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Government Midterm

Terms

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The constitution sets up a _____________ form of government.
Unitary
The primary principal states...
What is learned first is learned best
Governemnt money awarded for broad, general purposes is called a __________ grant.
Block
Politics requires
Some unity among people, some conflict among people and a ruling authority
Decisions with the Supreme Court with regard to the powers of national government typically...
Tend to support expansion of national authority, but recently have been placing limits on that authority
The Second Face of power is being exercised when...
X is able to control the agenda or determine the choices
The Constitution established this but the Articles of Confederation did not
The authority to regulate interstate commerce
According to a study of public opinion Americans are...
Less informed than those in most other comparable countries
Definition of Politics
The process that determines the authorative allocation of values
Normative or Descriptive?

49% of eligible US voters voted in 1996
Descriptive
Normative or Descriptive?

Because most people have little information about the American Political System, major policy decisions shouldbe left to elected officals
Normative
Normative or Descriptive?

It should be the responsibility of the US government to ensure that all Americans have access to health insurance
Normative
Normative or Descriptive?

One-Third of Americans cannot name the Vice President
Descriptive
Two agents of political socialization important in early life
School and Parent
Two agents of political socialization important in later life
Peers and Co-workers
Two important clauses of the Constitution that have been important in the development of federalism
Commerce and Supremacy
Seperation of Powers is defined as
Each branch of government judicial, executive and legislative is seperate from the other
Madison worried about the dangers of ______________ in Federalist Paper No. 10.
Majority Factions
The majoritarian model of government says
The majority rules
The elite model of government says
The elect rules
Authority is different from power in that power is that ability to rule but authority is
The right to rule
One argument for the Constitution made by the Federalists
System of checks and balances
Federalism is defined as
Sharing of power among multiple governments
________________ federalism is when the federal government makes money the basis of its relationship between state and local governments.
Fiscal
Mass Media
Method by which large groups of people are communicated with
Types of Mass Media
Broadcast (TV, radio) and Print (Newspaper, Magazines)
Yellow Journalism
Sensational Journalism
Muckracking
Digging up dirt, investigative reporting
Liberal biases come from...
Reporters (Democratic/Liberals), Editors and Owners(Republicans/Conservatives)
Content analysis is typically...
More negative than positive in comments, more critial of front runners than underdogs, not continually partisen biased
Two sources of biases
Ownership (in the private media) and Journalistic Norms (unwritten rules of what is news worthy)
Characteristics of Private Ownership
1) Need for audience appeal
2) Sensationalism
3) Conflict
4) Good visuals/pictures
5) Pressure to be the first in reporting breaking news
Journalistic Norms
1) Unusual/different
2) Conflict
3) Failure
4) Timeliness in news stories
5) Objectivity
Minimal impacts of the media altering ones beliefs...
Americans pay selective attention to the media, they have selective perception and their level of education matters
In the early canidate selection media can have an impact on...
1) Primaries
2) Perceptions of viability
3) The momentum of the campaign (money contributions)
Personalities vs. Institutions
Personalities get coverage over institutions and processes
There is a lower trust in the government and a rising level of __________________.
Cynicism
Priming
The impact of how one evaluates political leaders
Framing
How the media presents the issue
Agenda Setting influences...
What you think about and how important it is
Why participate?
It is good and legitimate
Why does anyone participate to begin with?
Individual costs and benefits
Does it matter whether your group votes?
Politicians respond to groups that participate
Unconventional varieties of participation
Protest, Terrorism, Petitions, Bribert, Picketting
Conventional Varieties of Participation
Voting, contacting a member of office, puplic opinion polling, campaigning, running for office, campaign contribution, joining a group, litigation/civit lawsuit
US voting rates are lower...
1) No holiday, lose work time
2) Registration is up to the individual
3) No mandatory voting
4) Counting differences
5) More frequent and numerous elections
Puzzle of low voting rates
Despite higher education and easing registration laws voting has gone down
Solutions to the puzzle
1) Less mobilizaion
2) Younger electorate
3) Poorer evaluation of canidates and parties
4) Less social involvement
5) Lover feelings of political efficacy
Definition of Political Efficacy
Sense that one can understand politics and their participation makes a difference
Psychological factors influencing participation
Political efficacy, sense of duty, interest in politics
Sociological factors influencing participation
Education, Race, Age, Sex
Two preliminary basics of elections
Primaries/Caucus and General election
Primaries/Caucus chooses...
Party nominees
General Election chooses...
Office holder
Difference between two primaries
Closed- must be a registered party member to participate, Open- one chooses which primary to participate in (democratic or republican)
Blanket Primaries
Now illegal, one person is choosen per office
Consequences of increasing use of primaries
1) Reduced power of the party
2) Democratized process
3) Campaigining becmes more media intensive
4) Expensive
5) Longer process
6) Front loaded process (importance of early wins)
Campaigning Strategies
Issues, Framing, Mobilization
In appealing to issues the person running for office adapts to...
The voters sentiment
Mobilization of Democratic Base
less well off economically, unions, minorities, immigrants, Catholic, Jews, southerners
Mobilization of Republican Base
More well off economically, businesses, white, Protestant, higher educated
Definition of Checks and Balances
No branch can exercise power without interference from another
Central Argument of the Declaration of Independence
The people have a right to revolt if government is denying legitimate rights
The Great Compromise provided for a...
Two chamber legislature with representation equal for all states in the one chamber and according to population in the other.
A power not specifically mentioned in the Constitution
Assigned Power
Two major developments in federalism
1) Increase in authority of national government and power
2) Seperate spheres federalism to cooperative federalism
Causes of changes in federalism
Violence (Civil War), Constitutional Amendments and Judicial Interpretation
Pluralist movel of government says that ___________ rule.
Group, diverse interests

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