POL 103W Test #2 Short Answer
The debate goes beyond pro-life and pro-choice because conservatives believe that if you get pregnant, you should be held accountable and responsible for your deviant actions. That idea upholds the principle of moral strength, and therefore stays within their moral order. Liberals believe that your pursuit of happiness and self-development shouldn't be hindered by getting pregnant when you're not ready.
Explain why the debate between liberals and conservatives on abortion goes beyond the debate of "pro-life" and "pro-choice"
Different social factors that can affect your moral values can include geography (the South are mainly republicans, the North can be typically democratic), your race (white people tend to be republican, minorities tend to be democratic), the gender gap, and your class (rich people tend to be republican, poorer people tend to be democrats).
List and describe FOUR ways in which involuntary social groups affect your value formation as a voter.
A model citizen for conservatives would be someone who has conservative values and act to support them; is self-reliant and self-disciplined; upholds morality of reward and punishment; works to protect the moral order; and upholds the moral order. An example of a conservative model citizen would be Ronald Reagan. A conservative demon would be someone who works against conservative values; advocates equal rights for women, gays, and nonwhites; opposes the way the criminal justice system and military is operated; protects the social programs for the "public good"; and has a lack of self-reliance due to a lack of self-discipline. An example of a conservative demon would be Hillary Clinton. A model citizen for liberals would be someone who is empathetic; helps the disadvantaged; protects those who needs protection; promotes and exemplifies life-fulfillment; and takes care of themselves so they can do all this. An example of this type of person would be Barack Obama. A liberal demon would be someone who is selfish and shows no empathy; ignores, harms, or exploits the disadvantaged; encourages activities that hurt people or the environment; is against public support of education, art, and scholarship; and is against the expansion of public health care. An example of a liberal demon would be Newt Gingrich.
Compare and contrast the model citizens and demons for the Strict Fathers and Nurturant Parent. Provide a contemporary example for each category and explain why this person meets the criteria of the category.
FECA was created to prevent corporations, businesses, unions, and other groups from contributing money directly to campaigns. BCRA was created to close the loophole in FECA that still allowed for soft money to exist. Those two eventually didn't matter due to the 527 loophole. In 2010, the Supreme Court decided that the government cannot prevent a corporation from spending their own funds to endorse and promote their preferred political candidate. That just feeds into the public cynicism about the elections and how they're corrupt/broken, due the politicians not being responsible to uphold the public good, only the good of corporations, interest groups, and the wealthy in general.
Compare and contrast the outcomes in campaign finance reform related to FECA, BCRA, and the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United. How do these outcomes contribute to low voter turnout and unresponsiveness by both political parties to the public good.
Some potential solutions for increasing voter turnout include give voters more choices than just the main two candidates, letting more candidates in on the national debates, making voting mandatory, or allowing people to mail in their ballots. Michigan probably won't adopt these solutions because mail-in ballots are too easy to compromise. Mandatory voting would lead to angry, uninterested people voting for candidates they don't genuinely support. More candidate choices will further divide the country, (for example, if there are four candidates in an election, and the delegates are almost evenly split between the four, then that means only about 25% of the country wanted that candidate to win).
Describe four different solutions for increasing voter turnout and explain why Michigan will probably not adopt these solutions.
Contributions to campaigns are investments because they motivate public officials to support certain legislation, amend certain bills to benefit interest, intervene in bureaucracy on behalf of corporations, and reduce intensity of a policymaker's opposition to a bill. CONTINUE THIS ANSWER
Describe the difference between donations and investments, and explain why contributions to campaigns are investments (i.e. what can campaign contributions buy you?)
The U.S. has such a low voter turnout because many voters are cynical and suspicious of politicians, and believe their votes don't truly matter. There's also many things standing in the way of younger voters getting to vote as much as older people, such as registering to vote, learning about politicians stances, their peers, and their disinterest from political candidates. There can also be an instability in non-voters lives, whether they're moving, they're unemployed, or any other type of severe hardship that causes them to miss the election. Finally, the two-party system may not represent the interests of the public, since the parties normally don't cater to those outside of their core supporters.
Explain four reasons why the U.S. has the 2nd lowest voter turnout in the world when compared to other democratic countries.
EPA - Liberals like it because it protects the environment and creates clean water sources that otherwise would not be taken care of. Conservatives don't like it because they believe the government should encourage and reward free enterprise, not constrict it. Clear cutting - Conservatives favor it because it doesn't restrict free enterprise. Liberals hate it because it kills a helpless endangered species.
Explain how and why conservative and liberals disagree on the following issue areas: the Environmental Protection Agency, drilling for oil in Alaska, clear-cutting, and climate change
Gay rights - Liberals like gay rights because they believe in all citizens being treated fairly and equally. Conservatives dislike gay rights because they challenge the monolithic authority of the father, as well as the natural order of heterosexual sex. Affirmative action - Conservatives believe people should be self-disciplined and self-reliant, and shouldn't need help from the government to succeed in life. Liberals believe that certain people can't fend for themselves, and that it's the government's job to support those people Privatization of education - Conservatives would rather eliminate the department of education because it forces public schools to teach things that conservatives would rather not be taught. That is why conservatives start to send their kids to private schools, that more so fit their own conservative moral values. Liberals believe that people need to learn about the advancement of civil rights and equality in America.
Explain how and why conservative and liberals disagree on the following public policy area: gay rights, affirmative action, government funding for the arts, and the privatization of K-12 education.
College grants - Liberals like college grants because they allow lower-to-middle class students to attend college who otherwise couldn't, therefore fulfilling self-interest, strengthening the nation, and helping others in need. Conservatives don't like it because it creates a dependence on the government instead of a self-reliance, interferes with the free market since not everyone can get a loan, and takes tax money away from someone who has earned it and gives it to someone who has not. Immigration - Conservatives don't like illegal immigration because immigrants are breaking the law coming by into the country, expecting unearned food, housing, and care. Liberals don't mind immigration because they see immigrants as people with nowhere else to go who needs help and nurturance. Gun rights - Conservatives hate gun control because a gun is used to protect their family, so the gun is seen as a symbol of power and moral strength. Liberals favor gun control because the mere presence of a gun can lead to violence that only gets worse and worse with more guns in the world Taxes - Conservatives don't like taxation because it takes money away from those who have earned it, and give that money to someone who hasn't earned it. It is seen as a punishment for doing what is right. Liberals like it because it helps out those in need, balancing out moral debt.
Explain how and why conservative and liberals disagree on the following public policy issues: college grants, immigration, gun rights, and taxes.
Those with college experience tend to be liberal, while those with a high school diploma or lower tend to be more conservative. For example, those who most strongly agree that men & women should have equal roles have had at least some college. Those who most strongly disagree with abortion are high-school dropouts and people with only a high-school diploma. Political participation is a big difference between college graduates and non-graduates. College grads are more likely to go out and vote, take part in protests, or write letters to their congress members.
Explain how earning a college degree tends to affect your values and political participation. Why is there such a marked difference between the values/participation of those with college degrees and those with only high school diplomas?
Primaries lets the public be more involved with the election process, even though the turnout is normally very low. Most people either don't know or don't care about the primary elections, so those how actually do turn out are usually not representative of the larger population. The ones who do show up are normally the most invested in American politics, and are either incredibly liberal or incredibly conservative.
Explain the impact of direct primaries on voter turnout and party ideology. (Why have primaries effectively pushed political parties to the ideological fringes [really liberal or really conservative]? How does the voter turnout in primaries affect the voter turnout in the November elections?)
After 1896, voter turnout started to drop under Party-Centered Politics, and even went below 50% in 1924. The party bosses started to their power after public outrage over patronage corruption. That caused the government to switch to Merit-Based Hiring, where government positions were given to those with strict qualifications. That was also the basis behind Candidate-Centered Politics, where campaigns depend of the expertise the candidate brings with them, not what the party supplied like in Party-Centered Politics.
Explain the move from party-centered politics to candidate-centered politics, and the effect it had on voter turnout. Make sure you can explain differences and the reasons why voter turnout decreased.
Soft money is money given to a party that is used for voter registration and organizational purposes. It can't be used to support candidates campaigns. Soft money is unregulated by the government and parties and receive an unlimited amount of soft money. Parties can spend soft money on issue advocacy ads that are hard to distinguish from those produced by candidates themselves. Super PACs are similar to soft money in that it's not regulated as well by the government, not meant for the candidate but for non-profit organizations, and it's unlimited.
Explain what soft money is, why it is dangerous to keeping elections honest and politicians responsible to the public good, and why it still exists today in the form of SuperPACs.
The four values of American creed are equality of opportunity, success based on ability, liberty, and democracy. CONTINUE THIS ANSWER
What are four values of the American creed and why do liberals and conservatives clash on how to enforce them?
Parties were formed when congressmen naturally started aligning with each other based on their similar ideals. Parties in the government then gave birth to parties in the electorate when the party-alignment started to seep out into the public. The U.S. has a two-party system instead of a multi-party system because of the widespread use of the plurality system of voting, the winner-take-all procedure used to elect the president, the media bias against third parties, and Republican and Democratic actions that marginalize other parties.
What are the factors that led to the creation of the political parties in this country, and why does the U.S. have a two-party system instead of a multi-party system, like most other democratic nations?
Primaries are preliminary elections in which delegates are usually pledged to vote for particular candidates at party conventions. They were created to give votes more power when electing their candidates. There are three different kinds - Closed Primaries, where the primaries are restricted to registered party members only; Open Primaries, where any registered voter can participate in just one primary, regardless of party affiliation; and Blanket Primaries, where any voter can participate in all available primary elections.
What is a primary, why was it created, and describe the three different kinds.
There are many reasons why third-party candidate run even though they know they cannot won. Normally it's to shed some light on certain issues that normally don't get enough knowledge in the public, like with Single-Issue Parties or Protest Parties. There are also parties that run with similar ideas as the main two parties, but they either take those ideas to an extreme, (Ideological Parties,) or they moderate the ideas due to a belief that their original party is becoming too extreme, (Splinter Parties.)
Why do third party candidates know they cannot win elections, but try to get on the ballot anyway?
