2. AP Government

3. Political Culture: our way of thinking about politics and economics Political socialization: the process by which citizens acquire their political beliefs. 4 main agents: family, schools, religious institutions & media Political Ideology: views on what government should do (liberal, conservative, etc.) mostly agree not on ideology Americans mostly agree on political culture, but not on ideology

5. Working with people around you, identify the major factors in your life that influence your political beliefs. Try to come up with 4-5. Share with the class.

6. Ideology: a set of basic beliefs about life, culture, government, and society.

7. An individual’s or group’s set of beliefs about governmental or political structures and functions. Main Concerns: proper function of government issues of liberty and equality distribution of goods and services

8. Dominant values, beliefs and attitudes of members of a society about their governance, their history, and their rights and responsibilities as citizens. Political Culture helps determine the structure of the society's political system the rules by which the system operates what is acceptable behavior w/in system

9. What is unique about American political culture? ● Efficacy – citizen’s belief in their ability to impact government. ● Legitimacy- citizen’s belief that the government has the right to rule. ● Individualism/limited government/American dream – the individual is responsible for finding prosperity. ● Patriotism – Rally around the flag.

10. We like: Freedom Equality (of opportunity) Democracy Civic duty Individual responsibility We don’t like: Excessive gov’t regulation Socialism (econ. equality) Religion mixed w/ gov’t Government in general

11. opposition to gov't intervention in economy opposition to gov't intervention in social programs support for intervention to uphold morality support for strong military approves of use of force to attain goals support of balanced budget support for limited taxes

12. little gov't involvement in social & economic life support for intervention in economy support for social programs against moral codes imposed by gov't against expansion of military

13. emphasis on basic rights & free market economy support freedom of trade very limited gov't with provision for defense no gov't economic or social programs abolish gov't departments (bureaucracy) abolish laws against victimless crimes

15. LiberalConservative Business Increase regulation and worker protection Ease regulation & keep gov’t out of business Taxes Increase taxes Cut taxes AbortionPro-ChoicePro-life Social Spending Increase Decrease or maintain Defense Spending Decrease or maintain Increase Death Penalty BanMaintain

16. LiberalConservative Size of Gov’t Increase w/ more social programs Reduce w/ more capitalistic policies Same Sex Marriage LegalizeBan Affirmative Action For (maintain race based preferences) Against (ban race based preferences) ANWR Drilling Prevent drilling in Alaska Pursue this & other domestic oil sources

17. LiberalConservative Crime Protect rights of the accused Maximum punishment; rights of victims School Vouchers Expand the program End the program Doctor Assisted Suicide AllowPrevent Minimum Wage Increase Lower or eliminate Social Security Increase age of eligibility Privatize

18. LiberalConservative Health Care Make 100% government controlled Deregulate; move to free market Personal Responsibility Gov’t needs to protect citizens from themselves ($) People should be responsible & accountable for own actions Religion Separation of church & state; prevent faith based initiatives Introduce more religion in school; allow faith based initiatives

19. 

20. Were the results similar? Had you heard of your label before? Were you surprised? Is it the same label as your family? What are the stereotypes you’ve heard about the ideologies?

23. How an individual acquires their sense of political identity.

24. Family Education Peer Groups Media  Job  Race  Religion  Ethnicity

25. Observe and copy parents Tend to follow same ideology pattern as family Information is filtered based on ideology of parents

26. Teach citizenship & societal values Teach democratic principles Usually first knowledge of how system works

27. Share similar ideas Reinforce attitudes Desire for acceptance may change family ideas

28. Greatest source of information Generates interest in issue that may not have been of concern

30. Following and discussing politics Campaign activities Voting Contacting public officials Group activities (political parties, interest groups, etc) Protests

31. Inactives - take virtually no part in political life – 22% Voting Specialists - do little more than vote regularly – 21% Contractors - contact officials about personal probs – 4% Communalists - votes and participates in some programs to try to solve some of the social problems – 20% Campaigners - engages in heavy campaign activities – 15% Complete Activists - vote, contact officials, group activities and campaign – 11%

32. Rational Actor Model - citizens weigh the cost against benefits If benefits are small, it isn't rational to participate Parochial participation, collective activities and political protest may seem more effective and thus more rational

34. Elimination of property requirements (1830) Elimination of racial discrimination in 15th Amendment (1870) Elimination of sexual discrimination in 19th Amendment (1920) Elimination of poll taxes in 24th Amendment (1964) Elimination of literacy tests in Voting Rights Act (1965) Elimination of several state registration laws in Voting Rights Act (1993) Reduction of voting age to 18 in 26th Amendment (1971) Reduction of residency requirement to one or two months in most states

35. 50%+ participation in presidential elections 33% for high state offices 33% + for congressional midterm elections 20% for lower state and all local elections 38% votes every two years in elections (core electorate)

36. Duty and obligation of citizenship Belief that every vote counts Predicted closeness of an election Desire to influence elections & policy Identification with a party or candidate

37. Lack of interest Lack of faith in system Lack of choices between candidates Domination of area by one party Lack of transportation Illness on voting day Failure to obtain absentee ballot Out of district on voting day

38. Party Affiliation Policy Vision Interest in a particular issue Personal Appeal

40. Opinions of people about elected officials, candidates, public policy, and government institutions Reflection of values, beliefs and attitudes Opinions of various groups are often swayed by differences in gender, age, class, region and race

41. Intensity – causes a strong reaction Latency –doesn’t effect you now, but may later Salience – effects you personally Consensus – most people agree on Polarization – splits public opinion, can’t get a compromise on Stability – public opinion stays the same Fluidity – public opinion is changing

42. Polling - sample the attitudes of particular groups Questionnaires Closed ended questions needed over open ended Leading (Loaded) Questions result in inaccurate info Samples - groups of the population Random – Anyone from population can be chosen Stratified – Sample statistically mirrors population Sampling error – difference between the sample and the entire population (increase in sample size will increase reliability of survey and reduce margin of error)

43.  Push polls are used to influence opinion.  Tracking polls are taken on a daily basis.  Exit polls are taken after leaving a polling place.  Methods:  Random sampling  Focus groups  Random digit dialing  Importance of wording the question

44.  Must consider margin of error.  May make errors in selecting the sample.  Polls limit respondents’ options.  People may not have enough information to answer.  Measures of intensity may be imprecise.

45.  http://www.gallup.com/home.aspx?ref=b

46. Back https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwTgLEseu28