Poli Sci 40 Exam 1

What is be polarized?

Being polarized is when the government officials in one party hold very different policy positions than members of other party

What is polarization?

Becoming more polarized

What is affective polarization?

The tendency of members of 2 political parties to dislike one another

Why does polarization matter?

It may: produce gridlock, prevent compromise, reduce citizen faith in gov’t

Why offer a clear choice between parties?

Elections can only change policy if there is an alernative, with 2 similar parties this doesnt happen as much

Median

The unit that splits the top and bottom halves of data

Median voter

Always wins, is the person who is more conservative than half the voters and more progressive than the other half

Median Voter theory

Median voter always chooses the winner, so candidate set their platform close to median voter

What does affective polarization result in?

• avg dem member of is more liberal in past, same with conservative and rep

• dislike between parties is growing, rep and dem don’t like each other as much as they did in the past

• the parties are moving apart ideologically and social

Affective polarization is found

In survey (thermomator and marriage) and behavioral data (job apps, marriage rate, dating apps)

Explanations for affecive polarization

Identity: ppl view party as part of identity more than in past

World view: Ppl prefer others with similar worldview, and parties had less worldview diversity than in the past

Do general elections favor extremists?

No

Is Congress following the public for polarization?

No, research shows that legislator is polarizing faster and candidates are responsible for the faster polarization a lot

Does Gerrymandering Encourage Extreme Positions

No

Do Primaries Drive Polarization?

Possibly, but if they do it is not that much

Why is Congress so polarized?

Non-extreme candiates dont run when costs are high

what is puzzeling about gender discrimination in politics?

women and men win office at the same rate

What are the explanations for why there are so few women in Congress?

1. Women are socialized to have less interest in running for office

2. Women are in less careers that LEAD to politics

3. Voters are biased against women, so women need to be better than men to win, so many women choose not to run, only the most capable and high quality

other explanations for why so few women in congress?

Access to donors, candidate recruitment process, etc.

Descriptive representation

How well characteristics of politicians mirror characteristics of the public

What do some scholars say descriptive representation will do?

Increase faith in democracy, and produce policy that reflects public preferences

Goals of descriptive rep

reflect preferences of constituents, pursue policies that are good for consitituents, improve their constituents’ faith in the system by resembling their constituents

Does state policy change when opinion changes?

Yes, for both social and economic polices

Does Policy follow opiniom?

Differences in policy follow differences in opinion

Do politicians change positions when opinion changes?

Yes

Responsive

Changes in policy track changes in opinion

Congruence

Responsive and Identical to will of the public, doing exaclty what public wanted

Standard model for responsiveness

Median voter theory

Selection Model

candidates diverge, but elections are still simple plurality wins??- like i think its because u take the number of voters, ordered from their viewpoints, divide that in half, and whatever side the median is closest too, or is on wins

Does policy change follow opinion changes among high-income citizens?

If high earners want a policy its more likely to happen than if low earners want it

Do we want policy to match the majority view?

Not always, many want leaders to make informed judgements on our behalf, also many may not have an opinion, or an opinion may have costs for societies to balance, and democracies also need to protect important rights

types of recipients for canadite donations:

candidate committes and party committees

funding sources for campaigns

individuals and intrest groups

PAC

Political Action Committee- was regulated so intrests must segregate money for donations, need to have limited contributions, and no direct corporate funding, no limits on expenditures

Why aren’t there more buyers of policy?

The returns seem great, however donations had little to no effect

Super PACs

Cannt give to candidates directly or coordinate with campiagns, can make indepent expenditures and recieve any amount of money from corporations, must disclose donors

Why donate to campiagns/ policies at all?

Simple participation maybe? yet is strategic

What do donors of campaigns get?

Access to politician

Lobbying

Citizens petitioning the government by speaking to their representatives

Lobbyists

ppl firms and organized groups hire to speak with representative on their behalf, sometimes work for lobbying firm, other times firms and groups hire them directly

Why do ppl lobby?

You want policy to help u more and hurt u less, if govt is likely to make u worse off, u may lobby to try to prevent that from happening

Do govt bodies lobby each other?

Yes, cities often lobby state and fed govt

Do citites in opp party states lobby more?

Yes

What are Americans oppions on lobbying?

skeptical, many say its a very big problem and lobbyists are corrupt or ruthless

3 broad views for lobbying

Quid Pro Quo, Informations, Legislative Subsidy

Quid Pro Quo

View lobbying as an exchange, lobbyists and clients get policy they want, policy makers get, campagin contributuins, job opps, jobs for staff, other perks, etc

Information

View lobbying as informing policy, lobbyists and clients know an area very well (like a buisness like solar company or something), policymakers dont know about the life and perspective of that industry, lobbying helps policymakers learn how their proposals will affect their consituents

Problem with info for lobbying

Politiacans know the lobbyist and client want to benefit themselves, solutuon: politians only listen to ppl with similar preferences

Legislative Subsidy for Lobbying

View lobbying is a legislative subsidy, legislators have too few staff and lobbyists want to influence bills, so policymakers let lobbyists do some of the work

Problem with legislative subsidies

Bill will be tilted 2 the lobbyist and client, solution, only accept subsides from like-minded lobbyists

Are Lobbyists paid for their connections or expertise?

Connections matter, but experience does too, if lobbyist is still in office after senator leaves, then for experiance but if not then for connection

What happens when extreme candidates win in primaries in close elections?

Their party does worse in general elections

Are primary elections pushing politicians to be extreme?

Possibly, but polarization is still increasing in state without primaries

Why are there many extreme candidates?

its a possbility that when costs for running for office was high and the benefits are low, moderate canadidites are less inclined to run, and more extreme canadites run

Do dem and rep truely dislike each other because they are different parties?

Not really, they care more about opinion on issues

is policy the same policy point as public preference?

No

Do more liberal states have more liberal economic and social policies?

Yes

Do donations change a canadidates preference?

Very limited to no evidence