AMERICAN NATIONAL GOVERNMENT TEST 2 STUDY GUIDE

problem with protest

(in general) the media have considerable discretion in reporting and interpreting the news and media interpretation of protest is more a reflection of the groups to which the media are response than it is a function of the wishes of the protestors

"Time for Change" model

2 terms, unhappy votes vote for different party; party in power 5 points worse (control for other factors) after 2 terms (exception: George H.W. Bush), people blame the party for all the problems, people become tired of defending their party

election of 1896

GOP majority is strengthened but no new majority party; shift in neutralness of support in Congress; Democrats move left (William Jennings Brian; alienates Democrats in North and East); GOP becomes much larger, but also homogenous (experience of 1912 loss, resolidifies party, conservative, pro-business policies)

election of 1932

Great Depression/dust bowl is major cause of shift, Hoover (GOP) is seen as too conservative/too ignorant to the problems of the masses, Democrats rally around FDR; sweep into national power, key components of Democrat majority: Southern whites, northern blacks, Catholics, Jews

election of 1860

Republicans become new majority party after Civil War (party of Union, abolition, business, expansion, support from New England and the West, support land values (West), low tariffs (NE)); Democrats are minority and largely confined to the South ("party of secession," favor women's suffrage, income tax, can only win nationally if Republicans are split, victories = Rover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson); between here and 1896 populations of both major parties were actually even, Democrats just weren't winning

examples of interest groups

US Chamber of Commerce, National Labor Union, American Medical Association, Farmers Market Coalition, Earth Liberation Front, Better Business Bureau, NAACP, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, National League of Cities

realignment

a change in constituency among the major political parties; a shift in power distribution among the major party and a shift in who is voting for these parties; sharp lasting shift in coalitions, occurs during a critical election

material benefits

a kind of selective benefit that can be measured monetarily

solidary benefits

a kind of selective benefit that involves friendship and networking opportunities, consciousness-raising

purposive benefits

a kind of selective benefit that involves the appeal of the interest group's purpose

initiative

a process by which citizens may petition to place a policy proposal on the ballot for public vote; bypasses the state legislatures and government; most are sponsored by interest groups seeking to avoid legislative opposition to their goals

characteristics that strongly predict whether or not one votes

age, education, residential mobility

right of rebuttal

an FCC regulation giving individuals the right to have the opportunity to respond to personal attacks made on a radio or TV broadcast

fairness doctrine

an FCC requirement that broadcasters that air programs on controversial issues provide time for opposing views; stopped being enforced by the FCC in 1985 because there were so many radio and television stations that were presenting too wide a variety of different viewpoints on too many different issues; basically just got too tedious

lobbying

an attempt by a group to influence the policy process through the persuasion of government officials; a person in the profession is a person who "engages himself for pay or consideration for the purpose of attempting to influence the passage or defeat of any legislation of Congress"; different people and organizations involved in government advocacy usually do not speak as a collective, they each want different things

prior restraint

an effort by a government agency to block the publication of material it deems libelous or harmful in some other way; censorship. Courts forbid prior restraint except under special circumstances; New York Times v. United States = the Court did restrict CNN in 1990 from broadcasting tapes of conversations between Panamanian dictator Noriega and his lawyer because the case hadn't been held yet and releasing the case would infringe on Noriega's right to fair trail

party identification

an individual's attachment to a particular political party, which might be based on issues, ideology, past experience, or upbringing; captures voters' predispositions towards candidates, which are rooted in public policies (leads to divisions in party identifications and voting patterns among different demographic groups); express how the voter would likely vote in a "neutral" election * 1930s-1970s = more people identifying as Democrats than Republicans * 1980s-2000 = balance between partisan loyalty was stable * 2002-mid 2009 = Democrats gained overall party identification and Republicans lost people in this area (result of generational changes and backlash against the Iraq War) * Obama's first term = partisan battles over health care and other legislative initiatives, continuing wars, and high unemployment eroded in public support for Democrats * today = public support for parties is fairly evenly split * since 2005 = percentage of independents has crept up and is now the largest group in the electorate

interest groups

an organized group of individuals or organizations that makes policy-related appeals to government

single member district plurality (SMDP)

as opposed to single member district majority, SMDM; * plurality = winner take all; there is one winner in a district, no incentive for there to be a party who doesn't have a good portion of the votes; this creates fusion (combining of smaller parties into a bigger party); i.e. Democratic Party combines interests of most minorities and similar interests of several kinds of groups that would otherwise have their own parties, one party gets more votes

protest

attracts attention; creates a sense of community among those involved and raise the consciousness of people outside the event; nature of it has changed as communication and social media have changed; often attempt to impose costs on others by disrupting traffic or commerce, forcing people to bargain; may become violent and turn into riots or civil conflict (note that the First Amendment is interpreted as protecting free expression so long as they do not erupt into open rioting)

why interest groups form

because of selective benefits AND efforts of specific individuals, leaders/"political entrepreneurs"

history of media bias

before 1960s = editors of most newspapers were overwhelmingly Republican; since 1960s = newspaper endorsements for the president, Senate, House, and statewide offices have generally been balanced between the Democrats and Republicans

selective benefits

benefits that do not go to everyone, but, rather, are distributed selectively - to only those who contribute to the group enterprise; removes the free-riding option for certain benefits —> makes participation more attractive

types of interest groups

business interest, economic interest, labor interest, professional interest agricultural interest, environmental interest, consumer interest, ideological interest, public interest, single-issue interst, government interest

how lobbyists win influence

by providing information about policies to members of Congress; all groups develop strong ties to individual politicians or policy communities within Congress by hiring those who have ties to Congress in some way; most firms in Washington have ties to both major political parties

advantages of the Electoral College

campaigning can happen in smaller/rural areas; campaigning would only happen in highly populated areas and policies would only be geared towards their concerns

benefits of the internet

can keep important stories up for many days; easily searchable; serve as aggregators (the most important of which is Google) and accumulate news from multiple sources on any given topic; is immediate; allows a platform for people to share their experiences as they're living through an event, rather than a few days later by writing into a newspaper

negative byproducts of political parties

can prevent votes on key issues, can make representatives vote against their constituents, confuse responsibility, suppress issues, divide society, recruiting poor candidates, not enough choice (two party system = only two choices, don't necessarily represent all preferences)

purpose of the Electoral College

check on the people, elite in charge of the presidency

election of 1828

coalesces around Andrew Jackson ---> new dominant party (he's a new kind of Democrat); main support comes from the South and West; mass participation; strong belief from Jackson in limited government; Whigs focus on winning control of Congress (believed in government centered in Congress); party system breaks down over slavery (divides northern and southern Democrats); more inclusiveness for white males (Jackson is considered a Populist because he's appealing to a wider audience)

organization of interest groups

consists of members, a financial structure (capable of sustaining an organization and funding its activities), a leadership and decision-making structure (may just be a single leader or a whole network); created by political entrepreneurs organize and maintain groups; most groups include an agency that actually carries out the group's tasks

news concentration

could be a problem because trends mask considerable concentration in the media industry; raises concerns about the robustness of the marketplace of ideas; Telecommunications Act resulted in the reduction of the industry because it became condensed; distribution of news over the internet goes against this trend becausethe internet has made people less dependent on a newspaper to get information

result of parties electing poor candidates

decreases chances of grabbing votes and winning elections

press release

defined as a story written by an advocate or publicist and distributed to the media in the hope that journalists will publish it under their own bylines with little or no revision; today they present facts and perspectives that serve and advocate's interests but is written in a way that mimics the factual news style of whatever media source the story has been sent to;

latent groups

example = although college students share an interest in the cost and quality of education, they have not organized to demand lower tuition, better facilities, or more effective faculty; failure to organize reflect individuals' ability to achieve their goals without joining an organized effort

why incumbents have an advantage

experience (already won an election, know how to win, been through the race/process); franking (creates a perception of transparency by keeping you "updated" and letting you know what's happening in government, creates a sense of familiarity; free); free media (can create press releases, can go on talk shows (basically they get coverage handed to them)); pork (grants that benefit constituents so that Congresspeople will vote a certain way (large problems as opposed to individual)); casework (constituent has a problem, incumbent solves problem (or someone on their staff solves it)); campaign finance (already have better access to this money, ability to raise more money)

election of 1800

first party "system" - Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists; sweeps Federalists from the political scene; Jeffersonian Democrats replace Federalists as the new majority party; Federalists are weak; change in national policy goals (strong national government —> less government, Anti-Federalist values); Jeffersonian domination by 1820

presidential elections

first past the post system (SMDM; you have to have a majority of ELECTORAL votes); first Tuesday after the first Monday of November; everyone votes in their individual states, people go to local voting booths and ballots are cast, votes are cast as electoral votes to a candidate (one party per state); candidate with the most votes wins; each state gets a specific number of electors, determined by number of senators plus number of representatives in the House; 270 votes to win; no one wins —> House picks from top 3, Senate picks VP

mass media

forms of communication technologically capable to reaching most people

insider strategies of pursuing policy

gaining access to key decision makers and using the courts (requires knowledge of how those work)

outsider strategies of pursuing policy

going public and using electoral tactics

how interest groups facilitate cooperation

groups that pursue a common interest or shared objective consist of individuals who bear some cost on behalf of the joint goal; everyone has an option to contribute or not (but if the number of contributors is large, then the goal is achieved)

who benefits from candidate-centered voting

incumbents, because people are already familiar with them

limit on contribution from individuals and PACs

individuals = no more than $2,700 to a candidate in any election; PACs = can contribute $5,000 as long as they contribute to at least five different candidates per year

leadership of the parties

is diffused; organization leaders run the party but aren't elected to do so, elected representatives don't necessarily run the party; opposing roles of the two create a power struggle

dilution/cracking

kind of gerrymandering in which spreading out the members of other parties so that they can't secure a vote

packing

kind of gerrymandering which places all the members of a party into one district; ruled illegal (Baker v. Carr)

how political parties organize government

majority and minority leaders; president selects a justice who will carry out their policies in the long term; senatorial courtesy

how political parties focus responsibility

make it easier to hold the government accountable for its actions

possible result universal voting in the United States

may affect government policy on something that doesn't affect younger people, like Social Security, but overall would not likely lead to electing a different person for president, etc.

minimalist effects school

media has little affect; campaigns generally don't matter (has to do with party identification dealignment)

how political parties can confuse responsibility

minority may undermine majority, responsible party may not take responsibility, divided government can make things more complicated; who can take credit and who should be blamed, etc

advantages of SMD

more centralized (=geographically based; not represented based on party but where you are), small radical parties don't have significant influence, there's less confusion about leadership distribution and coalitions because of the two-party system

advantages of PR

more representation, more specification on interests, more connection to party and thus creates more legitimacy, possibly sparks more participation and puts more trust in government

informational benefits

most important kind of selective benefit

logic of collective action

most individuals who sympathize with large causes/large groups fail to participate; difficulty in participation in large groups is due to anonymity, the plausibility of no one contribution making much difference, and trouble in enforcement (can lead to group becoming latent); small groups are able to overcome difficulties because their members are more vulnerable to interpersonal persuasion, individual contributions make more difference, and it's more obvious who the slackers are

journalist bias

most likely exists, especially towards a certain political party or a set of ideals; any bias probably does not actually influence the news; (exception = coverage of Obama was more positive than neutral, Trump received more coverage than any other candidate in the 2016 race); reporters tend to use ideologically loaded terms when referring to some politicians but not others; usually there's an attempt to avoid this bias by giving the perspectives of all sides of a controversy; objectivity is slowly fading because of the blurring of the line between editorializing and reporting in traditional media and the emergence of citizen journalism

campaign activism

most notable instance of campaign happens on behalf of the Democratic Party candidates though labor unions; can initially have a large impact, but after six or so attempted contacts, the effects of diminish dramatically

consequences of decline of print media

newspapers have been ingrained in the way Americans think about political communication (Constitution = "free press"); there will likely be a rethinking of laws governing political communication in the United States (i.e. Citizens United); may change the extent to which people are informed about politics and public affairs

pluralist theory of collective action

nterest groups should readily form whenever a change in the political environment warrants it (evidence for this is weak)

how interest groups are different from political parties

one concerns themselves with the policies of government, while the other concerns themselves with the personnel of government

how interest groups are different from PACs

one focuses on helping certain candidates win elections and the other focuses on influencing those candidates that have won office

political parties

organizations that seek to attain political power within a government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns, OR groups that seek to elect candidates to public office by supplying them with a label by which they are known to the public, OR mechanism through which voter preferences can be translated into coherent public policy; ABOUT ELECTIONS

proportional representation (PR)

percentage of votes received reflects how many seats a party gets

gerrymandering

politics of redistricting; drawing district lines to the advantage of a particular group or the disadvantage of a particular group; 2 kinds: packing and dilution/cracking

interest group interests

predominately economic; generally supported by groups of producers or manufacturers in a particular economic sector

how media effects public opinion

priming (changing the standards citizens use to evaluate their leaders), framing (induce people to think about an issue from one standpoint rather than another), media attitudes affect viewer attitudes about an issue or politics in general

regulation of media

print media is mostly free from government interference; FCC rules are poorly enforced; Telecommunications Act loosened restrictions on media ownership and allowed for telephone companies, cable television providers, and broadcasters to compete for the provision of telecommunications services (has led to a greater concentration of media ownership) newspapers have been held responsible for libel; notable case for this is New York Times v. Sullivan (Supreme Court defined that a libelous publication had to result from "actual malice" or "reckless disregard" for the truth); Masson v. New Yorker Magazine (court decided that fabricated quotations attributed to a public figure were libelous only if the fabricated account "materially charged" the meaning of what the person said —> print media can say almost anything they want about a public figure)

print media

protected under the First Amendment's freedom of the press clause; tend to be read by political influential Americans who count on publications for news and analysis; important because broadcast media rely on these headliners and content; provide more detailed and more complete information —> better analysis; in economic trouble due to the growth of online competition, which has dramatically reduced revenue

functions of political parties

protects democracy, organizes government, simplifies voting, focuses responsibility, issue development, synthesize interest (bring issues and people together), recruits future leaders who will win elections

how political parties simplify voting

provide an information shortcut so voters don't need to do much research, since candidates are labeled

3 important facts about public opinion

public opinion may conflict with other important values (most notably fundamental constitutional rights), public opinion is hard to fully understand/interpret, public opinion is mediated by elites

why and how interest groups use the courts

purpose is to affect public policy by bringing suit directly on behalf of the interest group, financing suits brought by individuals, and filing amicus curiae briefs; recent use was during the various social revolutions of the 1960s; business groups frequently use the courts because a good amount of government programs apply to them

how interest groups enhance democracy

represents the interests of large numbers of people and encouraging political participation

voter turnout

size and character of elections have had an effect on this; many people don't feel engaged by current elections or dislike politics all together; rational citizens may decide whether to participate based on the calculation of potential benefits and costs of voting plus their personal sense of civic duty or psychological compunction to vote

origins of public opinion

socialization (parents' opinions expressed at home shape children, who you choose to be friends with matter to and shape your values, personal experiences (age, job, gender, self-interest (what people get out of aligning with a certain party), education (you learn what the parties stand for, creates critical thinking, more education —> more money), reference groups (religious institutions (non religious tend to be more left, because those on the right tend to cite religion as an incentive for what they believe)), the media (can be biased, control what people see and what's covered)

political entrepreneur

someone who sees a prospective dividend from facilitating cooperation; compliment Olson's theory of selective incentives (both motivate groups to accomplish collective objectives)

Duverger's Law

states that plurality-rule electoral systems will tend to have two political parties

role of lobbyists

supply legislators, administrators, and committee staff members with facts about important issues and facts or claims about public support of those issues

Literary Digest

surveyed its own readers first, a group with disposable incomes well above the national average of the time, shown in part by their ability still to afford a magazine subscription during the depths of the Great Depression, and then two other readily available lists: that of registered automobile owners and that of telephone users, both of which were also wealthier than the average American at the time; non-response bias was the primary source of this error

election of 1968

the American electorate is vastly different than it was in 1932 (solid south defection (Nixon's Southern Strategy; break the solid south), labor and northern poor, catholics (moved more toward the middle), northeast moved more democrat); LBJ is the one who executes the policies Kennedy never got to through the Great Society even though his reputation/legacy is kind of crap bc of Vietnam War; Nixon messes up the Republican realignment with Watergate because trust in government is ruined —> dealignment

going public

the act of launching a media campaign to build popular support; organizations use their resources to persuade large numbers of people to pay attention to their concerns, hoping for greater visibility and public support (examples = advertising)

why incumbents in Congress are reelected

the approval rating of Congress is low but we're considering the institution as a whole, not the individual Congresspeople

news leaks

the disclosure of confidential information to the news media; most originate from whistle-blowers (lower-level government officials who hope to publicize what they view as improper activity from their bosses), senior government officials, and prominent politicians and activists who have long-term relationships with journalists;

political action committees (PACs)

the most common electoral strategy used by interest groups is giving financial support to parties or candidates via these organizations; considering Watergate they have been effective (reaction to Watergate produced further legislation on campaign finance (most notably the restriction on amount that is able to be given)); electoral spending by interest groups has increased steadily despite campaign finance reforms

the internet

the most independent and internally competitive of the media types; since 2000 = blogs, citizen journalism, etc. have begun to dominate political communication; has revolutionized how content is provided and what content is accessible to audiences; social media has changed how information is distributed (via sharing, person-to-person, etc.); differs from traditional outlets in that it enabled people to get involved directly

equal time rule

the requirement that broadcasters provide candidates for the same political office an equal opportunity to communicate their messages to the public

journalists

their main objective is to make a profit (relatively new goal, wasn't the case in the late 19th century); seek to report the news AND interpret it because they are pursuing their own interests and professional objectives

political elites

their opinions matter more; they are more interested in politics and better informed, capable of processing more information, more consistent, more ideological, more partisan, and more committed to democratic norms/processes; they mobilize others and serve as cues for others

why public opinion is hard to fully understand/interpret

there are not one "public" but rather many publics which are generally uninformed and unconstrained; result = some preferences are stable, some are fickle

reasons given for not voting

too busy, sick or disabled, not interested, and did not like the choices

sources of news

traditional media (print, broadcast; TV/Radio, cable shows (Maddow, Daily Show)); new media (internet sources, online news; newspapers, blogs, websites; news aggregators)

criticism of Electoral College

undemocratic (people can vote however they want, not necessarily representative); smaller states are slightly over represented; popular vote isn't required (+ winners of popular vote shouldn't complain about not getting office because they weren't aiming for the popular vote, but the electoral vote); can exaggerate results; bias against 3rd parties; not used as Framers intended

congressional elections

used to be party centered; most voters had long term party loyalties and tended to cast votes along party lines, incumbents held office for decades; more recently = candidates' personalities and issues matter (congressional elections are now more CANDIDATE CENTERED) * campaigns don't really matter that much (generally) if both are competent

grassroots lobbying

uses many of the organizing methods seen in political campaigns; has become more prevalent in Washington because congressional rules have made traditional lobbying more difficult and as members of Congress become more skeptical about Washington lobbyists and are more concerned about demonstrations of support for a particular issue by their constituents

how interest groups attract and keep members

via providing direct economic or social benefits

how interest groups raise money

via relying on yearly dues and voluntary contributions

voter decisions

whether to vote and for whom to vote; decision to vote correlates strongly with individuals' social characteristics (especially age and education), what candidate to choose depends on partisan loyalties, issues, and candidate characteristics

single member district (SMD)

whoever gets the most votes in a district gets the seat of the district (there's only one seat per district); on a national scale = whoever has the most votes in a state and the most state electoral votes gets to be president

how political parties protect democracy

with a loyal opposition (minority party)