Test Two

Equality of opportunity

each person has the opportunity to do something, no one is excluded, have the access to do something

Equality of condition

material goods should be equal for all people, strive to have equality in income, housing, jobs; shouldn't have great disparity between income levels

founder's intent

everyone should have the opportunity to take party in society, fulfill their best life

original classification

founders had a very narrow idea of who should be protected (white landowning males)

13th, 14th, & 15th Amendments

reconstruction amendments, address issues of protection for people other than white landowning males, extend of the rights to minorities

Civil Rights Acts

1964-1975

reinforcing reconstruction amendments, deals with segregation in public places, employment discrimination

14th Amendment

"no state shall deny a person equal protection of the law"

equal protection and due process clauses - everyone has equal rights to the same protection from laws

5th Amendment

similar to 14th amendment except applies to federal instead of state government

Traditional/Rational Equal Protection Test

assumes gov't regulation causing discrimination is okay, favors government, assumes individual is making a false claim, discrimination is constitutional, burden of proof is on individual, anything that is arbitrary or not for a legitimate purpose

strict scrutiny equal protection test

harder for government, used in two circumstances, burden of proof is on government, compelling government interest, discrimination is unconstitutional, suspect classification, have to show that discrimination by gov't is temporary and has a specific purpose

two circumstances where strict scrutiny is used

anytime that there is a fundamental right at issue (Jehovah's witness)

anytime that falls into a suspect classification

suspect classification

any group of people, who based on certain characteristics (race, gender, ethnicity, etc.) are likely to be discriminated against and need certain protection

groups traditionally discriminated against

women, latin & asian americans, native americans, disabled americans, elderly, gays & lesbians

women

sexual harassment, right to vote, employment equality, etc.

equal rights amendment - failed to ratify to constitution

latin & asian americans

delayed citizenships, right to vote

Mexicans denied vote until 1898

1965 immigration act - ends discriminatory quotas

native americans

not considered citizens until 1924

disabled americans

first given protection under civil rights acts of 1964, employment access

elderly

cannot fire someone because they are too old

gays & lesbians

"don't ask don't tell" policy has been replaced, did not allow homosexual sex originally, 2004 first state allowing gay marriage

affirmative action

government's use of race or gender as a basis of its action, in areas of employment and education to benefit members of a previously discriminated group

when did affirmative action begin?

1965 under Johnson

University of California v. Bakke

1978

Bakke was 35 yr old white man who applied twice to University of California for med school, designated certain amount of seats to minorities, minority had a separate applicant pool

MCAT scores were higher than those of minorities but not majorities

should Bakke be allowed in the medical school?

yes

is the university's quota system constitutional?

race can be used as a factor of admissions but not the determining factor, must be a factor of many

quotas/factors

narrowly tailored/individual review

university must admit 10% of their populations to minorities to receive federal aid

University of Michigan cases

2003

affirmative action

undergrad-receive more points if a minority

acceptance was too mechanistic, not individual review - law was not narrowly tailored

Dred Scott v. Sanford

1857

African Americans can never be citizens

slavery is constitutional

court case lead to civil war

Missouri compromise invalidated

13th amendment

abolish slavery

14th amendment

make them citizens

15th amendment

if they are citizens they get to vote

Plessy v. Ferguson

1896

Plessy was 1/8 black and boarded the white car and was removed

separate but equal was decided legitimate

Harlan's dissent

direct influence for Brown v. Board

changes between plessy & brown

great depression, WWII, GI bill (allows African Americans higher education), Jackie Robinson, Jessie Owns, more on television

Eisenhower did nothing, sourthern democrats opposed changes

Brown v. Board

1954

Brown was forced to walk 6 blocks to get to bus when there was a white school 7 blocks from her house

De Jure

"concerning law"

segregation that is required by laws - separate but equal

ex: schools

De Facto

"concerning fact"

legislation that is self made by society

ex: neighborhoods

Decision of Brown v. Board

separate but equal and de jure segregation deemed unconstitutional

equal protections clause

separating creates a stigma of inferiority and damages children's views of self worth and respect

problems with board

how was it going to be implemented?

when will it be achieved

Brown v. Board II (1955)

no real action until 1957

tried to make a plan to implement it

public opinion

the values and attitudes that people have about issues, events, and personalities (toward a law or an actor or an event)

values

a person's basic orientations to politics

liberty

freedom from unnecessary government regulation; less government versus more government is valued

equality

people should be allowed to seek personal and material success; equality of opportunity at least

democracy

citizens should be allowed to participate in government

attitude

a specific view on a particular issue, event, or actor

political ideology

a complex set of beliefs and values that, as a whole, form general philosophy about the role of government

political socialization

process through which these beliefs and values are formed

agents of socialization

family, school, social groups (voluntary and involuntary), education level/ses, the media, political condition

liberal

social and political reform, more comfortable with change and a larger government and more government regulation, favors equality over the other two fundamental values

ex: better health care, greater disparity of income, abortion (pro choice), gun control

conservatives

favors the status quo, against change, suspicious of new policy program both socially and economically, wary of large government, prefer small government and at least government that is focused on the state and local government versus national gov't

conservatives continued

Ronald Reagan, elevate liberty above all else, less government intrusion

abortion (pro-lie), pro-death penalty

ideologues

people driven by their ideologies

group benefit voters

group that they align with supported a specific candidate

nature of the times voters

uses the evaluation of the current political condition to determine who they vote for

no issue content voters

not taking account the position of a candidate but the political party; no real reason, less politically motivated

public opinion equation

ideology + political knowledge + political leaders + media + private groups + nature of the time = public opinion

why is public opinion important?

allows member of congress or the president to know how the public stands on an issue, how they should vote

&

when someone is incongruent with public opinion we know to vote them out

honeymoon period

first 100 days of president's term

political capital

the opinion of another person, group of people, or nation about you, your organization, or your government. A politician gains political capital by virtue of his or her position, and also by pursuing popular policies, achieving success with initiatives, performing favors for other politicians, etc.

congress' public approval

never had good one except after 9/11

Wilson polarization

intense commitment to a candidate, a culture, or an ideology that sets people in one group definitively apart from another (sets one group as right and one as wrong

why does wilson think he is more polarized?

media, interest groups, congress has become more ideological

media

cater to extremes vs. central views

interest groups

used to be specialized but are now broader but are now broader and have an opinion and policy preference on everything; never satisfied

congress has become more ideological

party unity votes; members of congress are voting strictly on party lines (liberal democrats vs. conservatives republicans)

voter turnout founders obstacles

had to be white, own property, of certain ethnicity & religion, etc

trends in turnout

recent increase because of closer elections - think our voters matters more

problems with measuring turnout

no national commission

highest office vs. total vote

VAP vs. VEP

ballot roleoff

VAP

vote age population - traditional measure to determine the turnout rate, counts all people over 18, does not take into account felons or noncitzens

VEP

vote eligible population - excluding noncitizens and felons from the count, more accurate

swing state

any state that is up for play in a presidential election

presidential turnout rate

biggest turn out rate

off-year congressional

aka midterm, middle turnout rate

primaries

least amount of attention

why is turnout relatively low?

voting age people are not registered, registered voters not voting, socio-economic perspective of nonvoters

voting age people are not registered

registration requirements prohibit voting, experimentation with same-day registration (shows positive results)

registered voters not voting

poll results on why abstaining from voting, absentee ballot issue

socio-economic perspective of nonvoters

income - higher income people vote more

education - 74% turnout rate if you have a bachelor's degree

gender - women turn out in greater rates than men

partisanship - people that identify with a political party; independents now turn out a higher rate

totally concerned with low turnout

repercussions of unrepresentativeness

discouragement and disenfranchisement (those that don't vote are not connected to the country)

not concerned with low turnout

indicator of disapproval (higher voting rates mean people are not happy)

elitist take (dont want everyone having a say because some people are not educated

cynical view - doesn't matter who gets voted in because each candidate won't do anything

ways to raise turnout

shorten ballot, less elections, same day registration, national election day, increase grassroots organizations, no fault absentee voting, mail-in ballot, online voting

shorten ballot

give people option of just picking one thing at beginning

less elections

people get tired of going to the polling places

same day registration

successful, states with same day turnout 10% higher than normal

national election day

one day that every state holds election, get off work or weekend, gets rid of excuses that can't make it to the polls

increase grassroots organization

don't feel connection with candidate or election, calling to make sure people will vote and telling them that it is important (Obama with blacks)

no fault absentee voting

had to have legitimate reason to vote absentee, but some states do not require excuse

mail-in ballot

mail everyone that is registered a ballot and you have 30 days to mail it back in, no significant changes in Oregon but it is cheaper

online voting

hasn't logistically happened

is voting rational?

everyone as a whole benefits by action, but individual, as an individual, doesn't necessarily benefit directly

Downs

utilizes rational choice and cost/benefit analysis to predict voter turnout

Downs' calculus

R (if you vote) = p(probability that your participation matters and will be a deciding factor)xB(benefit that you have of your candidate holding office) - C (any cost on a person from voting)

best the result will be 0

Riker & Ordeshook calculus

R = pB - C + D

D - sense of democracy, people participate because they know that democracy will continue, value democracy or expressing party loyalty or candidate loyalty

Citrin, Schikler, and Side

if everyone voted, study and experiment done and what would happen if everyone were to vote

conventional wisdom vs. counter argument (peripheral effect)

conventional wisdom

more democrats, if everyone voted, democrats would win which would lead to more democratic policies

peripheral effect

opposite of conventional wisdom

results of everyone voting

if everyone voted, almost no elections would change

political party

organization that attempts to acquire and maintain control of government; if you are in power you try and keep it, if you are out of power you try and acquire it

interest group

group of people or organization that they organize to be heard or heard by and influence government

difference between parties and interest groups

parties are trying to be government while interest groups are trying to influence political parties

two party system

political system where only two political parties have a realistic opportunity to compete for control

internal mobilization

when some issue or conflict causes current public officials to reorganize to get voters to support them

external mobilization

political outsiders who create a new political party because they do not like the ones that already exist

democratic party

world's oldest popularity based party, formed in 1828, stemming from a split in the democrat-republican party, example of internal mobilization

republican party

known as grand old party, formed in 1850s right before the civil war as a coalition of antislavery and big business

1828-1860

democrats in control, coalition of voters were more like republicans today

1860-1932

republicans took power over issue of slavery under Lincoln during civil war

1932-1994

great depression, republicans were blamed and no longer supported, FDR - democrats in power again

new deal coalition

started making democratic party that we know today, minorities, farmers, unions,e tc.

problem with democratic party

party is very diverse = can't please everyone

civil rights and democrats

southern democrats --> southern republicans; democrats switching to the republican party

1994

republican revolution - republican party gains control of congress for the first time in 40 years

1994-2006/8

republicans in power

electoral realignment

the point in history when a new party supplants the current ruling party, becoming the new dominant political force

forces that cause the realignment

war, economic crisis, any new massive issue, anything that makes a person stop and reevaluate the reason they are supporting their party

unified government

when the presidency and congress are all controlled by the same political party

3 things that must be present in order to have realignment

unified government, new coalition of voters supporting a political party, both conditions have to be long lasting

how long is the cycle of realignment

every 30-40 years

cycle of realignment

critical election, period of stability, dealignment, realignment

critical election

where we see all the change culminate into one election

period of stability

new party is cruising and accepted

dealignment

when a huge chunk of voters that identify with the ruling party abandon it but don't develop a new party affiliation immediately, increase in number of independents

hierarchy of political parties

national convention

national committee (RNC and DNC)

Congressional Committee (NRCC and NDCC)

state and precinct levels

reality of political parties

decentralized, undisciplined, fragmented

television making parties weaker

political parties used to be able to nominate whoever they wanted to for president, Kennedy changed this with his looks

loyalty--> looks

mobility making parties weaker

more of the population moves around __> less social and community interaction--> less likely to join a party

modern welfare state making parties weaker

social services used to be given by parties but now are given by federal government, takes away power of persuasion

interest groups & campaign making parties weaker

directly donate to candidate instead of party

state laws making parties weaker

certain states have non partisan judical elections - candidates are forced to run without party labels

prohibition of patronage making parties weaker

used to be able to reward loyalties by giving people jobs but is now illegal

electorate

party id and voters - individual voter's tie to one party or another based on one's interests and issue positions

group characteristics

most identify with one party or another

elections

recruit candidates

nominate candidates

getting out the vote

facilitating voter choice

parties in government

parties and congress: leadership in house and senate, committee assignments in house and senate, parties get to pick leadership, gets to decide committees, ultimately decides what policy comes out of congress

parties and president - president is leader of majority party

Test Two

Political Science 1101 with Wanless at University of Georgia

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