APGOV Unit 4 Review

AMERICAN ATTITUDES ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT

5 views that all Americans share: Individualism, equality of opportunity, free enterprise, rule of law, and limited government

EXPLAINING THE 5

Individualism: self-reliance and independence

equality of opportunity: every American, regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, religion, etc. deserves equal footing to go after life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

free enterprise: laissez-faire economics; as little government intervention in the economy as possible

rule of law: every citizen is equal under the law and no one has special privileges

limited government: a government whose limits are well-defined and is restrained through the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances

DIFFERENT VIEWS

Conservatives cherish established institutions and seek to preserve them for the good of society (smaller government)

liberals push for new reforms to make society more just and equitable

self-centered individualism: interests of the individual above the interests of society (conservative view)

Enlightened individualism: interests of society above the interests of the individual (liberal view)

Equality of Opportunity: meritocracy: everyone rises in America based on their own toil and sweat (conservative view) (the American dream). Liberals agree with meritocracy but argue that not all groups start the climb in the same place

Free enterprise: Conservatives want the government to stay out of the affairs of businesses and allow the free market to determine what is best, and liberals want the government to intervene with appropriate regulations to ensure safety and equality in the workplace

Rule of Law: conservatives see laws as embodying equality and so emphasize the letter of the law, and liberals agree that laws embody equality but emphasize the unequal application of the laws in regard to minority groups

Limited government: conservatives want strong, defined boundaries of federalism, which in return leads to less government intervention in people’s lives, while liberals want more government intervention in society for the sake of the greater good

POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION

the process by which we form our political opinions

WAYS IN WHICH POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION OCCURS

Family: People will have the same or similar political views as their family members, as they often discuss and share beliefs during their upbringing.

Schools: could potentially shape the way a student thinks about politics and therefore the world (mostly a history class)

Peers: even if you hold a certain political view, there could be a huge amount of social pressure to change your political belief to fit that of those around you

Media: gives people wide access to viewpoints but can often be untrue

civic/religious organizations: something like Boy Scouts, which was founded to teach patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kindred values

Globalization: increasing interconnectedness of the world by means of economic partnership. Along with those connections come political influences as well; like through immigration, political views change

CHANGES IN POLITICAL IDEOLOGY

Generational effects: A person’s voting behavior and political ideology are very much influenced by the generation into which they were born

Silent Generation (b. before 1945): lived through the great depression and WWII, had views based on religious beliefs, had rigid gender roles for men and women, supported foreign American intervention, did not support legalizing marijuana, tended to vote a lot, mostly conservative

Baby Boomers (b. after WWII - mid-60s): a time when men and women came home from war, had lots of babies, appreciated change, and were more liberal but still conservative

Generation X (b. mid-60s and 1980s): first generation to grow up with the internet, more liberal than previous generations bc of a more diverse population

Millennials: (b. 1981-1996): more liberal than any other generation, more ethnically diverse, 40% of the group is not white, more favorable towards immigrants and other issues supporting change

the older you are, the more likely you are conservative, and the younger you are the more liberal you are

life-cycle effects: whatever stage of life you are in will influence what political views you have; for instance, younger individuals may prioritize education and climate change, while older individuals might focus on issues like social security and healthcare.

INFLUENCE OF POLITICAL EVENTS ON IDEOLOGY

political events: any event deemed significant in the light of our nation, and depending on how significant the event is can have a disproportionate effect on our political beliefs

Silent Gen: The great depression caused them to vote for someone like FDR, who caused them to trust the federal government

Baby Boomers: lived through the Vietnam war, which did not make them trust their government, which saw a large amount of Democrats migrate into the Republican party (Ronald Reagan’s landslide win)

Millennials: The terrorist attacks of 9/11 caused a unification of the nation and led to increased support for government intervention in security and foreign policy, This led them to vote for presidents who prioritized cooperation with foreign nations, like Obama

MEASURING PUBLIC OPINION

The main way to measure public opinion is through polls

Process: writing questions that are as free from bias as possible, and then presenting questions to a small and randomized group of people, and then generalizing the results to a larger population

opinion poll: gets a feel for the public’s opinion on a certain topic or their feelings on certain candidates or policies (when candidates make promises, they pull from this)

Benchmark poll: a poll taken at the beginning of a candidate’s run, and can be compared with future polls to see how the candidate is doing

tracking poll: a poll conducted over time with the same group of people, and gives info about how the group feels about an issue

entrance/exit polls: polls conducted at voting sites asking people how they voted

sample: needs to be representative (has to have the same characteristics as the larger population it’s measuring), needs to be random (everyone in the population needs to have an equal chance of being included)

Sampling error: There is always a chance that the sample will not exactly represent the general population; if a poll has a +- 3 sampling error, that’s considered a good and representative poll

survey methodologies

mass survey: pollsters create a poll that can be given to as many people as possible, and can only measure quantitative data

Focus group: pollsters measure the opinion of a small group of people; they measure qualitative data (in-depth)

EVALUATING PUBLIC OPINION

Public opinion polls affect a lot of things, like in a debate to choose which candidate to put forward, the person with the most public support from the polls will be put center and so get the most attention, speaking time, etc., and will receive the most funding and stuff

The relationship between public opinion polls and elections, and policy debates, can be affected by how people view the reliability of these polls

social desirability bias: when people filling out surveys give a socially desirable answer even if they don’t agree or follow through with it

Non-response bias: certain groups are more likely to respond to public opinion polls than others

IDEOLOGIES OF POLITICAL PARTIES

Political ideology: an interlocking set of ideas that form the basis for political decision-making

conservative ideology: traditional social structures and existing structures of authority, limited government, high punishments for crime, states’ rights above federal power, government OUTSIDE the economy

liberal ideology: civil rights for the marginalized, efforts of social justice to ensure everyone has equal access to civil liberties, government involvement in caring for the poor, regulations on businesses, and intervention in the economy

Republican Party (GOP (Grand Old Party)): most closely aligns with conservative ideologies

Democratic party: most closely aligns with liberal ideology

party platform: a set of policy goals published by the party that tells you the kind of legislation they would pursue if they were to win the election

IDEOLOGY AND POLICY MAKING

Making English the official language of the US:

• republicans want to do this to unite Americans of all backgrounds and would save billions in federal spending

• liberals reject the idea because they see it as a tool of oppression, and sometimes racist, and to cause immigrants to learn English at the expense of their native language is an erasure of their cultural heritage

Multiculturalism v assimilation (as Americans, should we embrace multiculturalism, or is there a normative set of American cultural values?): liberals want multiculturalism, while conservatives want assimilation

IDEOLOGIES AND ECONOMIC POLICY

Fiscal policy: decisions the government makes about government spending and taxation, about how much money we need to spend and on what

monetary policy: decisions the government makes about how much money should be in the economy (how much money is in the economy)

the federal reserve (the fed)

The Fed exercises monetary policies by buying and selling government bonds, setting reserve requirements, and setting interest rates

Liberals favor government spending bc they believe that it keeps the government strong, which in turn keeps everyone safe and secure

• Liberals are big spenders when it comes to fiscal policies

• Keynesian economics:

  • In the 1930s election of FDR, Hoover did not do much when the great depression

  • First started bc he believed the market would fix itself.

  • However, people did not agree with this

  • Roosevelt pumped up government spending to help

  • (The idea of Keynesian economics is for the government to intervene through government spending)

Conservatives want less spending when it comes to fiscal policies and fewer taxes (they think the economy would fix itself)

• supply-side economics:

  • The idea is to help the economy by supporting businesses

  • If more goods are injected into the economy, it supports the supply side of the equation (businesses), and the economy will be good

  • Government regulations of businesses should be at a minimum, and taxes should be low so that people have more money to buy stuff

Businesses supply goods according to the demand from the consumers

Conservatives favor using monetary policy to stabilize the economy

Liberals tend to believe that monetary policy is too slow to effect real change (property rights, but no regulation on businesse)

Libertarian ideology: wants the least amount of government intervention as possible; the only thing the government is good for is to protect property rights

IDEOLOGIES AND SOCIAL POLICY

LIBERTARIANS

they want as little government involvement as possible

the only thing the government is good for is protecting private property and upholding individual liberty

support leaving the government out of marijuana, abortion

libertarians lean more conservatively when it comes to economic issues, but more liberal when it comes to social issues

LIBERALS

support abortion, gay marriage, legalize marijuana,

liberals want the government out of social issues, unlike the economic issues

CONSERVATIVES

want government involvement in abortion, marriage

want government out of guns, education, and religion

WEB TEXT chapter 9

public opinion - The population’s collective attitudes and beliefs about politics and government.

public policy - Action taken by the government to address societal problems or needs.

political values - The basic principles that people hold about government

political ideology - A coherent and consistent set of beliefs about the government.

People’s values shape their political beliefs and views on various issues, which make up a person’s political ideology.

consistent political attitude: opinions and a range on topics are always affiliated with the same party

unstable public opinion: when someone has frequent and unpredictable shifts in attitudes and beliefs

opinions change with time

political knowledge: level of understanding that one holds about state, national, and global politics

most Americans do not have high political knowledge

when someone has a stable public opinion they are more likely to have higher levels of political knowledge

The Pew Research Center identifies 9 different types of typologies

partisan polarization: the growing divide between Democrats and Republicans

intraparty difference: different beliefs within one party

political socialization: the process in which a person forms their political views

Two types of political socialization: primary and secondary

primary socialization: occurs early in life, influenced by family and close social networks

secondary socialization: occurs later in life, shaped by schools, workplaces, and media

socioeconomic status: the combo of education, occupation, and income that determines one’s position in society

gender gap: difference in party affiliation between men and women (men = Republicans, women = Democrats)

Older people are less progressive (liberal) than younger people

straw poll: informal poll that doesn’t use random sampling

scientific sampling uses random selection

exit polls: questions asked of voters when they leave a voting site

random sampling: a method of selecting survey participants where everyone has an equal chance of being selected

margin of error: a statistic suggesting the percentage to which the results may not be accurate

a smaller sample size increases the margin of error

the order and wording of questions impact the response

anti-federalists believe that public opinion should directly guide the decision-making of elected leaders

federalists believe that the public is better off listening to the wisdom of elected leaders

honeymoon period: the first several months of a new presidency where they face very little criticism

public approval tends to be cyclical

rally around the flag effect: the president receives high levels of support during times of crisis

People tend to approve of specific members of Congress while disapproving of Congress as a whole

The Framers designed Congress to move slowly

divided government: when one party controls the White House and another party controls the House, Senate, or both

WEB TEXT chapter 10

public policy: action taken by the government to address societal problems or needs

fragmentation: where separate governments seek to solve the same problem in different ways, creating conflict

federalism and the separation of powers are the sources of fragmentation

Systems Model (David Easton 1953)

stages of the policymaking process: agenda setting, formulation, adoption, implementation, and evaluation

Agenda setting: before a policy can be made an issue, it must become part of the agenda; presidential leadership, party platforms, and public demands influence the agenda

Patriot Act: federal legislation that expanded the intelligence-gathering and law-enforcement powers of the US government; passed in response to 9/11

iron triangles: coordination among congressional committees, bureaucratic agencies, and interest groups

military-industrial complex: Dwight D. Eisenhower used to describe the Iron Triangle’s relationship with lawmakers

stakeholders: those who have a vested interest in the policy at hand

the agenda is flexible to stakeholders

pluralist model of policymaking: Policy is influenced by different groups of people (stakeholders) depending on the issue

formulation: occurs once the agenda is set

think tanks: nonprofit organizations made up of professional policy analysts

policy adoption stage: officials decide whether to adopt any of the formal policy proposals that emerged from the formulation stage

administrative discretion: the flexibility in decision-making given to public administrators

contraception: methods of preventing conception or pregnancy

implementation: bureaucrats take the legislative language of the law and develop rules and regulations to bring the policy into action

street-level bureaucrats: civil servants who work directly with the public, such as teachers, policemen, and social workers

the top-down model of policy implementation originates with the federal government

policy evaluation: legislatures, state governments, the media, and the general public evaluate policy

categories of policy: foreign policy, diplomacy, trade, national security, domestic policy, economic policy, the federal budget, and monetary policy

Domestic Policy

types: distributive, redistributive, and regulatory

distributive: uses taxpayer money to fund programs that help specific businesses, groups, or people.

redistributive: uses taxpayer money from one segment of the population to help another group in need

regulatory: benefits society by prohibiting activities that might cause harm to oneself or others

Foreign Policy

includes treaties and trade agreements

it is led mostly by the executive branch

organizational features: diplomacy, trade, and security

diplomacy: US Mission to the UN, secretary of state, foreign service

trade: office of the US Trade Representative, US International Trade Commission, Department of Commerce

security: department of homeland security, central intelligence agency, department of defense

NAFTA: an agreement signed by the US, Mexico, and Canada in 1993 that eliminated trade barriers such as tariffs

tariffs: taxes levied on certain types of imports or exports

isolationism: a policy of avoiding involvement in other countries economic, political, or social issues

interventionism: a nation is best served by collaborating with other nations’ economic, political, or social behavior even if there is no direct provocation

the Truman doctrine: sought to prevent the spread of communism by providing support to democratic countries

Marshall Plan: a program where American aid was provided to European countries to help their economies recover from WWII

Bush doctrine: sought to protect the US from terrorism by launching military actions against groups identified as potential threats (wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were outgrowths of this)

Economic Policy

fiscal policy: using taxes and government spending to manage the economy

monetary policy: uses interest rates and money supply to manage the economy

laissez-faire economics: a philosophy promoting limited government regulation of economic markets

Federal Budge

Revenue: the money collected by the government through taxes, fees, and credit

revenue is used for government spending

outlays: the money spent by the government on goods, services, and obligations

deficits: the amount by which government spending exceeds government revenue in a year

national debt: the total amount of money owed by the federal government

The US uses revenues to fund government programs and services and to pay interest on our accumulated debt

2 types of meaningful budgetary spending: discretionary spending, and mandatory spending

discretionary spending: Congress's annual funding decisions for specific government programs and projects.

mandatory spending: automatic government funding for entitlement programs (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid) and debt interest

The Budget Control Act 2011 attempted to shrink the budget through sequestration; required $109B in spending cuts annually for 9 years

sequestration: automatic spending cuts to certain government departments and programs

Monetary Policy: central banking system to help the economy by managing unemployment, inflation, and interest rates

credit-default swaps: a financial contract where one party pays a premium to another party to take on the risk of loan defaults, essentially insuring against potential losses

Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008: federal legislation reaction to the mortgage crisis that involved government bailouts of financial institutions to restore confidence in the market