Unit 3 ReviewPolitical behavior,

Political parties and Interest groups

Wade Behringer, Sean Murry, Justin GrassPeriod 4

Political behavior: tendencies of voters and political views of a population.

Political parties: groups of people with similar political views who group together to steer or take control of the government, typically by winning elections to get their nominees into offices where they can influence politics.

Interest groups: linkage institutions which help people get involved in the political process by informing political parties of the views of the people; they help political parties respond to the people and thus gain popularity and reelection, while the interest group gets its views into the government and helps influence the political process.

Vocabulary

1. Political socialization: The process through which an individual acquires his or her particular political orientation, knowledge, feelings, and evaluations regarding his or her political

world.

2. political culture: and overall set values widely shared within a society.

3. public opinion: the distribution of the population beliefs about politics and policy issues.

4. political ideology: a coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose. It helps give meaning to political events, personalities, and policies.

5. political efficacy: the belief that one's political participation really matters.

6. ticket splitting: when someone votes for candidates of different parties in the same election.

7. political party: a team of men and women seeking to control the government apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election.

8. party era: historical periods in which a majority of voters cling to the party in power, which tends to win the majority of the elections.

9. critical election: an electoral earthquake whereby new issues emerge, new coalition to replace old ones, and the majority party is off and displaced by the minority party.

10. party realignment: the displacement of the majority party by the minority party, usually during a critical election period.

11. party dealignment: the gradual disengagement of people and politicians from the parties, as seen in part by shrinking party identification.

12. interest group: An organization people with shared policy goals entering the policy process several points to try to achieve those goals.

13. political action committee: funding vehicles created by the 1974 campaign finance reform. A corporation, union, or some other interest group can create a PAC and register it with the Federal Election Commission, which will meticulously monitor the PAC's expenditures.

14. Free-rider problem: the problem faced by unions and other groups when people do not join because they can benefit from the group's activities without officially joining.

15. lobbying: communication by someone other than a citizen acting on his own behalf, direct the emergence of a non-caucasian majority, as compared with a white, generally Anglo Saxon majority. It is predicted that, by about 2060, Hispanic Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans together will outnumber white Americans.

17. reapportionment: the process of relocating seats in the House of Representatives for 10 years on the basis of the results of the census.

18. random sampling: The technique employed by sophisticated survey researchers, which operates on the principle that everyone should have an equal probability of being selected for the sample.

19. sampling error: the level of confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll. The more people interviewed, the more confident one can be of the results.

20. exit polls: public opinion surveys used by major media pollsters to predict electoral winners with speed and precision.

21. rational-choice theory: a popular theory in political science to explain the actions of voters as well as politicians. It assumes that individuals act in their best interest, carefully weighing the costs and benefits of possible alternatives.

22. party identification: A citizen's self-proclaimed preference for one party or the other.

23. coalition: a group of individuals with a common interest upon which every political party depends.

24. party neutrality: a term used to describe the fact that many Americans are indifferent towards the two major political parties

.

25. winner-take-all system: an electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded on way to the candidates who, in first in their constituencies. In American presidential elections, the system in which the winner of the popular vote in a state receives all of the electoral votes of that state.

26. proportional representation: An electoral system used throughout most of Europe but you gotta point that awards legislative seats to the political parties in proportion to the number of votes won in an election.

27. responsible party model: Model favored by some political scientist’s about how parties should work. According to the model, parties should offer clear choices to the voters, you can then use those choices as cues to their own preference of candidates. Once in office, parties would carry out their campaign promises.

28. subgovernments: A network of groups within the American political system which exercise a great deal of control over specific policy areas. Also known as iron triangles, sub governments are composed of interest group leaders interested in my particular policy, the government agency in charge of administering that policy, and the members of congressional committees and subcommittees handling that policy.

29. single-issue groups: Groups that have a narrow interest, tend to dislike compromise, and often form membership from people new to politics.

30. amicus curiae briefs: legal briefs submitted by a friend of the court for the purpose of raising additional points of view and presenting information not contained in the briefs of formal party. These briefs attempt to influence a court's decision.

31. class action suits: lawsuits permitting a small number of people to sue on behalf of all other people similarly situated.

32. public interest lobbies: Organizations that seek a collective good, the achievement of which will not selectively and materially benefit from the membership or activities of the organization.

Guiding Questions

1. What factors shape public opinion?A variety of factors, such as one’s family’s political views, race, ethnicity, education level,

gender, age and region can shape public opinion.

2. What is political socialization and how do individual’s beliefs evolve?Political socialization is the process of “learning” one’s own stance in the political arena.

An individual’s political views evolve as they learn from their family, peers, and schooling; factors that influence these views further include education level, race, gender and age.

3. What are linkage institutions, and why are these important?Linkage institutions, such as political parties, interest groups, and the media bridge the

gap between politics and the people by informing voters on key issues, giving their stances, and shaping the public opinion.

4. How does public opinion influence the political process?Since the power vested in the government is, by definition of the founding fathers, held

by the people, and since the people directly decide some key elections, such as the elections of senators, their opinion is critical in deciding who gets into the government and thus what the government does.

5. Examine the influence of demographic factors on political participation and ideology.Demographic factors, such as race, age, gender and region can influence political

participation through a feeling of political efficacy, or a feeling that one’s political participation matters. If one feels oppressed or forgotten by the government, they will likely believe that their vote is pointless and will be less likely to participate than someone with a high level of political efficacy. Also, since people are more likely to support legislation that helps them, demographics shape political ideology by dividing people into groups that benefit from certain types of legislation.

6. Assess the various means by which individuals participate in American politics.The most common form of political participation is voting. However, people can also

participate by lobbying for their candidates, lobbying legislation, or even running for office themselves. This makes the government more representative of the people and helps keep the common man in power.

7. How do political parties impact the political process?Political parties impact the political process by getting nominees in, setting agendas, and

linking the people to the government. By controlling spots in the government, the party can implement its agenda, and in order to keep their candidates in power, they must gain the support of the people.

8. What has led to calls for party reform?The current two-party system often excludes third parties from politics, keeping some

people from being represented effectively. This has led to some calls for reform that will better represent each individual person rather than a general majority.

9. How do interest groups affect the political process, and what advantages do they garner for represented sectors?

Interest groups affect politics by drawing support support from the people to lobby certain goals to the government, influencing legislation and decision-making.

10. What are the ideological stances of the major parties, and how have these throughout American history? What roles have minor parties played in politics?

The republicans believe in limited government, laissez faire economics, balanced budgets, equal opportunity, and privilege to the wealthy (usually white males), contrary to their beginnings as the “abolitionist’s” party that, under Abraham Lincoln, freed the slaves. The democrats believe in an active government, business regulation, deficit spending, equal result, and minority privilege, contrary to the 1860s-1920s democratic party, which drew support from white southerners and was, to a certain extent, anti-minorities. Minor parties, while they make little direct impact in the federal government, often gain large support in smaller regions and can “steal” votes from larger parties to tip elections.

11. What are PACs, and how do they affect the political process?funding vehicles created by the 1974 campaign finance reform. A corporation, union, or

some other interest group can create a PAC and register it with the Federal Election Commission, which will meticulously monitor the PAC's expenditures.