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71 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Why are government policies often at odds with public opinon?
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- Constitution designed to achieve goals, not to follow majority will
- Public opinion polls vague - Government more attentive to elite views |
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Why are government policies often at odds with public opinon?
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- Constitution designed to achieve goals, not to follow majority will
- Public opinion polls vague - Government more attentive to elite views |
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What is public opinion?
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- Poorly informed
- Unstable - Sensitive to wording of poll questions |
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What is public opinion?
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- Poorly informed
- Unstable - Sensitive to wording of poll questions |
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How do Americans look at the govt?
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- Steady decline in trust of government in Washington
- Reasons for distrust: Vietnam and political scandals - Trust destined to decline after abnormally high levels of confidence in government in 1950s |
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How do Americans look at the govt?
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- Steady decline in trust of government in Washington
- Reasons for distrust: Vietnam and political scandals - Trust destined to decline after abnormally high levels of confidence in government in 1950s |
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What are the 4 main origins of political attitudes?
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- role of the family
- Effects of religion - “gender gap” - Effects of education |
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What are the 4 main origins of political attitudes?
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- role of the family
- Effects of religion - “gender gap” - Effects of education |
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Name 4 cleavages in Public Opinion
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- Cross-cutting cleavages
- Occupation - Race - Region |
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Name 4 cleavages in Public Opinion
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- Cross-cutting cleavages
- Occupation - Race - Region |
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Political ideology?
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patterned set of political beliefs
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Political ideology?
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patterned set of political beliefs
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What is a party?
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a group that seeks to elect candidates to public office by supplying them with a label.
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What is a party?
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a group that seeks to elect candidates to public office by supplying them with a label.
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American parties are quite decentralized because of what?
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federalism, laws, and primaries that weaken control of government
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American parties are quite decentralized because of what?
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federalism, laws, and primaries that weaken control of government
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Key Party Organizations in the United States?
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- The machine
- Ideological parties - Solidary groups - Sponsored parties - Personal following (kennedys) |
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Key Party Organizations in the United States?
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- The machine
- Ideological parties - Solidary groups - Sponsored parties - Personal following (kennedys) |
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What are a few forms of political participation?
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- Voting
- Money to a candidate and political organizational membership |
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What are a few forms of political participation?
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- Voting
- Money to a candidate and political organizational membership |
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Why are government policies often at odds with public opinon?
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- Constitution designed to achieve goals, not to follow majority will
- Public opinion polls vague - Government more attentive to elite views |
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What is public opinion?
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- Poorly informed
- Unstable - Sensitive to wording of poll questions |
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How do Americans look at the govt?
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- Steady decline in trust of government in Washington
- Reasons for distrust: Vietnam and political scandals - Trust destined to decline after abnormally high levels of confidence in government in 1950s |
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What are the 4 main origins of political attitudes?
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- role of the family
- Effects of religion - “gender gap” - Effects of education |
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Name 4 cleavages in Public Opinion
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- Cross-cutting cleavages
- Occupation - Race - Region |
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Political ideology?
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patterned set of political beliefs
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What is a party?
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a group that seeks to elect candidates to public office by supplying them with a label.
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American parties are quite decentralized because of what?
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federalism, laws, and primaries that weaken control of government
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Key Party Organizations in the United States?
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- The machine
- Ideological parties - Solidary groups - Sponsored parties - Personal following (kennedys) |
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What are a few forms of political participation?
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- Voting
- Money to a candidate and political organizational membership |
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political culture?
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the traditional orientation of the citizens of a nation toward politics, affecting their perceptions of political legitimacy
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ideology?
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a manner or the content of thinking characteristic of an individual, group, or culture
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internal political efficacy
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belief that one can understand politics and that one can participate in politics
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external political efficacy
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belief that one is effective when participating in politics, for example that the government will respond to one's demands
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Bowling Alone
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Putnam's belief how we have become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors, and our democratic structures
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saliency
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state or quality of standing out relative to neighboring items
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focus groups
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form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their attitude towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging
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cleavages
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spilts among people even with smiliar families, interests, beliefs etc.
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cross-cutting cleavages
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factors in society which cause division (such as race, political, religious divisions etc) in such a way that no group created by one "cleavage" is wholly contained within a group created by another
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What are the two major parties in our government?
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Democratic and Republican
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Are the major parties more competitive in state elections or presidential?
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presidential
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What does it mean to have a two-party system?
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a system which only has two major parties that have a chance of controlling the government
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What is the plurality system?
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in all elections, regardless of type or size, the winner is the person who gets the most votes, even if he or she does not get the the majority of all votes cast
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What is the symbol for the democratic party? Republican?
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democratic- donkey
republican- elephant |
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What is a political party?
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a group that seeks to elect candidates to public office by supplying them with a label (party identification)
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Who were the mugwumps/progressives?
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people who opposed the party system and emphasis on patronage
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What are three similarities between the Democratic and Republican party?
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answers may vary
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What are three differences between the Democratic and Republic party?
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answers may vary
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What is a political machine?
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a party organization that recruits members by the use of tangible incentives, such as money and jobs
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What is polarization?
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the process where the public opinion divides and goes to the extremes. It can also refer to when the extreme factions of a political party gain dominance in a party
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What was the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002?
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law that regulates the financing of political campaigns
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What was the FECA Act of 1974?
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law the places limits on campaign contributions; requires campaigns and political committees to report the names, addresses, and occupations of donors of $200 or more
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What was Buckley v. Valeo?
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a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States upheld a federal law which set limits on campaign contributions, but ruled that spending money to influence elections is a form of constitutionally protected free speech, and struck down portions of the law; the court also stated candidates can give unlimited amounts of money to their own campaigns.
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What is an interest group?
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an organization that focuses on specific issues and seeks to influence political decisions
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What is a third party?
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a political party other than one of the two major parties, at present, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party
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What are some examples of interest groups?
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answers may vary
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What are some examples of third parties?
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answers may vary
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What is the number of electors each state gets in the electoral college based on?
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the number of senators and representatives have in congress; the states population
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Name a problem of the electoral college?
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electors don't vote for who they are supposed to (whichever candidate won the popular vote)
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Where is the role of the electoral college outlined?
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Article II
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What happens if a candidate recieves a MINORITY of the electoral votes from a state?
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they recieve none of the votes. its winner take all
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What didnt the framers of the electoral college forsee?
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the role of political parties, which would produce nationwide support for a slate of national candidates
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Why would reforming the electoral college be difficult?
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its difficult to reform the constitution. It requires that the U.S. Congress first pass the proposal by a two-thirds majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and then three-quarters of the states must ratify it.
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What is a critical/realigning period?
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a theory which describes periods of sharp, lasting shifts that occur in the popular coalition that support one or both parties. often caused when the issues that seperate two parties change
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How many realignings have their been in American history and when have they occured?
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5 during or after these elections:
1800 (when the jeffersonian democrats came to power) 1860 (wjen the whig party collapsed and republicans came to power) 1896 (when republicans defeated William Byran 1932 (when democrats/roosevelt came to office) |
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What was the issue in 1860 that caused the realignment?
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in 1860 existing parties couldn't straddle the issue of slavery any longer
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How was the Federal Election Commission made?
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Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971
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What is the purpose of the Federal Election Commison?
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monitoring campaign contributions and providing some funding to presidential candidates via matching grants
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What does the federal communications commission do?
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made in 1934, they regulate the television and radio industry and grant licenses to telivision/radio stations
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What was the importance of the courtcase New York Times vs. Sullivan?
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the court descision created a base definition on what constitutes as libel
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What were the pentagon papers?
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a top-secret United States Department of Defense history of the United States' political-military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967.
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