PSCI Exam 1

Public Opinion: refers to people's attitudes about political issues, events, leaders, and institutions.

Values/Beliefs: people’s basic orientation toward politics

Attitude/Opinion: A specific preference about a particular issue

Political Socialization: The process through which people form their political beliefs and values, influenced by family, social networks, education, and environment.

Agents of Socialization: Family, social groups, media, education, and the political environment.

Forces Shaping Public Opinion: Government actions, interest groups, and media play a role in shaping public opinion.

Political Knowledge: Often low because being informed takes time and energy. Many people rely on shortcuts (e.g., party elites, interest groups) to form opinions.

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Implication of Low Political Knowledge: Low political knowledge can weaken democracy and increase vulnerability to manipulation.

Political Participation: includes actions that influence policies, such as voting, volunteering for campaigns, contacting public officials, etc.

Traditional (Conventional): Voting, volunteering, working for political organizations, petitions, rallies.

• Rallies/Protests: Protests can be either supportive or intended to challenge the government, depending on the context.

• Example: Trump rally was for SUPPORT; it was not against Trump

Unconventional: Boycotts, strikes, protests, sit-ins—actions outside the cultural norms, sometimes aiming to break the status quo.

Public Policies: government decisions aimed at solving societal problems; can include laws, regulations, executive orders, or lack of action.

Policymaking Lifecycle: The process involves identifying problems, creating an agenda, formulating solutions, enacting laws, implementing policies, and evaluating outcomes.

Who Makes Policy: Federal, state, and local governments all contribute to policy making. The bureaucracy also plays a significant role in implementing and informing policy decisions.

Fragmentation: overlapping jurisdictions; causes confusion on who is in charge?

Iron Triangle

• Triangle 1

  • CONGRESS influences BUREAUCRACY by providing FUNDING and POLITICAL SUPPORT

  • BUREAUCRACY influences PRIVATE SECTOR/INTEREST GROUP by providing LOW REGULATION and FAVORS

  • PRIVATE SECTOR/INTEREST GROUP influences CONGRESS by providing ELECTORAL SUPPORT

• Triangle 2

  • CONGRESS influences PRIVATE SECTOR/INTEREST GROUP by providing FRIENDLY LEGISLATION and OVERSIGHT

  • PRIVATE SECTOR/INTEREST GROUP influences BUREAUCRACY by providing CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT(through lobbying)

  • BUREAUCRACY influences CONGRESS by determining POLICY CHOICES and EXECUTION

• Example: Military Industrial Complex

  • Explanation: PRIVATE SECTOR builds weapons & tech for military, BUREAUCRATS advocate for specific weapons & tech needs, CONGRESS establishes policy and provides funding so military can buy weapons & tech, 

Beneficiaries: Programs assist different groups, such as the elderly, working poor, minorities, and the non-working poor.

Welfare and Social Policy: The government provides welfare through programs like Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act.

History of Social Policy: Social policies have evolved, with key moments like the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, which transformed the welfare system.

• before(1960s to 1990s), welfare users were thought of as lazy and undeserving

Contributory Programs: programs to which individuals contribute to(through taxes and etc.) and then get benefits of 

• Examples: Social Security(retirement), Medicare(national health insurance for elderly and disabled), unemployment insurance(getting part of your old paycheck)

Non-Contributory Programs: programs which individuals get benefits of without contributing; for individuals that didn’t pay into anything; NEED based

• Examples: Medicaid, SSI(Security Income), TANF(partner of food stamps)

Economic Philosophies: Laissez-faire (hands-off), Keynesian (government intervention), and the shift in the 1980s towards less government involvement in the economy.

• Great Depression led to more government involvement in the economy

Redistributive Policies: monetary policies(gov regulating economy through money and credit supply); fiscal policies(use tax money to help society)

• US has a progressive tax system: if you have more money, you pay more taxes; this is to REDISTRIBUTE wealth and reduce wealth gap

Regulatory Policies: policies to regulate behavior through penalties; implemented through regulatory taxation(intended to discourage use of taxed item) and expropriation(gov ability to seize land)

• Examples: police regulation(regulate health, safety, and morals), administrative regulation(minimize injury/inconvenience to public)

Definition of Foreign Policy: Policies and programs that guide the U.S.'s relations with other nations, covering diplomacy, national security, trade, human rights, and more.

Objectives: The main goals are security, economic interests, the preservation of global power balance, and protection of human rights.

Security: The U.S. is concerned with both state actors (other countries) and non-state actors (e.g., terrorists, multinational corporations).

Economic Interests: maintaining access to key resources(resources that US can’t manufacture)

• Example: us can’t grow avocados all year round so it maintains relations with Mexico to get avocados

Global Power Balance: making sure that one country doesn’t get to powerful

Protection of Human Rights: helping out internationally

• Some say that the US has a responsibility to do so as the HEGEMON (most powerful country)

Who Makes Foreign Policy: The President plays a major role but must work with Congress(in charge of declaring war, regulating international commerce, and funding foreign policy actions)

• Bureaucracy implements and informs policy decisions; example: Secretary of State, CIA, etc.

Foreign Policy Strategies: Different administrations have used diplomacy, military action, or multilateral approaches to address foreign policy challenges.

Examples: Obama favored diplomacy, Trump was more aggressive, and Biden has focused on less interventionism.

Unilateralism Approach: we act alone

• If we want something done, we make the decision and carry it out ourselves

• Goes along with isolationism

Multilateralism: multiple participants

• If we want allies, we seek coalitions and buy in from other countries to share burden/responsibilities