Ch. 13 Section 2 Political Power in American Society

Influence of the Vote – Enables us to remove incompetent, corrupt, or insensitive officials from office – Allows us to influence issues at the local, state, national levels How much real choice do voters have – The cost of running a political campaign limits the choice of candidates – Political parties are extremely powerful

On what do we base our votes – Political socialization – informal and formal processes by which a person develops political opinions – Studies show that most political socialization is informal The family – this is how children learn political attitudes Education – the level of education a person has influences his or her political knowledge and participation Mass Media – television is the leading source of political and public affairs information for most people. Economic status and occupation – economic status clearly influences political views, the same goes for where you work Age and gender – young adults tend to be more progressive on issues such as race and gender. Women tend to be more liberal on issues like abortion or women’s rights

How fully do Americans take advantage of the right to vote – In 2000 only 51% of eligible U.S. voters exercised their right to vote – America has one of the lowest voter turnout rates in the industrialized world – Minorities, people with little education, and people with smaller incomes are less likely to vote in both congressional and presidential elections

2 models of political power – Pluralism – system in which political decisions are made as a result of bargaining and compromise among special interest groups No one group holds the majority of power Power is widely distributed throughout a society – Elitism – system in which a community or society is controlled from the top by a few individuals or organizations Power concentrated in the hands of a few The masses are very weak politically

Functionalist Perspective: Pluralism – Functionalists think that pluralism based on the existence of diverse interest groups best describes the distribution of power in America – Major political decisions in the United states are not made by an elite few – Interest group – a group organized to influence political decision making – Decisions are made as a result of competition among special interest groups – New interest groups are born all the time

Conflict Perspective: The Power Elite – Sociologist C. Wright Mills was a leading proponent of the elitist perspective 1950 he claimed the U.S. no longer had separate economic, political, and military leaders The key people in each area overlapped to form a unified group that he labeled the Power Elite Power Elite – a unified group of military, corporate, and government leaders Elites are educated in select boarding schools, military academies, Ivy League schools, belong to the Episcopalian and Presbyterian Churches; and come from upper-class families