APGOV Unit 1 test

What is political culture?

How we believe politics & economics should be

We tend to view politics & economics differently - example: liberals & conservatives often view the concept of equality differently

Key Aspects of American Political Culture

Liberty, equality, privacy, democracy, civic duty, and individual responsibility

How do we know that Americans share/have these beliefs?

Opinion Polls (Polls aren’t always accurate; people often say one thing & do another or believe in things they won’t publicly admit to).

Disagreements aren’t often over values but interpretation or ordering of values (liberty v. equality) - which value is held in higher esteem or importance? (Liberals - greater emphasis on equality; Conservatives - greater emphasis on liberty)

American Views on the Economic System

• We all agree on self-reliance but have individual beliefs on what the policy should be

• Conservatives tend to support more free enterprise

• Political arguments about where opportunity should come from - should the government help?

• Republicans push more for self-reliance, Democrats for more gov’t intervention

Some things that make America unique...

• We tend to be contentious & assert our rights

• We have an entirely volunteer military (since after Vietnam War)

• We have civic competence - we know we can affect government, even if we don’t vote

• Religious beliefs affect American voter behavior - a more self-identifying religious country than many others - roots in Protestant work ethic

• Democracy necessitates a trust in others politically

Other Sources of Political Culture

• Family - political socialization

• Class - we associate less on social class, more on issues

• Culture War - Why? The media emphasizes it.

Progressive - Liberal, personal freedoms; Orthodox - Conservative, morals

Distrust of Government

This has grown from the 1960s through today due to various historical events - Vietnam War, Watergate, Iran-Contra Scandal in the ‘80s, Clinton Impeachment Trial, Iraq War in 2000s, Covid policy, Jan 6th, etc

Political Efficacy

How we understand and influence government

Internal efficacy - our actual direct participation in government - civic duty

External efficacy - our belief that the government is responsive to us - competence

Despite how it may appear, we have political tolerance compared to many other countries

• We tend to “allow” things we don’t personally agree with in a democracy

• This tolerance allows new ideas to come to the forefront - ability of political minorities to become the majority - elections often shift parties in power

Political Spectrum

Method used to measure people’s ideology (guiding philosophy on how the government should operate - consistent set of beliefs) Radical ← liberal ← moderate → conservative → reactionary

Political Spectrum

Leftwing: For social freedoms & economic controls

Rightwing: For social controls & economic freedoms

Values & Government Policies - Economy

Right - Tend to be against gov’t activism - only if necessary to prevent abuses (against welfare programs, pro self-sufficiency, for no/very low taxes)

Left - Gov’t activism (gov’t assistance for jobs, tax increase on rich, gov’t assistance for education & healthcare)

Values & Government Policies - Civil Rights

Right - Against affirmative action programs, against busing programs, for cutting rights of the accused (getting rid of Miranda rights, etc)

Left - Increase rights of the accused, pro-affirmative action, supports decriminalization of drugs

Values & Government Policies - Morality

Right - Legislate morality (prayer in schools, intelligent design, pro-life)

Left - Social freedoms, pro-choice **Covid policies confused these generalizations

The Extremes (conservative)

Pure Conservatives: Old, rich, white, South & Midwest, suburbanites, evangelicals; Against welfare, taxes, gambling; For strict enforcement of laws

The Extremes (liberal)

Pure Liberal: Younger, highly educated (many doctorates, professors), Jewish, urban, East & West Coast, non-religious, urban; Support welfare programs, tax the rich, legalization of drugs, gambling, prostitution, pro-choice, extreme free speech (flag burning, etc)

Libertarians

• Conservative economically, liberal socially - smaller government with little intervention

• Young, college education, white, rich, non-religious, western part of the U.S.

• Ideology is growing but many still not willing to commit to voting

Populists (the ideology… the word can mean many other things)

• Liberal economically, conservative socially

• Older, religious, south/midwest, poorer, low education

• In decline

Where do Ideologies Come From?

1. Political Socialization - process by which we get our views on government & politics, affected by our personal histories

2. Other contributing factors, such as elites (those who hold power—political or otherwise, like celebrities)

Cross-Cutting Cleavages

Where and how the population divides on certain public policy (everything the gov’t decides to do) issues (Examples are race, religion, ethnicity, gender, education level, region you live in)

Family

• Party tends to be the same, policy positions may differ

• 60% of parents’ views are infused to children - only 9% of reject parents’ party entirely (especially in 2-parent households where parents are of same party)

• Democrats transfer party ID at slightly higher rate than Republicans

• Party ID transmission weakening slightly as there is less partisanship, more independents among youth voters

Religion

(Liberal) Jews ← Catholics → Protestants (Conservative)

Gender

Gender gap - difference in views between men and women

• Men have become more conservative since the mid 1960s

• 50s women voted with their husband - shifted to have their own expressed opinions (Vietnam War split many households)

• Women typically against war (exceptions - the 2000 soccer mom became the 2004 post-9/11 security mom)

• Gender gap is most evident in presidential elections vs midterm elections

Education

Higher education levels - such as those with doctorates, college professors - tend to be more liberal

Socioeconomic Level

The more money you have, the more conservative you tend to be. Hollywood/the entertainment industry & Jewish voters may be the exception.

Class

We tend not to identify much as Americans by social class - we tend to identify by issues (pro-choice, pro-gun rights, etc)

Race

• Black voters overwhelmingly support Democrats - the most consistent demographic in voter behavior - on average 90%

• 96% for Gore in 2000, 95% for Obama in 2008, 2020 data below↴

• Hispanics more Democrat but not completely partisan (Cuban-Americans tend to be Republicans, Puerto Ricans in the middle)

• Asian Americans tended to be more conservative, although that has shifted

Region

• The South is more conservative socially but has many economic variations

• Solidly Republican, although there are exceptions and small shifts

• Regardless of region, urban areas tend to be more liberal

Age

There is an age gap that is evident both in terms of ideology (shifting more independent, liberal as opposed to conservative), as well as on issues (tend to be liberal on social issues, supportive of environment)

Public Opinion is Inconsistent

• People often are uninformed/misinformed (Obamacare v. ACA)

• Changing of labels (Reagan Democrats, Lincoln Project, etc) tend to be confusing to many

Polling - How to?

• Start with a large population

• Select a random sample

• Ask good questions - in person, on the phone, in exit polls

• Consider faults +/- 3-5% sampling error/margin of error

Realignment

We see realignment - or a critical period - when there is an election with a significant shift from one party to another (South shifting from Democrat to Republican, for example)