II. Political Beliefs and Behaviors. Individual citizens hold a variety of beliefs about their government, its leaders, and the U.S. political system in general; taken together, these beliefs form the foundation of U.S. political culture . It is important for students to - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Individual citizens hold a variety of beliefs about their government, its leaders, and the U.S. political system in general; taken together, these beliefs form the foundation of U.S. political culture. It is important for students to understand how these beliefs are formed, how they evolve, and the processes by which they are transmitted. Students should know why U.S. citizens hold certain beliefs about politics, and how families, schools, and the media act to perpetuate or change these beliefs. Understanding the ways in which political culture affects and informs political participation is also critical. For example, students should know that individuals often engage in multiple forms of political participation, including voting, protest, and mass movements. Students should understand why individuals engage in various forms of political participation and how that participation may affect the political system. Finally, it is essential that students understand what leads citizens to differ from one another in their political beliefs and behavior and the political II. Political Beliefs and Behaviors
Transcript
Individual citizens hold a variety of beliefs about their government, its leaders, and the U.S. political system in general; taken together, these beliefs form the foundation of U.S. political culture. It is important for students to understand how these beliefs are formed, how they evolve, and the processes by which they are transmitted. Students should know why U.S. citizens hold certain beliefs about politics, and how families, schools, and the media act to perpetuate or change these beliefs. Understanding the ways in which political culture affects and informs political participation is also critical. For example, students should know that individuals often engage in multiple forms of political participation, including voting, protest, and mass movements. Students should understand why individuals engage in various forms of political participation and how that participation may affect the political system.
Finally, it is essential that students understand what leads citizens to differ from one another in their political beliefs and behavior and the political consequences of these differences. To understand these differences, students should focus on the demographic features of the American population and the different views that people hold of the political process. They should be aware of group differences in political beliefs and behavior. Students should also understand how changes in political participation affect the political system.
II. Political Beliefs and Behaviors
Political Culture v. Ideology
Political Culture• A set of general
attitudes, ideas and beliefs
• Broadly informs and shapes a region’s politics
Ideology• A set of specific
attitudes, ideas and beliefs
• Provides or advocates a coherent plan for social, political, or economic action
Political culture is different from ideology because people can disagree on ideology, but still have a common political culture.
Ideology is individual. It orders an individual's political thoughts. People with the same ideology often form groups, but an ideology guides individual political thought.
Political culture is shared (i.e. it is societal).
Example: Many people in the United States are classic liberals (meaning they focus on the rights of individuals). By contrast, many people in China reject liberalism. Liberalism is an ideology since it is held by individuals. However, we can use elements from political culture to explain the strength of an ideology. Many people in the United States are liberals because the value of the individual is part of our political culture. By contrast, the value of groups of people is reflected in Chinese poliltical culture, resulting in a rejection by many individuals of liberalism.
(1) a particular distribution of political attitudes, values, feelings, information and skills that affects a political system .
(4) the traditional orientation of the citizens of a nation toward politics, affecting their perceptions of political legitimacy
(5) Norms and beliefs about politics that are shared and transmitted to others.
(3) A belief system that explains and justifies a preferred economic and governmental order for society, offers strategies for its maintenance or attainment and helps give meaning to public events, personalities and policies
(2) a set of beliefs and ideas that one can apply to policies and events ; one’s political moral code and world view
comp 2009The following are acceptable definitions:• A coherent set of values and beliefs about the goals of government, public policy, or politics.• A belief system about how government should rule, be run, or implement policies.• A set of beliefs or guiding principles about government and policy.• A set of aims, principles, and ideas that inform political practice.Notes: Definition must indicate that __________is not just one idea or opinion but is a pattern of belief(s) about politics, policy, or government.
Where Do You Fit?The Political Party Test
Make sure you look at social issues/economic issues as well as overall AND how you compare based on gender religion etc
Another result of FREEDOM and individualism and distrust of gov’t and . . . That ole protestant work ethic
.
Looking at Specific Country ExamplesTo take but one example among many: A comparativist observes that the United States' health-care system is funded mainly by private sources, while the United Kingdom's system is funded by government (through an organization called the National Health Service, or NHS). She further notices that in the UK health care is guaranteed to all, while in the United States more than 40 million citizens do without. But she also notes that those Americans with health insurance have an easier time receiving certain medical procedures (kidney dialysis and transplants, triple-bypass heart surgeries) than their counterparts across the Atlantic. All of the aforementioned differences between the U.S. and UK health-care systems are, in and of themselves, interesting, but you probably want to know more, such as why the two countries' health-care systems are different, and which one is "better."
Our comparativist is like you. Her inquiring mind wants to know, so she investigates. In her probe, she is not likely to confine herself to health care in the United States and the UK (her dependent variable, if I may be technical); she will focus on other issues that she thinks might have "caused" health-care systems between the two countries to be so different. These factors (independent variables) would likely include U.S. and UK history, geography, demography, economy, political institutions, interest groups, and citizen attitude toward government and the private sector.
Comparative Politics Made Simple
She spends hours reading about many possible factors: the insular history of the United States and the empire-making history of the UK (which favored the formation of a healthy army and civil servants who could be dispatched around the world); the virtual absence of socialist ideology in the mainstream of American politics and the existence of Fabian socialist ideology in the UK; the division of policy making between separate, if not to say competing, branches of government in the United States and the fusion of executive and parliamentary powers in the UK (which makes for less contention in policy making and implementation); and, above all, her own survey, which indicates that Britons "trust" government more than Americans. Our comparativist may now feel that she "knows" why Americans and Britons have different health-care systems. She may conclude that, although the health-care system differences that exist between the United States and the UK have many "causes," one seems to be stronger than all the others: Britons trust government more than Americans.
• Pragmatic--less ideological,
___________is a political philosophy that emphasizes that the common person is being oppressed by elites so that the instruments of the state need to be grasped from this self-serving elite and used for the benefit and advancement of the people as a whole.
What has shaped our political culture? History • founding fathers who distrust human nature and authority• first "new" nation--put ideas into practice• assert our rights--make us more adversarial--not gradual
evolution of rights like UK • no history of aristocracy, no strong socialist or communist
party• Western Frontier--lots of room to expand, opportunity, run over
others (Western states, especially individual, and democratic: weak parties, more women in politics, more initiatives etc)
• Founders escape religious freedom (though had it in Holland-so escape here for economic opportunity)
Religion• Many Americans cite religion as important in life• Religious leaders use pulpit for political change• Protestant work ethic
Family structure--more equal, kids have rights, talk back etcEconomic system: capitalism depends on individual rights,
less reliance on stateGovernment efforts--promote capitalism, school
socialization, etc.
How do we measure the political beliefs of Americans?And why’s it matter what Americans think?
For the presidential candidates and the pundits who write about them, one concern in the 2008 campaign is the "religion gap" -- shorthand for the religious differences between Republican and Democratic voters. An analysis of national exit polls from 2004 shows there is not one but two religion gaps -- one based on religious affiliation and the other based on frequency of attendance at worship services. In the 2004 presidential election, exit polling by the National Election Pool found that religious affiliation and frequency of attendance at worship services had a larger impact than many other, better-known factors, including the "gender gap" between men and women and the "class gap" between
the most and least affluent voters.
Note the effect of Cross cutting cleavages
Evangelical Protestants" refers to respondents who described themselves as white, born-again and Protestant as well as respondents who described themselves as white, born-again and Other Christian. "Mainline Protestants" refers to respondents who described themselves as white, non-born-again and Protestant. "Black Protestants" refers to respondents who described themselves as black and Protestant as well as respondents who described themselves as black and Other Christian. "Latino Protestants" refers to respondents who described themselves as Hispanic and Protestant as well as respondents who described themselves as Hispanic and Other Christian. "Non-Latino Catholics" refers to respondents who described themselves as Catholic but not Hispanic. "Latino Catholics" refers to respondents who described themselves as Hispanic and Catholic. "Other Christians" refers to respondents who described themselves as Mormon as well as
respondents who described themselves as white, non-born-again and Other Christian. "Jews" refers to respondents who described themselves as Jewish. "Other Faiths" refers to respondents who described themselves as Muslim as well as respondents who reported that they regularly attend worship services and described their religious affiliation as "Something Else." "Unaffiliated" refers to respondents who claimed no religious affiliation as well as infrequent worship service attenders who described their religious affiliation as "Something Else."
Political Socialization
Definition: the process through which the individual gets political knowledge, feelings and evaluation regarding the political system
Media
School
all regimes target the youth for obvious reasons . . .in part this is just civics
also--a more educated citizenry is more likely to be "informed" which is a critical aspect of democracy
Other ways governments act as agents of socialization—by promoting _________(the belief that someone who occupies the same territory has something important in common which makes them superior) which helps them achieve __________.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran said his country was seeking better ways to make atomic fuel.
NYT 4/17/2006
Propaganda Definition: ideas, facts or rumors spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opponent's cause
extremes of the CPI (Committee on Public Information) but it is also the "spin" all politicians put on their actions and proposals
but: compare it to China or former Soviet Union where press is controlled by government
More governments attempts to socializemaking possible certain kinds of participatione.g. the ________amendment (right to vote for 18 year olds)
Censorship or P______ __________”
The American Library Association says that among the most frequently challenged books of the decade 1990-2000 were: I know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya AngelouHarry Potter (Series) by J.K. RowlingA Light in the Attic by Shel SilversteinJulie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead GeorgeGoosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stein
Importance of civil society to political socialization
Other agents of socialization can be based on your experiences connected to . . . Religion EthnicityGenderRegionRaceIncomeLevel of education. . . cleavages
Other Concerted Attempts to Socialize you:
The Expanding American Electorate• 1789: Adult, White Men, Property Owners
• 1850: literacy laws & poll taxes enforced
• 1866: 14th Amd. granted right to all 21 year old men
• 1870: 15th Amd. granted right to vote to Blacks
• 1920: 19th Amd. granted right to vote to women
• 1964: 24th Amd. outlaws poll taxes
• 1965: Voting Rights Act fully incorporates Black voters
• 1971: 26th Amd. granted right to vote to 18 year olds
• 1975: VRA Amendment to include language minorities (bilingual voting info)
The archbishop of Washington, Theodore E. McCarrick, addressing demonstrators at an immigration rally Monday in Washington.
Throngs of immigrants and their supporters called for legal status and citizenship for illegal immigrants. NYT 4/10/2006
Other types of Participation
Directed at Congress
Directed at the Sup Ct
What did the book id as “unconventional political participation?
