Unit 4 - American Political Ideologies and Beliefs

10-15% weighting

American Attitudes About Government and Politics

  • different interpretations of core values including individualism, equality of opportunity, free enterprise, and rule of law affect the relationship between citizens and the deferral government and that citizens have with each other

    • individualism - each person has the ability to shape their life and destiny through their choices

    • free enterprise - the market determines prices, products, and services

    • rule of law - every person must follow and is accountable to the same laws

Political Socialization

  • political socialization - process by which individuals develop political beliefs, values, opinions, and behaviors

    • family, schools, peers, media, and social environments

  • U.S. political culture is defined by its democratic ideals, principles, and core values

    • as a result of globalization, U.S. political culture has influenced and been influenced by the values of other countries

Changes in Ideology

  • generational effects - experiences shared by people of a common age

  • life cycle effects - experiences a person encounters during different life stages

  • generational effects and life cycle effects both contribute to the development of political ideology

Influence of Political Events on Ideology

  • major political events can influence the development of individual political attitudes - ex. of political socialization

  • political socialization influences political ideology

Measuring Public Opinion

  • public opinion can affect elections and policy debates

    • opinion polls - measuring public opinion on various issues

    • benchmark polls - creating baseline views of a candidate

    • tracking polls - following how views of a candidate change during a campaign

    • exit polls - collecting data on why people voted the way they did

  • public opinion data that can affect elections and policy debates is influenced by polling methodology. its more precise when it has:

    • accurate sampling methods, including margin of error

    • neutral framing of questions - specific and unbiased wording

    • accurate reporting - clear reporting and conclusions can be supported by the data

Evaluating Public Opinion Data

  • The relationship between scientific polling and elections and policy debates is affected by the

    • importance of public opinion as a source of political influence in a given election of policy debate

    • reliability and veracity of public opinion data

Ideologies of Political Parties

  • democratic party platforms generally align more closely to liberal ideology

  • republican party platforms generally align more closely to conservative ideological positions

Ideology and Policymaking

  • because U.S. is a democracy with a diverse society, public policies generated at any given time reflect the attitudes and beliefs of citizens who choose to participate in politics at that time

  • the balancing dynamic of individual liberty and government efforts to promote stability and order has been reflected in policy debates and their outcomes over time

Ideology and Economic Policy

  • liberal ideologies favor more governmental regulation of the marketplace

  • conservative ideologies favor fewer regulations

  • libertarian ideologies favor little to no regulation of the marketplace beyond the protection of property rights and voluntary trade

  • fiscal policy consists of actions taken by congress and the president to influence economic conditions

    • includes Keynesian and supply-side positions

    • monetary policy consists of actions taken by the Fedeal reserve to influence interest rates which affect broader economic conditions

      • the Fed is an independent agency which seeks to achieve maximum employment and price stability

Ideology and Social Policy

  • liberal ideologies generally favor more nation government involvement to address some social issues such as education and public health, with less responsibility for these issues left to state governments

  • conservative ideologies generally favor less national government involvement to address some social issues such as education and public health, with more responsibility for these issues left to state governments

  • libertarian ideologies generally favor little national or state government involvement except for when national/state government is protecting private property or individual liberty

  • policy trends concerning the level of government involvement in social issues reflect the success of conservative or liberal perspectives in political parties