American Government Final Exam Study Guide

Gov’t Final Exam Study Guide Do Political Parties Still Matter?  The constitution does not mention them o At that time divisions were a threat to democracy o The first American parties were supposed to disband- they did, but just to form more clear party lines Most of 19th and 20th century’s politics were “party-centered” versus “candidate centered” as they are now… so do the parties still matter if it’s “candidate-centered”? o Recently there has been increased party line voting People say negative things about the party construct, however they still vote along partisan lines o Parties remain healthy and competitive organizations o Central organizing form So…. YES! 3-Party System The party in the government o An alliance of current officeholders cooperating to shape public policy The party organization o Dedicated to electing party’s candidates The party in the electorate o Composed of voters who identify w/the party Republican versus Democrat Republicans: o Smaller, cheaper federal government o Lower taxes o Less regulation of business; more regulated social welfare o Higher spending on defense o Opposed to abortion and same sex marriage Democrats: o In favor or regulating business (e.g environment) o Supporting government programs to bring equality o Spend less on national defense o Very concerned w/equality o Support legal abortion and gay marriage *Not all members of a political party support their party’s position* - however, party differences are sharper than 1950’s Gov’t Final Exam Study Guide Why are there only 2 major political parties? “Winner-take-all” elections: our current method of electing officials; single winner is chosen by plurality vote o The alternative is proportional voting The 3-party system fosters strategic voting: if voters candidate can’t win, voter will turn to least objectionable major party candidate; people don’t want to waste their vote When 3rd party candidates are successful one (or both parties) often adopt part of the 3rd party’s platform o Ross Perot forces policy change Incentives for both parties to be “big tent” parties Fractured Alignments/1960’s and 1970’s When issues split the existing party coalitions o Partisan identities are weakened o Party labels less meaningful Party-line voting declined in the 1960’s and 70’s; ticket splitting increased AS A RESULT OF UNCLEAR PARTY LINES IN THE FIRST PLACE Role on incumbency increased as party labels decreased Independent and third party candidates did better during this time Divided government became common (Congress is a different party than executive branch) Candidate centered campaigning begins… o Weakening of party influence on voters hastened by… Changes in nomination process Increased access to campaign resources from other sources Technological changes TV Email, videos, internet Campaigns become very expensive o Proliferation of candidate-centered campaigns have driven up campaign costs because… Candidates run 2 elections (primary and general) Each candidate has his/her own staff and consultants The Revival of Parties: A Sixth Party System? In the past 20 yrs partisanship has been revived somewhat Voters are steadily less neutral, and find one of the party’s repulsive Many still call themselves R or D o Party identification: An individual’s sense of attachment to one political party Although independents have increased… Gov’t Final Exam Study Guide o Most are closeted partisans o “pure” independents generally don’t care enough to vote “…Party labels continue to provide the cheap shorthand cue so useful to rationally ignorant voters.” Changes in Party Coalitions Strong traces of the party alignment of the New Deal era o Lower income voters still more likely to be democratic Crucial population changes o White conservative southerners shifted towards GOP o African Americans become more Dem. o Men shift to GOP o Women have not, this creates a gender gap o Dem. Advantage among Catholics have shrunk as a result of the abortion issue o White Christians are typically Rep. o During Reagan electorate became more Rep. as a whole Dem. Maintain an edge in party identifiers, but Rep. tends to vote more often o GOP voters are more loyal, so electorate (those who actually vote) tend to be evenly balanced today Interest Groups- called factions now address in Federalist papers (No. 10, J. Maddy!) Dilemma: factions tend to pursue selfish aims contrary to public interest o Threat to popular gov’t o So why not prevent them? The only way to prevent them is destroying liberty or making every citizen have the same opinion J. Maddy says the former is worse than disease, and the latter is impossible o SO: factions are inevitable in order to maintain the first amendment Solution: divide authority among federal institutions o Prevents any single faction to dominate o Nations diversity fosters competing interests… resulting in PLURALISM! Social and Institutional Pluralism David Truman: The Governmental Process- a defense of the legitimate role of interest groups Economic change → New interest groups o This was because groups were free to organize and participate, the political process balanced competing interests o Unorganized or “latent” interests could even constrain established groups from overreaching Gov’t Final Exam Study Guide U.S political system was particularly conducive to pluralist politics o It’s decentralized o Elected officials need to form broad based coalitions Ideally… o Pluralist politics created a policy balance that reflected both the distance of interests and intensity in which they’re pursued o Without groups to convey what citizens want, policy ignores what the citizens want In reality, the system is biased due to difference in resources of the groups Today, Proliferation of Interest Groups Interest groups have tripled in number since 1960’s. Why? o Civil rights and Vietnam have spawned many organizations o Increases in affluence and education of the middle class o Technological advances overcame problems with larger numbers of members Computerized mass mailing, toll-free numbers, fax, internet o Inspiration of rival groups and imitators Corporate and business leaders whose interest were threatened by the political gains of environment and consumer groups organized to defend themselves o Encouragement of the Federal government Stimulated the organization of business interests (e.g chamber of commerce) Encouraged nonprofits and public sectors (e.g National Organization for Women) Changes to tax code Exemption of taxes Special postal rate Tax deduction for donnations Foundations are tax shelters Often arise to defend gov’t programs (e.g AARP, social security, medicare) What do Interest Groups Even Do? How do They Operate? Lobbying: West Wing clip o Issue: U.S considering selling arms to Qumar o Amy Gardener- lobbyist for women’s leadership coalition, job is to monitor actions of the government; doesn’t like wording; contacts the FLOTUS to stop it. Interest Groups and Their Controversies Two main worries o Bias of interest group system-dominated by wealth and affluence o Private interests dominate policy arenas (24 type shit) Gov’t Final Exam Study Guide Other concerns o “revolving door”- many lobbyists used to be members of the government so they have connections o Resembles bribery (perception is what matters…) o On the right, groups may be stronger than the party o Policy gridlock as a result of lobbying (that exists any way though) Yet Interest Groups also do powerful, positive things… o Connect citizens with government between elections o Can make positive policy contributions o Elected officials are in powerful position with regard to interest groups Control interest groups access to information Have key info interest groups need Ultimately get to pick and choose which interest groups they support Interest Groups and PACs Organized interests are most visible through Political Action Committees (PACs) o PAC: a gov’t regulated group that raises money and contributes it to the candidates it supports Modern PACs are a creation of the FECA (1971 & 1974) o Gov’t encouraged interest groups to form PACs because… It clarified legal status Specified rules for legitimately participating in campaign finance Under FECA financial activities of PACs are public record and capped at a limit “Super-PAC”- less regulated PAC that can spend unlimited amounts on behalf of candidates (what’s the point?) PAC numbers grew the first decade under FECA, but has since leveled off o Grew modestly until 2000, then a huge spike from 2000-2006 o Since 2010 there has been massive Super PAC growth Different types of PACs o Labor o Corporate o Trade/membership o Campaign/leadership o New: Super PAC All PACs hope to influence policy o Some have narrow and immediate objectives o Can be very broad as well (NAACP and AARP) o Some are very ideological: primary goal is to help elect candidates who think like them Focus is sometimes on changing the elected officials instead of lobbying (changing the policy) Gov’t Final Exam Study Guide Do PACs have an impact? One view: they are corrupting the legislative process o Members vote toward PAC interests more than anything else o There is little empirical evidence that supports this view Scholarly studies have found that PACs exert only a modest amount of impact o Constituents are actually more important to politicians However: issues with little attention, or are not partisan yet, candidates reflect the PAC vote All in all, PACs contributions do seem to foster access/facetime (NOT VOTES) of politicians and PACs wouldn’t donate money if it was useless- PACs only donate to the politicians who are typically in line with their ideals Barriers to PACs PACs give money to people they support There are rival PACs Power of incumbency trumps PAC power Sentiments of voting constituents Members of Congress have personal influence over PACs PACs themselves do not do the lobbying Most politically active groups don’t have a PAC; you don’t have to have a PAC to be an interest group News Media The news media are organizations that: o Gather, package and transmit the news through communication technology o Developed primarily as private business enterprises Meaning they have a profit motive, which shapes the content They are protected by the first amendment “Congress shall make no law abridging freedom of speech or press” But serve important functions in a democracy What role do they serve in the U.S and in a democracy as a whole? Key Shifts re: News Media Shifts have challenged media’s ability to serve democratic functions o Increased commercial pressure Competition between news outlets and “new media” entertainment User control: “News on demand”; free content Implications: News gives audience what they want instead of what they need; there are major cutbacks in reporting; “thirst to be first” to report results in inaccuracies and other issues Gov’t Final Exam Study Guide Overall, difficult times for tradition news organizations o Strained relationships between journalists and elected officials Bias charges from elected officials which results in declining credibility of media Journalists were lied to during Vietnam and Watergate which resulted in more scrutiny of government that is typically negative, sometimes destructive and cynical, often scrutinize politicians private lives In response to this the government manages and shapes the news via leaks and spins Biased Media? Thought so because the news is analytical Since the 1960’s republicans charge media with “liberal biases” Mixed evidence to support this One hand: o Surveys say reporters DO tend to be more liberal, and vote democratically On other hand o Content analysis is mixed Bill Clinton and Obama were covered more favorably Both benefited from media’s focus on horse race aspect of campaign But both are covered critically as POTUS Other more important biases: Negativity bias (media covers negative politics as a whole) Conflict bias (conflicts are interesting) Effective bias (politicians performing well get more coverage) Good stories (Obama, Trump, McCain) Also, politicians can chape the news Journalists need sources Media relations strategies o As news has become more analytical, reporters’ personal views will shape the content Page One: New York Times Documentary The New York Times Effect: agenda setting, power of NYT to gatekeep the news News outlets must do more with less… or just do less Newspapers are in trouble: o Collapse in revenue o Gatekeeper role diminishes by competition with other sources E.g Wikileaks- release news uncensored Key Problem: Losing readers to online aggregators, even though they still provide much of the real news content o 1,000 bloggers talking to each other doesn’t get a report from a war zone Gov’t Final Exam Study Guide o Journalism is not free but citizens are getting it for free “The Real Media Divide”- Mark Prior o Less worried about widening divisions between parties, and is more concerned about widening gap between entertainment junkies versus news junkies o Negative consequences of more media choices for Americans: A more polarized electorate- NOT A RESULT OF BIASED MEDIA How have more options done that? o People can say no to exposure to real news so entertainment fans are less informed=less likely to vote o News junkies tend to be partisan o Entertainment fans tend to be more moderate Electorate has a higher % of partisans as a result of moderates choosing to not vote and take part in politics On the bright side… o Choice is good! Top-tier news outlets accessible to anyone w/ an internet connected computer o More democratic (in the political sense, not party sense) Diminished gatekeeping Interactivity “citizen journalists” Media more accountable o News media has livened up (ex. The Daily Show, O’Reilly) o Anyway, Golden Age of Media wasn’t actually all that golden Homogenity On TV anchors simply read the news Medvic/ “In Defense…” o Ch. 1: What are the expectations and traps of the American people? Be both leaders (trustee) and followers (delegate) Be principled (don’t compromise) and pragmatic (compromise) Be ordinary and exceptional o Ch. 2: why are Americans anti-politician? “Leveling spirit”: politicians are no better than the citizens they represent; this really reflects our commitment to equality (yay us!) Messiness of our political system: Protections against the tyranny of the majority and other characteristics that make government less efficient, nasty and unpleasant. o Ch. 3: useful overview for key course concepts Central question: why do politicians pander? Pandering: when politicians are “too responsive to the will of the people” in other words they’re a delegate instead of a trustee Gov’t Final Exam Study Guide o o o o Survey based studies have found… Americans say they want a balanced delegate with principles but “those principles need to be in line with the constituents principles” Medvic argues politicians do not pander excessively Ch. 4: 2 key questions Are politicians too preoccupied with winning elections? If so how can we blame them? o They have to endure elections constantly (House every 2 yrs, POTUS every 4 yrs, and Senate every 6 yrs) o Elections are frequent, long, expensive and mentally straining Are today’s politicians excessively partisan? Media is preoccupied with political conflict What’s wrong with partisanship? It fosters commitment to a set of beliefs and encourages individuals to participate in a collective organization Anyway, during golden age of moderation, voters were confused because the parties were not a distinct choice Ch. 5: 2011 Debt Ceiling Debate 2 tendencies working at cross purposes Gov’t designed to hinder decisive action A “majoritarian system” of party/election In this case, politicians weren’t necessarily being irresponsible because of above reasons They were corresponding to voter preference o White House & Senate: Dem. Preserving gov’t programs o House of Reps.: Republicans demanding spending cuts Didn’t help that the public opinion was contradictory and unclear o Wanted compromise but weren’t willing to give something up Ch. 6: what kind of people become politicians anyway? Campaigning is demeaning and demanding Not very lucrative usually, have to have money first So, here’s a better question: who would tolerate being in politics? Ambitious- political ambition in particular. A desire to be the voice of the people Hypocritical but not extraordinarily so o Danger is second-order hypocrisy which is being hypocritical about being hypocritical, whereas first-order hypocrisy Ch. 7: Do politicians lie, cheat, and steal? Gov’t Final Exam Study Guide No. at least no more so than a typical person Intense scrutiny from opponents, media, and law According to Transparency International, US corruption is comparable to other developed, democratic countries More cheating and stealing on Wall Street than there is in Washington But aren’t broken campaign promises a form of lying? Yeah, but politicians don’t do it unless they absolutely have to They typically plan to live up to their campaign promises or at least get started on them Medvic blames the system more than the politicians o Ch. 8 3 final questions Why do Americans hate politicians? Anti-government rhetoric Negativity bias Shortcomings in government Expectations trap How can we rebuild trust in politicians? Be aware that they dysfunction is by design Develop reasonable expectations o Allow politicians to lead if that’s what we want o If we prefer pragmatism let them compromise with some of our wishes o If we want ordinary, allow them to make mistakes!