APGOPO Unit 2 Study Guide A2

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1 NOTE: Please be careful to click on the space BELOW your question instead of next to it to type your answer. This helps avoid messing up the numbering. Also, your textbook and class notes should be your primary sources of information, as these questions align with the book. Due: September 28 th (A-day) & September 29 th (B-day) Chapter 6: Thoroughly answer the questions assigned to you in your own words. 1. Describe the three great waves of immigration to the United States. -The first great wave of immigration was before the late 19th century. This wave consisted of Northwestern Europeans (English, Irish, Germans, and Scandinavians). The second great wave of immigration was during the late 19th century and continued into the early 20th century, and consisted of Southern and Eastern Europeans (Italians, Jews, Poles, Russians, etc.). For most of these immigrants their first stop was Ellis Island located in New York. The third great wave of immigration has taken place in recent decades, and consists of Hispanics from Cuba, Central America, and Mexico, and then Asians from Vietnam, Korea, the Philippines, etc. 2. Explain the goal of the Simpson-Mazzoli Act. The act said companies must prove employees are legal, should deny government benefits if can't prove legal 3. Complete the chart explaining how the following demographic changes have affected American politics. Demographic How It Has Affected Political Changes Change Immigration Regional Shifts Aging Population With immigration comes more people with their own political ideas. Which creates an array / mix of culture and ideas molding a melting pot. In turn this then leads to minority majority as immigrants will make a majority therefore taking over and mainly their ideas will be heard politically. Regional shift is the movement of people/growth centered in West and South. Because of this, natural reapportionment occurs. Reapportionment is when each state's House of Representatives gets revaluated according to its population reported by the census taken every ten years. It's affected many states, which means the states that lose House of Representatives have less representation in the government. Because there are more older people, these people will more than likely get promised benefits and then have expectations because they

2 made contributions with taxes and excreta. Therefore both parties have mutually benefitted/ corolate with each other. 4. Identify the agents of political socialization and describe how each is a source of political learning. Agents of political socialization can be the media, one's parents, or a school setting. The media can be informative of political events and can also showcase other's opinions, while one's parents and their points of view can ingrain certain political values into a person, and education can help teach people about past political events that may shape how one feels about politics. 5. Describe two ways in which aging affects political behavior. 1. There is more political participation amongst older generations compared to younger age groups (18-24) Possible reasons could be because the younger generation is not focused or not concerned with recent politics if it does not concern them. Older generations participate more because more is at stake for their life economically and socially whether it is family healthcare, social security, or workers benefits. Older generations tend to voice their opinion and participate in events like voting to get their voices heard. 2. As a person become older, they become more interested in politics. This include learning to vote, keeping up with the news or political events, knowing government officials views and understand policies. Being more educated on politics allows people to confidently make a decision on what they want in their society. A person could form a strong political opinion which results in the person to become attach to a specific party which strengthens that party. 6. Explain why random sampling is key to polling accuracy, and describe how the size of a sample impacts the sampling error. Random sampling is the key to accuracy of opinion polls because everyone has an equal probability of being selected for the sample. The chance of one person being asked to participate in the poll is as equal as someone else- rich or poor, black or white, young or old, male or female. The sampling error is the confidence someone has of a public opinion poll. The more people that participate, the more a person is confident of the results being accurate. 7. Describe three criticisms of polls in American democracy.

3 Three criticisms of polls in American democracy are how accurate interviewing is when only about one thousand people are interviewed, that polls cause politicians to follow the polls instead of leading a campaign based on their own values, and that democracy can be weakened by polls because they can distort the election process. 8. Fill in the following table describing two political ideologies. Ideology General Beliefs Typical Demographic Characteristics Liberal Liberals believe in government The younger the individual the more action to achieve equal opportunity likely to be Liberal. usually people of and equality for all. Also generally minorities ( Hispanics, African emphasizes the need for the Americans, etc. ) and,according to government to solve problems. the textbook, Jews identify as liberals. Conservative Conservatives believe in personal responsibility, limited government, individual liberty and strong national defense. Emphasizes empowerment of the individual to solve problems. Conservatives are generally white and religious men in their 40s to 60s. These men are often religious and part of the protestant and catholic churches. 9. Explain how the role of religion in influencing political ideology has changed. The role religion plays in influencing political ideology has changed vastly. Catholics and Jews have always tended to be more liberal than Protestants, however the ideological gap between Catholics and Protestants is now smaller than the gender gap in terms of political views. Ideology tends to be determined by how deeply important someone s faith is to them as opposed to being based on the religion one is. People deeply involved with their faith, such as the born again Christians (fundamentalist Christians), are the most conservative demographic. People with little to no religious affiliation, tend to be liberal. 10. Compare and contrast conventional and unconventional political participation, being sure to describe several examples of each. Conventional participation is involvement in politics that are common and apart of routine. Examples include: voting, campaign work, running for office, working as staff for a politician, lobbying the government, and donating money for a political cause. Unconventional participation is involvement in politics that are uncommon and sometimes challenge popular beliefs, such as protests and civil disobediences. Specific examples include marches, hunger strikes, and sit-ins. 11. Complete the following table, describing how each of the following characteristics relates to political participation rates.

4 Income Education Minority groups Citizens with a higher income have more opportunities to participate in politics. For example, higher incomes allow people to contribute to campaigns, attend political events, and, in extreme cases, run for office. Lower incomes do not allow for people to do much participate and if they are really financially burdened, they may not be able to even watch politics on television or listen to the radio. People who are not educated in governmental issues or politics in general are less likely to be involved in politics (mostly through voting). If someone is keeping up with the news and what candidates are trying to do, they may feel the need to contribute their opinions and views on the situations. As the society changes, the likelihood of political participation changes. Older generations are usually more involved in politics and pay more attention to the news to keep up with politics. Minorities do not care for politics as much and therefore do not take the time to sit and listen to what is going on. 12. Describe how Americans lack of political knowledge and low participation rate affects democracy. ANSWER NOT SUBMITTED Define and explain the significance of the terms assigned to you in your own words. 13. public opinion The population's approximate beliefs on politics and media. 14. Demography Demography is the science of being able to tell various population changes occurring. Demography analyzes various changing things that relate to human population such as births, deaths, and incomes. 15. Census- A census is a series of questions that are asked by government officials to the public every 10 years in order to establish an accurate representation of the population of the united states. The questions asked help the government get an idea of the different races living in the U.S and the different job opportunities and incomes families are offered. This helps the government understand where low income families live vs. Higher income families and what they can do to help benefit both communities. 16. minority majority:

5 Minority Majority is where the population of the minorities surpasses the population of the majority. Which in America s case is white people. This has not happened yet but it is projected to happen soon. 17. political culture Political culture is a set of attitudes held by people that shapes their political behavior. It includes people's beliefs, judgements, and ideas about what is and isn't good in society. 18. Reapportionment The reallocation of congressional representation of the states based on the ten-year census. This is important because it is a way for political power to be updated and more reflective of changing populations. 19. exit polls Polls gathered at voting stations. They ask every 10 th voter who they voted for so they can inform the media. Some people, however, think this could influence people's decisions from voting. 20. political ideology Political ideology is a coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose. It helps give meaning to political events, personalities, and polices. 21. gender gap Due to the different stance on politics women tend to have a less conservative view and men a more conservative stance. This leads to more democratic support from women, this refers to that pattern. refers to patterns that show women are more likely to support and vote for democratic candidates in elections, and it implies that women tend to be significantly more conservative than men, and are more likely to support more spending on social services and oppose higher military spending. 22. civil disobedience ANSWER NOT SUBMITTED Chapter 7: Thoroughly answer the questions assigned to you in your own words.

6 23. Describe the outlook and tactics of Ronald Reagan and his administration in terms of media coverage.. The outlooks and tactics that Ronald Reagan, and his administration took on media were to plan ahead, stay on the offensive, control the flow of information, limit the access reporters had, talk about the issues they wanted to discuss, speak in one voice, and repeat the same message many times. Ronald Reagan believed that the presidency was a performance most of the time, so Reagan had his aides help shape his public appearances. 24. Explain two media techniques used most effectively by President Franklin Roosevelt. Television had a very negative effect on the Vietnam war. The new stations insisted on broadcasting live footage and showing the brutality of the war, which in itself is a negative thing, however that also affected the amount of soldiers enlisting causing a draft. Which also caused many people to avoid the war by fleeing the country to avoid being drafted. 25. Explain the effect television had on the war in Vietnam. The Vietnam war was the first war in which combat was broadcasted on television, bringing shock to most viewers. Since war correspondents were new during this time, they didn t have as much of a filter when reporting, bringing a lot of the failures of the Vietnam to light. Reporting of the Vietnam War caused a lot of Americans to lose faith in the war effort and also helped spark a major anti-war movement. 26. Explain the three ways in which the Federal Communication Commission has regulated the airwaves. The FCC (Federal Communications Committee) works to prevent monopolies by limiting the number of stations controlled by one company, set fairness rules regarding political candidates and officeholders access to airwaves, and examine the goals and procedures of stations. 27. Describe the impact cable TV and the Internet have had on news reporting. -The impact cable TV and the internet have had on news reporting is that it has made it easier to access news and other forms of entertainment. If you are interested in politics you have the option of watching 6+ news channels like CNN, C-SPAN, and Fox News Channel. But channels like MTV and ESPN focus on a more narrow particular interest (Narrowcasting) making it easier for people uninterested in politics to avoid political news.

7 28. Describe two consequences of private control of the media in the United States. Two consequences of private control of the media are the media can be much more biased, based on who owns the companies, and the media covers less foreign news, making US citizens unaware of foreign news. 29. Describe what is meant by a sound bite, and explain the implications of this for how news is reported. To begin, "Sound bites" are short video clips of approximately 15 seconds, typically all that is shown from a politician's speech or activities on the night television news."~ AP U.S Government book. The problem with having news sent to us like that is it limits the amount of information we receive. Also specifically with politicians, they can't get all the points across. This is significant as well because with dwindling participation in politics, having information limited especially on the daily nightly news further fuels the issue. 30. Explain the major way the news media tend to be biased, according to your textbook. Many people believe that the media tends to have a liberal bias. The book states that the media is biased towards whatever is of interest and what will draw viewers to watch their channel more (whatever happens to be the most intriguing at the moment.) What the book says is significant because it explains how biases exist and not necessarily what those particular biases are. 31. Describe an example of how the media have had an effect on how the public evaluates specific events. The media could alter the public opinion by emphasizing one particular news aspects over all others. As public increases, the media has the capability to influence how the public evaluates political leaders. An example could be when the news emphasized the country s slow economic growth instead of mentioning the low inflation and interest rates in This affected George Bush failed reelection due to the poor image the media made him out to be during his presidency. The news mainly want to attract as many viewers as possible and will do many tactics to spread controversy or report current events in society. 32. Explain how the media serve an agenda-setting function. Agenda setting is the theory that the mass-news media has a large influence on audiences by choosing specific stories and how much emphasis to put on them. The news media might gain audiences by focusing heavily on politicians, and tend to even examine their daily life especially during election time to influence votes.

8 33. Explain how the media act as watchdogs, and how the First Amendment impacts this. ANSWER NOT SUBMITTED 34. Explain the difference between the information society and the informed society, according to your textbook. The "information society" is the use and distribution of created and sometimes manipulated information, notably dished out by mass media. Whereas the "informed society" in which citizen have the capability and education to do reliable research to empowers them to make decisions economic, political, and social lives. Define and explain the significance of the terms assigned to you in your own words. 35. media events Media events are events that the media stages that look spontaneous and genuine. Media events can be staged by any individual, group, or government official. Media events occur to be covered. Media events are significant to our society as the media, and what people see in the media, affect people s views and beliefs. Media events get television coverage and therefore many people see them. Media events are events that without the media would probably have not happened, or would have next to no significance. 36. press conferences Press conferences are meetings between reporters and political figures that gives media and the people an insight on topics relevant at that time. This is also the time where questions and concerns are answered and clarified. 37. investigative journalism Investigative journalism is the process of a deep evaluation of a single event or topic. The purpose of investigative journalism is to fully assess things such as political corruption or government corruption. It is relevant in today's time because there is a lot of suspicion of our current president and investigative journalists are paying close attention to everything he does and says. 38. print media ANSWER NOT SUBMITTED 39. broadcast media Broadcast media is where the majority of our information comes from. Examples include : the internet, radio and television.

9 40. narrowcasting A type of media that focuses on one topic and plays to appeal to one specific type of audience. 41. Chains- Chains are newspapers published by those with intense control of the media and the intense display of that media affects the way the public views situations and affects the attention brought to government officials, and this in turn affects what the government places onto the policy agenda. 42. Beats: Places where political news comes from, such as the White house or the Capital building. Reporters often stay around these places and become specialists of the place. 43. trial balloons A trial balloon is a tentative measure taken to see how a policy will be received. It can be used by politicians who leak information on a policy change under consideration. 44. talking head A visual of someone s head speaking directly to the camera. This is important as the media usually rejects this style of coverage in favor of the visually stimulating kind that draws in ratings, even if that affects the integrity of the coverage itself. 45. policy agenda The media affects how/what people believe and feel. Either by reaffirming their beliefs or by presenting them with new information. For this reason Media is a powerful tool that majorly affects Policy Agenda because it exposes to the public to political news which makes them want to change their government. Policy agenda-issues that get the attention of government Chapter 11 Thoroughly answer the questions assigned to you in your own words. 46. Describe two factors that distinguish interest groups from political parties.

10 Interest groups are different from political parties because they do not run candidates, Interest groups are Policy experts, and Political parties are Policy generalists. Interest groups may support candidates for office but they do don t run their own slate if candidates. Unlike political parties, Interest groups don't face the constraints by trying to appeal to everyone. 47. Describe the essential arguments of the pluralists group theory of politics. 1. Groups represent on the behalf of the people go forth the government. 2. Due to the various groups and its support one group can t become too dominant. 3. Groups go about addressing their situation The correct way few groups slender each other and brake rules. 4. Groups can use all forms of media and different resources and when a group is weak in one are or resource they can use others. 5. Different groups fight for different problems and compete for their issue to be addressed by government. 48. Describe the essential arguments of the elitist view of interest groups. There are four major points in this. 1. The numbers of groups can prove absolutely nothing, due to groups being unequal in power. 2. The most power is held by the LARGEST corporations, so the bigger the better. 3. The power of the minority is fortified by a very extensive system of interlocking directorates. 4. Other smaller groups may win many smaller policy battles, but the larger corporate elite will prevail when it comes to the big decisions that matter. 49. Describe the essential arguments of the hyperpluralist position on interest groups. Hyperpluralists argue that the pluralist system is out of control. They believe that groups can be become too powerful in the political process. The hyperpluralists major criticism of interest groups is that the relationships between the groups and the government have become too cozy. Instead of making choices the government tries to favor both policies. Without making choices no decisions are made, which leads to policy gridlock in government. 50. Describe the difference between a potential group and an actual group. A potential group are all the people who could be interest group members because they have some common interest, but are not actually members. An actual group is a group of actual members who actually join the group they have similar interests with. The difference is that the potential group people have a common interest, like the people in an actual group, however in a potential they don t go far enough as too join a group.

11 51. Compare and contrast collective goods and selective benefits. The collective good is something of value that isn t exclusive to just members of the group. Although some collective goods cannot be avoided, interest groups try to limit collective goods by giving out selective benefits, which are benefits that are exclusive to member of a certain interest group, such as discounts to services that are connected to an interest group. 52. Lobbying is one of four strategies that interest groups use to try to shape policy. Describe the two basic types of lobbyists. The two basic types of lobbyists are those who work for are and paid by unions, associations and corporations on a regular, permanent basis, and those who are available for hire on a temporary basis. 53. Explain how lobbyists can both influence members of Congress but also help them. -Lobbyists can influence members of congress by threatening/cajole a member. For example lobbyists can imply that not going along with their idea/interest can lead to electoral defeat. Lobbyists can help members of congress by gaining information on specific areas and provide specialized expertise on that subject. Lobbyists can be useful consultants and help politicians with getting legislation through. Lobbyists can help come up with campaign strategies and get the group's members behind a reelection company for a politician. Lastly lobbyists can provide ideas for new bills that politics will be eager to put their name on so they can get political credit. 54. Electioneering is one of four strategies that interest groups use to try to shape policy. Explain how this tactic is used. Interest groups use electioneering by promoting certain candidates campaigns through advertisements, donating money, and telling the members of that group to vote for the candidate. 55. Explain why PAC (political action committee) money goes overwhelmingly to incumbents. Political action committees were created in order to donate money towards campaigns/to candidates in general and primary elections. Incumbents are people who are already in/holding office. The explanation for why incumbents get more money from PACS is because they donate to people who they believe are going to fulfill their goals. Officeholders are more inclined to see that the organization that donates the most money, their issues get at the top of their policy agenda. This is significant because this sort of creates a bias for election votes.

12 56. Litigation is one of four strategies that interest groups use to try to shape policy. Explain how this tactic is used. Litigation is when an interest group goes to court in order to get specific rulings in Congress or when the threat of a lawsuit pushes companies to strive to abide by what the interest group may want. Class action lawsuits allow a group of people with similar views to go up against the court. The court may have little to no defense in these situations which allow interest groups to get their way. 57. Going public is one of four strategies that interest groups use to try to shape policy. Explain how this tactic is used. Interests groups are interested in public opinion. Public opinion ultimately affects policymakers, so interest groups try to use their public image to their benefit. They could market their belief on an important issue, sharing their opinion to protest on a problem. Another tactic is keeping up with their reputation or public image. Most interest groups want society to view them as the good guys to promote their organization and gain more members. Many groups have used public relations (PR) to boost their group. Examples include running ads countering arguments of anti tobacco legislation, or ads that address oil industries or big businesses. Using PR could effectively change public opinion and expose them to different takes on popular issues in society. 58. Describe the main purpose of the Taft-Hartley Act. The main purpose of the Taft-Harley Act was to lessen disruptions or disagreements in the labor industry and to guarantee the unions the right to bargaining, but make sure that labors receive fair treatment. This Act permitted the "Right-to-work" law, a state law forbidding requirements that worker must join a union to hold their jobs. 59. Compare and contrast the major concerns of labor and business interest groups. ANSWER NOT SUBMITTED 60. Describe at least two items environmental groups have promoted and two items they have opposed, and why. Two items environmentalists have promoted are pollution-control policies and wilderness protection. These two were promoted with the sole basis of trying to rejuvenate and protect the environment. Two that are strongly opposed are strip-mining and offshore oil drilling. Environmentalists insist that long run energy supplies can be ensured without damaging the environment than it already is. The two interest groups of environmental protection and ensured supply of energy clash intensely on these issues.

13 61. Name two important organizations involved in promoting equality and describe their major goals. Two major organizations involved in promoting equality are the National Association for the Advancement for Colored People (NAACP), and the National Organization for Women (NOW). The major goal of the NAACP, in a broad sense is to protect and promote political, educational, and social equality for people of color. One of their biggest goals in the past was desegregation. They used the decision in Brown v. Board of Education to push towards this, as well as many other forms of boycotts and protests. Some of the NAACP s current goals include tackling the issue of hate crimes due to race, and promoting access to affordable, timely, and quality healthcare for people of color. The goals of NOW are all relating promoting gender equality for women. Their current goals include keeping abortions legal, protecting women in the military, establishing an equal pay for both genders, and also protecting women from sexual harassment and exploitation. 62. Explain how interest groups affect the scope of government. Interest groups can influence members and potential members' view of the government because they can feed them with biased information, as well as benefit them/ bribe them into thinking a certain way. Define and explain the significance of the terms assigned to you in your own words. 63. interest group Interest groups represent bodies of people with shared interests who are attempting to influence different policies. They are known as "policy experts." Interest groups are part of the iron triangle (subgovernment). There can very variances in size for interest groups, and smaller groups tend to be more successful because they have organizational advantages and more intensity about their interests. If someone is actually in an interest group, they physically participate and usually have some sort of membership card. If they are not in the interest group, but they share the interest, they are known as the potential group members. They may receive benefits from legislative goals, but these benefits are sometimes unfair, so some interest groups have selective benefits for actual group members. 64. subgovernments ANSWER NOT SUBMITTED 65. free-rider problem Free riders are people who benefit from interest groups, but never actually join them. 66. single-issue groups

14 Single issue groups tend to focus on one issue, and feel strongly about it. These groups are usually extremely reluctant to compromise, the groups also tend to be very emotional about the specific issue. 67. political action committees (PACs)- PACs are private political groups that help raise money and distribute that money to election campaigns. PACs help spread the word about candidates running so that the people in turn get politically interested/ involved in the candidates they will be voting for. 68. amicus curiae briefs: A document given to the courts by a friend of the court who is not active in the case with the intention to influence the court s decision by providing additional facts and argument. 69. class action lawsuits Class action lawsuits are an important part of the legal system when they permit the fair and efficient resolution of claims by allowing the claims to be aggregated into a single action against a defendant. It is where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member of that group. 70. union shop A provision requiring employees to join the union within a limited time period and remain members as a condition of employment. This is important as it is a means for unions to reduce the free rider problem of people enjoying benefits without membership in the group. 71. right-to-work laws Outlawed the requirement of being a part of a union for a job. It was argued that NOT being part of a group is your individual right, and by requiring it they deny your American freedom. 72. public interest lobby A public interest lobby is essentially a political organization that attracts members by appealing to their political views and principles. An example is the ACLU, or American Civil Liberties Union.