US Gov. Unit 2

Citizen Participation:

  • Required:
    • Register for the draft
    • Jury duty
    • Paying taxes
  • Expected:
    • Voting
    • Volunteering
    • Civil service jobs

Impact of Citizen Participation:

→ political participation simply means that a person is participating in the political process by making his or her opinions and beliefs known (should involve everyone)

  • Participating in a public protest
  • Wear a button
  • Sticker with a political message
  • Letters to the editor

Role of Interest Groups:

  1. Interest groups seek to have their interest (agenda) implemented by the federal government
  2. Interest groups want to influence public policy, congress, and government
  3. Interest groups want to change laws
  4. Interest groups want to access and influence policymakers
  5. Interest groups have like-minded people/policy advocates in office
  6. Interest groups gets legislation passed with the help of lobbyist
  7. Lobbying is the process by which group pressures are applied to all aspects of the public policy-making process

→ interest groups are most interested in influencing specific public policies; most interest groups are formed on the basis of economic interests

Voting Requirements:

  • Age: at least 18 in FL

  • Citizen of the US: all states for federal elections

  • Resident: resident of county and state you are voting in FL

  • ID: picture ID in FL

    * Secret Ballot: vote written on paper or a ballot (requirement in all states)

Voting Trends:

  • Age: older people vote more
  • Education: higher level of education vote more
  • Income: make more money, higher income vote more
  • Race: white people tend to vote more than minorities
  • Gender: more women vote democrat - more men vote republican

*voter turnout among 18-year-olds was higher immediately after passage of the 26th amendment, but then dropped significantly; based on voter turnout statistics, many people find voting for the president more important than voting for members of Congress

Propaganda: media that uses carefully-crafted messages to manipulate people’s actions and beliefs

  • Testimonials: involve celebrities or other respected people endorsing, or officially supporting, a product or idea
  • Bandwagon: creates the impression that there is widespread support for a thing or idea
  • Name-calling: using negative words and bad names to create fear and dislike for people, ideas, or institutions
  • Glittering generalities: use simple, clever slogans that appeal to peoples’ emotions
  • Card stacking: uses facts and figures to show one side as positive and the other side as negative
  • Transfer: uses your feelings about one thing to get you to feel the same way about something else

Presidential Nomination:

  • Primary elections are held; republicans vote for the republican candidate; democrats vote for the democrat
  • The inauguration -- on January 20th, the president is sworn into office

Campaign Funding Sources: Individual funders + Political Action Campaigns (PACs) and Super PACs

Political Parties:

→ the two - party system developed in the United States mainly because conflicts about the Constitution created opposing viewpoints

→ United States political parties focus on winning elections; both parties try to appeal to as many voters as possible

Political Party Issues:

  • Abortion:
    • democrats: pro-choice; republicans: pro-life/emphasis on promoting alternatives
  • Energy:
    • democrats: wish to find environmentally friendly energy sources and solutions; republicans: support tax incentives for energy production
  • Gay Rights:
    • democrats: generally support gay marriage, some democrats only support civil unions; republicans: oppose gay marriage, support constitutional amendment to ban gay marraige
  • Immigration:
    • democrats: generally support open borders but not all democrats believe this; republicans: generally support closed or tight borders and tracking system for foreign travelers
  • Social Security:
    • democrats: social security should remain a government sponsored insurance plan for retirees; republicans: privatized (not to be confused with private savings accounts, but rather private investments)

*party membership in either of the two major parties is voluntary and based on personal choice; family is the earliest and one of the most significant agents in the political socialization process

Media:

  • TV is the main source of political information for about 80% of the population; 1990’s saw a marked increase in the number of people who receive their news and political information from the internet