1. American Government and Organization
PS1301
Wednesday, 14 April

2. Announcements Midterm scores are posted
Average score is 75 and the top score is 100
Add 2 points to your score

3. Ideological Bias
Polls show that roughly half of all Americans believe the news media are ideologically biased
Most complaints accuse journalists of a liberal bias
The claim that the media promote liberal causes and undermine conservative ones might seem odd. After all, three times in the 1980s and once again in 2000, the American public elected a conservative candidate president; conservative hosts, as we have seen, dominate talk radio; and Bill Clinton certainly received considerable negative news coverage.

4. Coverage of Bush and Clinton

5. Attention to News and Bush Approval Prior to 9/11
What is the hypothesis?
Dependent and independent variables?
How do we read the table?
Sum along categories of the independent variables, interested in how the distribution of the dependent variable varies across categories of the independent variable.
What are some problems with this?
Think back to the criteria for establishing causation? Timing a happens before b; covariation; rival hypothesis?
Can we be sure that news viewing is causing disapproval or approval of Bush.
Source: Pew Research Center For The People & The Press, 15 July 2001

6. Approaches to Studying Media Effects
Public Opinion Surveys*
Experiments
Compare aggregate opinion data and media content (content analysis)*
Merging of content data with survey data (for each individual)

7. Attention to News and Bush Approval – September 6
This table looks similar? What would we expect to happen after September 11?
Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?
Source: Pew Research Center For The People & The Press, 6 September 2001

8. Attention to news and Bush Approval After 9/11
Source: Pew Research Center For The People & The Press, 19 September 2001

9. Media Effects Selective perception
People often see the same events differently; recall the role of party id.

10. Direct Democracy
Rather than voting for representatives, citizens are able to draft and vote directly on policy
Citizens as Legislators

11. Devices of Direct Democracy
The Initiative
The Referendum
The Recall

12. Where Direct Democracy is used

13. Opinions about Direct Democracy
What do you think?

14. Advantages
Allows citizens to circumvent unresponsive legislatures (example of term limits and other reforms)
Allows citizens to remove unpopular representatives (example of Gray Davis)
Empowers voters

15. Reasons Californians Support Direct Democracy
Source: Table 7.1, p. 135 Donovan and Bowler

16. Voter Evaluations of Representative versus DD
Source: Table 7.2, p. 136 Donovan and Bowler

17. Criticisms of Direct Democracy
Original intent of the framers was for a republican form of government
Laws are poorly written
Too much money and “special interest” influence
Voters are incompetent
Minority rights

18. Effects on Policy
Initiatives can advance policies that run counter to the self-interests of elected officials
States with the initiative process are more likely to have adopted policies that constrain how legislators govern.
Examples: Term limits, supermajority requirements for new taxes, tax and expenditure limits, campaign finance reform

19. Effects of Politics Increased turnout
Higher levels of knowledge about politics (particularly with highly visible initiatives)
Strengthen efficacy (the feeling that you have a say)