AP Gov ch 6 outline

I. Public Opinion and Political Action1

~Politics in Action
-93% of people in support of military action
-remained in agreement, but is an exception to the general.
-public opinion: distribution of population's about politics and policy issues.2

II. The American People
-demography: science of human population
-census: tool for understanding demographic change. Census done every 10 years.
-Department of Commerce v. U.S. House of Reps. sampling can't determine each state's congressional districts3

~The Immigrant Society
-many immigrants or descendants of immigrants in U.S.
-waves of immigration: Northwest Europeans before 19th century, Late 19th to 20th South and East Europeans, recent years Hispanics4

~The American Melting Pot
-melting pot: mixing of culture, ideas, and people.
-minority majority: emergence of a non Caucasian majority. policy makers have begun to consider this idea a strong possibility.
-African Americans at an economic disadvantage but are still succeeding in politics
-Simpson-Mazzoli Act requires employers to document their employee's citizenship, but proved inadequate to stop illegal immigrants.
-Asians seen as most skilled minority group.
-Native Americans considered worst off minority group. Least healthy and poorest people with the smallest numbers achieving wealth or power.
-political culture: overall set of values widely shared within a society (ex. equality)5

~The Regional Shift
-for most of history most populated states north of Mason-Dixon line.
-reapportionment: reallocating seats in the house of Reps every 10 years based on census results6

~The Graying of America
-senior citizens fastest growing age group
-social security pay as you go system
-42 workers per person on the system7

*~School
-schools often used to promote nation wide loyalty
-goal to raise children in accord with the system's basic values
-most people cite education as most important issue 8

~Political Learning over a lifetime
-politics life long activity
-participation increases with age9

III Measuring Public Opinion and Political Information
-polls are used to find out public opinion10

~How Polls are Conducted
-polling a new science developed by George Gallup.
-sample: a small portion of people chosen to represent the whole.
-random sampling: everyone same chance of being selected to be in the poll
-will match population as a whole
-sampling error: the level of confidence of public poll results
-researchers must follow certain techniques.
-new technology has made surveying less expensive
-random-digit dialing: how most polls are done; calls placed to listed and unlisted numbers for survey purposes.11

~The Role of Polls in American Democracy
-polls help detect public preference
-politicians can make decisions in accordance to polls.
-critics say helps them do what goes along with people's opinions instead of make policy.
-can weaken democracy by distorting election process.
-bandwagon effect: people support candidates just because they see others supporting them
-exit polls: most criticized type of poll; media used surveys to quickly predict electoral winners
-exit poll shown inaccurate in the 2000 election in the case of Florida
-wording of questions can change opinion12

~What Polls Reveal About American Political information
-people (especially young) usually don't know much about politics
-in a 2004 study it was found many voters didn't know basic facts about their candidates.
-many people lack basic knowledge about the world around them13

~The Decline of Trust in the Government
-public trust in government has been dropping
-conflicting views of this. Some think it could be good while others believe that, if people don't trust a democracy, then it's not doing well enough.
-many people believe "big government" solutions ineffective and a waste of time14

IV What Americans Value: Political Ideologies
-political ideology: a clear set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose.15

~Who are the Liberals and Conservatives?
-Americans more often conservative than liberal. 38% Conservative 38% Moderate 24% Liberal
-Liberals and Conservatives about even in people under 30
-more historically politically included groups more likely to be conservative
-women not a minority and are more likely to support social services spending and be less supportive of military spending
-women less conservative than men
-gender gap: pattern of which women are more likely to support democratic candidates.
-religion big political influence on the people.
-Jews ore liberal while Christians are more conservative16

~Do People Think In Ideological Terms?
-public divided into four groups according to ideological sophistication
--idealouges: those who thought in ideological terms (12%)
--group benefit voters: those who though of politics in terms of what groups they liked and didn't like (42%)
--nature of times: vote depending on whether the times are good or bad (24%)
--no issue content: no ideological content in their issue content (22%)
-ideology terms seem to not be as important today.
-some believe we're in a political culture war
-people seem to be deeply divided
-homosexuals becoming more accepted among liberals, conservatives, and moderates.
-shows how ideological groups change.17

v. How Americans Participate in Politics
-many ways Americans participate in politics including voting in presidential elections and fighting decisions in court
-political participation: all the activities people use to participate in politics.
-U.S. culture values political participation with 79% proud of our democracy18

~Conventional Participation
-two broad types of participation: conventional and unconventional.
-conventional: includes voting and persuasion
-unconventional: dramatic activities like protesting and civil disobedience
-despite low turnouts, Americans can be very involved in politics and show promise for the future19

~Protest as Participation:
-protest: dramatic and unconventional political participation in hopes to get get things changed.
-civil disobedience: form of protest by breaking laws they deem unjust
-sometimes political participation is violent as seen throughout Civil Rights history20

~Class, Inequality, and Participation
-people of higher incomes participate more in politics
-who gets what is determined by who actually votes21

VI. Understanding Public Opinion and Political Action
-limits to the role public opinions play in the political system22

~Public Attitudes Toward the Scope of Government
-republicans generally believe scope of America's become too wide ranging.
-many don't notice, as seen by a poll showing 42% of Americans having never considered it=
-many call for more money to be spent on things bettering the community and the environment23

~Democracy, Public Opinion, and Political Action
-Americans take being able to choose and replace leaders for granted
-most choose performance over eligibility.