week 3 inter

Question 1

define political culture and components

Answer 1

pattern of attitudes, values, and beliefs about politics, whether they are conscious or unconscious, explicit or implicit
- national pride and identity
- competences
- alienation
- citizenship
- political support
- trust

Question 2

define political attitudes

Answer 2

combination of interests and identity

Question 3

!what are the three political orientations (attitudes) according to Almond and Verba

Answer 3

1. cognitive: for participation, citizens must be aware and know politics
2. affective: citizens must believe it’s worth their time
3. evaluate: evaluation of system must precede as citizens participate
   
   • subjective/internal efficacy; do citizens have enough influence?
   • system/external efficacy: do political leader and institutions respond enough to citizens’ wishes

Question 4

!what are the three/four political cultures that Almond and Verba identified, when information about the political orientations are collected?

Answer 4

1. parochial cultures: citizens have limited awareness of political system, limited involvement in government
2. subject cultures: people subject themselves to the workings of the government and are aware
3. participant culture: high awareness of political system, high involvement in government
4. civic culture: “ideal” type where it presents a healthy mix of subjecting oneself to the government (due to trust) and active participation

Question 5

!what is the controversy behind the civic culture?

Answer 5

• does limited active participation signal trust in government?
• cultural determinism
• homogeneity over plurality?
• relevance in post-material era?

Question 6

What does Ronald Inglehart say about materialism vs postmaterialism

Answer 6

Referring to changing political culture, Inglehart sees a change to postmaterialism due to rapid economic development and gradual shift of younger wealther and better-educated generations. Shift to postmaterialism has consequences that involve shifting/ increasing (cultural) cleavages, religious conflicts, (new forms of) political participation, and political issues

Question 7

what is the modified standard model of political behavior of Verba

Answer 7

the Civic Voluntarism Model (CVM) distinguishes three ways in which the Social Economic Status (SES) can have impact. Citizens’ participation can be low when
- resources are scarce or missing (time, money)
- people are uninterested
- no action is undertaken by closely related people

Question 8

what are the three theories of political behavior and attitudes?

Answer 8

1. marxist and class theories: attitudes shaped by capitalist institutions. political culture is creation of ruling class
2. elite theory: politics is dominated by small elite, and eventually replaced by even more powerful elite
3. rational choice theory (Anthony Downs): voters are rational and self-interested, who support what represents their interests.

Question 9

what are three types of voluntary organizations

Answer 9

1. pressure groups: private and voluntary, trying to influence or control government policies
2. interest groups: type of pressure that represent occupational interests
3. cause groups: promote causes, ideas or issues and dissolve when issue is resolved

Question 10

!how can interest groups be organized (3)?

Answer 10

1. episodic groups: politically active if needed (sports- or cultural groups)
2. fire brigade groups: groups formed for specific purpose
3. political groups: groups created to engage in politics (trade unions, business associations)

Question 11

!how does Heywood describe interest groups?

Answer 11

1. communal groups: membership is based on birth, rather than recruitment
2. institutional groups: part of government machinery
3. associational groups: created voluntarily for particular purpose (interest groups)

Question 12

!what are new social movements?

Answer 12

not interest groups. ‘loosely knit organizations that try to influence government policy on broad issues. they are different from voluntary groups because of:
- different political agenda
- broader range of interests
- broader range of members
- looser and more decentralized organizations
- innovative and unconventional methods

Question 13

!what are the two main functions of interest groups

Answer 13

1. interest aggregation: they try to formulate a single policy program from a set of different interests and views
2. interest articulation: they try to express and publicize policies to influence governmental actions
   –> directly (lobbying) or indirectly (campaigning)

Question 14

!how is succes of interest groups determined

Answer 14

• membership size and density
• organizations
• leadership
• threat of sanctions
• financial resources
  -public opinion
• insider/outsider status
• access points

Question 15

!what is a pluralist perspective on interest groups?

Answer 15

• all groups and all interests have the potential to organize and gain acces to government (equal access).
• no group or interest can create dominance over time

Question 16

!what is a corporist perspective on interest groups?

Answer 16

• privileged position of certain groups to government. they influence formation and function of public policies

Question 17

!what is a para-government

Answer 17

high number of groups that not only enjoy privileged access but even provide certain public services for the state.

Question 18

! what is tripartism

Answer 18

a small number of groups with less privileges and a less centralized pattern of consultation with public institutions.

Question 19

!describe the public service model

Answer 19

• The market is regulated
• Content is regulated
• Self-regulation and public bodies
• Public funding
• Public interest
• Nation-wide vocation

Question 20

!describe the market model

Answer 20

emerged from print media; no technical ground for regulation; function as other private firms: free to publish what they want, self-financed, follow market forces. Still some public regulation for this model: Competition rules and content regulation

Question 21

what are the four theories of mass media?

Answer 21

1. mediamalaise theory: media exercises strong influence, tends to undermine democracy
2. reinforcement theories: mass media only reflects and reinforces public opinion and does not create or mold it. it gives people what they want
3. agenda-setting: process where multiple political problems are sorted to importance. thus media cannot control what we think, but influences what we think about
4. weak force and virtuous circle: attitudes and opinions can be extremely hard to change. individuals do not trust media information