Unit II: Public Opinion and Political Action

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1 AP American Government S15 Mrs. Wiens Essential Questions: Unit II: Public Opinion and Political Action! What is public opinion and how is it measured?! What role did the Framers think public opinion should play in American democracy?! What is the public agenda, and how is the agenda shaped?! How does public opinion in America today vary by race, gender, and other factors?! What is political ideology, and how does it affect political behavior and influence public policy?! When, if ever, should public policies mirror majority opinion?! Do Americans trust their government?! Who votes, who doesn't, and why is voter turnout so low in the United States?! Why does the U.S. government behave differently than governments in countries with similar constitutions?! What are the major subdivisions and functions of political parties?! How has America's two-party system changed, and how does it differ from the party systems of other representative democracies?! How much do parties affect how Americans vote?! Why do political parties have such a difficult time holding their coalitions together?! Why do third parties so often fail in U.S. politics?! What effect has de-alignment had on political power?! What matters most in deciding who wins presidential and congressional elections?! Why do people join interest groups?! How do interest groups and lobbyists influence government, and what limitations have been placed upon them? Should interest groups' political activities be restricted by law?! What role does the media play in shaping public opinion?! What effect does the media have on individual political beliefs and voting behaviors?! Can we trust the media to be fair? Syllabus / Study Guide Chapters 6 Public Opinion Date Topics / Class Activities Assignments Measuring Public Opinion and Political Ideologies Computer Lab 1. DVD Framework for Democracy, Disc2 Episode8 Frames of Reference Ch.1 1. Wednesday, Feb. 11 Work on Ideology Survey due Tues, Feb. 17 Read Edwards text pp on polling. Answer accompanying questions in this unit packet. 1

2 2. Thursday, Feb Ideology Paper Survey 3. Go to AP Am. Govt. class web page, click on AP Ideology Surveys and follow instructions. 4. Complete Parent Socialization Survey at home. Paper due Tuesday, Feb. 17. Political Socialization Ch.6 Socialization and Opinion Polling PPT DVD Framework for Democracy, Disc #2 Episode 8 Ch. 3, 4 Socialization & Polls Ideology Paper due Tues, Feb 17. Read Edwards pp and answer corresponding questions Friday and Monday 3. Tuesday, Feb. 17 NO SCHOOL Ideology Paper due. Review ideology spectrum Introduce role of Mass Media. Annenberg DVD #2, Episode 13 Media. Raising excellent issues (or Framework for Democracy) Read Edwards pp and answer corresponding questions 4. Wednesday, Feb. 18 Chapter 7: Mass Media Mass Media Computer Lab Partner/Group Tasks: Exploration of the Media: What is the Real Story? Due Wed, Feb. 25 report findings to class 1. Read Edwards pp Answer questions Work on your media task with partner(s). 5. Thursday, Feb Friday, Feb. 20 Mass Media Ch. 7 Media PPT TEST Ch. 6-7 in Computer Lab 60 Multiple Choice Qs. Study and Review for tomorrow s TEST Work on your media task with partner(s). Work on your media task with partner(s). 2

3 7. Monday, Feb. 23 Chapter 8: Political Parties POLITICAL PARTIES: The Party in the Electorate, the Party Organization, and the Party in Government. s, Party Eras Ch. 8 Political Party PPT. Read Edwards text Ch. 8, pp ( ) and answer corresponding questions. Work on your media task with partner(s). 8. Tuesday, Feb Wednesday, Feb. 25 Group Questions over Ch. 8, opt Interest Groups and Third Political Parties Finish PPT and Party Realignment PPT Minor Parties, Nominating a President in Primaries, Caucuses With your partner, report findings to class on the Media Prepare to present media findings to class tomorrow. TBA 10. Thursday, Feb. 26 Chapter 9: Nominations and Campaigns Nominations and Campaigns: Presidential vs. Congressional, Primary and General Elections Read Edwards Ch. 9, pp Answer questions in unit packet 11. Friday, Feb Monday, Watch Framework for Democracy Disc2 Episode on Campaigns followed by Group Discussion Questions. PPT: Campaign Finance. Television, Debates, Direct Mail Computer Lab Campaign Finance Scavenger Hunt Due Tuesday, March 3 HippoCampus videos: Cost of Elections, Campaign Finance Reform 2. Gerrymandering PPT and video clip Safe Seat Primary Election Read Edwards Ch. 9, pp Answer questions Ask your parents and other adults how they make up their minds whom to vote for. Is their voting based more on ideology or issues? Finish up Campaign Finance Scavenger Hunt Due Tuesday, March 3 Study for Test over Ch. 8 and 9 3

4 March Tuesday, March 3 3. Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore? DVD and Handout Turn in Finance Scavenger-Hunt Web Activity Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore? DVD Finish up Campaign Finance Scavenger Hunt Due Tuesday, March 3 Complete Quia TEST over Ch. 8 and 9 - due Thursday, March Wed, March 4 Practice writing FRQs over the topics we have covered in this unit. Complete Quia TEST over Ch. 8 and 9 - due Thursday, March Thurs, March 5 Chapter 10: Elections and Voting Behavior Elections and Voting Behavior Computer Lab 1. Living Room Candidate PPT 2. What s in an Ad? Living Room Candidate Read Edwards pp and answer questions 16. Friday, March Monday, March Tuesday, March Wed, March 11 Chapter 11: Interest Groups Interest Groups: Birth of, Types of Read Edwards pp and answer questions Guided Lecture on Interest Groups Computer Lab Study for Ch Test Fortune's Top 10 Interest Groups Interest Group Web Activity due Thursday, March 12. Guided lecture on Interest Groups Study for Ch Quia test to be taken during class tomorrow. Computer Lab - TEST over Ch Finish Interest Group Web Activity due Thursday, March 12. 4

5 Use your own words to answer these questions. Please type and save the answers on your hard drive. When appropriate, you may answer with bullet points. Complete sentences aren t necessary if you can make the point with phrases. 1. What is political culture? Edwards Test Review Questions for Chapter 6 Public Opinion 2. How does American culture compare with other countries political culture? 3. What are the sources of political culture? 4. How does mistrust of government affect political culture? 5. What are political efficacy and tolerance? 6. What is political opinion? 7. What are the components that are essential to obtain accuracy in public opinion polling? 8. What are the primary agents of political socialization? 9. What are the cleavages in public opinion? 10. Evaluate the role of polls in American democracy. 11. Identify the political beliefs that are likely to be preferred by liberals and conservatives. 12. Identify the activities that encompass political participation in the United States. 13. Distinguish between conventional and unconventional types of political participation. 14. Explain what political scientists mean when they conclude that Americans are ideological conservatives but operational liberals. Census Civil Disobedience Demography Exit poll Gender gap Melting pot Minority Majority Political Culture Political ideology Political Participation Political Socialization 5

6 Protest Public Opinion Random digit dialing Random sampling Reapportionment Sample Sampling error Tracking poll Edwards Test Review Questions for Chapter 7 Mass Media and the Political Agenda 1. Trace the development of the mass media and the way in which presidents have used the media in different periods of our history. 2. Describe the major sources that people rely on for their information about politics, and how technologies--especially the Internet--are changing this. 3. How do journalists define what is newsworthy? Where do they get their information and how do they present it? 4. What role does the profit motive play in how the mass media reports the news? 5. How fair is the charge that the media has a liberal bias? 6. What factors explain why the news is typically characterized by political neutrality? 7. What methods are used by political activists to get their ideas placed high on the governmental agenda? 8. How does the media act as key linkage institutions between the people and the policy makers? 9. What functions of the media may help to keep government small and what functions may encourage growth of government? 10. How has television encouraged individualism in the American political system? 11. Why has the rise of the "information society" not brought about a corresponding rise of an "informed society?" libel Defamation Prior Restraint Terms to Know for Ch. 7 6

7 beats broadcast media chains High-tech politics Investigative journalism Mass media Media event Narrowcasting Policy agenda Policy entrepreneurs Press conferences Print media Sound bites Talking head Trial balloons You may also be expected to know... Muckraker Associated Press yellow journalism "Big Three" networks The Pentagon Papers Loaded language Equal Time rule Right-of-reply rule Political editorializing rule Fairness Doctrine Selective attention Editorial endorsement C-SPAN Routine stories Feature stories Insider stories News leaks Adversarial press "Off/On the record" "On (deep) background" Feeding Frenzy Pack Journalism New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964) Federal Communications Commission Shield law Freedom of Information Act (1974) "Above" or "Below the fold" stories 7

8 Edwards Test Review Questions for Chapter 8 Political Parties 1. Compare the roles of the party-in-the-electorate, the party as an organization, and the party-in-the-government. 2. How does the political party serve as a key linkage institution to translate inputs from the public into outputs from the policymakers? 3. Describe Anthony Downs' rational-choice theory as a working model of the relationship among citizens, parties, and policy. 4. Trace the historical development of the American two-party system (the rise and decline of political parties). 5. How may the recent pattern of divided government explain party dealignment? 6. Differentiate between ideology or party philosophy of the Democratic or Republican parties. 7. Explain how electoral rules such as the "winner-take-all" plurality system have helped to maintain a two-party system in the U.S. 8. Evaluate the impact of minor or third parties on American politics and the American party system. 9. Why do we have a two party system in America? What are the effects of a two-party system as contrasted with the multi-party system? 10. What is the significance of the weak and decentralized character of the American party system? Terms to Know for Ch. 8 ideology party era critical elections party realignment divided government dealignment winner-take-all plurality system blanket primaries coalition coalition governments closed primaries linkage institutions 8

9 National chairperson National committee national convention New Deal coalition party competition Party identification Party image Party machine Party neutrality Patronage Political Party Proportional representation Rational-choice theory Responsible party model Third parties Ticket-splitting Edwards Test Review Questions for Chapter 9 Nominations and Campaigns 1. What role does campaign strategy play in winning a nomination to elective office? 2. Contrast and evaluate the caucus and primary methods of delegate selection. 3. Contrast the American primary system of nomination with those of other countries such as those in Europe. 4. Trace the historical evolution of national party conventions as nominating vehicles for presidential candidates. 5. How has high-tech campaigning changed the nature of American politics? 6. What impact has the growth of PACs has upon modern campaigning? 7. What role has money and technology played in American campaign organizations? What are the sources of campaign money? 8. What are the rules regarding campaign finances? 9. Analyze the role the media play in influencing the style and substance of presidential campaigns. 10. How are presidential campaigns different from congressional campaigns? 11. Evaluate whether the "openness" of the American style of campaigning leads to a more democratic system or a less democratic system of government. 9

10 12. Who ultimately decides elections? 13. Assess whether or not American presidential elections lead to an increased scope of government. Terms to Know for Ch. 9 Campaign strategy Caucus Direct mail Federal Election Campaign Act Federal Election Commission Frontloading Matching funds McGovern-Fraser Commission National party convention National primary Nomination Party platform Political Action Committee (PAC) Presidential Election Campaign Fund Presidential primaries Regional primaries Selective perception Soft money Hard money Super-delegates 527 groups You may also be expected to know... Congressional campaign committee Political machine Tammany Hall Patronage Plurality Linkage Institutions "loyal opposition" First Party System Second Party System New Deal Coalition Spoils System Tammany Hall Civil Service "personal following" Coalition Progressives Dixiecrats Strom Thurmond George Wallace American Independent Party Ross Perot 10

11 Edwards Test Review Questions Chapter 10 Elections and Voter Behavior 1. How do elections provide regular access to political power and how does the process relate to the level of political legitimacy? 2. What are the procedures that permit voters to enact legislation directly? 3. Trace the historical evolution of the American style of campaigning from 1800 to Contract the characteristics of voters and nonvoters. 5. Summarize what the book says about how the following groups vote and the effect they have on campaigns: Hispanics, African Americans, Jews, Catholics, southerners, union members, business people, and poor people. 6. Why has voter turnout actually declined as the right to vote was extended to new groups? 7. What role has voter registration procedures and requirements played in structuring voter turnout? 8. Explain why party identification is crucial for many voters and explain party affiliation declined since the 1950s. 9. What conditions must be present for true policy voting to occur? 10. Outline the procedures of the electoral college and compare the present system with the process that was envisioned by the framers of the Constitution. 11. According to the democratic theory, what tasks do elections accomplish? 12. How may elections affect public policy and how may public policy affect elections? 13. How do elections influence the scope of government in a democracy? Civil duty Electoral college Initiative petition Legitimacy Mandate theory of elections Motor Voter Act (1993) Terms to Know - Ch

12 Policy voting Political efficacy Referendum Retrospective voting Suffrage Voter registration Help America Vote Act (2002) You may also be expected to know the following... incumbent Coattails Federal matching funds Front-loaded campaign Clothespin vote Closed primary Blanket primary Runoff primary Smith v. Allwright (1944) white primaries Whistle-stop train tour Campaign spots Federal Election Campaign Act (1974) prospective voting retrospective voting Split-ticket voting Straight-ticket voting General election Primary election Federal Election Commission (FEC) Bipartisan Campaign reform Act (2002) Super Tuesday Straw poll Bush v. Gore (2000) Edwards Test Review Questions Chapter 11 Interest Groups 1. What are the essential differences between interest groups and political parties? 2. Explain the three basic theories of interest group politics: pluralist theory, elite theory, and hyperpluralist theory. 3. What factors tend to make an interest group successful? 4. What is the difference between the staff and membership of an interest group? 12

13 5. What is the difference between a potential group and an actual group? How does the free-rider problem apply? 6. How have interest groups tried to shape public policy? List techniques. 7. How do lobbyists represent interest groups in influencing the legislative agenda? 8. What are the sources of funding for interest groups that enable them to influence the political process? What rules govern the funding of interest groups? 9. What are the different types of interest groups and their characteristics? 10. Explain why the authors of the textbook say that the problems of honest lobbying now appear to outweigh the traditional problems of dishonest lobbying. 11. What are the implications for the size of government that are generated by the power of PACs and special interest groups? 12. What is the appropriate role of interest groups within a democratic society? Terms to Know - Ch. 11 Actual group Amicus curiae briefs Class action suits Collective good Electioneering Elite theory Free-rider problem Hyperluralist theory Interest groups Lobbying Olson's laws of large groups Pluralist theory Political action committees Potential group Public interest lobbies Right-to-work law Selective benefits Single-issue groups Subgovernments Union shop Earmark You may also be expected to know... K Street solidarity incentives 13

14 Material incentives Purposive incentives Ideological interest group Public-Interest interest group Ralph Nader Communication Workers of America v. Beck (1988) Social Movement Environmental Movement Feminist Movement Union Movement Foundations Direct mail Political cue Insider strategy Grassroots lobbying Astroturf lobbying "Revolving Door" Ethics in Government Act (1978) Lobbyist Disclosure Act (1995) Trade Association Iron Triangle Think tank 14

15 Interest Groups You should be familiar with the following Interest Groups. Basically, I want you to know the types of issues these groups are involved in and whether they are generally supporters of liberals or conservatives, or are non-ideological. 1. AARP American Association of Retired People 2. ACLU American Civil Liberties Union 11. Christian Coalition 21. NEA - National Education Association 12. Club for Growth 22. National Resources Defense Council 3. AFL-CIO American Federation of Labor Congress of Industrial Organizations 4. ABA - American Bar Association 5. American Conservative Union 13. Council on American- Islamic Relations 6. American Farm Bureau 16. Environmental Defense Fund 7. AIPAC - American Israel Public Affairs Committee 8. AMA - American Medical Association 9. ATLA - Association of Trial Lawyers of America 23. NOW National Organization of Women 14. Eagle Forum 24. NRA National Rifle Association 15. Emily s List 25. PETA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals 26. Public Citizen 17. Handgun Control, Inc. 27. Sierra Club 18. NAACP National Association of Colored People 19. NAM - National Association of Manufacturers 10. The Business Roundtable 20. NARAL National Abortion Rights Action League 28. US Chamber of Commerce 29. Veterans of Foreign Wars 15

Syllabus / Study Guide Chapters 6 Public Opinion Date Topics / Class Activities Assignments

Syllabus / Study Guide Chapters 6 Public Opinion Date Topics / Class Activities Assignments AP American Government S12 Mrs. Wiens Unit II: Public Opinion and Political Action Essential Questions: What is public opinion and how is it measured? What role did the Framers think public opinion should