Chapter 5 Study Guide – The American Political Landscape
Pgs. 112-121
 A Land of Diversity
o What has made the United States such a land of diversity?
o Political socialization –

Where does political socialization occur?
o demographics –
o political predisposition –

How does this impact people’s political behavior?
o reinforcing cleavages –
o cross-cutting cleavages –

What is an example of a reinforcing cleavage?

What is an example of a cross-cutting cleavage?
o What effect did geography have on the development of America?

Manifest Destiny –
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o Sectional Differences
 What effect have sectional differences had on the development of the
American political landscape?

What effect did the Civil War have on the political identification of the
South and the North?

When did this regional partisan identification change? What caused this
shift to occur?


Why do Republicans tend to be favored by conservative southern
voters today?
What changes are occurring in the Sun Belt region? Which political party
does this help? Why?
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
Where we Live
o 80% of Americans live in ____________________________________
o How has Americans moving within the United States affected the political
landscape?
Pgs. 121-133
 Who we Are
o race –
o ethnicity –

What problems do African Americans face in our country?

What progress have African Americans made?

How has the political landscape changed for Hispanics over the years?

How do Asian Americans compare to the other groups discussed in the
book?
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o Gender
 gender gap –


In recent elections, which political party have women been more
likely to support than men?
How are women, as a group, different from men?
o Sexual Orientation
 In 2000, what state became the first state to enact legislation granting gay
and lesbian couples “civil union” status, which confers many of the
benefits of marriage?

What did the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rule in 2003
regarding gay marriage?

What happened to a proposed Constitutional ban on gay marriage in 2006?

Why is the Supreme Court case Lawrence v. Texas (2003) significant?
o Family Structure
 How has family structure changed since the 1950s?
o Religion
 Is separation of church and state strictly enforced by US politicians?
Explain.
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
fundamentalists –

How has political activity among fundamentalist Christians
changed in recent years?

Name a few well-known ministers that became politically
involved:

How can religion in America be characterized?
o Is religion a cross-cutting cleavage or a reinforcing
cleavage? Why?
Pgs. 133-140
o Wealth and Income
 What effect does the unequal distribution of wealth and income have on
the American political landscape?

Aside from race, what is the single most important factor in explaining
views on issues, partisanship, and ideology?

What characterization can be drawn between party affiliation and
wealth?
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
Explain why the poor are a minority who lack political power:

Explain how income is related to participation in politics:
o Occupation
 gross domestic product (GDP) –

socioeconomic status (SES) –


o Age

most Americans say they are _____________________________
class divisions are less defined and less important to politics than
in other countries
increasing number of Americans are over the age of 65
 What effect has this had?

What is the difference between the political involvement of elderly
versus young Americans?

What is the name of the large lobbying group for older Americans?

What are life cycle effects?

What are generational effects?

What is an example of this?
o Education
 Why is education so important in predicting political involvement?
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