AP Gov - Unit 4
What is the purpose of public opinion polls?
- "take the pulse" of the American people - elected officials use them to determine what issues the public supports - elected officials use them to help evaluate support for their policies - elected officials use them to craft favorable language to frame certain policies to the public
What are the baby boomers' political views?
- 52% believe peace is achieved y good diplomacy more than military strength - 80% identify with a religion - 39% are consistently or mostly liberal - 28% are non-white
what was the effect of the 1960s on political socialization?
- assasinations of JFK, MLK, and Robert Kennedy - civil rights movement and protest - challenging the gov is normal
generally speaking, republicans support these platforms:
- equal opportunity rather than welfare handouts - death penalty - opposed to abortion - securing our borders - Second amendment
generally speaking, democrats support these platforms:
- healthcare and other social welfare programs - equal rights for women, minorities, and LGBTQ+ - pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants - believes climate change is happening and must be addressed - women's right to choose
What are the silent generations' political views?
- law and order - gov needs to be tougher on criminals - terrorism - tougher gov action on terror suspects - foreign policy - anti-communist, very patriotic - social policy - opposed to gay marriage and legalization of marijuana - Judeo-Christian moral code
What are the influences of polling on the branches of government?
- legislators are responsive to keep their constituents happy - the pres can use the bully pulpit to respond to public opinion. Pres approval rating also measures general public opinion - courts are the least influenced by public opinion(bc of life terms). The can be influenced by submission of amicus curiae briefs
What are millennials' political views?
- liberal on social issues - support gov steps to solve problems - foreign policy - don't want conflict - big on enviro issues - are abt 55% democrats and 27% liberal democrats - 33.3% are associated with some sort of religion
what was the effect of the great depression on political socialization?
- positive attitude abt the role of the gov in economic life - new deal program - social security
what was the effect of WWII on political socialization?
- role of the gov in fighting facism - change in attitude towards women as they entered the workforce - unity and patriotism
what was the effect of 9/11 on political socialization?
- war on terror - war in Afghanistan and Iraq - Weary of conflict
What are conservative's views on entitlement programs
- wary of increased spending on social welfare programs - believe in the American Dream and the equality of opportunity - joined in this belief by libertarians - believe in small government
What are liberal's views on entitlement programs
-support social welfare programs - think social welfare programs help to solve inequality - believe it is the job of the gov to promote general welfare
Ranking of the 5 core values for liberal ideology
1. equality of opportunity 2. rule of law 3. individualism 4. free enterprise 5. limited gov
Ranking of the 5 core values for conservative ideology
1. free enterprise 2. individualism 3. limited gov 4. rule of law 5. equality of opportunity
Ranking of the 5 core values for libertarian ideology
1. individualism 2. limited gov 3. free enterprise 4. equality of opportunity 5. rule of law
C. Draw a conclusion about why the parties differ on the issues shown on the chart.
Democratic and Republicans view the world very differently mostly because of the gap in their political ideologies. Republicans place more importance on free enterprise and individualism, which leads them to place a higher priority on the economy, and things related to that. But, Democrats place a higher importance on equality of opportunity and they feel that the government should have more influence on society and should help people, hence the reason that they place a higher priority on medicare, health care, and other things related to governmental assistance.
b. Describe a difference between Democrats and Republicans on which issues they believe should be a top priority.
Democrats tend to focus on healthcare, education, and the environment policies whereas Republicans focus on the economy, national security, and immigration.
A. Identify the issue that the greatest percentage of Democrats believe should be a top priority in 2019.
Healthcare - more than 75% of Democrats indicate this is a top priority
C. Explain how ideological differences between the parties might affect Democratic Party support of the proposals
Ideological differences between political parties seriously affect any type of debate. Ideally, the representatives of each of the parties should provide the most objective ideas of their ideological political perspectives in order to build an agreement on certain topics. However, many times they become passionate about it and conflicts begin from there or the Democrats might oppose the opposite party just on the base principle that the idea was suggested by Republicans. And because of that, many projects fail to be approved, not taking into account how those projects could positively affect citizens.
What are some of the core values of American Government
Individualism(opportunities), equality of opportunity(diversity), free enterprise(free market)(freedom), limited government(democracy), and rule of law(fairness)
A. Describe an action, other than advancing legislation, that members of Congress may take to bring transparency and accountability to the Federal Reserve.
Members of Congress could conduct an audit or a Congressional oversight hearing and call appointees of the Federal Reserve to appear before specific Congressional Committees to provide testimonies of their conduct in office with respect to the issues under investigation, which would pressure the Federal Reserve Board members to explain their policies or views of the economy. Otherwise, Congress could mandate that the Federal Reserve publicly share their budget and show where all of the money is going to.
B. In the context of this section of the Republican Party platform, explain how the proposal to increase transparency and accountability described in part A would affect the Federal Reserve's ability to make economic policy.
The Republican party said that "the greater transparency in the Federal Reserve will help workers and create more equitable prosperity for average US citizens." That would be true because if Congress did an oversight hearing or mandated that the budget must be made public, then people would be able to tell how the Federal Reserve controls the economy and they would be able to better work with, and change(if needed) the system. But, the congressional oversight hearings and the transparency would allow for Congress to have a greater influence on Federal Reserve's economic policy, based on what would help or hurt the controlling party in the next election, which would semi-restrain their ability to make economic policy.
D. Explain how the information in the chart could be used by candidates running for office.
The chart could be used for canidates running for office because no matter which party they are with, this chart shows the values to address to get more votes from their respective party, so to get more votes they would need to focus on what's important to their constituents in order to appeal to them(ex. for Democrats it would be healthcare).
What are some of the issues with polling?
Wording: "loaded" language Order and phrasing of the question Bradley Effect(voters not being honest) Framing: posing questions in such a way to emphasize a certain perspective Push polling: provide negative information about opponent and then take a poll Opinion saliency: caring or not caring abt issues Uninformed abt the question
policy making where no matter the policy it is always about finding the right balance between individual liberties and social order
balancing liberty and order
poll used by a campaign before declaring canidacy
benchmark
What are 3 types of polls?
benchmark, tracking, and entrance and exit
What are the conservative and liberal views on individualism - what is the proper role of the gov in protecting them
conservative: individual is protected from gov action liberal: individual is protected by government action
What are the conservative and liberal views on rule of law?
conservative: law and order liberal: due process
What are the conservative and liberal views on free enterprise?
conservative: market self-regulates(laissez-faire)(created monopolies) liberal: some gov regulation needed
What are the conservative and liberal views on limited government?
conservative: order liberal: liberty
What are the conservative and liberal views on whether equality of opportunity exists?
conservative: yes, even if equality of outcomes can't be guaranteed liberals: no, so the gov must create systemic barriers that preclude the equality of opportunity
What are some things that can cause a change in presidential approval ratings?
economy, a scandal, handling of a crisis, handling of a war
government services Congress has promised by law to citizens ; citizens must meet eligibility reqs to receive benefits; spending on entitlements is mandatory spending in the fed budget
entitlements
polls outside polling places on election day to predict election results
entrance and exit
What are the different agents of political socialization
family, race and gender, region, religion, age, and events
consists of the federal reserve board and 12 reserve banks; board of 7 governors appointed by the president and approved by the senate; created to insulate economists from political pressures; in charge of setting monetary policy(money supply, interest, and discount rates)
federal reserve system
we are essentially free to produce, buy, and sell what we want and we own our own labor
free enterprise
the individual's rights are valued above those of the gov
individuamslis
Interest groups interacting with all 3 branches(pluralist theory)
interest group policy making
what are some of the ideological differences on privacy and intimacy?
liberals: believe in individual rights to privacy conservatives: believe state and not fed laws should govern privacy
what are some of the ideological differences on religion?
liberals: more supportive of restrictions conservatives: less supportive of restrictions
what are some of the ideological differences on informational privacy?
liberals: stricter limits on gov surveillance conservatives: more supportive of gov surveillance both: concerned over recent data breeches and gov's easy access to personal info
what are some of the ideological differences on education?
liberals: support free public education conservatives: support school choice
shift on issues as people go through different periods in their lives
life cycle effects
concept that we don't want the gov dictating our daily lives
limited government
interaction of people within government in order to carry out the will of the majority
majoritarian policy making
What are some of the influences on public policy?
majoritarian policy making, interest group policy making, and balancing liberty and order
how the gov manages the supply and demand of its currency and the value of the dollar; primarily accomplished via the discount rate for circulation US dollars
monetary policy
What are some of the general patterns in public opnion
party identification, gender, and race
what is the timeline of political socialization?
people lean their political values(beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors from the various agents of socialization, under active, passive, or selective exposure, which has an effect on political legitimacy or efficacy
What is the process for the formation of public policy?
policy recognition, policy formation, policy implementation, and policy evaluation
a set of comprehensive and mutually consistent ideas
political ideology
how do we come about believing things that we believe
political socialization
What are 2 of Congress' main taxes?
progressive tax: an individual's tax rate increase as their income increases - type used currently as federal income tax flat tax: an individual's tax rate is the same as all other individuals regardless of income - generally supported by conservatives on the far right - ex. sales tax
laws and principles on which our society is based; includes domestic, economic, social, and foreign policies; impact what public policy will be made
public policy
the process one goes through to acquire views on political and economic issues
public socialization
everyone is subject to the law. No one is above it, even the government itself.
rule of law
issues of extreme importance to a particular group
saliency
what is the best type of polling and what are its aspects?
scientific polling: random sampling, same chance of being collected, stratified sampling, representative sampling, ensure that different demographics are represented, representative sample, and the size should be about 1500 people
2 main types of entitlement programs
social insurance programs(people paying into the program), and public insurance programs(funded by taxpayer dollars)
what are the 2 ways congress is involved in fiscal policy
taxation and spending
how does globalization influence our political culture?
the US both receives and shares political values/ideas, views on democracy, and different aspects of the world market, with other countries
What can Congress use its taxing power to do?
to encourage(lower tax) or discourage(higher tax) the purchase of specific products
poll used over a time period to track issues or support for a canidate
tracking
concerns or policies that are viewed in the same way by people with a variety of ideologies(ex. economy; security)
valance issues
issues that sharply divide individuals
wedge isssues
Other C. The passage suggests that greater transparency in the Federal Reserve will help workers and create more equitable prosperity for average Americans. Suppose the Democratic Party wants to create a statement about helping workers and reducing inequality in their party platform. Explain how the ideological perspective of the Democratic Party would likely affect how it would address these economic issues.
The ideological perspective of the Democratic Party is more liberal than the ideological perspective of the Republicans, which means that the Democrats would be more willing to have the government regulate and stimulate the economy and they would be less willing to rely on laissez-faire policies. So, the Democratic party might choose to focus their fiscal policy on helping workers and reducing inequalities
