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Identify demographic trends and their likely impact on
American politics

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 Immigrant Society
 American Melting Pot
 Regional Shift
 Graying of America
6.1

 A nation of nations
 1 million legal immigrants/year
 500,000 illegal immigrants/year
 12% of residents foreign-born
 Waves of immigration
 Northwest Europe (English, Irish, Scottish, Germans,
Scandinavians)
 Southern and Eastern Europe (Italians, Jews, Poles,
Russians)
 Hispanics (Cuba, Central America, Mexico)
 Asians (Vietnam, Korea, Philippines, India)
6.1

 Restrictions on immigration
 Open door policy-anyone from anywhere
 Criminals, prostitutes, lunatics, diseased (1875) prohibited
 Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
 Johnson-Reid Immigration Act (1924)-
Congress established quotas based on national origin.
 Hart-Celler Immigration and Nationality Act (1965)quotas scrapped in favour of family integration
6.1

 Minority majority
 Hispanic population growing rapidly
 As of 2010, whites made up only 63% of the population.
Hispanics make up 16%, but they ’ re the fastest growing minority group. By 2050, whites will make up only 48% of the population, less than half.
6.1

FIGURE 6.1: The coming minority majority
(based on current birth rates)
6.1

6.1
 Reluctant immigrants (African Americans)
 13% of populationonly immigrant group who were brought here against their will
 26% still live in poverty
 Political power increasing. Obama!
 Simpson-Mazzoli Act (1986)
 forbids employers from knowingly employing illegal immigrants but it hasn ’ t proven to be an effective deterrent because of both weak enforcement and the difficulty of proving that an employer knew that a worker ’ s documents were fake.

6.1
•As of 2012, the number of illegal immigrants in the United
States was estimated to be at least 11.5 million, 76 percent of whom were from Mexico. Here, a border patrol car patrols along the fence between Arizona and Mexico.

 Political culture and assimilation
 Historically, most immigrant groups have adopted the values that make up American political culture within a few generations. There ’ s always concern that new groups will not assimilate. This concern has been unfounded in the past, but it remains a persistent fear that leads to negative attitudes toward immigrants.
6.1

 Northeast most populous
 West and South growing since WWII
 Sun Belt migration
 Arizona, Texas, Florida
 Political power of these areas increasing
 Reapportionment
 Once each decade, after census
6.1

 Over-65 fastest growing age group
 People living longer
 Fertility rate lower
 Implications for Social Security
 Ratio changing (more receiving SS benefits than contributing)
 Politically-sensitive (most politically involved are over
65)
6.1

6.1 What kind of regional population shift is America experiencing?
a. From Northeast to Southwest b. From Northwest to Southeast c. From Southwest to Northeast d. From Midwest to Northeast
6.1

6.1 What kind of regional population shift is America experiencing?
a. From Northeast to Southwest b. From Northwest to Southeast c. From Southwest to Northeast d. From Midwest to Northeast
6.1

Outline how various forms of socialization shape political opinions

A.
When politics is taught it is mostly on accident due to certain reasons
B.
Familyhave more time with children and set up an emotional/ political reason within the children unknowingly. As child gets older may either embrace the parent's political beliefs or will rebel against the belief going the opposite way.
C.
Mediapeople will read the newspaper/website articles or watch the news to get informed about politics
D.
Schoolthey help build loyalty to the native country(Pledge of
Allegenice) and they also educate the young. A more educated generation may lead to new ideas to solve problems.

A. Politics is a learned behavior. Meaning that over time people while learn more of who they want to vote for, which party to join and which beliefs they will believe. So over time they will get more involved in politics

FIGURE 6.2: Turnout increases with age
6.2

The average viewer for ABC, CBS, and NBC news is 62, which is why the channels show many prescription ads
“Schools need not preach political doctrine to defend democracy. If they shape men and women capable of critical thought and trained in social attitudes, that is all that is necessary”- Albert
Einstein

6.2 What is the most important agent of political socialization in the U.S.?
a. Government b. Family c. School d. Profession
6.2

6.2 What is the most important agent of political socialization in the U.S.?
a. Government b. Family c. School d. Profession
6.2

Explain how polls are conducted and what can be learned from them about
American public opinion

A.
First developed by a young man named George
Gallup in 1932
B.
Uses a relatively small proportion of people who are chosen to represent the whole population because asking every citizen his or her opinion is prohibitively expensive and time consuming
C.
Your chance of being asked to be in the poll should be as good as that of anyone else (rich, poor, young, old, male, female)
D.
Computer and telephone technology has made surveying less expensive and more commonplace

A.
Polls help political candidates and policy makers detect public preferences and changing opinions on the issues
B.
In contrast, critics say it makes politicians more concerned with following than leading . As a result, they craft their public presentations with key words and phrases to win public support for policies that already exist and are in place.
C.
This can also create a "bandwagon effect" in the nation making voters support a candidate merely because they see that others are doing so.

• Polls show that the level of public knowledge about politics is dismally low, particularly true for most young people
• A national poll in 2006 showed that 74 percent new the names of each of The
Three Stooges but only 42 percent could name each of the three branches of the U.S. government.
• Many blame the schools and media for not being well informed about politics but throughout the years researchers have concluded it is not the issue.

• In the past five decades, the American public has become increasingly dissatisfied with government.
• Three-quarters of Americans said they trusted the government in the late 1950s and early 1960s. By the end of the 60s however, is when researchers started to see a drop in public trust in government due to the Vietnam war and Watergate. By 1980, only one-quarter of the public thought the government could be trusted.
• The greatest impact of declining trust in government has been to drain public support for policies that address the problems of poverty and racial inequality. This has caused many Americans to believe that "big government" solutions to social problems are wasteful and impractical since they do not see the results of their efforts.

FIGURE 6.4: Decline of trust in government,
1958-2012
6.3

Assess the influence of political ideology on
Americans ’ political thinking and behavior

Political
Ideologies
A political ideology is a coherent set of values and beliefs about public policy.
Liberal ideology supports a wide scope for the government, often involving policies that aim to promote equality. Conservative ideology supports a less active scope of government that gives freer rein to the private sector.

Liberals
Among people under 30, there are slightly more liberals than conservatives.
The younger the person, the less likely that person is to be conservative. But, younger people are less likely to vote meaning that conservative are overrepresented at the polls.
Liberals
Foreign Policy
Military spending Believe we should spend less
Use of force
Social Policy
Abortion
Prayer in schools
Affirmative action
Economic Policy
Scope of government
Taxes
Spending
Crime
How to cut crime
Defendants’ rights
Less willing to commit troops to action, such as the war in
Iraq
Supports “freedom of choice”
Are opposed
Favor
View government as a regulator in the public interest
Want to tax the rich more
Want to spend more on the poor
Believe we should solve the problems that cause crime
Believe we should guard them carefully

Conservatives
Foreign Policy
Military spending
Use of force
Social Policy
Abortion
Prayer in schools
Affirmative action
Economic Policy
Scope of government
Taxes
Spending
Conservatives
Believe we should maintain peace through strength
More likely to support military intervention around the world
Supports “right to life”
Are supportive oppose
Favor free market solutions
Want to keep taxes low
Want to keep spending low
Crime
How to cut crime
Defendants’ rights
Believe we should stop “coddling criminals”
Believe we should stop letting criminals hide behind laws
Decades of survey data have consistently shown that Americans choose the ideological label of conservative over liberal. The predominance of conservative thinking in America is one of the important reasons for the relatively restrained scope of government activities compared to most European nations.

Women are not a minority group but they have been politically and economically disadvantaged compared to men. Women are more likely to support spending on social services and oppose higher spending on military. These issue concerning the priorities of government lead women to be more liberal than conservative, which results in the gender gap. The gender gap is a regular pattern in which women are more likely to support democrats and tend to be less conservatives.
The gender gap

Do people think in ideological terms?
The authors of The American Voter first examined how much people rely on ideology to guide their political thinking. They divided the public into four groups based on their ideological sophistication. They also found that only 12% o people showed evidence of thinking in ideological terms, these are called i deologues . 42% of Americans classified as group benefits voters , only thinking politics in a like or dislike bases. 24% are classified as nature of the times meaning they only voted if it benefited them. Finally 22% voters showed no ideological or issue content in making their political evaluation, they are called the no issue content group.

6.4 Americans identify most with which political ideology?
a. Moderate b. Liberal c. Democrat d. Conservative
6.4

6.4 Americans identify most with which political ideology?
a. Moderate b. Liberal c. Democrat d. Conservative
6.4

Classify forms of political participation into two broad types

 Conventional participation
 Voting
 Running for office
 Collecting signatures for a petition
 Unconventional participation
 Protesting
 Civil disobedience
 Violence
6.5

 Drawing attention
 Protests attract the media
 Rare
 Civil disobedience
 Breaking unjust laws
6.5

6.5
•Nonviolent civil disobedience was one of the most effective techniques of the civil rights movement in the American South.
Young African Americans and white supporters sat at “ whites only ” lunch counters to protest segregation. Photos such as this drew national attention to the injustice of racial discrimination.

6.5
•In one of the best-known images of American political violence from the Vietnam War era, a Kent State student lies dead, one of four killed when members of the Ohio National
Guard opened fire on unarmed anti –Vietnam War demonstrators.

 Higher socio-economic status = higher participation rates
 Minorities vote at nearly equal levels
 What are the policy implications of lower political participation?
6.5

6.5 What is the most common form of political participation?
6.5
a. Voting b. Writing to elected officials c. Working on campaigns d. Protesting

6.5 What is the most common form of political participation?
6.5
a. Voting b. Writing to elected officials c. Working on campaigns d. Protesting

Analyze how public opinion about the scope of government guides political behavior

People outside the United States tend to believe that public opinion determines political policy in America because of our democratic system.
But there are limits to the role that public opinion plays in the shaping of policy.
6.6
We have seen that some of these limits stem from low rates of political participation, from lack of political knowledge, and the tendency of politicians to try to shape, more than respond to, public opinion.

 Should government do more or less?
 In peacetime, most Americans say “less”
 But public opinion is complex and inconsistent
 Americans are Ideological conservatives and
Operational liberals
 Contradiction leads to Policy gridlock
6.6

 Representative democracy
 Decide who governs
 Given the low rates of voter turnout, Americans clearly take the ability to choose policymakers for granted
 Is public fit to choose its leaders?
 Yes and no: low level of political knowledge
 The public is undoubtedly not making the decisions it would make if it were better informed, but the public has a general sense of whether things are going well or poorly and holds politicians at least minimally accountable by voting them out when things are not going well.
6.6

6.6 Do a majority of Americans favor more or less government?
a. More b. Less c. About the same as we have currently d. It is unclear what the public wants
6.6

6.6 Do a majority of Americans favor more or less government?
a. More b. Less c. About the same as we have currently d. It is unclear what the public wants
6.6
That message is clear; it only becomes muddled when it comes to exactly what to cut.

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?v=NflULVECAFQ&index=32&li st=PL8dPuuaLjXtOfse2ncvffeel
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