Political Science Final Study Guide Paolino 1050 Public Opinion the politically relevant opinions held by ordinary citizens that they express openly o Ex mental representations of preference or beliefs o Cognitive thought or Affective emotion Dimensions of Attitudes What people want or think favor Responding to Survey Questions o Ex do you favor or oppose stricter gun control laws in this country 54 43 in Answering a survey question is like answering any other type of question o Four Steps Interpret the question Search for relevant info Formulate a response Map the answer onto available options Survey researches measure public opinions by asking a sample of the American population Americans attitudes are rooted in their values and ideology o Reflect beliefs about desirable states of the world the way things should be and influence our attitudes toward government s role in society o Values involve both political and non political areas of belief Sampling Values and Ideology Participation of Policy For public officials to make policy that is responsive to the public s preferences they need to know what the public wants o Ex we saw that public polls are on the public s preferences Non attitudes and measurement error o Politicians may have incentives to attend to only the preferences of the public that participates politically And they may be most attentive only to the public who participates in particular ways voting giving money Political Influence Pressure Reward with support people who are doing what you want them to do including those who do not need this pressure or Making persuasive arguments about the best policy Making others aware of problems and preferences Clearly people will be more influential if they can both apply pressure and provide information Voting generally low information low pressure o Referenda is the case where voting provides more policy information o But even this is limited by choices on the ballot Organizing volunteers for a campaign possibly moderate information variable Raising money for a campaign variable information variable pressure how much Activities and Influence pressure are you giving News Media The news media are a central linkage institution in American democracy o Media provides a way for political leaders to communicate with the public o Provides opportunities for the public to bring issues to the attention of political leaders and members of the public o The media can be independent and provide the public with info Interest Groups Pluralism Definition and Description Development and Formation Groups can influence policy through information and pressure View that politics reflects the competition between interest groups o Policy is the resultant of various group influences Reflects view of society from Federalist 10 Activities That Inform Lobbying o Meets with legislators to express preferences o Draft legislation for politicians to introduce Testify at meetings and hearings Grass roots lobbying Make statements through the media Use the courts through filing lawsuits or amicus briefs Strategy and Tactics Groups approach to influence varies by o Small groups cannot engage in grass roots lobbying may lobby or use court o Civil rights movement used protests and the courts because electoral pressure action was not available o Public may be able to shape general direction of policy but smaller groups often get to determine the details EX financial reform Political Parties Party in government Party as organization Party in the electorate Parties in the US o Republican o Democrat Parties are an ongoing coalition of interests joined together in an effort to get its candidates for public office elected under a common label Presidential Elections and American democracy Presidential elections are the primary means through which most Americans express their preferences Turnout in presidential elections varies between 50 and 60 of the eligible electorate Function of presidential elections are to American presidential elections tend to do a very good job of selecting leaders Elections Polls General voting Electoral votes Consequences for Policy Electoral system Economic Policy o Stable prices o High employment o Low interest rates Foreign Policy Policy goals o National security o Foreign trade o Normative goals o Nomination system can focus more on candidates ability to raise money or electability than governing skills Policies chosen for elections rather than good policy Policies directed toward the growth and stability of the economy Can involve trade offs between equality and efficiency Tools Actors o Military spending and alliances o Trade treaties and international organizations o Foreign aid o President o Congress interest groups and the public