Extra Credit: For each multiple choice question you got wrong: Write the correct answer and explain why it is the correct answer. You may also explain why the other choices are wrong. i.e. 21. A The House was the only branch originally elected by the people. The Senate was chosen by state legislatures, the President by the Electoral College, and Supreme Court Justices are appointed. Points for E.C.: Above 90 no points receive 5 pts receive 65 Below 55 10 pts. APGOV: Test Corrections P OLICY M AKING IN THE U NITED S TATES U NIT 2: L INKAGE I NSTITUTIONS : P OLITICAL P ARTIES AND T HE M ASS M EDIA L INKAGE I NSTITUTIONS The channels or access points through which issues and people's policy preferences (public opinion) get on the government's policy agenda. Bridge between the public and the government. How the public influences policy agenda. Four linkage institutions in the United States: Political Parties, Mass Media, Elections, Interest Groups Linkage institutions provide a means for the American people to participate in government Conventional Participation: Voting, Joining Political Party, Campaigning, collecting signatures for petitions Unconventional Participation: protesting, civil disobedience, violence (i.e. Montgomery Bus Boycott, Birmingham March, Kent State, Occupy Wall Street) P OLITICAL I DEOLOGY Definition: Coherent set of values and beliefs about what policies government ought to pursue (purpose and scope of government), shape the thinking of individuals about the political world Political Spectrum: Radical Liberal Moderate Conservative Reactionary Liberal: Accept Change, Pro-Government, High Taxation and Social Spending More Government involvement and power, Less Military Spending and Intervention, Freedom over Order Conservative: Accept Status Quo, Laissez- Faire, Low Taxation and Government Spending Less Government involvement and power, Increase Military Spending and Intervention, Order over Freedom, Values American Political Spectrum: Liberals, Moderates, Conservatives (Social v. Fiscal), Libertarians A MERICAN P OLITICAL C ULTURE Definition: Overall set of values widely shared within Americans society, common political beliefs American Values: Personal Liberty, Political Equality, Majority Rule and Popular Sovereignty, Individualism and hard work, Laissez-Faire Political Culture brings Americans together on the spectrum More Americans are conservative than liberal - In general, most Americans are moderate G ENERALIZATIONS IN A MERICAN P OLITICAL I DEOLOGY Black Americans are more liberal than Hispanics, who are more liberal than whites Older Americans are more conservative than younger Americans Women are more liberal than men Catholics and Jews are more liberal, Protestants are more conservative, The more religious the more likely to be conservative Northeast tends to be more liberal, Solid South tends to be more conservative, Sunbelt tends to be more conservative, Urban areas tend to be more liberal More educated Americans tend to be liberal More wealthy Americans tend to be more conservative P UBLIC O PINION How the population feels about specific policies, issues, and situations in Government -Allows government officials to measure the peoples beliefs and/or attitudes In order to measure public opinion, politicians rely on polls: - Tracking polls v. Exit Polls - Scientific Public Opinion Polls Purpose and Universe - Random Sampling Representative (Digit Dialing and Stratified Sampling) - Sample Size = low margin of error 3% - Questions cannot be leading or loaded (push), must be unbiased and unambiguous, use appropriate vocabulary, and not be emotional - Problems with polls knowledge, leading questions, who participates? Scientific polls are conducted by Gallop, Harris, Pew Research Center, and most major news outlets Linkage Institutions play a key role in shaping and communicating public opinion. W HAT POLLS SHOW Americans know little about government/politics W HAT POLLS SHOW Americans distrust government U SING P UBLIC O PINION Limits on the effects of public opinion: 1. The constitution limits the power and influence of people House of Representatives 2. Politicians are concerned about legislative records monetary support and flip flops 3. Importance of Party Leadership 4. Politicians are more likely to use public opinion polls to craft their messages to appeal to the people than shape their policies to appeal to the people i.e. Death Tax Public Opinion has more influence on politicians policies when: 1. The opinion is strong, widespread, and steady 2. The more personally it affects the people (foreign vs. domestic policies) 3. Close to election time (obligation to their constituency) or during competitive reelections (want to get reelected) Because politicians do not always listen to public opinion, linkage institutions give people another opportunity to influence the government and their policies. P OLITICAL P ARTIES Organized effort to pursue common interests by gaining power and exercising power through the electoral process Roles of Parties: 1. Pick Candidates and Run Campaigns 2. Mobilize Support GOTV 3. Forces of Stability and Moderation Rational Choice Theory appeal to large numbers of the public 4. Accountability and Loyal Opposition 5. Help voters make decisions 6. Policy Formation and Promotion Party Platforms H ISTORY OF P OLITICAL P ARTIES IN THE U NITED S TATES Party Eras (when one party is the dominant party for an extended period of time), Critical Elections (new issues appear, new coalitions form), Party Realignment (change in party systems) First Party System ( ) Federalists v. Democrat- Republicans - Washington, Adams, and Hamilton vs. Jefferson and Madison - War of 1812 and the Hartford Convention - Era of Good Feelings Democrat-Republican Rule - Election of 1824 Second Party System ( ) Democrats v. Whigs - Andrew Jackson and equal economic opportunity - Democratic Rule - Whigs - Nationalist Vision Clay, Webster - Slavery and the Emergence of the Republican Party - Election of 1860 H ISTORY OF P OLITICAL P ARTIES IN THE U NITED S TATES Third Party System (1860 1928) Republicans v. Democrats Republican Rule - Reconstruction and Gilded Age - Populist Party and realignment election of McKinley v. Bryan - Great Depression and Election of 1932 Fourth Party System ( ) Republicans v. Democrats - New Deal Coalition and Democratic Rule - Urban, Labor, Catholics and Jews, Poor, South, Black Americans - Election of 1968 Modern Party System (1968 Present) Republicans v. Democrats - Nixon and Southern Realignment - silent majority - Reagan Revolution - Size of Government - Divided Government and Dealignment M ODERN R EPUBLICAN P ARTY (GOP) Small Federal Government more power to states and/or people Downsize and Deregulate Reduce Taxes and Government Spending welfare Supply-side economics Privatize Health Care, social security Local Control of Education Decrease government regulation of business minimum wage, environment Immigration Reform, Border Security, No Amnesty Exploration of national lands for energy Increase Military Spending Strength in Foreign Policy Pro-life, against gun control, pro death penalty, against gay unions and marriages M ODERN D EMOCRATIC P ARTY Larger Federal Government more responsible to the people Progressive Taxation and government spending welfare Demand-side economics Health care is a right government sponsored Increase federal governments role in education Increase federal regulation of business minimum wage Invest in discovering alternate and renewable sources of energy environmental protections Path to legalization for illegal immigrants, immigration reform Reduce Military spending focus on diplomacy Pro-choice, pro gun control, pro gay unions, against the death penalty P ARTY I DENTIFICATION DemocratsRepublicans Northeast and UrbanGeographic RegionSouth and Rural WomenGender Hispanics and BlacksRaceWhites and Cubans Young and OldAgeMiddle-aged Lawyers, educators, blue-collar,Occupationexecutives, professionals, Labor unionswhite-collar PoorWealthRich High School, advanced degreesEducation LevelCollege Graduates Catholics, JewishReligionProtestants Divorced, Widowed, SingleMarital StatuesMarried T HIRD P ARTIES Why does the United States have a two-party system? - Winner-take-all electoral system (need broad support), Laws + Regulations, Tradition Types: 1. Ideological Socialists ( ), Libertarians 2. One-Issue Party Free-Soil, Know Nothing, Prohibition 3. Economic Protest Populist, Reform 4. Splinter (Factional) Progressive (Reps 1912), Dixiecrats (Dems- 1948), American Independence Party (Dems 1968) Impact: 1. Issues Safety Valve, 1896 Populists and Democrats, 1900s Progressives 2. Spoilers Elections of 1912, 1992, 2000 P OLITICAL P ARTY O RGANIZATION Founding Fathers vehicles of ambition and self-interest US parties are decentralized organization is separate from politicians in government, federal and state level operate independently US parties have no control over members in the electorate Organizational Party, Governmental Party, Party in the Electorate O RGANIZATIONAL P ARTY National Level RNC and DNC Chairperson National Conventions, Create Platform and Craft Message, Raise Money, Conduct presidential campaigns State Level Staff campaign events, run elections, send delegates to electoral college, organize gubernatorial campaigns Local Level Precincts, canvassing, GOTV, staff events, organize local campaigns Conflicts b/w National, State, and Local Levels Florida Primary G OVERNMENTAL P ARTY President is the head of the party Senate and House Majority and Minority Leaders Whips and Party Line Voting Reelection and State and Local Interests State and Local Levels P ARTY IN THE E LECTORATE No formal members no cards, no dues Party membership in United States Dealignment and Independents Split Ticket Voting Blue States with Republican Governors, Red States with Democratic Governors, Presidential elections vs. House and Senate (divided government) P OLITICAL S OCIALIZATION Definition: The process through which an individual acquires his/her particular political orientations - determines our political ideology and party affiliations - National events and political culture shape all Americans, but individually we are affected by events in our life and other agents Agents of Socialization: 1. Family Life Values and Morals taught at home, Religion (Protestants, Catholics, Jewish), Socioeconomic level, Race and Ethnicity, Neighborhood 2. Education Promote National Loyalty and basic American values, teach basics of American Government and history, encourage critical thinking 3. Peer/Community Groups Interest Groups, Community Centers, Church groups, Class, Race, Ethnicity, Wealth, Region 4. Mass Media M ASS M EDIA : P RINT M EDIA Partisan Newspapers s The Penny Press 1800s 1890s Yellow Journalism William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer Progressive Era Muckrakers - investigative journalism Today: Newspapers: New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today Media Chains (conglomerates) own 80% of newspapers, Gannet owns USA Today and 100 other newspapers, 11 cities have competing newspapers ( ) AP and Reuters - Wire Services 1960 adults, Today 1/5 adults Newsweeklies: Newsweek and Time, New Republic, Weekly Standard M ASS M EDIA : B ROADCAST M EDIA Radio FDR and Fireside Chats 1980s Conservative Talk Radio Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity Air America? Clear Channel - 20% of all stations, 1200 National Public Radio Television 1960 Presidential Debates Network News - Vietnam and Walter Cronkite Corporate Ownership - NBC - GE, CBS - Viacom, ABC - Walt Disney - Foreign News Service Video News Releases (VNRs) Cable News (24 hour news networks) profit driven, pundits used to fill time, interpret not report Broadcasting to narrowcasting - Fox, MSNBC, CNN Public Ownership - CSPAN, PBS (Newshour) T HE N EW M EDIA : T HE I NTERNET 40% of Americans are now getting their news here All major news agencies and government offices have websites More information available, but searches are targeted Blogs - Michael Brown, George W. Bush National Guard Service, The Drudge Report, Huffington Post Citizen Journalists - Open Source Campaigns create their own website, communicate with supporters, mobilize people, use social networks, run free advertisements on YouTube T HE M ASS M EDIA T ODAY Public v. Private Ownership (Network v. Cable) Profit Driven Smaller new teams, VNRs Vietnam and Watergate led to mistrust of government 1960 3:1 favorable, :1 negative Adversarial press expose lies and scandals 1960 90% of stories descriptive, 2000 80% of stories were interpretive Horserace v. The Issues Soundbites 1968 43 secs, 2004 7 secs, New York Times Growth of Talk Radio and Narrowcasting polarizing 2003 study found that: 11% of time on news was taken up by actual stories, mostly just pundits taking News was often repeated with no new information Coverage of the news was ignorant and spotty B IAS IN THE M EDIA AND P UBLIC O PINION Are reporters biased in their personal beliefs? Journalists are more liberal than the Average American 40% liberal, and more secular 70% say rarely attend church, more likely to vote Democratic Conservative Talk Radio and Fox News Can we see this bias in their reporting? Reporting v. Interpreting Routine Stories v. Feature Stories, Investigative Stories, Editorials, Pundits Agenda Setting and Framing What impact does this have on public opinion? Media does not regularly change peoples opinions but reinforces their beliefs on certain topics selective attention - moderates and independents Polarization of the United States Media does create cynicism and negativity R EGULATIONS ON M ASS M EDIA Freedom of the Press - Libel, Slander, Sedition Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 1934 independent agency (budget set by Congress, appointed by President) Regulates broadcast media but not print media All broadcast media stations must get a license Three ways the FCC can regulate media: 1. Stops monopolies 1996 35%, 2003 39% 2. Station must serve the public interest 3. Equal Time Rule Must sell advertising at the same rate and offer same amount of time to opposing candidates M ASS M EDIA S R ELATIONSHIP WITH W ASHINGTON Journalists rely on the government for the news Freedom of Information Act The government relies on the media to report it to the people and measure their reactions Medias Coverage of Government: Coverage of the President, Congress, and the Supreme Court Press Release, Press Briefing, and Press Conferences On the Record, On Background, Off the Record availability of sources Media Events Trial balloons Medias Impact on Government: Investigative Journalism and Agenda Setting Death Penalty in Chicago, Watergate Policy Agenda= set of issues/policies that is viewed as important or gets attention from government officials Watchdog checks and balances Inform about Public Opinion Scientific Polls- Cover citizen protests, rallies, etc. P OLITICAL P ARTIES AS L INKAGE I NSTITUTIONS Encourage Voting (GOTV) Give people an opportunity to participate in campaigns conventional participation (Run for office, volunteer for campaigns, contribute $) Inform people about platforms and policy ideas Use public opinion to create platforms and policies and implement them Give voters cues during elections M ASS M EDIA AS L INKAGE I NSTITUTION Government relies on the media for the news The Media informs people on the actions of the government (government uses media to connect with the people) cover campaigns, speeches, and policy actions Informs government of public opinion by conducting polls and reporting on unconventional participation (protests) Influence Public Opinion and Public Policy through agenda setting and framing