Ideology & Political Beliefs REVIEW

Freedom Of

-The absence of constraints on behavior, freedom to do something

Freedom From

-Used to symbolize the fight against oppression/exploitation

Police Power

-The inherent authority of the government to enact laws and regulations to protect the health, safety, welfare, and morals of their citizens

-Living in a police state maximizes safety but limits personal freedom

Order

-preserving life, protecting property, maintaining traditional patterns of social relationships (includes police power)

Social equality

-equality of wealth, education, and status, including equality of opportunity and equality of outcome

Equality of outcome

-wealth and status are redistributed

e.x. affirmative action

Original dilemma

-freedom vs order

e.x. communist countries value order, democratic countries value freedom

Modern dilemma

-freedom vs equality

e.x. equal opportunities can infringe on peoples rights, most americans value freedom over equality

Majoritarian model of democracy

-political system where the majority's preferences and interests dominate decision-making, often at the expense of minority rights

-detocqueville said “tyranny of the majority”

Pluralist model of democracy

-multiple groups, interests, and organizations compete for power and influence within the government. This approach allows for a diversity of viewpoints and ensures that no single group dominates the political landscape, reflecting a broader range of societal interests. In such a system, decision-making often involves negotiation and compromise among competing factions, promoting a more representative governance structure

Elite theory

-a political theory that suggests a small group of elites holds the majority of power and influence in society, often overshadowing the general population in decision-making processes. This theory emphasizes that regardless of the type of democracy in place, whether direct or representative, the elites have a disproportionate amount of control over political resources and outcomes, which can lead to inequalities in political power and representation

Political Culture

-set of beliefs and values shared by a government and it’s citizens and their relationship

-shared by a majority of the population

Political Socialization

-experiences and factors that shape someone’s political values

e.x. family, schools, religion, generational effect, life cycle effect

Generational Effect

-the impact of historical events experienced by a generation upon their political views

-e.x. vietnam war and watergate on boomers

Life Cycle Effect

-impact of a person’s age and state of life upon their political views

e.x. older people favor social security and yougner people favor job market

Limited Government

-core political value that people have inherent rights that the government cannot take away, consent of the governed

Rule of Law

-core political value that no one is above the law (even public officials) - social contract, checks and balances

Individualism

-core political value that individuals should be responsible for themselves and their actions

Free Enterprise

-core political value that the government should play a small role in economic transactions between citizens and businesses (like laissez-faire)

-reflects individualist values

Equality of Opportunity

-each person has the same chance to suceed in life

Political equality

-every citizen has an equal right to participate in politics

Command and Control Economy

-government dictates much of a nation’s economy

-usa has mixed economy between CAC and FE

Public Opinion

-the collective attitudes and beliefs of individuals on certain issues, policies, and political figures at a specific time

Gender Gap

-men and women have different views and tend to vote in different parties

e.x. women—>democratic, men—>republican, on ideas like abortion, etc.

Straw Poll

-non-scientific method of gauging public opinion by asking a sample of people how they feel about a particular issue or candidate

Push Poll

-a negative campaigning technique, typically conducted by telephone, used to influence voters by asking specific questions about an issue or a candidate. Under the guise of an objective opinion poll, loaded questions are posed to mislead or bias the listener against an opposing candidate or political party

Exit poll

-survey conducted with voters immediately after they have cast their votes on Election Day

Focus group

-a small group of individuals assembled for conversation on a specific issue

Benchmark poll

-determines support levels for particular issues throughout a campaign for voters

Tracking poll

-determines support for candidates througohut a campaign

Conservatism

-believe in tradition, human imperfection, society, hierachy, authority, and the value of private property

-social order > liberty

-humans are dependants

-associated with the republican party

Liberalism

-modern liberalism believes in welfare provision and economic management, individualism, constitutionality + consent

-associated with the democratic party

Libertarianism

-very little government regulation and intervention beyond protecting private property and individual liberty

Socialism

-opposition to capitalism, prefer cooperation to competition

-value social equality and human perfection

-left

Anarchism

-political authority is evil and unnecessary, choosing to favor stateless society without law and government to protect freedom and equality

-typically left

Fiscal Policy

-government use of taxes and spending to attempt to lower unemployment, support economic growth, and stabilize the economy

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

-total value of goods and services produced by an economy

-declining/stagnant GDP signals economic downturn

Inflation

-the rise in prices of goods and services, making americans poorer

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

-the cost of a basket of fixed goods and services over time, used to measure the cost of living and inflation.

Monetary Policy

-driver of business cycles in the suppply of money

-more money=inflation

-opposes keynesian theory

Keynesian Economics

-belief that government economic policy should counterbalance the economic contractions by injecting more money into the economy

-supported by democrats (e.x. new deal, obama)

Supply-Side Economics

-belief that proposes lower taxes on individuals and businesses as the most effective tool to combat economic downturns

-critics refer to it as “trick-dow economics” because it most directly benefits the wealthy and is unlikely to reach those not directly taxed.

-supported by republicans (e.x. reagan, trump)

Medicare

-federal program that provides health insurance to seniors and disabled

-fully funded by the federal government

Medicaid

-federal programs providing healthcare for the poor

-jointly funded

Describe similarities and differences between the models of democracy

Are there shared, common American values or a unique American political culture? If so, what are they/is it?

What are the five core political values?

-Individualism, Equality of Opportunity, Free Enterprise, Rule of Law, Limited Government

How do various ideologies interpret and prioritize various values (eg order, equality, freedom, as well as the aforementioned “core values”)

What are the 6 primary agents of political socialization

-Political leaders, school, media, religion, family, friends

How do the following demographic factors influence whether someone will go out and vote?

-Age: younger people are less likely to vote than older people

-Income level:richer people are more likely to vote (better educated, more work flexibility)

How do the following demographic factors influence whether someone will vote Democrat/Republican:

-political party identification

-race/ethnicity

-sex/gender

-geographic location’

-religion

-political party identification: more likely to stay with your party

-race/ethnicity: minorities more likely to vote democrat, white more likely to vote republican (vietnamese vote republican, latino vote democratic, cuban vote republican bc of history in leftist cuba)

-sex/gender: gender gap, men—> republican, woman—>democrat

-geographic location: urban/rural divide, urban—>democrat, rural—>republican

-religion: democratic: jewish, atheist - republican: protestant - switches: catholic

what are the features of a scientifically valid poll?

-ideally there is a representative sample, weighting, and include the sampling error.