BELL RINGER 9-08-2008 Chapter 1 (PAGES 3-4) In your own words explain what the textbook means when it states that politics exists in part because people differ about two things: who should govern, and the ends toward which they should work

Bell-Ringer 9-9-2008 Distinguish between the concepts of power, authority, and legitimacy. Pages 4-5

Bell-Ringer 9-10-2008 OUTLINE I. What is Democracy? (6-7) II. Is Representative Democracy Best? (7-8) EXAMPLE OF OUTLINE I. What is Democracy A B

Bell-Ringer 9-11-2008 Outline Is Democracy Driven by Self-Interest? (10-11) What Explains Political Change? (11-12) CAPTURE THE MAJOR POINTS

Bell-Ringer 9-15-2008 Explain the four answer that have traditionally been given to the question of who governs. Marxist Elitist Bureaucratic Pluralist

BELL RINGER 9-16-2008 What is representative democracy and do any of the four theories of elitist politics allow for the possibility of representative democracy in this country, WHY Pages 6-10 Was last question in GRQs

ANSWER Representative Democracy is a political system in which political power is conferred on those selected by the voters in competitive elections None of the theories of elite rule would allow for representative democracy MARX – places political power in the hands of the owners of the means of production, not elected representatives

ANSWER CONTINUED Weber – bureaucratic theory places political power in the hands of appointed officials, not elected ones Power Elite Theory – MILLS – places political power in the hands of two nonelectoral groups, corporate heads and military officers Pluralist Theory – places political power in the arena of bargaining among elites, many of whom are not elected

Bell-Ringer 9-18-2008 What are the SIX substantive goals that the Framers of the Constitution wanted to have the government achieve from day to day? What were the Framers two means of achieving these goals? PAGES: 155-156

ANSWER Framers of the Constitution did not try to create a government that would do from day to day “what the people want.” They created a government for the purpose of achieving certain substantive goals Preamble Form a more perfect union Establish justice Ensure domestic tranquility Provide for the common defense Promote the general welfare Secure the blessings of liberty

ANSWER How to achieve these goals Popular rule – people to vote for members of House of Representatives and later for Senators and presidential electors No one public opinion would dominated because there would be many factions

ANSWER 2. Not easy to know what public thinks – so we employ Public Opinion Polls – to understand what public wants and needs

Bell-Ringer 9-19-2008 Outline “What is Public Opinion?” Pages 156-158; stop at Political Socialization: The Family

Bell-Ringer 9-22-08 Outline: “Political Socialization” Pages 158-162 Outline: “Cleavages in Public Opinion” Pages 162-167

Bell-Ringer 9-29-08 Outline Political Ideology – pages 167-172

Bell-Ringer 10-3-2008 Outline – “A Closer Look at NonVoting” Pages – 178-180 Use bullet points to capture main ideas

Bell-Ringer 10-6-2008 Identify and explain three examples of how increasing federal control over registration and election rules has led to the inclusion of more groups of voters. Pages 181-183

Bell-Ringer 10-7-2008 Identify and explain the four categories of limited forms of political participation. Page 187-188 Read from “Who participates in Politics” and stop at “The Causes of Participation” on page 188

Bell-Ringer 10-9-08 Discuss how each of the following effect political participation. Education, Race And Ethnicity, Religion, Age, Social Class Pages: 188-191

Bell-Ringer 10-14-2008 Describe the impact of the ratification of the Twenty-sixth Amendment. What does the text say about trends in voting and rates of political participation among young people in recent years? Page 183

Bell-Ringer 10-17-2008 Explain how U.S. political parties differ from those of other Western nations. What are some of the major causes of these differences? Pages: 198-200 v.

Bell-Ringer 10-20-2008 Identify and explain the three political arenas within which parties may be found Explain what the text considers a strong political party is. Page 199

Bell-Ringer 10-21-2008 What is a realigning period? What are two kinds of realignments? Why does an electoral realignment occur? Read 205-207 stop at party decline

Bell-Ringer 10-22-2008 Explain the two reasons for the long survival of the two-party system. System of Elections (217 to top of 219) Distribution of Opinions of voters (219-220)

Bell-Ringer 10-27-2008 Explain how the attitudes and traditions of American voters reinforce the institutional and legal factors that make American parties relatively weak? Pages 200-201