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65 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Is America's diversity increasing or decreasing?
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Increasing
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What are the effects of growing diversity?
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Language and culture
low level of class consciousness political and social tension |
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What is nativism?
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Ani foreign reaction to immigration
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how has the patterns of where we live changed?
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We have moved from living in rural areas to cities and now to suburbs
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What was the interstate highway act?
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It allowed for the urbanization of the US. It allowed people to spread out
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What was the GI bill and how did it affect where we live?
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It gave military veterans money for a house or school which led to urbanization
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What is urbanization?
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the social process whereby cities grow and societies become more urban
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What were the effects of the transformation of where americans live?
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Rural areas became less powerful and urban areas became more powerful
the tax base goes down when people leave the city |
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How is the population shifting across the country?
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People are moving from the north and east to the west and south
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What are the political implications of the slow growth of median income and the inequality between income and wealth
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Social problems, inequity and democracy, money equals access in politics, lack of political efficacy on the part of the poor- not feeling like they're making a difference
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What are core beliefs?
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Core beliefs are a set of beliefs in a country about human nature, society, and government
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What is political culture?
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Political culture is core beliefs in a country that shape how people behave politically and what we believe government should do
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What are the elements of the political culture in america?
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competitive individualism, private property, limited government, liberty and democracy, populism, religion
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What is public opinion?
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Political attributes and beliefs expressed by ordinary citizens. It's relatively stable but can change over time
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What are ways of measuring public opinion?
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Sample survey, random sampling, and representative sample- people surveyed should have the same characteristics as the population being measured
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What are examples of social variables?
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Ethnicity, social class, region, education, Gender, age, religion, party identification
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Is there a strong correlation between education and political participation?
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Yes
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What is the fasted growing ethnicity?
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Hispanic
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Secular vs. religious america?
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the political gap is widening and religious people are considered more conservative
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What is party identification?
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Partisanship, people use their political part for cues to guide voting, this is becoming more important
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What is a social conservative?
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traditional social values
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What is a social liberal?
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favor civil liberties and social programs
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What is a economic conservative?
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favor laize faire government and economic freedom with less government regulation
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Are we fit to govern?
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Individual opinons may vary but collective public opinion is relatively stable, relevant, and rational
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What is the role of the media?
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They report and analyze. watchdog, clarify choices
It's the link between the public and officials advocate for the public check on government officials |
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What is the state of print media in America?
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Less variation in reporting
more local newspapers owned by corporations centralized ownership means less variation in reporting magazines are the widest and most diverse range of print news and opinion today |
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Is the news biased?
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evidence points to little or no systematic evidence of bias
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What are the overall tendencies of the news?
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focus on the negative, nationalistic, fragmented political information
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What are the effects of the media on politics?
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agenda setting, framing, policy preferences- changes in political opinion can be related to what's being reported
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What are factions?
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James Madison, Factions are out for their own self interest and not the public good.
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What was James Madison's view on factions?
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thought the constitution and the fact that there would be so many factions that they would cancel each other out
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What is an interest group?
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a private organization of association that exists outside government and tries to influence government
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Why do interest groups form?
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elections don't fully reflect the public opinion, to represent citizens, to benefit members, to facilitate political participation
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What are the structural factors for interest groups?
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constitution, diverse interests, changes in society economy or government, social movements
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What is the difference between a public and a private interest group?
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public interest group- advocate for a cause, ideology, or a public good
private interest groups- advocate for material interests of its members such as business or labor unions |
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What is lobbying?
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Action to influence the behavior of public officials
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What is inside lobbying?
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direct contact between a group and government officials
it's most effective when the issue is narrow and doesn't require a lot of attention requires access to policy makers |
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What is outside lobbying?
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grassroots lobbying- mobilizing the public to shape and pressure public opinion
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What is pluralism?
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A political scientist who views american politics as best understood in terms of interaction, conflict, and bargaining of groups
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Why are there so many interest groups?
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The first amendment, diverse interests and society, a more active government, and disturbances
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What are disturbances?
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Changes in economic or social conditions
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What is disturbance theory?
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interest groups originate from changes in economic, social, or political environment
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What is earmarking?
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appropriating money for pet projects in congress
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How can an interest group lobby the courts?
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amicus curiae
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What are some interest group inequalities?
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resource inequalities, access inequality, business has a disproportional amount of power, iron triangle
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What is an iron triangle and who are the players?
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a small group of stable actors that seek to dominate policy making in a specific area, no competition between interest groups
actors- bureaucratic agency, congressional committee, interest group |
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What are issue networks?
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coalitions of public and private interest groups, policy experts, and public officials, that form around a particular policy issue
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What is a political action committee?
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PAC- an entity created by an interest group to collect money and make contributions to candidates in federal elections
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What is soft money?
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banned after 2002- unregulated expenditures by political parties on general public education, voter registration, and voter mobilization
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What is a 527 organization?
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Groups that collect and spend money without legal limits to advocate for or against issues
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What are the assumptions of pluralism?
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you know you interest, you're capable of organizing, threat to interests, interest groups compete and compromise
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What are some problems with pluralism?
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representational inequalities, resource inequalities, policy monopolies (iron triangles)
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What is a political party?
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A non government organization that brings together like minded individuals and recruit and runs candidates for public office in order to influence the government
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What is the difference between a political party and an interest group?
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Both groups bring together like minded people and try to influence government but a political party also runs people for office
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What are the functions of a political party?
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keep elected officials responsive to the government, include a broad range of groups, stimulate political interests, ensure accountability, reduce complexity in politics
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how are political parties in the US different from those in other countries?
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Most nations have a one party or multiparty government due to proportional representations
the US is unique in that is has two parties dominate |
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Why do we only have two parties in the US?
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institutional factors- single member districts, electoral college, no proportional representation, winer takes all in the US
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What is party identification?
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A sense of belonging to a political party, often this attachment is passed on to subsequent generations
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What are minor parties?
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promote new ideas and express grievances
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What is a realignment?
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A new party system has taken the place of the old one because of fundamental shifts in the types of supporters
response to structural changes old party is unable to accommodate or solve problems |
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What is dealignment?
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The dominant party loses preeminence but no new party takes its place
parity between parties public identifies less with either party alienation from parties |
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What is divided government vs. unified government?
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unified government- When one political party controls both the executive and legislative branches of the government
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What are some barriers to effective party control?
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a divided government, checks and balances, organizationally weak
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What are current trends in political parties?
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a growing number of independents, partisanship is declining
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What political parties effect on popular sovereignty?
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Hold parties accountable, increase political equality, increase political participation
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