Tayvion Dennis- Semester One Review Guide

Political Culture

1. Definition: Political culture refers to the shared beliefs, values, and norms that influence how citizens engage in the political process.

2. American Values:

   • Emphasis on democracy, individual rights, and freedom.

   • Non-values include apathy towards politics or mistrust in government.

3. Political Efficacy:

   • Political efficacy is the belief that one’s participation in politics is meaningful, impacting voter turnout significantly.

4. Factors Influencing Voting:

   • The most crucial factor determining whether a person votes is their level of education.

   • Demographic groups that tend to vote less include younger voters, minorities, and individuals with lower education levels.

Political Socialization

5. Sources: Americans become politically socialized through family, schools, media, and religious institutions.

Polls and Polling

6. Importance of Polling: Polling plays a critical role in gauging public opinion and predicting election outcomes.

7. Requirements for Valid Polls: Valid polls must have a representative sample, proper wording of questions, and a sufficient sample size.

8. Risk of Exit Polls: Relying on exit polls can be risky for media as they can mislead the public before official results are available.

Political Participation

9. Forms of Participation: Three forms include voting, campaigning, and interest group activities; voting is the most common in the U.S.

10. Unconventional Participation: An example of unconventional political participation is protesting or civil disobedience.

11. Structural Barriers: Examples include voter ID laws and limited polling places.

12. Increasing Voter Turnout: Automatic voter registration has been shown to increase voter turnout significantly.

Political Parties

A. Functions of Parties in America

13. Functions: Political parties help organize elections, simplify voting choices, provide a platform for policies, and recruit candidates.

14. Partisanship: Partisanship can be defined as loyalty to a political party.

B. Third Parties

15. Limitations: The American political system limits third parties through winner-take-all elections and ballot access laws.

16. Spoiler Effect: Third parties can act as spoilers by attracting votes away from major party candidates; an example is Ralph Nader and the 2000 presidential election.

C. Party History

17. Party Realignment: During realignment, significant shifts in party loyalty occur, exemplified by the New Deal coalition.

18. Party Dealignment: This involves a decline in party loyalty among voters.

19. Split Ticket Voting: It contributes to dealignment by encouraging voters to choose candidates from different parties on the same ballot.

20. Current Dealignment: Many political scientists believe the U.S. is experiencing dealignment due to increasing independent voters.

Elections

A. Cost of Elections

21. Campaign Costs: Campaigns are expensive due to marketing, staff, and outreach efforts.

22. Political Action Committees (PACs): PACs raise and spend money to elect or defeat political candidates.

B. Campaign Finance Reform

23. Soft Money: Soft money refers to unregulated donations made to political parties; the McCain-Feingold Act aimed to restrict these contributions.

24. Federal Elections Commission (FEC): The FEC regulates campaign finance laws and oversees disclosure of campaign contributions.

25. Citizens United v FEC: This 2010 Supreme Court case ruled that corporations and unions can spend unlimited money on political campaigns.

26. PAC vs. SuperPAC: Key differences include contribution limits, types of donors, and spending regulations.

C. Incumbency

27. Incumbent Defined: An incumbent is a current officeholder; House members often re-elect due to gerrymandering and name recognition.

28. Reapportionment: This is the process of reallocating seats in the House based on census data.

29. Gerrymandering Controversy: Gerrymandering is controversial because it can manipulate electoral outcomes by drawing district lines favoring one party.

D. Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions

30. Caucuses vs. Primaries: Caucuses involve discussion and deliberation while primaries are direct voting methods.

31. Closed vs. Open Primaries: Closed primaries restrict voting to registered party members; open primaries allow all voters to participate.

32. Frontloading: States hold early primaries/caucuses to influence candidate momentum.

33. National Conventions: National conventions are where parties formally nominate their candidates for president.

34. Incumbent Pros and Cons:

• Pros: Established name recognition, access to fundraising.

• Cons: Accountability for current administration's actions, potential for low enthusiasm.

E. The Electoral College

35. Framers' Hesitance: The Framers feared direct democracy could lead to mob rule and instability.

36. How It Works: The Electoral College uses electors to elect the president based on state popular votes; winner-take-all affects the focus on swing states.

37. Electoral College Pros and Cons:

• Pros: Protects minority interests, enhances stability.

• Cons: Can undermine popular sovereignty, exaggerates the importance of swing states.

Media in Politics

38. Role in Public Policy: Media shapes public opinion and can influence policy decisions by informing the public and officials.

39. Investigative Role: When exposing wrongdoing, media act as a watchdog in democracy.

40. Critique of Horse Race Coverage: Focusing on who is winning can detract from substantive policy discussions.

Constitutional Beginnings

A. Nature of Democracy

41. Direct vs. Representative: Direct democracy allows citizens to vote directly on laws, while a representative democracy involves electing officials to make decisions.

II. American Documents

A. Declaration of Independence

42. Lockean Ideas: The Declaration incorporates John Locke’s ideas, such as natural rights and government by consent.

B. Articles of Confederation

43. Weaknesses: Weak central government, inability to levy taxes, and lack of executive authority.

C. Federalist #10

44. Factions: Factions are groups of citizens united by a common interest; the Founders viewed them as a threat to stable governance.

D. Federalist #51

45. Most Powerful Branch: The legislative branch is powerful and is constrained by checks and balances.

G. The U.S. Constitution

46. Great Compromise Features: Established a bicameral legislature with a House based on population and a Senate with two representatives per state.

H. Constitutional Principles

47. Constitutional Principles:

• Popular Sovereignty: The authority of the government is created by and subject to the will of the people.

• Limited Government: Government powers are restricted to protect individual rights.

• Separation of Powers: Power is divided among branches to prevent any one from becoming too powerful.

• Checks and Balances: Each branch has the ability to restrain powers of the others.

• Federalism: Power is shared between national and state governments.

I. Purpose and Intent of the Founders

48. Bill of Rights Demand: Many states wanted a Bill of Rights to protect individual liberties.

49. McCulloch v Maryland Precedent: Established the supremacy of federal law over state law.

50. U.S. v Lopez Precedent: Limited Congress’s powers under the Commerce Clause concerning criminal law.

III. American Federalism

51. Types of Constitutional Powers:

• Enumerated Powers: Powers explicitly stated in the Constitution.

• Implied Powers: Powers not expressly stated but necessary to implement enumerated powers.

• Inherent Powers: Powers that naturally belong to any sovereign government.

• Reserved Powers: Powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved for the states.

• Concurrent Powers: Powers shared by both federal and state governments.

52. Elastic Clause: The "necessary and proper clause" is called elastic because it allows Congress to stretch its powers to meet new needs.

53. Commerce Clause: The commerce clause has been used to justify expansive federal regulations on interstate commerce.

B. Cooperative Federalism

54. Marble Cake Federalism: Cooperative federalism is described as marble cake federalism to illustrate the blend of state and national responsibilities.

C. Fiscal Federalism

55. Fiscal Federalism Meaning: Refers to the financial relationships between different levels of government.

56. Block Grants vs. Categorical Grants: Block grants give states more control compared to categorical grants, which are more restrictive.

57. Unfunded Mandates Controversy: The problem arises when the federal government requires states to perform functions without providing adequate funding; the Americans with Disabilities Act is a key example.

58. Devolution: This concept involves transferring responsibilities and powers from the federal government back to the states.