Government Chapter 16
Linkage institutions
Ideology
• ideology
– a wide set of beliefs that an individual has on what a
government should be doing
• liberal
– ideology that generally wants the government to
provide services for its people and is pro-choice.
• Conservative
– ideology that generally wants the government to
protect its people, tax less, and is pro-life
Ideology continued
• Moderates
– those who are ideologically in the middle
– They see bits of both sides as correct
• Libertarian
– an ideology that is also a political party.
– They generally seek less government involvement
in the lives of citizens.
Political Spectrum
• Political Spectrum
– A figurative map of political ideologies
• Left
– side of the political spectrum that contains liberals
• Right
– side of the political spectrum that contains conservatives
• Up
– Side of the modern political spectrum that contains
authoritarians (more government involvement)
• Down
– Side of the modern political spectrum that contains
Libertarians(less government involvement)
Linkage Institutions
• linkage institutions
– organizations that connect citizens to their government by giving them
a way to influence policy
• political parties
– linkage institutions that focus on nominating candidates and changing
policy from within the government.
– Like the driver of a car
– They focus on many issues
• interest groups
– linkage institutions that try to persuade elected officials and their
constituents in order to change policy from the outside.
– Like a backseat driver in a car
– They focus on few issues.
– Examples include AARP, NRA, PETA.
Political Parties
• multiparty system
– Having many parties in a nation’s government
– parties represent many ideologies and make it difficult
to obtain a majority.
• two party system
– Two major parties compete for power although minor
parties exist.
– The U.S. uses the two party system.
– It makes a majority easier to obtain for the major
parties
Political Parties Continued
• platform
– a party's statement of beliefs
– Used to attract/recruit voters for candidates
• Planks
– Single parts of a party’s platform
– generally known as issues
– Several planks make up the party’s platform
Political Parties
• Democrats
– political party that generally contains liberals
– Symbol is the Donkey
– Color is Blue
• Republicans
– political party that generally contains conservatives
– Symbol is the elephant
– Color is red
• Independent
– a voter who decides to not join any of the two major parties
– Symbol is the mongoose
– That is a lie, there is no symbol for independents
Political Parties Continued
• third party
– The term for any minor party within the two party
system
– There are MANY third parties in the U.S.
• Libertarian
– Currently the most popular third party
History of American Parties
• Federalists
– America's first political party.
– Members include:
• George Washington,
• John Adams, and
• Alexander Hamilton
History of American Parties
• democratic-republicans
– America's second major party.
– Thomas Jefferson is credited with founding the party
• Democrats (1830s)
– conservative political party of Andrew Jackson
• Whigs
– American political party from the 1800s that opposed
Andrew Jackson's Democrats
– William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor
• Republicans (1860s)
– liberal political party of Abraham Lincoln
Interest Groups
• lobbying
– to act of persuading members of congress on
behalf of an interest group
– The main activity of many interests groups
• Lobbyists
– people hired by interest groups to persuade
lawmakers
– They are like walking billboards
Interest Groups
• Amicus curiae briefs
– Could be written and presented to the Supreme Court
by an interest group.
• Bills
– Could be written by lobbyists or interest groups and
presented to congressmen to introduce.
• Political Action Committee (PACs)
– Formed by interest groups because they cannot
donate to campaigns legally
– Primary purpose is to FUNDRAISE for and donate to
campaigns