POS1041 Final Review Public Opinion Opinions that the government finds necessary to heed Public Opinion Confounding Problems Multiple publics unstable shifting opinions political ignorance Random Sample Random selection random assignment for a survey totally random leads to more accurate results compared to the population Non random Sample Not completely random examples are online surveys putting out an ad in the newspaper The samples aren t reliable SLOP surveys Self selected Listener Opinion Poll Self selective surveys they get to choose whether they are in it or not Non random Ginsberg s Problems with polling Can t truly be a democratic development says polling makes public opinion a subsidized matter and it s now based on attitude and not behav ior Fiorina s Culture War Argument Red Blue states are closely connected on many issues and divided on some others Nothing to garner a culture war or polarization Says they are closely and NOT deeply divided Electoral Participation Voting turnout decline Including 18 year olds in the group to vote expanding total of voters with the voters who are least likely to vote Rationality of voting Only rational if benefits costs or if your vote will matter Most people are irrational and vote because of a moral issue or they really like a candidate or they have the time money to do so Comparative US turnout US turnout is low because it is a pluralist system with 2 par ties other democracies have PR systems where even if their party gets a small amount of the votes they still get seats Campaigns Elections emphasis on Presidential Nomination stage Includes the pre primary phase or invisible primary which involves name recognition and beginning to measure support for the potential candidate Then the delegate selection primary phase which is an intra party competition to gain the ma jor party nomination at the Nat l Convention General Election stage After being nominated running against the other party s candi date in the general election Usually the candidate moves closer to the center becomes more moderate Campaigns across the country especially in key battleground states or swing states Candidates lower expectations for themselves raise the expectations of the opponent Primary election Election to determine who will represent the party for the general elec tion Caucus Closed meeting of delegates to determine who receives their delegate count for that state for the National Convention to determine who the presidential candidate will be Closed Open Closed primaries only allow members of that party to participate while open primaries allow anyone who is registered to vote to participate Political Parties Why are there parties It makes collective action easier by grouping various interests to gether to take care of national state local problems 3 part conceptualization of parties Duverger s Law Plurality rule in single member districts favors a 2 party system voters choose not to support weaker parties because they don t have a chance to win Spatial Proximity theory of voting Voters will vote for whoever is most closely related to them In the primaries the candidates are more liberal conservative but become more moderate to close in on the median voter to get the most votes Interest Groups Lobbying Interest Group Any voluntary association that seeks to publicly promote and create ad vantage for its cause Groups of like minded individuals seeking similar goals in the po litical arena Self oriented Economic interest group Seek policy goals that directly benefit their own group membership Public interest group Advocate for general interests for the general public for like edu cation health care They don t represent small groups Lobbying Lobbyists The paid activity in which special interests groups argue for specific legislation in decision making bodies Lobbyists are hired to make the case for these special interest groups James Madison s view of Factions Federalist 10 he argues they form naturally Madi son says large Republics over a smaller Republic or a pure Democracy can control for factions He says you can destroy the liberty of the existence of a faction or give every one the same opinions interests etc The only solution is a large representative govern ment in which many factions could flourish a system of checks in balances in place would check balance all of the different factions so no one could get too large Pluralism Pluralist model theory of democracy Collective Public good A good that is non excludable and non rivalrous in consumption that benefits the population as a whole Free rider Free rider problem Free rider is someone who receives the benefits of some thing but does not contribute to the cause Selective benefits or incentives Only the people in the groups can receive the benefits Material incentives are things you get in return for participating Social incentives are being a part of the group making connections Moral incentives are just the thought of moral duty to participate Direct Indirect Lobbying Direct lobbying is the lobbying used to influence members of legislative bodies directly via communication with members of that body Grass roots lobbying refers to indirect lobbying where groups try to get the attention of the general public who then in turn get the attention of the legislative body Political Action Committee Organization that campaigns for or against political candi dates legislation etc According to FECA if a group campaigns more than 1 000 it is a PAC Misconceptions on PACs Most congressional campaign funds come from PACs but only 25 did most PACS contribute a lot of money 2 3 of PACs contributed 50 000 PACs are clearly buying the votes of members of congress don t donate enough to have a substantial effect Media Feeding Frenzy Intense media coverage or an important story in American media In politics it is usually a scandal Bill Clinton s blow job scandal is an example Lapdog Journalism Into 1960 s Served reinforced the political establishment cooper ative press private lives off limits Watchdog Journalism 1960 s Early 1970 s Media scrutinized checked behavior when affected public performance More adversarial press Credibility gap product of U2 Spy Plane Vietnam lies Watergate Junkyard dog journalism Since 1980 s Intrusive aggressive coverage with no line between public private life Other key terms Political Socialization Getting involved in and becoming more educated on politics elec tions etc Framing Priming
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