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Poly Sci Midterm 2

Terms in this set (64)

Lobbying
direct contact made by an interest group representative in order to persuade government officials to support the policies their interest group favors. Ex: National Alliance of Breastfeeding Advocacy
Two-Party System
System where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections at every level. As a result, all or nearly all elected officials are members of one of the two parties. Ex: Democrats and Republicans
Retrospective Voting
A citizen's judgement of an officeholder's job performance since their last election. Ex: Presidential race with Carter an Reagan. Reagan knew how to deal with inflation and the national debt, unlike his incumbent counterpart.
Multi- Party System
System which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government offices Ex: Governmental systems in Italy and Germany
U.S. Party System
Single-member plurality electoral system (winner-take all), limits their opportunity for electoral success
Plurality Rule
A voting in which decisions are made based on a plurality of the votes cast. A plurality is defined as the most votes obtained when more than two candidates or options exist, BUT NONE RECEIVES A MAJORITY VOTE. Ex: Bush and Gore election. Bush won the electoral vote, but lost popular vote.
Durverger's Law
In a Democracy with plurality voting only two candidates will have a real chance of winning. Voter's are rational and won't waste their vote on the party/candidate they see losing Ex: The green party will never win a presidential election
Proportional Representation
Voters vote for a political group to come into office, not a single candidate. And the number of votes received correlates with the representation in office. Ex: Germany's voting for members of the House of Representatives
Divided Government
A situation in which the House, Senate, and presidency are not controlled by the same party. Ex: The 2012 election will be create a divided government with the House of Representatives will be more towards Republicans, while the Senate is more towards Democrats
Open Primaries
A primary election in which any registered voter can participate in he voting regardless of party affiliation
Closed Primary
A primary election in which only registered members of a particular party can vote
Federal Election Commission
Governmental agency that enforces and regulates election laws in relation to campaign funding; made up of six presidential appointees, of whom no more than three can be of the same party. Ex: The FEC only allows individuals to contribute $2500 to a candidate
Incumbency
When a candidate is running for reelection for a position that he/she already holds Ex: Obama
Free Rider Problem
The incentive benefit from others' work without making a contribution, which leads individuals in a collective action situation to refuse to work together. Ex: Viewing the PBS TV station and we don't have to pay for it
Collective Action Problem
Situation in which multiple individuals would all benefit from a certain action, but has an associated cost making it implausible that any one individual can or will undertake this. As a collective action the cost is shared. Ex: The building of roads, we all benefits but one person will not want to pay it all; so through taxation we are all giving a small portion
Political Action Committee
An interest group or a division of an interest group that can raise money to contribute to campaigns to spend on ads in support of candidates. The amount a PAC can receive from its donors and the amount is can spend on federal campaigns are strictly limited Ex: The largest Pac contributor to the 2012 election was the National Association of Realtors with over 2,800,000
Interest Groups
Organized groups of individuals who share common beliefs and join together to influence policymakers. Ex; MADD- Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Economic Interest Groups
Certainly the largest category, economic interest groups include organizations that represent big business, want to influence policy to help their members derive economic benefits. Ex: US Chamber of Commerce
Federal Communications Commission
A government agency created in 1934 to regulate American radio stations and later expanded to regulate television, wireless communications technologies, and other broadcast media. Reflected assumptions that airways are public privacy, but owners of the stations were thought to provide what the public interest was. Ex: Was created to stomp the concern that one party would buy many of the stations to provide only one point of view
Nonresponse Bias
A nonrandom error that occurs when people who choose to participate in a survey have different attitudes from those of people who decline to participate.
Margin of Error
The range surrounding a sample's response within which researchers are confident the larger population's true response would fall.
Sampling Error
The difference between the reported characteristics of the sample and the characteristics of the larger population that result from imperfect sampling.
Watchdog Journalism
is a type of investigative journalism. It refers to forms of activist journalism aimed at holding accountable public personalities and institutions whose functions impact social and political life Ex: Watching Libya attack
Agenda Setting
Media doesn't tell people what to think, it tells people what to think about, downward spiral in media credibility. Ex: Invisible Children has been an issue, however, with the media outburst of Kony many began to rise against the issue
Equal Time Rule
An FCC regulation requiring broadcast media to provide equal airtime on any non-news programming to all candidates running for an office
Media Effects
Media went from print to broadcasting then to the internet. Wave of change. From reading to watching TV to the internet. Importance is how everything has become so simplified. In the 50s commercials were 5 minutes now they are 30 seconds. Its about controlling the image and honing down information.
Democrats
The modern Democratic Party emerged out of the Republican party established by Thomas Jefferson in the late 18th century and revitalized by Andrew Jackson in the 1820s.
Communitarianism
emphasizes the need to balance individual rights and interests with that of the community as a whole, and argues that individual people (or citizens) are shaped by the cultures and values of their communities, such as the family unit. Ex: Charles Taylor author of the book Sources of the Self
Conservative
Smaller government, big business. One side of the ideological spectrum defined by support for lower takes, a free market, and a more limited government; generally associated with Republicans Ex: Edmund Burke was the founder of conservatism in Britain
Liberalism
Emphasizing helping people, bigger government. One side of the ideological spectrum defined by support for stronger government programs and more market regulation; generally associated with Democrats
Libertarianism
Emphasizes freedom, liberty, and voluntary associations; generally very small government. Those who prefer very limited government and therefore tend to be conservative on issues such as welfare policy, environmental policy, and the public support for education, but liberal on issues of personal liberty such as free speech, abortion, and the legalization of drugs
Random Sample
- A subsection of a population chosen to participate in a survey through a selection process in which every member of the population has an equal chance of being chosen. This kind of sampling improves the accuracy of public opinion data.
Citizen Interest Group
public interest groups, have a ton of members, but speak for the larger segment of the population. Want changes for spending and regulations for issues concerning public a. Single issue groups—NARAL, Right-to-Life, NRA, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence b.Multi-issue groups—AARP, Sierra Club, ACLU, ADA, People for the American Way, Townhall, NRDC, Consumers Union, American Taxpayers Union
Third Parties
Tend to compete against the two major parties in the the U.S. and can have a great deal of influence over ideas and electoral outcomes
Selective Benefits
Benefits that can motivate participation in a group effort because they are available only to those who participate, such as member services offered by interest groups. Informational benefits, material benefits, purposive benefits (feeling good about contributing to a worthy cause)
Labor Groups
Represent unions, which work to increase wages and improve the working conditions for skilled and unskilled workers.Requires workers to join their unions and comply by their regulations. Ex: AFT American Federation of Teachers, UAW United Auto Workers, International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Trade Association Groups
Front for a corporations own lobbying efforts. Ex: American Hardware Association, Many dairy cooperatives, National Beer Wholesalers of America,
Americans for Energy Independence, American Council on Renewable Energy, National Automotive Dealers Association
Outside Strategies
Tactics employed outside of Washington, D.C. by interest groups trying to achieve their policy goals. Methods include: grassroots lobbying efforts, voter education, mobilization, and campaign contributions
Referendum
A direct vote by citizens on a policy change proposed by a legislature or another government body. Referenda are common in state and local elections, but there is no mechanism for a national- level referendum. More of a direct vote. Ex: Whether Ca should legalize marijuana
Inside Strategies
Tactics employed inside of Washington, D.C., by interest groups seeking to achieve their policy goals. Methods include: Lobbying, Research, Testimony, Litigation Campaign Contributions
Primary Election
A ballot vote in which citizens select a party's nominee for the general election. Front loading- States choose to have primary early to weed out weak candidates and focus prominent ones. Super Tuesday- Usually in February or March, greatest number of states hold primary election to select delegates to go to national convention
Party System #1
1789- 1828. Federalist v. Jeffersonian Republicans. Outgrowth of the division at the founding between federalists and anti-federalists, limited franchise, introduced the idea of legitimate competition by parties for political power, introduced the idea of a loyal opposition- opposing views of the winning party, but supporting the system as a whole
Party System #2
1828-1856. Democratic Party v. Whigs, Demise of Federalists, Expanded Franchise, Political parties develop party platforms as a way to mobilize voters, spoils system
Party System #3
1857- 1892. Republicans v. Democrats, slavery blows up previous party systems, Bloody Shirt Campaign
Party System #4
1893- 1932. Republicans appeal to business and middle- class. Democrats appeal to South and to the working class and immigrant workers in the North and West ( massive amounts of immigration to the states at this time, and a rise of populism), political patronage strengthens parties, spoils system takes off
Party System #5
1932-1968. FDR and the New Deal, Democrats: South, unionized workers, upper-middle class, professionals, Jews, Catholics, African- Americans; Republicans: Business interests and white middle class voters in the North; between 1932 and 1968 democrats win 7/10 elections
Party System #6
Republicans make gains ( race, religion, taxes), Republican base: South, Christian Conservatives, business; Democratic base: racial minorities, secular votes, lower income taxes, Republicans win 6/10 presidential elections and take control of the House in '94 and both Houses in '02, Democrats regain control of congress in '06 and presidency in '08, Republicans regain house control in '10
Initiative
A direct vote by citizens on a policy change proposed by fellow citizens or organized groups outside government. Getting a question on the ballot typically requires collecting a set number of signatures from registered voters in support of the proposal. There is no mechanism for a national-level initiative. More of a mobilization. Ex: Protecting wildlife: Sierra Club
Single Issue Interest Groups
Some interest groups are formed to advocate for or against a single issue. Ex: Gun control- NRA (National Rifle Association) and NCBH (National Coalition to Ban Handguns)
Shanto Ivengar Article
"The New Media: The Good and The Bad" Optimists: Technology = revitalization of public space, Access to information at little to no cost, Launch of thousands of journalists, Direct communication between campaigns and voters; Skeptics: Media as continual distraction machine, Who accesses information (Attentive public hypothesis), No trusted source (Partisan polarization hypothesis), Hyper niche markets and no common discourse
Voter Turnout
Lower turnout, the generation gap. Modern day our generation has more technology thus causing people to being uninterested. Consequences of not participating, at group level: age. We are finding it harder to identify with one candidate
Media Filtering
The influence on public opinion that results from journalists' and editors' decisions about which articles of many potential news stories to report
Ken Kollman Article
lobbying is meant to influence members of the mass public. Using inside and outside lobbying
Political Socialization
The process through which we become aware of politics, learn political facts, and form political values. Person's views are shaped by other people or surrounding environment
Investigative Journalism
Reporters who dig deeply into a particular topic of public concern, often targeting government failures and inefficiencies. Ex: doing the digging and reporting on Libya attack
Political Party
Are organizations that run candidates for political office and coordinate the actions of officials under the party banner. They are also the party people identify with based on shared principles and beliefs.
Focus groups
a form of qualitative research where a group of people are being asked about their attitudes and beliefs from politics to service where everyone is free to talk. Narrower
Telephone Polls
Mass surveys, through means of telephonic connection
Exit polls
poll taken immediately after you vote. Electoral
Presidential Primary
special primary used to select delegates to attend the party's national nominating convention, held the summer before a presidential election. Each party determines how many delegates are allocated to each state. Think of it as democratic and republican convention. Officially recognizing the candidate
Party in the Electorate
The group of citizens who identify with a specific political party.
Party Organizations
A specific political party's leaders and workers at the national, state, and local levels
Party in Governments
The group of officeholders who belong to a specific political party and were elected as candidates of that party
Public Opinion
Citizens views on politics and government actions. Describes what population thinks about politics. Big evaluation. Judgment on officials. 3 big reasons; people's political actions (voting, campaign funding) are driven by their opinions which is essentially party identification, second is candidates behavior (politicians look to see what people want them to do and how happy they are with what they are doing), third it is crucial to see how people's policy mood changes, demands for new ones, and explain what government does and why.
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