1. Review: Political Opinions, Beliefs, and Behaviors
AP Government
Kelly Walker

2. Political Culture
A set of widely shared beliefs, values, and norms concerning the ways that political and economic life ought to be carried out.
Defines the relationship between the citizens to government
Conflictual Political Culture: different groups or subcultures clash
Consensual Political Culture: experiences less conflict

3. Alex Tocqueville Early observer of American Political Culture (1830s)
Democracy in America: America is successful:
Abundant and fertile land
Countless opportunities for people to acquire land and make a living
Lack of feudal aristocracy that blocked others’ ambitions
An independent spirit encouraged by frontier living
Still shape our basic values of liberty, individualism, equal opportunity, democracy, rule of law, and civic duty

4. Shared Values Grounded in 18th century enlightenment philosophy
American beliefs and reflect an accumulation of values through time.

5. Core Values Liberty Individualism- Rugged Individualism
Equal opportunity
Democracy
Rule of law
Civic duty
* equality of opportunity v. equality of results ?

6. Changing American values
Enlightenment values changed by the Industrial revolution
Capitalism: wealth based on money
Free Enterprise: economic competition without restraint from government
Added the idea that government has the responsibility for the general welfare.

7. Value Changes since the 1930s
Second Bill of Rights- Speech by FDR that reflected a commitment to economic security and independence- everyone has a right to a job, food, clothing, a decent home and adequate medical care and a good education. Created civil rights movement of the 60s.

8. Political Tolerance
Democracy depends on citizens being reasonably tolerant of the opinions and actions of others. Americans agree with:
Freedom of speech, religion, and right to petition in the abstract
Freedom of speech, religion, and right to petition and many people are not as politically tolerant as they proclaim to be
Freedom of speech, religion, and right to petition and many Americans are willing to support those with whom they disagree with to do a great deal politically
Freedom of speech, religion, and right to petition: Americans have become more tolerant in the past few decades

9. Mistrust of the Government
Growing Trend
Vietnam, Watergate started the trend and it continues
Political Efficacy
Internal Efficacy: the ability to understand and take part in political affairs
External Efficacy: the belief of the individual that government will respond to his or her personal needs or beliefs

10. Culture Wars 2 cultural camps in constant conflict
The US is guided by unchanging standards: Belief in God, laws of nature, and the US as a force for good in the world
Emphasis that legitimate alternatives to these standards do exist and that the US has at times had a negative or neutral effect on the world.

11. Public Opinion
The distribution of individual attitudes about a particular issue, candidate or political institution.
Complex topic to study
In order for a democracy to operate, the opinions of the public must become part of the political process

12. Measuring Public Opinion
George Gallup: father of public opinion polls (1932)
Representative sample- random sampling- the most common type used- gives everyone in the population an equal probability of being selected
Respondents Knowledge: people must have some knowledge of the issue
Careful and objective wording- can change the outcome of the poll
Cost efficiency v accuracy: straw poll- may not be accurate
Variances between samples: sampling errors (usually 3%)

13. Factors that influence political attitudes
Political Socialization: a lifelong process through which an individual acquires opinions through contact with family, friends, coworkers, and other group associations.
Family- most important source of socialization
Gender- women tend to vote D
Married v unmarried-married have more at stake
Education: higher the education, the more likely to vote-
Social Class: Unions support D- Upper class R
Race and ethnicity: minorities vote D
Geographic region: Coast- more liberal, south/west conservative
Age- elderly vote young voted D

14. Political Ideology
A coherent set of values and beliefs about public policy. Liberal and Conservative
How ideological are Americans?
Ideologues: 12% of the people connected their opinions and beliefs to policy positions by candidates and parties (voted party line)
Group Benefit voters: 42% voted for parties based on which one they thought would benefit groups they belonged to or supported
Nature of the times voters: 24% linked good times or bad times (economics) to one party
No issue content: 22% could give no issue-based or ideological reasons for voting for a part or candidate

15. Liberalism v Conservatism
Meanings have changed over time
Liberals: originally did not believe in a strong central govt- today they do
Conservatives: believed govt was best left to political elites but did not deny rights to individuals
1930s- trend reversed

16. Neo Cons
Conservative- main goal is to counter global terrorism, especially carried out by radical Islamists
Election of no ideological shift

17. Political Participation and Voter Behavior
Encompasses the various activities that citizens employ in their efforts to influence policy making and the selection of leaders.

18. Types of Participation
86% watched the campaign on TV
77% voted in the election
48% tried to influence others how to vote
21% put a sticker on their car or wore a button
13% gave money to help a campaign
7% attended a political meeting
3% worked on a campaign

19. Who Participates Education: single most important characteristic
Religious involvement: greater involvement by regular church goers
Race and ethnicity: whites have larger voter rates
Age: elderly vote the most- young the least
Gender: Women exceed men in voter turnout
Two-Party competition: competitive elections foster participation- who will win mentality

20. Cross-Cutting Cleavages
An individual is affected by many factors when voting: Educated White female from California- high school graduate from Alabama that works in the auto industry, etc

21. Voting Expanding Suffrage
Lifting of Property restrictions: universal manhood suffrage (1830s)
Suffrage for black Americans and former slaves: 15th amendment- Jim Crow
Women’s Suffrage: th Amendment
24th Amendment- no poll taxes
26th Amendment year olds may vote

22. Voter Turnout Measured in 2 ways:
Show the proportion of registered voters that actually voted – (75 to 80% vote)
Showing the percentage of the eligible voters that voted (only 50% vote)

23. Voter Registration Laws vary according to state
1993- motor voter bill allows people to register to vote while applying for or renewing a driver’s license-
Can no longer remove names for not voting from voter rolls
Help America Vote Act improve state voting systems and voter access by creating state-wide voter registration databases.

24. Other Reasons for Low Turnout
Difficulty of absentee voting
The number of offices to elect- ballot fatigue
Weekday, non-holiday voting
Weak political parties
New laws require formal ID to vote?

25. Impact of the 2000 Presidential Election
Devolution of election responsibility to the states for a federal office
Voter machine malfunctions
Help America Vote Act (2002) in response
The Election Assistance Commission

26. New Ways to Vote
Provisional Ballots: Used when it is not clear that a voter is officially registered
Early Voting
Same-day voter registration
On-line voting?

27. Any Questions?