-Study Guide- Unit 7 Political Process Explain or define the following: 1) Public Opinion 2) Public Affairs 3) How they influence our political opinions: a) Family b) Schools peer groups c) Historical events d) Peer leaders e) Mass media 4) Moderate 5) Liberal 6) Conservative 7) Explain the five examples of mass media 8) What are the four ways to measure public opinion? 9) What are the five steps to polling effectively? 10) What is an interest group? 11) What is the purpose of interest groups? 12) What are the criticism of Interest groups 13) What is propaganda? 14) What does propaganda rely on? 15) What is a lobbyist and what do they do? 16) What does the word suffrage mean? 17) Amendments 15, 19 23, 24 and 26 18) What are terms for the allowance for denial to vote? 19) What are the reasons why people don t vote? 20) What influences people s vote 21) What is the difference between Democrats and Republicans? 22) What is an independent? 23) What are political parties? 24) What were the first political Parties and their leaders? 25) What are the two major political parties today? 26) Why were Parties formed? 27) What are party activities? 28) How can third parties be important?
Getting Interested -Personal Involvement- Of the people, by the people, for the people used these words in a famous speech the. He was talking about the government of the United States. The United States government, at all levels, is based on the will of the people. This means that the people have the responsibility to about issues. Each individual should he or she can to make sure that the government works. Three ways to do this are to get -Get Interested- has a great influence over, what people are about. Public opinion can be described as those held by a significant on matters of government and politics. Public affairs are those that concern the public at large. In its proper sense, public opinion includes only that relate to public affairs. is the process by which people learn ideas and have opinions about issues. -The Formation of Political Opinions- Many factors influence our political opinions and political socialization over the course of a lifetime. 1. The Family a) Children see the political and through the family s eyes. b) The strong influence the has on the development of political opinions is due to the large amount of 2. The Schools a) Children acquire knowledge throughout their time in the. b) Students are taught about, and great Americans. Some are even required to take a course on government in. 3. Peer Groups a) Peer groups are made up of the people with whom, including and co-workers. 4. a) Any person who, for any reason, has an unusually strong influence on the views of others. 5. Historic Events a) Historic events can have a major impact on public opinion. The is one event that shaped the political views and opinions. 6. Mass Media a) The mass media include those means of, widely dispersed audiences (masses of people). People who have similar opinions on political issues are generally grouped according to whether they are on the political spectrum.
Getting Informed - Get Informed - Most people get informed using ; it includes those means of communication that reaches many people at the same time. A medium is a ; it transmits some kind of information. Four major mass media are particularly important in American politics: 1. - On average, Americans hear 20 hours of radio each week. Radio has been a source of news and entertainment since 1920. 2. - Politics and television have gone hand in hand since the technology first appeared. Today television is of political information for a majority of Americans. 3. - The first newspapers carried mostly political news. Even with the total number of newspapers, they are still a source of political information for most Americans. 4. - Some 12,000 magazines are published in the United States today. Several magazines are devoted to American news and politics. 5. Today people can get up to the minute information, shared on social media like and WebPages, etc. About 80% of the American population uses the internet and spend about 13 hours{2010} a week on it. It is that the media tells the people ; but it is clear that they tell the people. -Measuring Public Opinion- 1) The Media - The media is frequently described as of opinion; media reports reflect public opinion or may shape it in the way they tell it. 2) Personal Contacts - Public officials and wide-ranging contacts with, such as reading their mail, answering calls, and. 3) Elections - Candidates who win an election are said to have a mandate, or a command from the electorate, to carry out campaign promises. In reality, however, election results are of public opinion. 4) - Interest groups are private organizations whose members share certain views and work to shape public policy. Interest groups are a by which public opinion is made known. Public opinion is best measured by devices that attempt to collect information by asking people questions. 1) A is a method of polling that seeks to read the public s mind simply by asking the same question of a large number of people. The straw-vote technique is 2) Efforts to take the public s pulse on a date from the 1930s: a) The best two Scientific Polling s are b) The five steps are: 1) Choose to survey 2) Get a representative 3) Prepare Questions 4) Select/control the polling process(in person or on phone) 5) report the results.
Interest Groups -Interest Groups- Interest groups are whose members share certain views and public policy. Public policy includes all of the a government and the various it pursues as it attempts to realize these goals. Interest groups exist in. and interest groups differ in three striking respects: (1) in the making of, (2) in their primary, (3) in the scope of their. -Valuable Functions of Interest Groups- of public affairs, or issues that concern the people at large. who rather than those who share geography. Provide to government agencies and legislators. Vehicles for. Interest Groups Keep public agencies and officials. each other, creating limits to these groups. -Criticism- They have the best interest of at heart. Some groups have an far out of to their size or importance. It can be difficult to tell people are serving. Groups do not always represent the they claim to speak for. In rare cases, groups use such as and so on. -Influencing Public Opinion- Interest groups will use (a technique of persuasion aimed at influencing) thought or actions. Three ways to reach their goals: 1. They build a for the Interest group. 2. They work to. 3. They supply to officials to make public policy.
Propaganda and Lobbying means that both citizens and their leaders are willing to set their private interests and for the common good. -Propaganda- Propaganda is a aimed at influencing individual or group behaviors. Its goal is to which may be true or. Propaganda information that support its conclusion. It is not. It presents only of an issue. Propaganda often relies on and inflammatory labels. Types of Propaganda Techniques: Quotations or endorsements of a likable independent person, like a (actors, sports stars, etc.) to create credibility. - Creating an analogy between a disliked person or event to to their opponent. - It aims at to do a certain thing because many other people are doing it. - saying about your competitor. - It s all - vague statements using language associated with deeply held by the audience supporting information or reason. -Lobbying- Many interest groups to work toward their group s goal. These people are called ( someone who waits in a lobby to talk to gov t officials). Lobbying is any activity by which a group and influences the. Nearly all important organized maintain lobbyists. Lobbyists with the government, so to be monitored and regulated. They speak before or pressure politicians by using (going to voters and getting them to pressure their politicians) pressure. They send and make to candidates Lobbyists persuade to add interest group s issues to the party platform and arrange for contributions to be made to the party.
Political Parties -Political Parties- A political party is a group of by winning elections and holding office. Societies form Political Parties because they - power comes in. First American Parties: a) {Anti-federalists} Led by Thomas Jefferson b) Led by Alexander Hamilton The two major parties in American politics today are the What makes Political Parties different is a series of statements explaining and beliefs on election issues. Parties can be -oriented, -oriented, election-oriented. - The American parties are. Political parties work more effectively and do those who do not belong to their party. -Role of Political Parties- Nominate Candidates - Political parties select and offer for public office; done through the. Campaigning for Candidates - Raise for campaigns, help candidates get across their ideas and views on public issues to voters and drives. Informing Citizens - Inform citizens through, and ads. Help Manage Government - Parties help the elected official to supporters & link local, state, and federal party officials. Act as a Watchdog Parties that are out of power keep a on the actions of the party in power for to use against them in the next election. -Minor parties and several important roles- Some countries like are One-party systems, but they aren t democratic. America is basically a System. Most countries are multi-party system. Minor parties/third Parties, lacking wide political support, have never made a successful showing, so them. They are important because they act as and take votes away, advocate for ignored and innovators of proposed solutions. Examples:, Bull Moose Progressive party, Green party, Socialists party -Paying for Election Campaigns- Purpose of campaigns is to convince the for a particular candidate. Campaign costs- money for, transportation, salaries of campaign staff members, fees to professional consultants. Elections for Congress generally run at about $ in expenses Presidential race costs over $. In 1971, the U.S. Congress passed The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), which was further amended in 1974 and 2002. FEC certifies the amount of public funds to which the candidate or convention committee is entitled. Hard Money - When cash is contributed to a political. It s regulated, must follow the strict limits set forth by the FEC. Soft Money Cash is contributed to and committees
Political Identity -Super PAC s- Party-Building - Political are allowed to spend as much Soft money as they want as long as the money goes to activities, such as voter registration drives & ads that support party positions on issues are unregulated. Soft Money is often viewed as a in campaign finance law. It is mainly comprised of gifts to political parties from, labor unions, and wealthy individuals. Most money for campaigns comes from (citizens, corporations, labor unions, interest groups, and ) In 2010, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that dramatically reshaped the business of politics in the U.S. In its Commission decision, the court opened the campaign spending floodgates. The justices' ruling said political spending is protected under the, meaning corporations and unions could amounts of money on political activities, as long as it was done independently of a party or candidate. The result has been a deluge of poured into so-called super PACs particularly single-candidate PACs, or political action committees. -To vote or not to vote- Millions of Americans when elections are held. In the US around voted(131 million votes) in the presidential election and in voted. Some people for various reasons, such as physical or mental illness,, and resident alien citizenship status. However, do not vote because voting is in some way, they do not believe that their vote will, or they distrust politics and political. -Voting Behavior- Voter preferences can t be predicted by just one factor. Voter opinion is a combination of all of these factors and more: 1. 5. 2. 6. Religion 3. 7. {where you live} 4. Age 8. or interest group -Political Party- Voters perception of their significantly affects their voting. More likely to be a Republican: Men More education Older Devoutly religious Left-Wing More likely to be a Democrat: Women Blue collar Young Urban Right-Wing Those who don t hold to any political party are called. They might vote, pick candidates from at the same election.
Getting Involved -Voting = Getting Involved- The Framers of the purposely left the power to set suffrage qualifications to. Suffrage means the. Today nearly all citizens at least of age can qualify to vote. During the early 1800s, religious, property, & payment qualifications were gradually eliminated. National Voter Registration Act of 1993, also known as the law. Made the voter by providing uniform registration services through registration centers, disability centers, and mail-in registration. -Voting Machines and Innovations- counting has been in use since the 1960s. ballots are often used to cast votes. for people to their poll station. elections have come into use in recent years. is a trend that may be encountered in the near future. -Amending the Vote- The Amendment (1804) provides the procedure for the President & Vice President The Amendment (1870) was intended to end race-based voting requirements. The Amendment (1920) prohibited the denial of the right to vote because of sex. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 guaranteed the The Amendment (1961) granted citizens of the the right to vote for presidential electors. The Amendment (1964) eliminated the The Amendment (1971) lowered the States also have restrictions on the right to vote on certain members of the population: 1. Found to be 2. People convicted of How States Decide who can vote: a) All states require. b) Most states require an residency. c) All states require an to vote Amendment. d) states require you to to vote Except North Dakota. e) - You do not have to know how to 1970 Voters Rights Act. f) All states require you to be. g) Most States don t allow to vote(some don t allow dishonorable dischargers). h) No - 24 th Amendment outlaws