1. Political Beliefs and Behaviors
AP Government UNIT 2
Political Beliefs and Behaviors

2. POLITICAL CULTURE Definition 10 Characteristics of American Culture
Liberty, Rugged Individualism, Equality, Democracy, Civic Duty, Distrust in Government, Efficacy (influence and understanding), tolerance, pragmatism, justice
DON’T TOUCH!

3. IDEOLOGY and PUBLIC POLICY
Background
Ideology Definition
Ideologues

4. IDEOLOGY and PUBLIC POLICY
2. Liberalism
Classical vs. Modern
Peak
Decline
Neoliberals
GOVERNMENT

5. IDEOLOGY and PUBLIC POLICY
Conservatism
A. = Classical liberalism
B. Resurgence since 1970s
C. Neoconservatives/ New Right
1. Social
2. Economic
3. Foreign Policy
Government

6. IDEOLOGY and PUBLIC POLICY
Socialism
Libertarianism

7. PUBLIC OPINION Types of Publics Who is paying attention?
Elite, attentive, mass

8. PUBLIC OPINION II. Types of Opinions Death Penalty Military Draft
Abortion
Presidential Popularity
Opinion types: stable, fluid, latent, intense, nonintense, salient (personal),consensus, polarizing
Building Codes
Gun Control
Balanced Budget
ERA

9. PUBLIC OPINION Measurements of Public Opinion a. Election- but why?
b. Straw polls- inaccurate
c. Scientific polls
1. Construction
2. Use
3. Abuse of Polls
Abuse of polls image= horserace aspects of coverage

10. PUBLIC OPINION IV. Public Awareness and Interest in Politics
Little interest on the part of the public. No knowledge of things like who serves on the Supreme Court

11. POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION
Definition
8 Agents of socialization
Family, school, religion, race, income, opinion leaders, media, gender

12. VOTER TURNOUT 21 Historical qualifications for suffrage
Religion, property ownership, race, gender, money (poll tax), literacy, Age 21

13. VOTER TURNOUT II. Current Qualifications (set by states)
A. Citizenship
B. Residency
C. Age
D. Registration (except ND)

14. VOTER TURNOUT III. Voter turnout in the US vs. other countries
A. Turnout in various elections…
B. Why the other Western nations have higher turnouts- around 90%:
1. Penalties
2. Multi-party system
3. Registration

15. VOTER TURNOUT IV. Reasons for low voter turnout
A. Institutional barriers
1. Registration - Motor Voter Registration Act
2. Long Ballot
3. Type of Election
4. Absentee Ballot
5. Ballot Fatigue - too many elections
6. Young people
B. 4 Political Reasons: efficacy, candidates, no competition, mobilization efforts

16. VOTER TURNOUT V. Who Votes?
A. Characteristics of likely voters- EDUCATED,older, white, wealthy
B. Does low turnout matter? YES and NO

17. FACTORS AFFECTING VOTER BEHAVIOR
Geography
Strong Presidential candidates (coattail effect)
Timing (realignment, midterms)
Party Affiliation (strongest)
Demographics

18. FACTORS AFFECTING VOTER BEHAVIOR
Hillary ‘08
I like Cheney!
Demographics Continued:
A. Sex
B. Race
C. Social Class
D. Religion
Rep.
Dems
VS.

19. FACTORS AFFECTING VOTER BEHAVIOR
6. Issues
Retrospective - are you better off today than you were four years ago
vs.
Prospective- looking ahead at how a candidate will handle something
7. Candidate Appeal
8. Residency in Florida (in ,000 people voted for all 10 prez candidates, 700 voted for both Bush and Gore, 3600 voted for all 10 except Bush, 700 voted for all 10 except Gore

20. CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS
Intro
Schedule
Terms
Term limits = No-No
Single Member Districts

21. CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS
2. Primary Elections
Progressive Reform
Types
Closed - registered only
Open- pick party primary
Blanket- free love

22. CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS
Frank the
mailman
CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS
Factors Affecting Outcome of Congressional Elections
A. Incumbency- the greatest influence
= Permanent congress
The Incumbency Advantage
Franking Privilege
Staff
Patronage
Gerrymandering = safe seats
Committee Service
Name recognition: Duncan Hunter vs. Whats His Name
Casework
Pork Barrel
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Contains work for the district

23. CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS
I have no
chance
Oh, my poor opponent!
CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS
Factors Affecting Outcome of Congressional Elections Continued
Type of Elections
Incumbent Campaign
Weak Challenger
Strong Challenger
Open Seat- think of musical chairs
House vs Senate
Midterms = bad for President
I can do it!
Somebody fill me!

24. CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS
Factors Affecting Outcome of Congressional Elections Continued
Coattail Effect
Media
Party Affiliation
Issues- scandals anyone?
Campaign Consultants
Technology

25. PATH TO THE PRESIDENCY

26. PATH TO THE PRESIDENCY Pros of Nominating System
Cons of Nominating System

27. CAMPAIGN FINANCE Vocab to start our discussion:
Soft money- money given to party for party building purposes
Hard Money- money given to candidate for election
Independent expenditure- unlimited funds spent by individual. Actions cannot be coordinated with candidate or campaign
Disclosure- reporting sources of funding
Contribution- bills you drop on a candidate
PACs- Political Action Committee ( a group affiliated with an organization whose job is to work on campaigns and support candidates)

28. CAMPAIGN FINANCE Federal Election Campaign Acts 1971-74
Main Provisions:
DISCLOSURE
SUBSIDIES
LIMITATIONS- $1000 per candidate, per election , $5000 for PAC contributions
BUCKLEY V. VALEO (1976) and its interpretation of FECA

29. CAMPAIGN FINANCE Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (McCain- Feingold Bill)
Bans Soft Money to the National Parties
Limits amount and use of soft money to the state parties ($10,000 and GOTV)
Doubles individual “hard money” donations ($2000 and tied to inflation)
No change for PACs
Unions and Corporations banned from soft money contributions

30. CAMPAIGN FINANCE
Ways around McCain-Feingold

31. CAMPAIGN FINANCE ANALYSIS- points to ponder
No subsidies for congressional candidates
No limits on Congressional spending
No limits on Independent Expenditures (527 groups like swift boat veterans)
Lack of subsidies for Minor Party prez candidates
Candidate-centered campaigns- whose power suffers as a result of this?
Growth of PACs- their $ goes to incumbents
Presidential candidates can opt out of funds and not abide by spending limits