poly sci exam 2

3 main avenues to get involved in public life?

1: civic volunteerism

2: electoral activities

3: political voice

Civic volunteerism

Citizen participation in public activities without being politically motivated or being incentivized by the government

Example of civic volunteerism?

working at a food bank, fundraising at a church, or helping organize a community event

Example of electoral activity

Registering to vote, voting, running for office, donating money to a political campaign, working as a volunteer for a candidate, or posting yard signs in support of a certain candidate

Example of political voice

Having opinions about public officials, posting opinions on the internet, or rioting or protests

3 reasons why people do not want to get politically involved

1: too lazy or busy

2: too happy/complacent

3: too rational

Why are people “too busy” to get involved?

All their time and energy is spent keeping afloat. Many are limited due to economic circumstances.

Why do people feel too complacent?

Feel that there are no issues or problems to become personally invested in because it is not personally relevant to them. Find researching issues too difficult.

Why do people think too rationally?

These thinkers believe their votes will not matter, and it feels pointless to vote. The costs of voting outweigh the benefits and that results in very low voter turnout. Individualist thinking only thinks of their personal costs of voting rather than the overall social benefits.

3 important factors that affect people’s political participation

• Biological factors like age, race, or gender

• Political mobilization encourages people to engage through political parties, issue advocacy, and the media

• Political socialization through family, friends, and peers encourages engagement

Conditions needed in order to get public opinion to actually guide the governments decision making

o   The people need to know what they want; must be concrete not abstract

o   The public should be able to communicate their desires to political leaders; communication is possible through participating in voting, polls, or rallies

o   Political leaders should be paying attention to the publics views; leaders political interests should be directly linked to the publics opinions

The fairness bias

Reporters make sure that they share both sides of every story even if that means ignoring certain facts.

May falsely present 2 sides of an issue as equally important even if one side is not.

how does the media shape politics

1: agenda setting

2: issue framing

3: priming the public

4: enforcing existing beliefs

Agenda setting

picking some issues among many to cover and leads to politicians attention being drawn to the ones chosen by media but they are “for profit” (choose what has drama, heroes/villains, a story to sell etc.)

policymaking cant begin until a politician finds an issue worthy of gov. attn.

Issue Framing

Once an issue enters the policy/political agenda, the media frames, defines, or interprets, the nature of the problem of said issue, and the media suggests their own solution to the problem

Priming the public

Stories and news on issues/agendas that the media covers affects the publics perception of candidates and officials which affects results in elections and polls

Enforcing existing beliefs

The media can have an impact on people if they have not already made up their mind on an issue

If people have strong established beliefs, the media rarely changes their original opinion and might reinforce it instead through confirmation biases

Why does election matter symbolically in democracy?

Elections are a symbol of democracy = elections is the flower of democracy and politics

Whether or not there are elections in a country is the most important criteria to see if a country is democratic or not (ex: UK and North Korea dont have any)

Why does election matter substantively in democracy?

An election is a game changer in democracy bc voters can change elected officials to reflect their wants and needs. In return, politicians change public policies, political outcomes, and our quality of life

3 unique characteristics of the American election system

• Many elected officials which results in many elections

• Mass amounts of money is spent on campaigns but no restrictions or budgets can be put in place bc Supreme Court rule to protect freedom of speech

• President is chosen through indirect electoral college system and winner-takes-all system

3 Phases of the Presidential Election

• Primary Elections in each state

• Political Party Conventions

• General Elections in each state

Primary Election

The presidential nominating process in each party

Through primaries (votes) or caucuses (discussions), political party members choose delegates who promise to vote for a certain candidate at a political party convention

Political Party Convention

Official Role: Delegates vote for a candidate of a certain political party

Actual Role: announcing and celebrating the selected presidential candidate

General Election

The people vote for electors who promise to vote for a certain presidential candidate and in each state, the candidate winner takes all of the electors’ vote

5 Functions of Political Parties

1) To champion ideas

2) to select a candidate

3) to mobilize the voters

4) to organize governing activities after election

5) to help integrate new groups into the political process

Dual Faces of Lobbying: Defenses FOR lobbying

1) More democratic rep and expand the number of perspectives a gov. official hears

2) Increased communication and information between the public and what is going on inside Washington

3) Interest groups facilitate political participation by mobilizing and organizing the public

4) Lobbying does not hurt our system of gov. bc they influence politics and policy but do not determine the outcomes

Dual Face of Lobbying: Concerns About Lobbying

1) Corruption and money: advantages are only felt by the lobbyist insiders not the average person

2) political divisions and polarization happen instead of negotiating or political bargaining because of strong political opinions

3) Lack of Accountability to the people because they only work to serve in the interests of their interests

4) Restricted access to benefits of interest groups because you must be a member and that costs money

to champion ideas

create a brand that ppl can easily find a candidates political platform that shares their views even if its complicated and they are uninformed

to select a candidate

political parties search for potential candidates, train them, and brand them to make them marketable in elections

to mobilize the voters

Political parties work to get the people to vote for their candidate and inform the people of their policy and political issues through running campaigns and hiring consultants

to organize governing activities after their election

Political parties work to enact their signature programs and policies through congress and the president

to help integrate new groups into the political process

make potential supporters into loyal ones through political socialization and educating the ppl about how gov. works and which policies to support