POLITICAL BEHAVIOR NEED TO KNOW: Unit 2

US POLITICAL CULTURE Chapter 4

Political Culture American Political Culture  Liberty, Equality, Democracy, Civic Duty, Individual Responsibility  ADVERSARIAL US vs. Other Nations  Stronger sense of Civic Duty and Civic Competence  Less voting, but MORE participation The Culture War – Orthodox vs. Progressive Political Efficacy  Internal vs. External Political Tolerance?

PUBLIC OPINION Chapter 7

Polling Polls can MEASURE or SHAPE political opinions 5 steps of process  Universe, Sample, Valid Questions, Interview, Analyze Data  Flaws or errors can invalidate poll data Random Sampling is most accurate

Political Socialization Sources of Socialization  Family #1  Work, school, friends, church, groups, etc Trends  Gender Gap: Women more liberal  Race: white more conservative, most minorities liberal (not most Asians or Cubans)  Social Class: Poor more liberal  Religion: Protestant Conservative, Catholic & Jew Liberal  Region: South & Midwest Conservative, West & NE Liberal

Political Ideology Political Spectrum Left-Wing: Liberal Right-Wing: Conservative Center: Moderate Personal FreedomState ControlPersonal Property Community Property Personal RightsPublic GoodMulticulturalismNationalismBig GovernmentSmall Government

POLITICAL PARTICIPATION Chapter 8

Voting VAP (Voting Age Population) vs. VEP (Voting Eligible Population) vs. Registered Voters Extending Suffrage in US  Stage 1: No Property Requirements  Stage 2: 15 th Amendment (African-Americans)  Stage 3: 19 th Amendment (Women)  Stage 4: Voting Rights Act of 1965 (No Literacy Tests) & 24 th Amendment (No Poll Taxes)  Stage 5: 26 th Amendment (18 year olds)

Voter Turnout US v. World: Very low compared to other nations Causes of the Problem?  Low Political Efficacy, Apathy, difficult registration process Registration  Motor Voter Law (effects have not been great) PARTICIPATION  Voting not only way to participate  US low in Voter turnout but HIGH in other participation (campaigning, petitions, contacting govt officials, etc)

ELECTIONS AND CAMPAIGNS Chapter 10

Campaigns Issues  Position vs. Valence Retrospective vs. Prospective Voting Coalition-Building  Combining different groups to support a candidate Base v. Swing Voters  Base: Traditional supporters of Party (More Extreme Right or Left)  Swing: Undecided (More Moderate)

Campaign Finance Going up each election Sources of Funds  Individual Contributions, PAC money, Fed Govt Independent Expenditures & SuperPACs Reforms  Federal Campaign Act of 1974 – Created FEC  McCain-Feingold Act (BCRA) – Limits on Contributions Buckley v. Valeo & Citizens United v. FEC undermine laws

Elections Presidential vs. Congressional  More people vote in Prez elections  Prez elections more competitive Incumbency Advantage & Sophomore Surge  Much greater in HoR  Why?  Pork-Barrel Legislation  Franking Privilege  Name-Recognition  PAC Money  Gerrymandering Gerrymandering  Drawing district lines for political advantage  Baker v. Carr, Wesberry v. Sanders, Reynolds v. Sims

Presidential Elections Primary: Intra-Party Election to get nomination  Open, Closed, Blanket Delegates selected in Primaries, Nomination officially given at Convention Election Day  1 st Tuesday after 1 st Monday in November Electoral College  # of electors = # of HoR + # of SEN  270 (majority) to win  Election is by state (winner take all)  4 times, winner of popular vote doesn’t become Prez  If no majority, HoR picks Prez

Court Cases to Know Baker v. Carr Wesberry v. Sanders Reynolds v. Sims Buckley v. Valeo McConnell v. FEC Citizens United v. FEC