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USGOVT Final
Covers Public Opinion, Media, Political Parties, Voting
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Definition of public opinion | aggregation or collection of individual attitudes, beliefs, on one or more issues at any given time...basically it is how the public thinks |
| Difference between Public Opinion vs. Political Socialization | Public Opinion is what we think, political socialization is how we come to learn what we think |
| Why is public opinion important? | We live in an indirect democracy |
| What does public opinion measure if used by politicians correctly? | Measures political systems legitamacy |
| Trustee Model | followed an elitist view of officials role in policy making |
| Delegate Model | followed a democratic view of officials role in policy making |
| Which Model (trustee or delegate) is more democratic? | delegate model is more democratic |
| What is the relationship between Public Opinion and Policy? | |
| Tyranny of the Majority: What does it explain? | fear that if a government is simply majority rule then what happens to the minority |
| What were the founding Fathers afraid of in regards to public opinion? | feared common people were not educated enough and that they would be tyrannically passionate about opinions |
| In an indirect democracy, the people are used as a source of what? | sources of legitamacy and a check on power of the government...way to hold the government accountable |
| How is the government more or less controlled by the people? | We choose our officials to make and implement policy for us. there are many ways of political participation |
| How can we change aspects of government if the public feels unsatisfied? | we will not re-elect the people who we are unsatisfied with |
| Define Political Socialization | process by which a person learns their political orientations and allegiances (basically means that its how we learn who we choose to affliate with politically) |
| Is Public Opinion Static or Dynamic? | DYNAMIC |
| Agents of Political Socialization—what are they? | family, friends/peer groups, education/school system, life experiences (gender, age, ethnicity, race, country of birth, etc.), media, government |
| How does the tyranny of the majority complicate views of public opinion? | |
| What are the various types of polls? | national, campaign, scientific, skewed |
| What are the types of Campaign polls? | benchmark polls, tracking polls, exit polls |
| What area of policy/interest does the media control more easily than others? | national security/foreign affairs |
| Why is the media able to control this area of policy easier than the rest? | the public in general knows less about this policy/interest than any other one the media reports on |
| What is a straw poll? | does not use a representative sample when claiming to account for the entire population...uses the people who are immediately available and does not consider size of sample an issue. |
| What are some problems that conducting polls face? | its very hard to get a sample that is truly representative of the population and it is very hard to ask the right questions without bias (asking them in a way that does not lean the sample to answer a certain/preferred way) |
| What did James Madison believe was required of a popular democracy? | an informed public |
| What is the difference between Straw Polls and Gallup polls? | Straw Polls are misrepresentative and are usually small sample sizes Gallup Polls uses a proportionate sample size representative of the larger sample/popualtion. This method, created by George Gallup is also called scientific polls. |
| What does King argue about the number of elections in America (i.e. too much or too little)? Why does he say this "places politicians in a highly vulnerable position"? | the number of elections are a consequence of federalism (too many). This creates career politicians |
| Why does King argue that Americans are running scared? | |
| What does King propose could be done so that American politicians are not running scared? | increase the terms of the politicians |
| Do you think King argues for America to be more or less democratic? Why? | less democratic because he leans towards division of labor |
| What is the difference between the two types of democracy that King mentions? | Agency democracy: delegate model view Division of Labor: trustee model view |
| More or less, what did Madison’s federalist papers (#51 and #10) say about the founding fathers intent for an indirect democracy and use of public opinion? | |
| Where does public opinion come from? | comes from political socialization |
| What is the result of political socialization? | our understanding of how the political system works and what we believe the system should do/what we think they should be doing |
| Can Public Opinion be shaped, created, or controlled? | Yes. Because it is DYNAMIC |
| What are some of the methods of accessing public opinion? | Polling is most relied on, despite common inaccuracy. Other common ways is participating in contacting your government officials and letting them know how you feel about certain issues. |
| What are skewed polls? Why do they give polls a bad reputation? | polls that are unscientific and focus on similar thought groups. They give polls a bad reputation because most polls are conducted by groups who want to know about things in relation to their groups thought |
| What did the Video (see lecture) on Public Opinion say about skewed polls? | more or less exemplified how data is often broadcast by the media as a dramatic misrepresentation of information. data is dynamic and changes with who is informing and as data is being received |
| What are some key themes regarding public opinion? | |
| Voting definition | |
| What is the biggest measure of how democratic a system is? | how people participate in their government...political participation |
| Why is voting important in an indirect democracy? | the people we vote make the policy that represents the people |
| In terms of voting turnout, where does the United States place among other systems of democracy? | according to a study by the economist, US places 17th on scale of voter turnout |
| Why is voter turnout important in a democratic system? | measure of how democratic a system is |
| Which amendments have assisted in the expansion of voting rights? | 15, 17, 19, 24, 26 |
| Correlate Roger Smith’s theme of ascriptive Americanism to voting rights | smith argues we are not always on a straight path towards liberalism; voting rights have not always been on a straight path |
| What did the 15th amendment deal with? Did it change anything? | dealt with racial discrimination and voting, didn't change much because of states blockage of indirect discrimination (ex: Jim Crow Laws) |
| What does Roger Smith argue about ascriptive hierarchies? | When ascriptive hierarchies are demolished, new hierarchies are put in to replace them |
| Voting Rights Act of 1965 | true access to voting rights for African Americans established |
| Civil Rights Act of 1964 | |
| 17th, 19th, 24th, 26th Amendments | 17-direct election of senators 19-women allowed right to vote 24-eliminated poll tax 26- lowered voting age to 18 |
| How has voting become more democratic? | by expanding voting rights of citizens; hasn't always been a straight path |
| Define what Motor Voter Bills are | when a person obtains their drivers liscense, they can register to vote |
| What is the biggest reason of low voter turnout? | legal obstacles associated with voting |
| Describe the legal obstacles of low voter turnout | registration requirements, motor voter bill, frequency of elections/election fatigue, day elections are held (Tuesday aka WORK day) |
| What is the problem with Motor Voter Bills? | not everyone can drive/get their drivers license or does get their drivers license, and peoples views might change since age eligibility for drivers licensee is young |
| Define Election Fatigue, Voter Immobilization, Social Connectedness | Election Fatigue: people get sick of elections because there are so many |
| What is a rational non-voter? | a person who does not feel a sense of political efficacy |
| What is political efficacy? | means that a person feels their vote matters/"my vote counts" |
| What does education have to do with involvement in voting and why? | More education, more money which = more stake in legislation |
| What president changed the rules on the notion that the “parties are not all that different”? | President OBAMA shifted the notion that all parties and canidates share common views |
| Social group membership describes what practice used by voters? | way a voter decides for their canidate; people vote for the canidate that resembles them most or their affiliation with preferred social groups |
| How should voters be deciding whom they vote for? | we should base our votes on what the canidates represent and what their policies are |
| What is the significance of the famous debate of the 1950’s? | JFK vs. Nixon, first televised debate. JFK is prettier than Nixon was and America responded to how JFK looked rather than sounded. Set in place the notion that people base their vote on looks rather than politicians position |
| What is a position issue? | the issues that canidates from two political parties take very different stands on the same issue |
| Where do Democrats and Republicans stand on the issue of taxation? | DEMS--expire bush tax cuts, focus on middle class, trickle up economic theory, tax the rich and get rid of subsidies REP--trickle down economic theory, support of tax cuts, common notion of "why should i be penalized thru taxes for being successful?" |
| What is sensationalism? | Media's use of that is what sells |
| What is the problem with sensationalism? | media is biggest way we learn about the government and sensationalism focuses too much on image than content |
| What does watchdog media mean? | how the american people hold their government accountable |
| Political Parties and Interest Groups | |
| What is a pluralist democracy? | individuals find political strength in numbers by working with like minded people to push for the representation they want |
| What defines a political party? | a organization of people with shared ideas about government and politics |
| What defines an interest group? | unite to influence on behalf of member's shared interest but don't necessarily want to gain governments control |
| Where did the first two parties evolve from? | Federalist and Anti-Federalist debates on the ratification of the Constitution |
| What did the founding fathers refer to political parties as? | referred to as FACTIONS |
| Why were the Founding Fathers fearful of political parties? | factions might create a threatening enviroment for the govt. thought they might be too divisive |
| Why was Federalist Paper 51 an important document? What did it establish? | addressed the issue of the American use of factions. established that yes, while factions might have their downsides and might be a bad idea, overall, factions are necessary in a democratic society because not everyone thinks the same |
| What makes political parties different from interest groups? | parties seek to gain control of the government thru leadership where as interest groups seek to change or support policies that represent their interests |
| Why do you think political parties want to gain control? | so that they can organize and operate the government |
| What party system does the US employ? | two party system |
| What ideals do the parties in the US system generally represent/associated with? | Liberal and Conservative ideals |
| Why do we have a two party system? Will it ever change? | System is this way bc of the Winner Takes All System (single member district plurality vote system). Probably won't ever change |
| What does Fiorina mean by the hijacking of American democracy? (page 250) What does he ultimately argue about the notion of polarized America (page 251) Do you agree with his analysis? Why or why not? | |
| What three developments does Fiorina discuss as being important to understanding the state of politics today? | |
| What does Fiorina argue about polarization of the elites and how this impacts the idea of a culture war in America? (pg 247) | |
| Does Fiorina believe that a culture war exists in America? (Is America truly polarized?) Why or why not? (page 247) | |
| What did the Founding Fathers think of factions? | They were a necessary evil |
| Where do the democrats stand, generally speaking? | encourage government action to solve social and economic problems, morality issues are not to be dealt with by the government |
| Where do Republicans stand, generally speaking? | encourages social and moral regulation but economic regulation is not to be ruled thru the government |
| When did the generalizations of the political parties emerge? | FDR presented the modern associations of political party generalizations |
| What were the various eras of political parties? | |
| What was FDR’s role in the modern conception of government? | introduced the modern associations of democrats and republicans |
| Why is the 5th era so important? | set today's tone for the political orientation of Dems/Repubs. |
| Have parties always stood for the same issues over time? | No. issues have changed over time |
| Why do interest groups have a bad reputation? | economic interest groups give love (aka interest groups) a bad name |
| What are solidarity benefits? | describes the sense that people benefit from the idea that they feel they are involved in something that is bigger than themselves, establishes a sense of belonging |
| Identify the different types of interest groups? | public, single, citizens, ideological, economic, |
| What is a PAC? What do they do? | political action committee--raises and distributes funds for electoral purposes |
| What is Citizens United? What issue did their movie bring into question? | can corporations have a limit on how much they can fund campaigns/canidates? |
| What are some examples of each type of interest groups? | single--NRA, NORML ideological--Christian groups |
| What is the free-rider problem? | you simply just agree with what an interest group stands for but never really involve yourself in the activities of the interest group and you end up benefitting without any involvement |
| What are some key issues of each political party? | Democrats--ProChoice, Marriage Equality, Buffet Rule Republicans--ProLife, Defense of Marriage Act, Tax Cuts |
| How does each of these developments influence the state of politics? (note you have to briefly discuss each of the three developments not simply list them) (pages 247-249) | |
| Media's problem | set agenda by telling us what is important and control how the content in which they report is presented |
| What is a big indicator for how democratic a system truly is? | media and the right to free press |
| What purpose does the press serve in a democracy? | watchdog, link between the people and their government |
| How might the media serve as a watchdog? | holds government accountable |
| What is the consequence of corporation ownership? | conflicts of interest, commercial bias, reduced emphasis on political news, content is over-sensationalized and dramatic |
| What is the fairness doctrine? | |
| Describe the FCC and its issue involving the Fairness Doctrine? | |
| Is the fairness doctrine constitutional? Why or Why Not? | yes it is constitutional because there are not many airways |
| What are some themes involving media that are important? | |
| What does Scott Gant argue about Journalist these days? | anyone can call themselves one because of the increased access to publish information |
| Push Polls definition | presentation of information to push the answer a certain way |
| Hustler Magazine vs. Falwell : court ruling | no actual malice, intent to harm must be shown to invalidate freedom of speech |
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