POLS Chapter 1 Book Notes 8 27 12 A government s personality and decisions are affected by Sociodemographics Characteristics of a population State s Political Culture Attitude and beliefs about the role of government o Moralistic Culture Views government as the way to achieve the collective good Policy change and innovation Individualistic Culture Views government as a way to achieve personal goals Government should promote PUBLIC interest Government should be a service provider Business tax breaks o Traditionalistic Culture Believes government should be dominated by elites Government should help preserve status quo Commits less public money to areas such as education Economy o Determines tax burdens o Determines priorities Geography and Topography o What natural disasters the government must prepare for o The size of the state o Density of the population Laboratories of Democracy States that use their ability to engage in policy experiments without the federal government s interference Successful experiments are adopted by other states Devolution Process of taking power from the federal government and giving it to state and local governments With this power states are trying to fix unsolved problems from the federal government o Ex Welfare Gun Control Education How states exercise their independent authority Policy Making is dependent on External Ex U S Constitution Federal Regulations Nationwide Recessions Internal Ex Characteristics of that state o Money Political Environment Conservative Liberal etc Strength of Interest Groups States have much more control over local governments than the federal government has over the states Comparative Method Compares the states by looking for systematic patterns in their differences Government in the U S is more of a network than a hierarchy Policies are intertwined between the different levels of government
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