PSC 101- Exam 2 Complete Questions With Accurate Answers.

Interest Groups - correct answer Group of individuals with a common interest who attempt to influence government policy Importance of Interest groups - correct answer -Most Americans are either part of or benefit from interest group activity -interest groups are a longtime part of American Politics -Interest groups are vital - yet biased- part of the political process -Most Americans do not recognize that they are part of the interest group system. Political parties - correct answer A group of individuals with some ideological agreement who organize to win elections, run government and make public policy. Attempt to create broad coalitions (links to proximity voting) Roles of parties in american politics - correct answer provide/recruit candidates conduct elections educate the public organize government make public policy provide loyal opposition provide a "cue" for voters Characteristics of american parties - correct answer Two parties, Highly decentralized, Semi-public, Open Organizations, Loose coalitions, fairly non-ideological. Party regulations - correct answer -Founding fathers generally distrusted parties and did not include them in the constitution -Parties quickly became part of how American Politics worked -Because of this Key public role, parties were a logical "target" for regulation -most regulation comes thorough state law Factors influencing likelihood of voting - correct answer age, income, education strong party identification group membership perceive closeness of the election silence of the election (well known candidates, issues and perceived importance) Elections - correct answer -Most direct form of linkage between public and gov't decision makers -occur on a regular cycle (calendar) -Most occur at state and local level -highly "rule governed" to insure fairness -election law largely state law within basic parameters of federal rights Elements of Election Law - correct answer Who may vote, what is voted upon, direct democracy, electoral calendar. Who may vote - correct answer most anyone over 18 must be registered States may set some rules on registration, but federal law limits what states can do What is voted upon - correct answer primaries, general election, Referendum,Initiative, Recall Primaries - correct answer select candidates, generally run by party Closed Primary - correct answer only vote in party of your registration Open primary - correct answer may vote in either party primary, but not both Blanket - correct answer vote for either party by office run-off - correct answer few states: when a candidate fails to get 50% of vote, top 2 candidates to run again general election - correct answer selects office holders Referendum - correct answer direct citizen vote on an existing law or law proposed by the legislature Initiative - correct answer direct citizen vote on citizen initiated legislation recall - correct answer remove office holder before term by citizen vote Electoral calendar - correct answer One year Off year Odd year One year electoral calendar - correct answer election held at same time as presidential Off year electoral calendar - correct answer elections held in presidential midterm Odd year electoral calendar - correct answer elections held in odd numbered years Ideology - correct answer An organized set of beliefs concerning social goals and the best governmental arrangements for achieving them. Americans view on ideology - correct answer -Americans tend to be less ideological -Experiences often pull american in multiple ways -Social change affects belief structures (aging, world view changes, economic advancement) Importance of public opinion - correct answer gauge on america (and what we believe and expect) sets some parameters on debate and policy action issue publics - groups with particular interest or societal position- must be considered opinion leaders can shape public attitudes Prevailing attitude about interest groups - correct answer They are a corrupting influence on American politics Interest groups buy elections and politicians Schema Theory - correct answer A cognitive structure fo "organized prior knowledge, abstracted from experience with specific instances." This guides "the processing of new information and the retrieval of stored information" (Conniver, 1984). Schema Theory ideals - correct answer -Self-Schemas generally attract individuals to particular groups -Individuals basically become members of a group with shared experience (salient distinctions) -Leads to "political awareness, or ideology, regarding the groups relative positions in society and a commitment to collective action aimed at realizing the groups interests". Attitude formation: socialization: - correct answer Family, Peer Group, School, Church, TV/Media, Organizations, Political Leaders Factors shaping public attitudes - correct answer economic class, education, sectionalism, race/ethnicity, religion, gender, age Public Opinon - correct answer the preferences expressed by people on issues, policies and individuals. must be expressed (not latent). Not necessarily stable, intense or salient. Where Americans get information about politics - correct answer Increasingly from a mix of media, although basic reporting is still anchored in traditional newspaper and television reporting. All forms of media are commercial - correct answer Must have viewers/readers Leads to an emphasis on personality, conflict and dramatic events distorts risk and fear good pictures (obviously an important criteria for TV) Limited story substance Basic Political roles: - correct answer signaler role, Agenda setting, Talent Scout, handicaps race, public defender (investigative) signaler role - correct answer guide to public what is important sets agenda Agenda setting - correct answer again, shallow, often done in "themes" or "frames". Usually follows stories over some sort of time frame How viewers respond: media bias? - correct answer Market bias: action, bad news, anti-incumbent Sound-bites - correct answer mall quotes used by media to capture essence of a story. These are also designed by candidates to be used by the media Issue stability, intensity stability: - correct answer the likelihood that public opinion will change, the speed with which the change would occur, and the likelihood that the new opinion would endure. intensity - correct answer the strength of the direction of public opinion; strong favor/mildly favor Political socialization - correct answer The process by which we learn our political orientation and allegiances. Family, schools, group memberships, and the major public events for our lives. voter turnout trends - correct answer decline in turnout since 1950's with occasional spikes, low compared to other democracies. Gender gap - correct answer the tendency for men and women to take different issue positions or to evaluate political figures differently. (women are more liberal) Proximity voting - correct answer voting for the candidate closest to you in a multi- dimensional ideological space Retrospective voting - correct answer voting for the candidate or party based on past performance, usually lagged back about 12months prospective voting - correct answer voting for the candidate or party based on presumed performance (who will do a better job with current conditions). Why people don't vote - correct answer alienation, lack of efficacy (vote doesn't matter), lack of interest or knowledge, confusion, voters are already satisfied. Roles of political parties - correct answer -provide/recruit candidates -conduct elections -educate public -organize gov't (by political party) -make public policy -provide loyal opposition -provide a "cue" for voters constitutional statues of political parties - correct answer founding fathers generally distrusted parties and did not include them in the constitution. Third parties - correct answer a political party in opposition to the main parties in a two-party system roles of third parties - correct answer Introduce new ideas, put issues on the agenda, spoil the election, keep major parties . Disadvantages of 3rd parties - correct answer not common on many ballots and hold very few positions with local, state or national governing bodies. Difficult to raise money b/c campaign donors prefer pay-to-play candidates interest group types - correct answer economic/business, professional, public, social, environmental, single issue. PAC (political action committees) - correct answer The fundraising arms of interest groups Hard money - correct answer campaign funds donated directly to candidates, amounts are limited by federal election laws. Soft money - correct answer unregulated campaign contributions by individuals, groups, or parties that promote general election activities but do not directly support individual candidates.