We the People Exam 2 Study Guide Flashcards
Chapter 6
What are attitudes?
Values?
How do they relate to each other?
Attitudes are views about particular, issues, persons, or events. Some Attiudes can short-lived and can change based on circumstances or new information or others change over a few years or some may not change at all.
Values make up a person’s basic orientation to politics and include guiding principles. They are not limited to the politics. Values are morals that people belive in
most attitudes are based upon peoples values. Attitudes are specific judgments toward an object, while values are abstract and trans-situational.
Chapter 6
What sorts of things influence public opinions? (e.g., race, education, religion, income, gender)
political differences between Republicans and Democrats, rural and urban residents, Black people and White people, Hispanics and non-Hispanics, women and men, young and old people, more versus less educated people, people of different religions, wealthy or not so wealthy
What is linked fate?
“The idea that an opportunity for one, is an opportunity for all.”
a concept traditionally used to describe when members of an identity group (African Americans, for example) elevate group interests above their own individual interests.
Affective polarization?
Negative polarization?
Affective polarization is the tendency for partisans to dislike and distrust those from the other party
Negative polarization is tendency to support a political party or candidate based primarily on dislike for the “other side
Chapter 6
Public opinion
( Be familiar with basic concepts related to public opinion polls)
to the collective attitudes or opinions that people have about policy issues, political events, and elected officials.
Understanding public opinion is critical to understanding American politics.
Social desirability bias
respondents report what they think is socially acceptable instead of what they actually believe in or known to be true
The bandwagon effect
shift in electoral support to the candidate whom public opinion polls report as the front runner
Public broadcasting
What are whistle-blowers?
Public broadcasting refers to television, radio, and digital media that receive partial funding from license fees and government subsidies.
In most countries public broadcasting plays a major role informing the public about politics and currents like BBC.
In USA like National Public Radio(NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service(PBS) play a small role in the nations media and receives very little funding from the government.
Whistle-blowers are lower levels officials who hope to publicize what they view as their bosses’ or the governments’ improper activities.
Ex: In 1971, during the controversial Vietnam War, Daniel Ellsberg , a defense department staffer, sought to discreet official justifications for American’s military involvement in Vietnam by leaking top-secret document to the press.
Citizen journalism?
Adversarial journalism?
Principled journalism?
Citizen journalism includes news reporting and political commentary by ordinary citizens and bystanders, advocacy groups, and even crisis coverage from eyewitnesses on the scene, thus involving a wider range of voices in gathering news and interpreting political events.
Adversarial Journalism is a form of watchdog reporting in which the media adopt a skeptical or even hostile posture toward the government and public officials.
Principled journalism involves being as accurate as possible, relying on original sources whenever possible, being transparent about citing sources, and presenting multiple viewpoints. Reporting news without bias and it remains a journalistic ideal.
Agenda setting?
Priming?
Framing?
Agenda setting is the media’s designation some issues, events, or people as important, and others not. The mass media act as a gatekeeper with the power to bring public attention to particular issues or problems.
Priming is the process of calling attention to some issues, and not others, when reporting on political events and officials. Through priming media have the power to alter how voter make choices. Media priming can occur when a n issue become important in evaluating political candidates.
The process of presenting information from a certain perspective to shape the audience’s understanding of that information is called framing. Because media have the power to excluded or include information, they can influence how events, issues, and people’s actions are interpreted and understood.
What were the Fireside Chats?
Roosevelt called his radio talks about issues of public concern “Fireside Chats.” Informal and relaxed, the talks made Americans feel as if President Roosevelt was talking directly to them.
Suffrage
the right to vote
The main effect of the Voting Rights Act?
The 26th Amendment?
It made black people able to vote.
It lowered the age to vote from 21 to 18. This due to Vietnam War to channel the distributive student protests into peaceful participation at ballot.
Why are Voter ID laws controversial?
Recent adoption of voter ID laws in many states has reduced turnout rates, especially for racial and ethnic minorities and people with low income or disabilities—all of whom disproportionately lack government ID.
What is the main purpose of political parties?
Interest groups?
A political party seeks to control the government by nominating candidates, electing them to public office, and winning elections. Once in office, parties organize government lawmaking and seek to change government policy.
Interest groups do not seek to control the operation of government or win elections but, rather, try to influence specific policies, often by lobbying elected officials and contributing to political campaigns
The major political parties and the basic beliefs they hold
The Democratic and Republican parties are two broad coalitions strategically bringing together many diverse interests, organizations, and millions of Americans.
What divided the Democratic party’s coalition in the 1960s?
conflicts over civil rights caused divisions within the Democratic Party.
The movement for equal rights for Black people initially divided northern Democrats, who supported it, and White southern Democrats, who defended racial segregation.
Duverger’s Law
that there is a systematic relationship between electoral systems and party systems, so that plurality single-member district election systems tend to create two-party systems in the legislature, while proportional representation electoral systems generate multiparty systems.
What is “party identification?
an individual voter’s psychological ties to one party or another
What do modern Libertarians tend to believe about the role of government?
seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state’s encroachment on and violations of individual libertie
Selective Benefits of Interest Group Membership
- Informational benefits
- Material
- Solidary
- Purposive
- Informational :
Conferences, professional contacts, publications, coordination among organizations, research, legal hell, professional codes and collective bargaining - Material:
Travel package, insurance, discounts on consumer goods - Solidary:
Friendship, Networking opportunities - Purposive :
Advocacy, representation before government participation in public affairs
What are the different types of interest groups?
- Corporate Groups and Trade Associations
- Labor Groups
- Professional Associations : represent the interests of individuals who work in specific occupations.
Example - Physicians, lawyers, accountants, real estate agents, dentists
4.Citizen Groups : are open to ordinary citizens and represent wide variety of interest, with groups on issues from the environment to abortion, to gun policy and to disability rights
What is the free rider problem?
Free riders are those who enjoy the benefits of collective goods but did not participate in acquiring or providing them
Political Action Committees
a private group that raises and distributes fuunds for use in election campaigns
How do interest groups use the courts?
A group can use the courts to affect public policy in at least three ways:
(1) by bringing suit directly on behalf of the group itself
(2) by financing suits brought by individuals,
(3) by filing a companion brief as an amicus curiae (literally “friend of the court”) to an existing court case.
Example : the litigation by NAACP that led to Brown v. Board of education (1945) in which the U.S Supreme court held that legal segregation of public schools was unconstitutional.
Iron triangle
which has one point in an executive branch program (bureaucratic agency), another point in a Senate or House committee or subcommittee, and a third point in some well-organized interest group
Insurrection
Micro-targeting
Insurrection is a violent attack on government; the act of revolting against civic authority or an establish government
What did the Citizens United decision do?
Citizens United v Federal Election Commission ruled invalidating restrictions on independent campaign spending by any organization- they prohibited corporations and unions from using their funds to use for election-related spending.
How is someone elected president?
they are chosen by electors through a process called the electoral college.
Each state’s political parties choose their own slate of potential electors, and when people vote for president and vice president they are technically choosing between each party’s slate of electors, who are almost always loyal to the party’s nominee and go on to vote for that candidate
Frontloading
the recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention. This happens to increase their importance in the choosing of a candidate.
Frontloading lengthens the entire election cycle, which results in voter fatigue and a loss of public interest in the process, while at the same time shortens the primary season which results in less time for voters to get to know the candidates.
Political ideology
a cohesive set of beliefs that forms a general philosophy about the role of government.
Liberal
refers to those who generally support social and political reform, government innervation in the economy, more economic equality, expansion of federal social services, and greater concern for consumers and the environment
Libertarian
someone who emphasizes freedom and believes in voluntary association with small government
Socialist
someone who generally believes in social ownership, strong government, free markets, and a reduction in economic inequality
Political socialization
the induction of individuals into the political culture; learning the underlying beliefs and values on which the political system is based
Agents of socialization
social institutions, including families and schools, that help to shape individuals’ basic political beliefs and values
public opinion polls
publics officials and campaigns make use of data and polls to help them decide whether to run for office, how to raise funds, what policies to support, how to vote on legislation, and what types of appeals to make to voters.
Selection bias
the sample is not representative of the population being studied
Key Roles of the Media
- Inform the public about current issues and events. The information presented by the media helps citizens form opinions about policy issues and making decisions in elections.
- Provide a forum for candidates, politicians, and the public and to debate politics and issues. The news media help level the playing the field between poetical elects who have high levels of political knowledge and “the people” - thus giving citizens a powerful voice in society.
- Act as a watchdog on the actions of politicians and government. By reporting the news in the public interest, the media continuously monitor the actions of public officials and strive to protect citizens form government overreach and corruption by serving as a check on political power.
Opinion-driven journalism
political blogs or talk shows where the writer or talk-show host provide highly opinionated personal commentary, usually through conversation with guest; these formats blur the boundaries between objective journalism and subjective reporting
Mainstream news organizations
are organization that adhere to the principles of journalism by doing original, balanced, factual reporting: using unpaid, credible source: conducting interviews ethically; and avoiding personal bias by editors or reporters
Partisan Media
Do not prioritize balance with factual reporting to the same extent as the mainstream media, and instead mix in opinion-driven journalism.
Partisan media can also be identified by ideological agenda setting and priming and by framing.
News Aggregators
websites that pull together news from a wide range of online sources and make them available on one platform or page
Can be a way to avoid partisan or filtered news of the day from many sources
Ex: Google News, Reddit
Filter Bubble
is an online environment in which platform users are exposed primarily to opinions and information that conform to and reinforce their existing beliefs
Media echo chamber
beliefs are amplified or reinforced through repetition inside a closed system of communication.
By participating in an echo chamber, people can seek out information that reinforces their existing views without encountering opposing views.
Equal Time Rule
broadcasters must provide candidates for the same political office with equal opportunities to communicate their messages to the public.
Party polarization
where the two major political parties and their supporters are divided on many issues
Party organization
the formal structure of a political party, including its leadership, election committees, active members and paid staff.
retrospective voting
voting based on the past performance of a candidate or political party
Party activists
are those who not only vote but also actively contribute their time, money, and effort to party affairs, organizations, and elections, thus giving them an outsize role in the party.
Lobbying
is an attempt by a group to influence the policy process through the strategic sharing of information, building relationships with policy makers across government
Pluralism
the theory that most interest are and should be free to compete for influence in the government, was long the dominant view of the U.S political system.
Issue Network
a loose network of elected leaders, public officials, activists and interest groups drawn together by a specific policy issue
midterm elections
elections do not coincide with a presidential election
primary election
election held to select a party’s candidate for the general election
general election
a regularly schedule election involving most districts in the nation or state, in which voters select officeholders
closed primary
an election in which votes select candidates but only of the part in which they are enrolled
open primary
a primary election in which the voter can wait until the day of the primary to choose which party to enroll to select candidates for the general election
