Political Science 1100 Exam 2 Flash Cards

Political Science 1100 with Overby at University of Missouri- Columbia

About this deck

By: Brandon Kiley
Textbook:

American Government: Institutions and Policies

Printed Study Guide: Used with ...Wilson-American Government: Dolphin Edition; Wilson-American Government: Institutions and Policies
Created: 2012-03-04
Size: 83 flashcards
Views: 648

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How Public Opinion Develops

1. Family
2. Reference Groups (Churches)
3. Biology
4. Economic Class (SES = Socioeconomic Status)
5. Education

Liberals View of Government

Started out as proponents of limited government
Shifted views during Progressive Era to become a party of social spending

Conservatives View of Government

Started out as opponents of French Revolution
Shifted views during Progressive Era to become a party of less social spending

How Public Opinion Affects Politics

1. May conflict with other values
2. Can be difficult to interpret
3. Is mediated by the elites

Conservatives' View of Non-Participation

Believe the problem is illusionary

Liberals' View of Non-Participation

Believe the problem is real.
The electorate is biased

Temporal Comparisons

AKA "Across Time"
Figures show that the turnout peaked in the 1880s
Decline is more apparent than it is real
Reforms have had an impact

Geographic Comparisons

AKA Other Countries

Definition of Political Parties

Groups that seek to elect candidates to public office by supplying them with a label which they are known to the public

What Political Parties do

Parties facilitate the process of governing.

What the Party in Power Does

1. Staffs the government
2. Controls the agenda

What the Party out of Power Does

1. Is the loyal opposition
2. Offers an alternative

Six Characteristics of Political Parties

1. There are two effective political parties
2. Parties have decentralized the government
3. Leadership is diffuse
4. Parties are not very ideological
5. American politics are not very responsible
6. Americans are not committed to party politics

Different Facets of Parties in the Electorate (AKA Partisanship)

1. Weakened in recent decades because of the independents
2. Provides an identification (Socializes, educates, mobilizes)
3. Guides & focuses messy processes
4. Partisanship helps citizens make sense of politics

Economic Device

Humans are cognitive misers

Perceptual Screen

Humans dislike cognitive dissorance

Different Facets of Parties as Organizations

1. Services to candidates to contest elections
2. Recruits candidates of office
3. Serves as a "cue giver" to donors for dollars and to citizens for votes
4. Provides resources

Different Facets of Parties in Government

1. Office holders and their staffs
2. Strengthened in recent decades
3. Party in power organizes staffs "machinery" of government
4. Party out of power is the loyal opposition & serves as the "watch dog" on majority party

Realignment of 1800

1. First party system included Federalists & Anti-Federalists
2. Election of 1800 sweeps Federalists from the political scene
3. Jeffersonian Democrats replaced Federalists as the majority party
4. There was virtually 1 party by 1820 (Jefferson to Madison to Monroe)
5. This was called the "Era of Good Feeling"

Realignment of 1828

1. Surrounded around Andrew Jackson
2. "Jacksonian" Democrats become the new majority & the "Whigs" became the minority
3. Support for Jacksonian Democrats was in the South & West

The "Whigs"

1. Led by congressional leaders Henry Clay & Daniel Webster
2. Believed in an "American System" of internal improvements funded by tariffs
3. Believed in an active national government centered in Congress

Realignment of 1860

1. New majority party emerges over slavery & Civil War (Republicans)
2. New minority party was the Democrats

Republicans after Realignment of 1860

1. Party of the union, abolition, business & expansion
2. Support came from the NE area (tariffs) & West (land)
3. Lincoln was the party leader

Democrats after Realignment of 1860

1. Largely confined to the south
2. Tainted as the "party of secession"
3. Southern "brain trust" of the party was unelectable nationally

Realignment of 1896

1. No new majority party, but the GOP party significantly strengthened
2. Democrats moved to the left. "Great commoner" runs for president 3 times

New Deal Realignment (1932)

1. Triggered by the Great Depression
2. Democrats rallied around FDR

Key elements of the Democratic Coalition

1. Organized labor
2. Ethnic Groups (Catholic/Jewish)
3. Southern Whites (Until Civil Rights Era)
4. Northern Blacks
5. Southern Blacks (After Civil Rights Era)

Current Political Situation Possibilities

1. Dealignment
2. Internal Realignment
3. Incomplete Realignment

Different Types of Campaigns/Elections

1. Presidential Election
2. Congressional Election
3. Primary Election
4. General Election

Characteristics of Presidential Elections

1. Very competitive
2. Constituencies are difficult to manipulate
3. Publicly funded via tax check off
4. Incumbency is very important but is limited
5. Highly mediated affairs (TV image is CRUCIAL)
6. Content is often symbolic
7. Messages are repetitious and simplistic

Characteristics of Congressional Elections

1. Not very competitive
2. Less interest, lower turnout
3. NO public financing
4. Incumbency is a HUGE factor
5. Challengers are often unknown & have few resources
6. Incumbents often win on name recognition alone
7. Campaigns are more about trust than symbols

Characteristics of Primary Elections

1. Relatively recent (20th century)
2. Open, Closed or Blanket

Advantages of Primary Elections

1. More participation
2. Less corruption
3. Outsiders have a chance

Disadvantages of Primary Elections

1. Increases cost of running
2. Increases length of campaign season
3. Gives a leg up to rich, celebrities & ideologues
4. Decreases party unity
5. "Two Constituencies" problem

Characteristics of the General Election

1. Occurs AFTER the primary election
2. General elections are between 2 or more parties

Importance of Campaigns

1. Articulate rational for retrospective voting
2. Mobilizes some & demobilizes others
3. The "Bandwagon Effect"

Retrospective Voting

1. Voters are rational, but only partially attentive
2. Started with Reagan's statement in 1980 "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?"

Prospective Voting

1. Relatively few people are "prospective"
2. Prospective voters vote for a candidate based upon their ideas & what they say they WILL do rather than what they HAVE done in the past.

How Interest Groups Differ from Political Parties

1. Composition
2. Function
3. Legal Status
4. Status of Members

How Interest Groups Affect the Political Process

Campaign Support & Lobbying

Ways in Which Interest Groups Support Campaigns

PACs, GOTV, "Hart" & "Soft" Money, Super PACs

Ways in Which Interest Groups Lobby

1. Congress, Agencies & Courts
2. Substantive, Social, Grassroots
3. National, State & Local

Why Interest Groups are Difficult to Regulate

1. Sunshine Laws failed
2. 1st Amendment protects interest groups
3. We value access to gov't leaders
4. We don't see "our" lobbyists as bad, but we do see "their" lobbyists as bad

Different Types of Primaries

1. Closed Primary
2. Open Primary
3. Blanket Primary
4. Runoff Primary
5. White Primary

Open Primary

Primary election in which voters may choose in which party to vote as they enter the polling place

Closed Primary

Primary election in which voting is limited to already registered party voters

Blanket Primary

Primary election in which each voter may vote for candidates from both parties

Runoff Primary

Second primary election held when no candidate wins a majority of the votes in the first primary

White Primary

Practice of keeping blacks from voting in the southern states' primaries through arbitrary use of registration requirements & intimidation

Political Socialization

Process by which background traits influence one's political views

Two Constituencies Problem

Primary constituencies are more ideological than the general election is. This can pull candidates away from the median voter. Whichever party has to move further from the middle is in trouble.

Gender Gap

Differences in political views between men & women

Political Ideology

A more or less consistent set of beliefs about what policies government ought to pursue

New Deal

Largest social program that America had put into place. Said to be a key reason that America was able to get out of the Great Depression. Put into place by FDR.

Grandfather Clause

A clause in registration laws allowing people who do not meet registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867

Andrew Jackson

Was a general & a war hero from the Battle of New Orleans. Was a populist & famously opened the White House to all when he was put in office. He opposed big business & the national bank. Started the Realignment of 1828 & received support from the South & West

Whig Party

Believed in an active national government centered in Congress. Led by congressional leaders Henry Clay & Daniel Webster. Believed in the "American System" of internal improvements such as railroads, turnpikes, etc. Would eventually break down over slavery

Super Delegates

Party leaders & elected officials who became delegates to the national convention without having to run in primaries or caucuses

Solidary Incentives

Social rewards that led people to join political organizations

Third Parties

Fleeting & unimportant. These parties are ideological, single issue, economic protest, and factional. Only the ideological parties tend to last past a few elections, others are swallowed by the majority parties

Coattails

The alleged tendency of candidates to win more votes in an election because of the presence at the top of the ticket of a better-known candidate such as the president

PACs (Political Action Committees)

A committee set up by a corporation, labor union, or interest group that raises & spends campaign money from voluntary donations

Realignment

A period when a major, lasting shift occurs in the popular coalition supporting one or both parties

Iron Law of Oligarchy

Groups run by a small set of leaders who are attentive, active, informed, constrained.

Constrained Voters

Understand there are tradeoffs and are consistent on what you want for those tradeoffs

Unconstrained Voters

People who want everything (Bigger on the inside but smaller on the outside)

Lobbyists

Defined as any person who spends >20% of their time lobbying. Lobbying is not just limited to direct contact with the politicians

Revolving Door

Refers to the former government officials that go to work for the interest groups after they retire from office

Australian Ballot

A government printed ballot of uniform dimensions to be cast in secret that many states adopted around 1890 to reduce voting fraud associated with party-printed ballots cast in public

Core Constituencies

Anchor parties and mediate retrospective voting

Responsible Parties

Disciplined, vote together, can be held responsible. (Ex: Great Britain)

Economizing Device

Humans are cognitive misers

Perceptual Screen

Humans dislike cognitive dissonance

William Jennings Bryan

Was considered the "Great Commoner" & ran for president 3 times (1896, 1900, 1908). Opposed the gold standard & alienated Democrats in the North & East w/ business interests. Catholics are "wets"

Dealignment

Occurs when parties simply mean less to the public. More about the issues at hand than the party identification. May be a reason for the decline in party identification in today's society

Internal Realignment

Occurs within parties. Refers to Southern whites transitioning from Democratic Party to the Republican Party & Blacks from the Republican Party to the Democratic party. This could also be a explanation for the current political identification situation.

Exchange Theory

Entrepreneurs drive growth, interest groups are businesses

Interest Group Democracy

Belief that citizens are uninformed, inattentive, unconstrained. Interest groups pick up this slack & if the democracy works, it is largely because of these interest groups

Proliferation Hypothesis

Time & modernization drive growth. Over time, groups accrete

Disturbance Hypothesis

Threats to status quo drive growth.
Example: There was no AIDS group until there was AIDS

Iron Triangle

An old idea & probably too restrictive, but it is insightful. Idea is that the interest groups, executive agencies and congressional committees are all inter-related

Sunshine Laws

Required information to be open to the public. Didn't seem to work because only lobbyists seemed to attend the open meetings

U.S. v Harris

Significantly limited act. Exempted those who were using their own money & those with another "principal purpose" and limited only those who were directly contacting MCs