POSC103

America’s Demographic Profile

  • Demographic profile has changed

  • American population is larger, more diverse, older, and wealthier

  • Economic inequality and poverty still prevail

  • Middle class is shrinking, leading to a greater divide between the wealthy and those in lower income brackets.

  • Gen Z is the first generation that will not do better than their parents

The Troubled Working and Middle Classes - the American dream???

  • Hit hard by Great Recession and COVID-19 pandemic

  • Incomes have fallen or stagnated

  • Jobs less stable and predictable

The Millions Living in Poverty

  • Over 37 million remained below poverty line ($30K for a family of 4) in 2022

  • Black Americans and Hispanic Americans have high poverty rates

  • People in poverty do not exert much political influence

  • Despite recent improvements, like the Great Society programs, poverty persists

  • Poverty (independent variable)

    • Crime (dependent variable)

    • Low voting turnout (dependent variable)

    • Drug abuse (dependent variable)

    • Low educational attainment (dependent variable)

Federalism

  • Federal - Courts + President + SCOTUS

  • States - State Legislature + State Gov

Individualistic

  • Unalienable rights

    • Individual rights take priority

    • Purpose of government is to protect them

    • Personal ambition/get what you deserve

  • Equality of opportunity versus equality of outcomes

  • Deep belief in individual freedom

  • One’s fate is in one own hand rather being due to social and economic forces beyond one’s control

    • Do people still believe hard work pays off?

  • Should government handle both or just equality of opportunity

    • Equality of opportunity vs. equality of outcomes

Distrustful of Government

  • Republican constitutional system built on distrust of government

  • Most Americans are philosophical conservatives but also egalitarian pragmatists

  • Big government worries (too big, controlling)

    • Unique to America

  • Neo-liberalism

    • Hyped up capitalism, anti-regulations, no govt interaction

  • Watergate scandal accelerated the mistrust of the office of the President.

    • Nixon wanted to barge in the Watergate hotel where the DNC were holding meetings.

Populist

  • Belief that the common person is as good as elites, the privileged, and the powerful

  • Most common target has been concentrated economic power and those who exercise it

  • Staple of contemporary conservatism

Religious    

  • US is a religious society and the most religious among wealthy democracies

  • Category “no religious affiliation” is rising among young people

  • Religion affects politics

    • Impacts what issues become part of the debate and drawing of ideological and partisan lines

      • LGBTQIA+ rights

      • Anti-abortion

      • Anti-women individualism

The American Capitalist Economy

  • Capitalism is an economic system characterized by private ownership of productive assets

  • Most decisions about how to use assets are made by individuals and firms, not gov

  • Capitalism has many attributes.

  • 1980s was the increment of wealth of corporations, businesses

    • Reaganomics, trickle-down economics

Productivity and Human Development

  • U.S. consistently ranks at the top in GDP

  • Also ranked highly on the UN’S 2021-2022 Human Development Index

  • Societies with highest standards of living and wealth are capitalist

  • Some argue that economic growth adds to global climate crisis

Chapter 3

  • The purpose of news was to be the watchdog of the government, to hold public officials.

    • News media doesn’t do that anymore

  • We also know that interest groups or grassroots orgs influence local, state, and federal laws

    • M.A.D.D., B.L.M.

  • Think-tanks

    • Brookings, EPI, CBEP, Heritage, CATO

  • How to spend money on candidates

    • Campaigns, then lobbyists can call rep on behalf on the client who gave the money.

The Plutocratic Feedback Loop

  • Capitalism generates wealth and economic inequality

  • Wealth is converted into political influence

The Plutocrats

  • Elite media coverage

  • corporate media conglomerates

  • elite universities and boards

  • major corps.

  • private equity firms

  • real estate conglomerates

  • billionaires

  • hedge fund managers

  • lobbying firms

The Three Faces of Power

  • Direct influence through lobbying, persuasion, and political conflict

    • Based upon the work of Dahl who said that person who wins and argument, or an issue, has the power. This fits with the pluralist approach to power.

    • A parent wins an argument with their child, so they have the power

    • The nature of this power is visible, transparent and easily measured

  • Keeping issues off the political agenda through non-decision making

    • You have real power if you can set the agenda. This is because you can decide what will be argued about, therefore dictating the situation

    • Powerful individuals or groups can control whether preferences are expressed

    • This power can be invisible to most but visible to the agenda setters

  • Shaping beliefs and preferences so people support policies against their interest