Hyperpluralism
Pluralism
Gov’t is open/accessible, groups of people with shared interests influence public policy, no single group dominates
Elitism
Group competition is irrelevant, Real power is held by few (elite networks), interest groups do have upper bias
Hyperpluralism
Public policy is fragmented and held hostage by organized interests, iron triangles, governability (policies for everyone)
Interest groups predominately organize around which kinds of interests?
Small groups with a concentrated interest
Why is it easier for small, intense interests to organize than it is for large, diffuse interests? Why is it than an interest with a large latent group such as “consumers” or “all americans” might have trouble organizing?
Large groups are hard to organize and cannot monitor free-riders. Also too large of a group = too much diversity
What are selective incentives/benefits and how do they help interest groups overcome the free-rider problem and actually get people to join and contribute?
Benefits that do not go to everyone but, are distributed selectively- only to those who contribute to the group enterprise. Benefits such as informational, material, solidarity, and purposive removes freeriding option for benefits and make participation more attractive
Four main activities interest groups pursue their goals in policy making process
Lobbying
Litigation
Mobilizing the Public
Electioneering
Lobbying
Attempt by an interest group to influence policy process through persuasion of gov. officials; source of info and expertise
Litigation
Interest groups use courts as many avenues to influence policy: 1. Bringing suit directly on behalf of group 2. filing companion brief as amicus curiae to an existing court case 3. financing suits brought by individuals
Mobilizing the Public
Interest groups launch media campaign to build popular support
Electioneering
Interest groups getting members out to vote, finance contributions to candidates, PACS: most common strategy
What are linkage institutions and what role do they play in American politics? What are some examples?
Formal decision making process + the people
Interest groups, political parties, the media
Connects people to the government
Main focus of a political party as a form of organization
attaining positions of public authority
interest aggregation
consists of groups brought together under the general umbrella of a party label. However, these can change over time as new issues arise or old tensions worsen, causing groups to leave or join
What is party identification?
An individual’s attachment to a particular party which might be based on issues, ideology, past experience, or upbringing
What are some interesting patterns and trends in how certain groups (women, A.A, Hispanics and upper class) tend to identify with one party rather than the other
Women and minorities tend to vote Democratic
Upper class- Republican
Ways that political parties contribute to democratic governance as linkage institutions
Selecting Candidates Running Campaigns Cues to Voters Articulating policies Coordinating policymaking
Selecting Candidates
more open since Progressives, Recruitment, Nomination/ endorsement
Running Campaigns
Party as an organization (national, state, local)
Cues to Voters
Political shorthand and informational shortcuts, electoral teams
Articulating policies
advocate policy alternatives, party platforms
Coordinating policymaking.influencing gov’t
Fragmentation of the US political system, Ties of party and coordination
Which groups were included in FDR’s New Deal Coalition
What issues tore apart this coalition in 1968 and which group left the Democratic Party following this
Unionized workers, upper-middle class intellectuals and professionals, southern farmers, jews, catholics, and african americans
- Civil rights and vietnam split party
- -upper income opposed sending US forces and left party
Electoral systems with _______ tend to result in two-party systems.
single-member districts
Electoral systems with _______ are more likely to create multi-party systems
proportional representations
How do third parties contribute to American political system even if they rarely ever win elections themselves
They reinvent themselves ideologically to change with times; discuss issues that other two parties stay away from, politcally active
What is the difference between plurality rule and majority rule?
Plurality: victory goes to individual with the most votes in an election, but not necessarily majority of votes cast
Majority rule: to win a seat in representative body, a candidate must receive a majority of all the votes vast (50% plus one) in the relevant district
What is the difference between a nomination campaign and a campaign for a general election
nomination: narrow field of candidates, seek formal party nomination. ex: Pres nomination campaign
General election: candidates competes with other party nominees; win general election- win office
invisibile primary
Serious candidates must: Gain support and endorsements, get financial contributions, recruit skilled campaign staff
STARTS EARLY
elite driven
Caucuses and primaries help narrow down the eventual choice for presidential candidates.
How do both caucuses and primary voters differ?
Caucuses: long, open meeting, voters discuss/ express presidential pref. ~12 states, lower participation
Primaries: voters go to the polls, vote to express pref. for party nominee, closed/open primaries
Traditionally, the _______ caucus and the _________ primary have been the earliest contests, but recently many states have engaged in so-called ‘frontloading’. What is frontloading and what are criticisms of it? Why might a state party org. want to engage in this practice?
Iowa and New Hampshire
Scheduling so that majority of action occurs in early part of election; weighs heavliy and sets stage of election
If waitig too long, votes could be irrelevant in primary decision
What happens if no presidential candidate gets enough delegates to become a party nominee at the national party convention?
Brokered Convention
What are two important consquences of the Electoral College System for determining the result of a US presidential election
Allocation of Votes: (Distortion of popular votes)
Winner-take all norm: swing states
Why do judicial decisions such as Buckley v. Valeo and Citizens United v. FEC make it hard to limit amount of money in political campaigns
Money is speech
Currently, if a wealthy person wanted to give a million dollars legally in order to influence the outcome of an election, what would be the method of choice to go about it?
PACs or soft money
Frequent, regular, and fair elections are a hallmark of democratic government. Voting both allows people to exercise ______ over their government and to choose ________ to act on their behalf in pursuit of their preferences
influence
political agents
In general, how has the electorate changed over the course of US history? Who qualifies as a member of the electorate today?
Voter turnout= # who vote/ # allowed to vote
18 or older US citizen
Different state laws create variations in voter turnout. How have the following affected voter turnout?
Formal voter registration: requirement that people must register lowers voter turnout Motor-Votor Act: could vote if you had a motor vehicle registered in your name, created upper-class bias Voter ID laws: must have valid ID; making hard for those without access to resources
Which demographic groups tend to vote more?
older people, highly educated, wealthier Americans, those who haven’t moved recently, those with high interest in issues
Why do some claim that voting is ‘irrational’? What are some of the reasons given why people may nonetheless engage in this activity?
-Costly activity (time and effort)
Benefit: Civic duty, political efficacy (it does matter), phychological reasons
What is the single strongest predictor of a person’s vote choice
partisan loyalty
retrospective voters v. prospective voters
look at the past to make decisions
voting based on imagined future performance
Spacial v. Valence issues
- range of possible options/polices can be ordered (from liberal to conservative or most expensive to least)
- choice for which ALL voters prefer
What is the difference between individual level-opinion aggregate public opinion?
- individual: Personal beliefs and attitudes about issues, institutions, politics
- Aggregate: distribution of beliefs throughout population, accumulation of beliefs
What is political socialization and how does it influence public opinion
process through which individuals assimilate community preferences and norms through social interaction
2 ways: 1. people have pref for political decisions that benefit their group 2. social groups change out values and even our view of ourselves
1936 Literary Digest presidential poll
only from names in phone books and motor vehicle records- non-random and selection bias
Liberals
supports political and social reform, government intervention in economy, the expansion of federal social services, more vigorous efforts on behalf of the poor, minorities and women greater concern for customers and environment
Conservatives
support social and economic quo and are suspicious of new political formulas and economic arrangements. Believe a large powerful government poses threat to citizen’s freedom
phenomenon that although americans know very little about politics, political system workers better than expected
paradox of mass politics
How does the media serve as a key linkage institution between the American public and policymakers
influences how much we know about politics, can sway our opinion. Media as an agenda power
The media is a unique political institution because it is a profit-driven _______ that provides communication and entertainment, but it is also a source of key _______ that citizens need to make informed choices. These roles can conflict.
business
information
Types of media
Pint media
Broadcast media
Internet
New media/social media
Print media
Newspapers and news magazines, decline, generation gap, in financial trouble bc not read as often
Broadcast media
media on public airways (public stations or radio) bringing news home: Vietnam
Importance of visuals; you see that their human
Internet
mirrors the other parts of the platforms (parallel); provides opportunities for ordinary people to report news; decentralized- haven’t completely figured it out.
New media/Social media
digital manipulation- hard to regulate/control continued fragmentation of our news
narrowcasting v. broadcasting
narrowcasting: specialized programming, particular audience and focus interest, cable news
broadcasting: broad audience, broad appeal
“real media divide” divides americans into two groups
- News junkies who “tune in”
2. Entertainment lovers who “tune out”
What is so called “soft news”
News entertainment shows
Informing low info-low interest citizens
Private media attract viewers and keep an audience. Some results of this are the fairly ______ presentation of news stories and biases towards stories that will bring in the largest audience.
superficial
Media subtle impact on public opinion
Framing: Context in which political info is presented
Priming: How we evaluate new information makes certain values, ideas, other fact salient and accessible - use them to evaluate new info
agenda setting: not “changing minds”, changing what Americans think about and prioritize
