1. Introduction to government in America
APGOPO
Stater

2. Thoughts on “Buying an Ideal Democracy”

3. What are these things? Government Democracy Politics
Linkage institutions
Policymaking system
See diagram

4. Key Democratic Concepts
Majority rules, minority rights
Direct vs. representative democracy
(consider # of people)

5. Models of representative democracy

6. Participatory Democracy
Emphasizes broad participation in politics and civil society
Most or all citizens participate in politics directly
Forms of participation?

7. Pluralism Elite Theory Hyperpluralism Groups & compromise
Upper-class actually have the power
Hyperpluralism
Too many groups are too strong
Gridlock results

8. FIGURE 1.2: Age and political knowledge, 1972 and 2008
Source: American National Election Studies, 2012
This figure shows the percentage of correct answers to questions asked in 1972 and 2008 by age group. One question was Which party currently had more seats in the House of Representatives?
In 1972, the relationship between age and political knowledge was basically flat: Each age group displayed roughly the same level of information about basic political facts. By 2008, the picture had changed quite dramatically, with young people being substantially less likely to know the answer to such questions than older people.

9. FIGURE 1.3: Election turnout rates of young and old Americans, 1972–2010
Source: US Census Bureau
This graph shows the turnout gap between young and old Americans in all presidential and midterm elections from 1972 through The sawtooth pattern of both lines illustrates how turnout always drops off between a presidential election and a midterm congressional election.
In 2008, turnout among young people rose to the highest level since 1972, spurred by a surge of participation by minority youth. Record rates of turnout were set by young African- Americans, who for the first time had a higher turnout rate than young whites, and by young Hispanics and Asian-Americans. What happened in 2010?