Reading Questions - Chapter Seven 1. What are the three political arenas within which a party may be found? 2. In what ways are American political parties weak? (This is an extremely important point so be sure that you understand it and can explain all the reasons ). 3. Briefly summarize the differences between political parties in the United States and in Europe. You can make a bullet point chart. 4. Briefly trace the development of the party system through its four periods, and give reasons for why the parties have been in decline since the New Deal period. Do not go overboard; just make sure you re familiar with the parties and the terms and the chronology. 5. Describe the structure of the major political parties, making sure you understand the roles of the national committees, congressional committees, and the national chairmen. 6. What has been the difference between the two parties in terms of structure and organization? 7. What is a political party machine? How has the power of party machines been weakened? What were some of the positive aspects of party machines? 8. Define and give examples of an ideological party. 9. How does having a personal following reflect a weakened party system? 10. What explanations does the book give for the persistence of the two-party system? 11. Explain why minor parties form, and briefly summarize different kinds of parties. 12. Analyze why third parties are so rarely successful. 13. Describe some of the issue differences between delegates at Democratic and Republican conventions, and indicate whether there are major differences between the parties. Compare these differences with those between delegates of each party and average voters. Reading Questions Chapter Eight 1. How do American elections and those in parliamentary systems differ? 2. How do presidential and congressional campaigns differ? 3. List the key steps in running for president. 4. What are the differences between running in the primaries and the general campaign? Give examples. 5. Define closed, open, and blanket primaries. What does the term coattails refer to? 6. The book discusses the difference between a position and a valence issue. Be sure that you understand this difference. Then, give a couple of examples from the 2008 presidential campaign of position and valence issues.
7. What has been the effect of TV on campaigns? List as many effects as you can. 8. What does the book say are the three factors that determine peacetime presidential elections? Which group normally decides elections? How do the economy and character affect elections? 9. What factors does the book list that people think have an impact on elections, but really don t? 10. What does the book say about the effect of money in presidential elections vs. congressional elections? Explain the connection between elections and incumbency. 11. What are the three reasons that the book gives for why party identification doesn t determine who wins elections? 12. What are the differences between retrospective and prospective voting and what effect does such voting have on elections? Reading Questions Chapter Nine 1. Why are interest groups so common in this country? 2. The book gives four factors that account for the rise of interest groups? Summarize those factors and give examples for each. 3. Define what an interest group is and what its purpose is. What are the differences between institutional interests and membership interests? Give examples of each. 4. Identify and define the incentives to join a mass-membership organization. 5. Define what a public-interest lobby is and give an example. 6. What is the difference between the staff and membership of an interest group? 8. How do interest groups get their funds? 9. Summarize the five activities that the book lists for how interest groups work to influence policy? Give examples for each activity. Assess how successful each type of activity is in influencing policy. This is very important so be sure that you understand this section. 10. What were the weaknesses of the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act of 1946 and why did Congress decide to enact a new law in 1995? 11. How did the 1995 Lobbyist Disclosure Act strengthen the federal government s regulation of interest groups?
Reading Questions Chapter Ten 1. In general, how does American media differ from that of England and France? 2. Define the terms yellow journalism and muckrakers. 3. How have the characteristics of the electronic media and the Internet affected the actions of public officials and candidates for national office? 4. What does the book conclude about the degree of competition in the media? 5. What is the impact of the national press? Define the roles of the national media as gatekeeper, scorekeeper, and watchdog. Think of examples for each. 6. Summarize the rules regulating the media and the government including the following: prior restraint, libel, confidentiality of sources, FCC regulations, Telecommunications Act (1996), Equal time rule, Rightof-reply rule, political editorializing rule, fairness doctrine. Make sure you understand all these rules. 7. Summarize what the book says about the effects of the media on politics. 8. How does press coverage of the president and of Congress differ? 9. What does the book say concerning press bias? 10. Why does American government have so many leaks? 11. Why do people have an increasing lack of confidence in the media? Summarize all the reasons that the book gives.