Review for Midterm Topics to Know

Majoritarian: Actions of elected officials must follow the preferences of citizens very closely –Issues that are clear and are of great concern to most people Elite: Representatives act without knowing or necessarily caring about the public’s opinion on certain issues. –A small but unrepresentative minority constitute the elites Power Elite: government is dominated by a few top leaders, most of whom are outside of government –C. Wright Mills: corporate leaders, top military officials, and a handful of elected officials –Today, some have added communications media chiefs, labor union officials, heads of various special interest groups

Marxist: government is dominated by capitalists Bureaucratic View: government is dominated by appointed officials. –They are career government workers who exercise vast power by deciding how to translate public laws into administrative actions. –Based on the ideas of Max Weber ( ) Pluralist View: political haggling and compromise among competing groups allows for political resources to be sufficiently divided Hyperpluralist View: There are so many groups competing for attention that no meaningful policies can be passed.

Establishing the Constitution The Enlightenment: –Locke –Rousseau –Montesquieu English Tradition – English Bill of Rights, common law, Magna Carta Declaration of Independence Shay’s Rebellion

Articles of Confederation Central govt. not strong enough too much power to states Central govt. could not raise an army No power of taxation – depended on states Could not pay off Revolutionary War debts No control over interstate trade No Supreme Court No chief executive No national currency – both states and Congress could coin money Some good points: established method by which states could enter Union, established principle of Federalism, negotiated Treaty of Paris

The Constitution Principles: –Popular Sovereignty –Federalism –Checks and Balances- –Examples: vetoes and pocket vetoes by pres., overriding pres. vetoes by congress, judicial review by Supreme Court Pocket veto – president refuses to sign bill before session of Congress ends –Separation of Powers –Judicial Review –Limited Government

Ratification Federalists v. Antifederalists The Bill of Rights The Federalist Papers: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay –#10: factions are problematic and must be controlled –#47 – Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances prevent one branch from becoming too powerful –#51: tyranny of the majority must be prevented –#78: judicial review is important in interpreting the Constitution

Basic Outline of the Constitution Know each section and amendment Important Clauses: –“Necessary and Proper Clause,” Article I, Section 8 –Supremacy Clause, Article VI –Commerce Clause, Article I, Section 8 –Equal Protection Clause, Amendment 14 –Establishment Clause, Amendment 1 –Free Exercise Clause, Amendment 1 –Full Faith and Credit Clause, Article IV, Section 1 “Living Constitution” Compromises – 3/5, Great (Virginia plan, NJ plan, CT compromise) Amendment Process The Bill of Rights Informal Amendments Unwritten Constitution

Keeping Direct Control Out of the Hands of the Majority Only the House of Representatives is directly elected – serve two year terms The Senate was elected by state legislatures – serve six year terms Electoral College President nominates judges – serve for life

A.Federalism – Division of power between states and national govt. 1.Delegated powers- a. held by federal govt. 2. Reserved Powers- a. held by states only 3. Concurrent powers- a. held by both states and federal govt.

Grants Mandates – can be funded or unfunded Grants in Aid – money given to states –Block Grants – very general –Categorical Grants – very specific –Revenue Sharing- the most general –Devolution – shifting power back to states through the use of block grants and revenue sharing

Voter Behavior More likely to vote – older, more educated, wealthier Less likely to vote – younger, less educated, poorer Minorities vote less often, but when education is equal, they vote as much or more often than whites About 2/3 of Americans are registered, but only about half actually vote Turnout is high among registered voters, but low if all eligible voters are considered Turnout is highest in presidential elections Lower in midterms, lowest in local and municipal elections Gender Gap – in recent election, women have slightly favored Democrats and voted based on sets of issues different from male voters

Ideology Upbringing (socialization) determines ideology Party activists are the elites – they vote most often, especially in primaries and local elections They are at the extremes – liberal if democrat, conservative if republican Candidates in primaries need to play to the extremes to get nominated, then move toward the center in general election

Public Opinion Consists of “many publics” Difficult to measure Must have representative sample Valence issues v. position issues Accuracy of polls affected by: –Bandwagon effect –Leading questions –Poorly phrased questions –Incorrect methods (sample size, unrepresentative, etc.)

Parties Power is decentralized Party identification is weaker today than in the past More independents and split ticket voting Voter behavior can be linked to the way ballot is written (ballots were printed by parties in the 19 th century – less split ticket voting) Coattail effect can help if president is popular, but it is not as important as it once was

Third Parties Address an idea or cause that the two major parties are ignoring B. Often have a specific ideology that differs from the two major parties Obstacles to their success: –People do not donate money because they do not think the third party will win –B. People will not “waste their vote” on a third-party because they do not think the third party will win –One or both of the major parties address the issue or cause promoted by the third-party making the third-party unnecessary –The issue being addressed is obscure or unimportant to most Americans –Electoral obstacles – “winner take all system” and ballot access

Party Realignment and Dealignment: : Critical or Realignment Period: Periods when a major, lasting shift occurs in the popular coalition supporting one or both parties. The issues that separate the parties change The kinds of voters supporting each party change Occurs when a new issue (slavery, the economy) cuts across existing party divisions and replaces old issues that were formerly the basis for party identification

Realignment Elections: Some political scientists believe there is a year span in between realigning periods. These are some elections regarded as realigning or critical election, although not all political scientists agree on them. 1800: Jefferson 1828: Jackson 1860: Lincoln 1896: McKinley 1932: Franklin Roosevelt 1964/1968: Johnson/Nixon 1980: Reagan 2008: Obama???

Interest Group: Any organization that seeks to influence public policy. They are a linkage institution: They help link citizens to government

Functions of the Media Entertainment News Agenda setting – ability of the media to draw public attention to certain issues and to ignore other issues Political forum – place to make announcements or advertise government

How much power does the National Press have? 1.Gatekeeper: the media choose which stories to cover, how extensively, and for how long 2.Scorekeeper: the media keep track of and help make political reputations, note who is being “mentioned,” and analyze who is winning or losing Focus on Presidential elections like a horse race (Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary) 3. Watchdog: Investigate politicians and expose scandals

How much do the media influence how people think? Selective Attention: paying attention only to those stories with which one already agrees. –Remembering and believing what one wants. Studies show that media attention or bias can affect how a person votes, but the influence is often limited Media attention can make a candidate more well known, and thus more likely to win.