American Politics Final Exam Study Guide Chapter 12 Political Parties Political Party o Organization seeking to gain political power in attempts to induce change by gaining and maintaining support of like minded people members of that party o United states has basically always been considered a two party system although parties have undergone name changes Major U S political parties have been Republicans and Democrats since the 1860 s Role of Political Parties o In the electoral system Provides voting linkage for people who may not be politically informed A person may know the basic party platform and can vote accordingly Coordinates the actions of citizens o In federal state government relations State representatives of each party compete for congress Helps regulating and challenging federal power Parties help coordinate the action of government have major effect on strategy and cooperation Parties ultimately have final say on which policy goals are undertaken and achieved o As organizations Parties organize with ultimate goal of winning elections Choose who will appear on election ballot Help chosen candidates raise money Assist with campaigns Help in motivating citizens to get out and vote Organization of political parties National Committees o Democratic National Committee DNC o Republican National Committee RNC House Senate Committees State city and county parties Each party has a national convention marks the end of the primary election and the start of the general presidential election o Republican Democratic National Convention Party Ideology o Republican Free market economy less government regulation Generally pro life Pro traditional marriage Support of gun rights Tax relief for elite and corporations Generally anti labor union State s rights Strong national defense Conservative beliefs o Democrat Government regulation of certain industries Advocate for gay rights Gun regulation National defense through strengthened United Nations Tax relief for middle class working families Pro labor union Increased federal control over states Liberal beliefs Pro choice o Citizen attachment to a certain political party self interest typically guides party Party Identification loyalty Party Machine o Local organization which has influence over city or county government has enough power to reward masses of people with benefits such as government programs and even jobs in return for supporting a particular party o Initiates the jockeying of power between parties at city levels Chapter 13 Elections and Campaigns Plurality Rule o Rule governing most American elections for office Simply states that the candidate who receives the most votes wins Primary Elections o Open primary o Closed primary Type of election in which any person regardless of party affiliation are able to vote A type of election in which only people with party affiliation people registered with a party are able to vote Political Action Committee o Organizations with party affiliation o Exist to raise money for certain candidates who are running for election o Citizen vote directly in an election on whether to overturn or support a bill or constitutional amendment that has already been passed by the legislative branch o Election in which citizens vote directly on a proposal by a group of people o Enables citizens to have government place an item on their agenda government may have not even considered addressing the issue if not for the initiative o An election which allows an elected official to be removed from office prior to the end of his her term depending on the vote Referendum Initiative Recall Chapter 14 Mass Media and the Press Types of Media o Mass media o Public media Intended to available to the masses Not for profit media outlets Corporation for Public Broadcasting NPR PBS o Private Media For profit Represents the majority of American media outlets CBS Corporation Comcast Corporation Viacom News sources include o MSNBC o Fox News o Electronic Media o CNN Media which is accessed by electronic means Contrast to print media Mostly accessed via internet o Blogs o News outlet websites Trends in American Media o Media in the early days of the country was highly partisan and agenda driven o The early twentieth century marked the beginning of a trend towards more objective reporting the goal of this was to appeal to the general masses as highly partisan reporting typically endears you around half of the general public o Media has recently trended back towards agenda driven highly partisan news outlets typically guided by differing ideologies Modern objective news outlet s main purpose is to inform the public of developments in current politics objectivity in news has become somewhat of a rarity in modern times More subjective news outlets exist to garner support for certain ideologies and influence the public Internet and the Media o As more people access their news via electronic mediums print media has become a dying branch of media companies o Companies have begun shrinking their print media departments in favor of larger internet geared media departments Freedom of the Press o America has some of the most lax laws regarding the news media o Many countries such as China and North Korea have a press which is partly or completely controlled by the government as a result the citizens only have access to information the suits their respective government s agenda Types of Journalists o Gatekeepers o Investigative o Bloggers o Pundit Journalists who control what media gets to the audience and how Journalists who investigate the validity of government claims analyze motives of government Investigative journalists discovered and informed the public of the Watergate Scandal Journalists who publish online blogs typically highly partisan and opinionated A professional who is paid to interpret and observe the government Typically highly specialized in a certain area Law Congress Policy o Reporter Coverage Bias Journalist who mainly conducts interviews and report the findings of interviews to the public o Tendency of a highly partisan subjective news outlet to cover stories which may reinforce their stance on issues and give little air time to stories that disprove their stance