Politics and Government Exam #2

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Franklin Roosevelt: *1932-1944
*Democratice during great depression
*Created New Deal=progrm that used federeal government spending to fight depression
*"Big government" = unemployment programs, Social Security, business regulation
*liberalism= using strong gov to provide economic security
Dwight Eisenhower: *Republican
*Considered successful
*Many members dissapointed with his actions in office because he acted more democratically
*governed like a liberal
Barry Goldwater: *Senator
*conservatives were able to take over republican organizations in south and west
*opposed 1964 civil rights act
*Advocated using nuclear weapons in Vietnam
*Wanted to drastically cut gov
Lyndon Johnson: *Strong anticommunism, support for civil rights
*Belief in the value of strong go to provide economic security and protection for civil rights, combined with a belief in personal freedom from gov intervention in social conduct
*"Great Society" = VP under JFK, president 1963, elected 1964 & saw himself as an heir to FDR legacy
Two biggest issues of 1960's: *Civil Rights
*Vietnam war
Richard Nixon: *Represented compromise candidate between liberal Republicans and western and southern conservatives
*Developed conservative campaign themes around cultural issues (race, crime, family)
*Goverened as liberal
*able to present conservative criticisms of gov programs in language of social science
*Advocated stronger military, more aggressive foreign policy
*Published scholarly journals like Public Interest and National Interest
What happened to the conservative movement in the 1970's?: *Expanded gov=Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, used gov wage and price controls to slow inflation
*Neoconservatives = former Democrats, intellectuals & professors, who became conservatives
Ronal Reagan: *Elected 1980-1984
*Popular with public, moved country in conservative direction
*Credited with restoring faith in the US, ending inflation, ending Cold Var against Russia (1989)
Why did conservatives desert George H.W. Bush?: The did not trust Bush, but he compromised with Democratic Congress. Broke his pledge not to raise taxes
Bill Clinton: *1992-2000
*became leader of democrats who are conservative on social issues in 1992
*campaigned as "New Democrat"
*focused on economy but moved to right on social issues
*criticized black leaders, unions
*supported death penalty
*adopted religious speech-making
*Democrats lose house and senate in 1994 elections
George W. Bush: *President of U.S
*Not interested in ideology, practical
*Right Nation: B's conservatism from Texas, business, religion (combine to create Bush's style as president and his relation to conservative movement
3 sources of Bush's personal conservatism: 1. Texas attitude: boastfulness, gambler, machismo. Other Texas: preach small gov, but practive big gov, preach individual entrepreneurship but practice "crony capitalism"
2. Business: 1st president with MBA, more CEO's in cabinet; own career (oil, Texas Rangers); fundraising network
3. Religion: Born-again Methodist (got him off alcohol); prays each day, injects religion into speeches, White House religious atmosphere
Public Opinion (How is public opinion supposed to operate in the popular model of representative democracy and the responsible model of representative democracy?): *The aggregation of peoples views about issues, situations, and public figures.
*Responsible model of rep. dem: public opinion is more passive; sets limits on what is acceptable for gov to do
*Public only aroused if gov oversteps limits.
*Popular model of rep dem: public opinion is active; government is expected to do what the public wants
Sources of Public Opinion: 1. Childhood socialization: process by which people learn beliefs and vlaues in families, schools, communities
2. Personal interest of group interests: opinions based on interests as employer, employee, tax payer, recipient of gov money. Race, gender, class, give people diff experiences and interests=different opinions
3. Education: higher education influences opinions about diversity, ability to make a diff, duty to participate in politics
4. Media: influence what topics people think are important
5. Political actors, interest groups, political movements: try to influence public to adopt liberal, conservative, party, gov, business, labor, views of and issue
3 characteristics of public opinion: 1. Uniformed: most people not interested in politics; dont know what gov is doing
2. Not ideological: most poeple do not think in terms of liberal or conservative; see issues individually rather than as connected
3. Inconsistent: public seems to want more gov programs and less taxes, cut spending, but not specific programs
2 consequences of public opinion: 1. Need ot be careful how one goes about measuring and interpreting public opinion
2. Huge gap between views of ordinary citizens and those of political activists (politicians, interest groups, liberal and conservative movement)
How is public opinion measured?: 1. Polling companies: Gallup,Roper,Zogby
2. Media: Newspapers, television polls, interest groups
3. Politicians: campaigns, governing
What is a random sample?: *Each person in larger population must have an equal chance of being surveyed. Otherwise sample is biased
*All polls have a margin of error, which can be calculated using laws of probability (Most polls using 1000 responses have margin of error of plus or minus 3% with 95% confidence) (some 600 responses with margin of error of 4%)
What mistake did the Literary Digest make in its 1936 election survey?: 10 million ballots sent to list based on telephone directories and automobile registration. 2.5 million responses predicted that Repulican Alf Landon would defeat Franklin Roosevelt in 1936 election. FDR won by a landslide. Only recieved 1/4 of entire responses and left out all of the people that didnt have telephones at the time
What was the mistake in the poll asking Americans whether they believed in Holocaust happened?: The mistake that they made was the way they worded the question "Does it seem possible, or does it seem impossible to you that the Nazi extermination of the Jews never happened?" (Double negative is confusing seem impossible...never happened)
How is public opinion on an issue like gun control filtered through political institutions and through the way campaigns and elections are conducted?: *Polls show taht majority of national public supports gun control(because it sounds safe) but most of them dont even own guns
*Rural districts and states against gun control
*In the long run, political systems will follow public opinion (which will be reflected in elections)
What is agenda setting? How d the media set the public agenda?: *Power of the media to determine what issues will be given priority. The media cannot tell us what to think but they can tell us what to think about
*Media have this pwer becuase they diced what is news and what is not news, or what is not important
*An "agenda" is a list of thinkgs that will be dealt with at a meeting
Priming: occurs when the media affect the standards people sue to evaluate political figures or the severity of a problem
Framing: occurs when the media induce people to think about an issue from one standpoint rather than from others
Ideological bias: tendency for the media to present the news in a conservative or liberal manner
Selection bias: idea that media selects the news based on three things
*Bad news bias: emphasize the negative; attracts audience
*Adversarial bias: media are negative about the gov and big institutions
*Sound bit bias: media chooses stories with simple plots and good picturers
Professional bias: *Routines: journalists work special beats and dont cover stories outside their specialties
*Entertainment: competition for audience puts emphasis on selecting news that entertainment
*Pack journalism: tendency for jounalists to all cover the same story; they're all afriad to miss "the big one"
Campaign Coverage: 1. Most voters dont know much about the candidates: positive media exposurer can help
2. Selection and professional biases mean that media wont cover policy issues, but will focus on character issues
3. Candidates get around media bias by using other media and talking directly to the public: talk shows, MTV
National Coventions Coverage: 1. Old system: candidates were nominated at the NC; important decisions were made so the media covered it
2. Now: candidates are nominated by parties so by tthe time they get to the conventions they already hve enough votes to ensure nomination (use media to promote their party)
Presidential Debate Coverage: Often sway undecided voters; gives teh candidates an opportunity to present themselves to the viewers and show they can do it; media focuses on "who won", while the viewers see it as a learning opportunity
Coverage of Government: Emphasis on:
1. President (and other personalities) less of Congress
2. Conflict
3. Scandals and gaffes (mistakes)
4. The negative
Bernard Goldberg's argument about the media?: 1. Majority of journalists are liberal; this is reflected in their news stories
2. Media more critical of adultery; more so that w/Clinton
3. Not a conspiracty; personal beliefs or journalists (liberal) make their way into stories
EVIDENCE: On social issues media is liberal (abortion, gun control, gay rights)
Eric Alterman's argument about the media?: 1. Media is conservative
2. Corporate ownership of media creates conflict of interest between journalists and parent company
3. Journalist will censor him/herself and not investigate any of the companies owned by the parent
4. Says that Goldberg's argument was a generalization by using 3 big networks (liberal)
5. Just prove's Goldberg's wrong
Inerest Groups: Organizations or associations of people w/common interests that participate in politics on behalf of their members (NAACP, MADD, NRA, NEA)
"Free Riders": People that benefit from an interest group without actualy ahving to join it and spend time on it. Special interest groups have the advantage over genereal ones...can force people to join with things like unions or have benefits for people in the group
Lobbying: trying to directly influence public officials
Grassroots lobbying: indirectly influencing officials by mobilizing their constituents.
*other ways: give money and resources to the campaigns of candidates who support their issues
Political Action Committees (PAC's): Special organizations that raise and spend campaign money. Give to campaigns of candidates who support their issues. Persuade them by influencing the climate of opinion to favor your group
How much did interest groups spend on campaing contributions?: *2.7 billion in 2000
Pluralism: theory that public interest can be achieved through competition among mulitple interest groups, and that individials can participate in politics through group membership
Criticisms fo pluralism: 1. Pluralism has a bias toward wealthier groups that are more likely to organize
2. decliine of labor means business bias in Washington
3. interest groups turn all public policy into special interest policy
What are think tanks? Why important? Why are policy ideas important?: *Research organizations that analyze govt. policies and formulate policy alternatives
*Important b/c American think tanks have taken ver much of the policy that is handled by political parties in other countries
*Helps conservative movement by providing people who can be appointed to executive branch or work together and combine research with political activism
Examples of think tanks: club for growth
hudson institute
hoover institute
milken institute
Discovery institute
Examples of Conservative media outlets: Fox News
Wall Street Journal
Limbaugh
Washington Times
O'Reily Factor
What advantage do conservative think tanks, foundations, and media have over their liberal rivals?: "The conservative pres is self-consciously conservative and part of the team. The liberal press is much lareger but at the same tim eit sees itself as the establishemtn press. So it's conflicted. Sometimes it thinks it needs to be critical of both sides"

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