Review for Midterm
Topics to Know
• Majoritarian: Actions of elected officials must
follow the preferences of citizens very closely
– Issues that are clear and are of great concern to most
people
• Elite: Representatives act without knowing or
necessarily caring about the public’s opinion on
certain issues.
– A small but unrepresentative minority constitute the
elites
• Power Elite: government is dominated by a few
top leaders, most of whom are outside of
government
– C. Wright Mills: corporate leaders, top military
officials, and a handful of elected officials
– Today, some have added communications media
chiefs, labor union officials, heads of various special
interest groups
• Marxist: government is dominated by capitalists
• Bureaucratic View: government is dominated
by appointed officials.
– They are career government workers who exercise
vast power by deciding how to translate public laws
into administrative actions.
– Based on the ideas of Max Weber (1864-1920)
• Pluralist View: political haggling and
compromise among competing groups allows for
political resources to be sufficiently divided
• Hyperpluralist View: There are so many groups
competing for attention that no meaningful
policies can be passed.
Establishing the Constitution
• The Enlightenment:
– Locke
– Rousseau
– Montesquieu
• English Tradition – English Bill of Rights,
common law, Magna Carta
• Declaration of Independence
• Shay’s Rebellion
Articles of Confederation
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Central govt. not strong enough
too much power to states
Central govt. could not raise an army
No power of taxation – depended on states
Could not pay off Revolutionary War debts
No control over interstate trade
No Supreme Court
No chief executive
No national currency – both states and Congress could
coin money
• Some good points: established method by which states
could enter Union, established principle of Federalism,
negotiated Treaty of Paris
The Constitution
• Principles:
– Popular Sovereignty
– Federalism
– Checks and Balances– Examples: vetoes and pocket vetoes by pres.,
overriding pres. vetoes by congress, judicial
review by Supreme Court
• Pocket veto – president refuses to sign bill before
session of Congress ends
– Separation of Powers
– Judicial Review
– Limited Government
Ratification
• Federalists v. Antifederalists
• The Bill of Rights
• The Federalist Papers: Alexander
Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay
– #10: factions are problematic and must be
controlled
– #47 – Separation of Powers and Checks and
Balances prevent one branch from becoming
too powerful
– #51: tyranny of the majority must be
prevented
– #78: judicial review is important in interpreting
the Constitution
Basic Outline of the Constitution
• Know each section and amendment
• Important Clauses:
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“Necessary and Proper Clause,” Article I, Section 8
Supremacy Clause, Article VI
Commerce Clause, Article I, Section 8
Equal Protection Clause, Amendment 14
Establishment Clause, Amendment 1
Free Exercise Clause, Amendment 1
Full Faith and Credit Clause, Article IV, Section 1
• “Living Constitution”
• Compromises – 3/5, Great (Virginia plan, NJ plan, CT
compromise)
• Amendment Process
• The Bill of Rights
• Informal Amendments
• Unwritten Constitution
Keeping Direct Control Out of the
Hands of the Majority
• Only the House of Representatives is
directly elected – serve two year terms
• The Senate was elected by state
legislatures – serve six year terms
• Electoral College
• President nominates judges – serve for life
A. Federalism – Division of power between
states and national govt.
1. Delegated powersa. held by federal govt.
2. Reserved Powersa. held by states only
3. Concurrent powersa. held by both states and federal govt.
Grants
• Mandates – can be funded or unfunded
• Grants in Aid – money given to states
– Block Grants – very general
– Categorical Grants – very specific
– Revenue Sharing- the most general
– Devolution – shifting power back to states
through the use of block grants and revenue
sharing
Voter Behavior
• More likely to vote – older, more educated, wealthier
• Less likely to vote – younger, less educated, poorer
• Minorities vote less often, but when education is equal,
they vote as much or more often than whites
• About 2/3 of Americans are registered, but only about
half actually vote
• Turnout is high among registered voters, but low if all
eligible voters are considered
• Turnout is highest in presidential elections
• Lower in midterms, lowest in local and municipal
elections
• Gender Gap – in recent election, women have slightly
favored Democrats and voted based on sets of issues
different from male voters
Ideology
• Upbringing (socialization) determines
ideology
• Party activists are the elites – they vote
most often, especially in primaries and
local elections
• They are at the extremes – liberal if
democrat, conservative if republican
• Candidates in primaries need to play to
the extremes to get nominated, then move
toward the center in general election
Public Opinion
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Consists of “many publics”
Difficult to measure
Must have representative sample
Valence issues v. position issues
Accuracy of polls affected by:
– Bandwagon effect
– Leading questions
– Poorly phrased questions
– Incorrect methods (sample size,
unrepresentative, etc.)
Parties
• Power is decentralized
• Party identification is weaker today than in
the past
• More independents and split ticket voting
• Voter behavior can be linked to the way
ballot is written (ballots were printed by
parties in the 19th century – less split ticket
voting)
• Coattail effect can help if president is
popular, but it is not as important as it
once was
Third Parties
• Address an idea or cause that the two major parties are ignoring
• B. Often have a specific ideology that differs from the two major
parties
• Obstacles to their success:
– People do not donate money because they do not think the third
party will win
– B. People will not “waste their vote” on a third-party because
they do not think the third party will win
– One or both of the major parties address the issue or cause
promoted by the third-party making the third-party unnecessary
– The issue being addressed is obscure or unimportant to most
Americans
– Electoral obstacles – “winner take all system” and ballot access
Party Realignment and
Dealignment: :
• Critical or Realignment Period: Periods when a
major, lasting shift occurs in the popular coalition
supporting one or both parties.
• The issues that separate the parties change
• The kinds of voters supporting each party
change
• Occurs when a new issue (slavery, the
economy) cuts across existing party divisions
and replaces old issues that were formerly the
basis for party identification
Realignment Elections:
• Some political scientists believe there is a 30-36
year span in between realigning periods.
• These are some elections regarded as realigning
or critical election, although not all political
scientists agree on them.
• 1800: Jefferson
• 1828: Jackson
• 1860: Lincoln
• 1896: McKinley
• 1932: Franklin Roosevelt
• 1964/1968: Johnson/Nixon
• 1980: Reagan
• 2008: Obama???
• Interest Group: Any organization that
seeks to influence public policy. They are
a linkage institution: They help link citizens
to government
Functions of the Media
• Entertainment
• News
• Agenda setting – ability of the media to
draw public attention to certain issues and
to ignore other issues
• Political forum – place to make
announcements or advertise government
How much power does the National
Press have?
1. Gatekeeper: the media choose which stories
to cover, how extensively, and for how long
2. Scorekeeper: the media keep track of and
help make political reputations, note who is
being “mentioned,” and analyze who is
winning or losing
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Focus on Presidential elections like a horse race
(Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary)
3. Watchdog: Investigate politicians and
expose scandals
How much do the media influence
how people think?
• Selective Attention: paying attention only
to those stories with which one already
agrees.
– Remembering and believing what one wants.
• Studies show that media attention or bias
can affect how a person votes, but the
influence is often limited
• Media attention can make a candidate
more well known, and thus more likely to
win.