Citizens, Society, and the State AP COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT

Social Cleavages  Religion, ethnic groups, race, social and economic classes all interact with the political system and have a tremendous impact on policy making  These divisions are refereed to as social cleavages

Social Cleavages  Bases of social cleavages  There are a variety of questions that we have to ask when trying to determine what these social cleavages result from. Those questions are:  What mix of social classes ethnic and racial groups, religions, and languages does a country have?  How deep are these cleavages and to what degree do they separate people from one another?  Which of these cleavages appear to have the most significant impact on the political system?  One must also attempt to understand how cleavages impact political institutions as well. One would do so by trying to answer the following questions:  How are cleavages expressed in the political system?  Do political elites usually come from one group or another?  Do these cleavages block some groups from fully participating in government?

Types of Cleavages  Social class  Ethnic cleavages  These are generally the most divisive and explosive social cleavages around the world  These are based upon different cultural identities, including religion and language.  Religious cleavages  Regional cleavages  Coinciding and cross-cutting cleavages  These exist when every cleavage lings up. These can be explosive  Cross-cutting cleavages allow for a variety of groups to have issues with each other

Comparing Citizen/State Relationships  Attitudes and beliefs of citizens  One important measure of connections between citizens and their government is political efficacy  Political efficacy is a citizen’s capacity to understand and influence political events  Political Socialization  A person’s political beliefs depend on what they know about and how they interact with their government  Deep  Middle  Superficial

Cosmopolitanism  Cosmopolitanism is an ideology in which all human ethnic groups belong to a community based on a shared morality.

Comparing Citizen/State Relationships  Types of political participation  In authoritarian governments, citizens are limited to subject activities. These activities rely on obedience  These include obeying laws, following military orders and pay taxes  Democratic regimes depend on voting, political meetings, campaign activities and clubs/parties  Voting Behavior  Factors the influence political beliefs and behaviors  Level of transparency  Transparency exists when a government operates openly by keeping citizens informed about government operations and political issues

Models  The Importance of political change  The world has shifted from a competition between multiple super powers to being dominated by the United States  This has changed the way in which countries interact with each other  The integration of political and economic systems  This looks at the relationship between political systems and certain economic systems  We will be able to look at how the people are affected by economic changes and how the petition the government for help

Political participation  Political participation is generally channeled through the use of political parties and interest groups  Interest groups generally focus on very few ideals and focus on a narrow spectrum of the population  Political parties try to unite interest groups in order to control the government

Political culture  Political participation is shaped by a country’s political culture  Political culture encompasses how the people view the political elite, how countries develop throughout history, the religion that people follow, and the type of government the country has  All of these factors impact the way that people participate within their government

 Pluralist Theory (group politics)-  The pluralist theory states that groups with shared interests influence public policy by pressing their concerns through organized efforts  (i.e. NRA, NOW, UAW)  Elite Class Theory-  The elite class theory states that the elite, upper class of individuals pull the strings of government  This is the belief that wealth, is the basis of all power. At the center of this is the belief that big business rules all Interest group theories

 Hyperpluralism-  The hyperpluralism theory states that many groups, not just elite ones, are so strong that the government is unable to act  This is furthered by the belief that when these groups lose the legislative battle, they continue to force their position by using the court system. Legislators are then so busy fighting legal battles, it is believed that legislative power is greatly diminished Interest group theories