Chapter 3 Current International Problems

interest group

a group that directly attempts to influence the allocation of public values or other actions of those in the political system

institutional interest groups

a group that has been formed to achieve non-political goals, but that has a subunit whose purpose is to represent the group's political interests ex: labor unions

associational interest group

a type of political interest group organized specifically to further the political objectives of its members

foot soldiers

activists who do the basic work of politics

political participation

all modes of the political actions by individuals and groups. the broad goal is to influence the actions or selection of political rulers ex: voting, holding office

pros of interest groups

allow people to magnify their political power; social networking- being around like-minded people

ideal types

an analytic construct that defines "pure forms" of a phenomenon

political party

an organized group that attempts to capture political power directly by placing its members in government office. the broadest institution in most political systems that links individuals and groups to the state, and it can organize the activities of those participating in government. aggregates political interests into a comprehensible set of policy goals

taxonomic analysis

approach to political analysis that establish the orderly arrangement of phenomena into a set of categories that classify them into different types

ideological balancing

because our system only gives two options, most people tend to fall somewhere in the middle

activities of political parties

broker of ideas; agents of political socialization; link between individuals in the system; mobilization and recruitment of political activists; coordination of governmental operations; organized sources of opposition; elect people to office

major economic organizations with whom the government cultivates a special relationship because they can influence political decisions or policy changes may include

business, labor and farmers

single-issue activists

do not participate very actively in the political world, but an issue emerges that mobilizes them into a period of high-level action

corporatism

extensive economic cooperation between an activist state and a set of large organizations that represent actors who control major productive resources

developing taxonomy is in what stage of political analysis?

first

non-associational interest groups

fluid aggregates of individuals who are not explicitly associated with a permanent organizational entity but who share some common interest regarding certain issues and become politically active on an issue ex: single-issue activists

pragmatic parties

hold more flexible goals and are oriented toward moderate or incremental policy change

political agendas

issues furthered when people come together to join a political group

overcoming the problem of collective action

material incentives (money), solidarity incentives (people participate because those around them do), propulsive incentives (somebody participates because they truly believe)

the two major political resources

money and people

voter turnout in national elections

most reliable comparative empirical data on political participation

unconventional political activity

protesting, terrorism, other forms of violence

anomic interest groups

short-lived spontaneous aggregations of people who share a political concern

what factor has increased the willingness and ability of individuals to join in public protests against unpopular regimes, leaders and policies?

social networking technologies

political resources

something that can influence the actions and decisions of political actors, such as social status, money, legality, special knowledge or skills, ability to mobilize large numbers of people, visibility in the media, and control of productive capabilities

cons of interest groups

tend to be elitist, non-democratic, victim of their own success

political leaders

these individuals succeed in capturing supreme political power within a government and using it with extraordinary energy and effect (good or bad)

certain groups are known as "linkage institutions" because...

they tend to link people to the political system ex: political party

extremist-activists

those who are willing to engage in extensive, unconventional political action in pursuit of their vision of an ideal political outcome that is substantially different from the existing situation

conventional political activity

voting, campaign activities, contacting officials

internal hierarchy

what political parties form to facilitate the coordination of government operations

problem of collective action/tragedy of the commons/free-rider problem

when it is in the interest of the group as a whole to press for favorable policies, but it is not in any individual's interest to do so; when there's a group, people will rely on others to do whatever the task is; when there's a societal problem and everyone will be equally helped or harmed, no one has an inclination to solve it

when can a nonassociational interest group become a social movement?

when its activities on an issue of social change become more sustained, organized and reliant on unconventional tactics

party identification

when you are influenced by a party's stated beliefs and trust that it would represent your own viewpoints