US Government & Politics Exam II PDF

**DE U.S. Government & Politics - PLS 135** **Political Behavior -- Electoral Process** **Exam II (*Study Guide*)** **[Public Opinion:]** - **Examine how 'preferences' and 'beliefs' impact public opinion, and identify what influences each concept.** - **Define 'public opinion' and ident...

**DE U.S. Government & Politics - PLS 135** **Political Behavior -- Electoral Process** **Exam II (*Study Guide*)** **[Public Opinion:]** - **Examine how 'preferences' and 'beliefs' impact public opinion, and identify what influences each concept.** - **Define 'public opinion' and identify on the levels in which this concept may be measured.** - **Explain the process of 'political socialization'.** - **What agents/factors influence this process?** - **Identify the most important agent/factor in this process.** - **Analyze whether one's political beliefs remain relatively stable over time, or if they susceptible to change in the face of new conditions or new information.** - **The set of underlying orientations, ideas, and beliefs through which an individual understands and interprets politics is known their \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.** - **Contrast the political views of 'libertarians' and 'socialists'.** - **Discuss the general policy stance for the following groups:** - **conservatives:** - **liberals:** - **Analyze the various methods utilized to measure public opinion. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each method?** - **Describe the following concepts.** - **gender gap:** - **linked fate:** - **misplaced self-interest:** - **Explain how 'framing' and 'priming' the media to shape how people think.** **[Political Parties:]** - **Identify/describe the purpose/goal of political parties.** - **Explain how political parties are organized (*i.e. -- centralized vs. decentralized, offices/committees, etc.*) to facilitate collective action.** - **What are the key aspects a political party is searching for when recruiting candidates to run for office?** - **Analyze how/why political parties are able to lower the information costs for voters to participate.** - **Identify the various demographics that are a key part of the coalition for following political parties.** - **Republicans:** - **Democrats:** - **Have any of these demographics made major shifts in their coalition support (*identify which ones*)?** - **Party members who are strong party identifiers, who also contribute their time, energy, and effort to party affairs, and contribute money to the party cause, are often described as \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.** - **Explain what it means if a nation has a 'two-party system'.** - **Define 'patronage':** - **Trace the major steps in the evolution of the U.S. two-party system (*detail description*).** - **Discuss the reasons for why 'minor parties' form, and evaluate the key aspects that keep them from winning elective office.** - **Identify and explain the functions of political parties.** - **Describe the basic economic and social policy stances (*specific issues*) for the two main political parties in contemporary politics.** - **Democrat:** - **Republican:** **[Interest Groups:]** - **Explain the role/purpose of an interest group.** - **How are interest groups different than political parties?** - **According to Madison, how are the problems of factions best controlled?** - **Break down the basic arguments for the following theories on interest groups.** - **pluralist theory:** - **elite theory:** - **Identify the different types of interest that spark group organization.** - **What type of interest group has a disproportionate amount of influence when examining PAC numbers?** - **If one were to argue that there is a bias in interest group politics, what demographic would be discussed?** - **Explain how interest groups are funded.** - **Explain the following collective action problems:** - **free-rider problem:** - **prisoner's dilemma:** - **Discuss Mancur Olson's challenge to the pluralist assumption that he presented in *The Logic of Collective Action*.** - **Identify and describe the types of selective benefits that groups use get members to join and contribute.** - **Define:** - **lobbying:** - **'revolving door' politics:** - **Explain why and how interest groups lobby the executive branch.** - **Describe how interest groups use litigation and *amicus curiae* briefs in order to influence policy.** - **What are 'independent expenditures'?** - **Analyze the importance of the following Supreme Court rulings:** - ***Buckley v. Valeo* (1976):** - ***Citizens United* (2010):** - **Breakdown the key provisions of the 'Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971' and the amendment to the legislation in 1974.** - **Discuss the role of interest groups in the democratic process.** **[Media:]** - **From which medium do most Americans receive political information?** - **Does national talk radio tend to more liberal or conservative?** - **Explain how the rise of the internet and cable news has impacted the newspaper business.** - **Analyze the relationship between the government and media in regards to ownership and regulation.** - **Define:** - **blogs:** - **citizen journalism:** - **libel/slander:** - **equal time rule:** - **yellow journalism:** - **Discuss the impact of the 'Telecommunications Act of 1996'.** - **Analyze the importance of the following Supreme Court rulings:** - ***New York Times v. Sullivan* (1964):** - ***New York Times v. United States* (1971):** - **What is a 'media conglomerate' and what is the impact of these entities?** - **Explain the role of the Associated Press.** - **What demographic typically pays attention to 'hard news' and is the target audience for serious newspapers and news magazine?** - **Identify the executive agency responsible for regulating broadcast media.** **[Campaign Process & Voting and Elections:]** - **Identify the five nomination methods:** - - - - - - **Which one is most often utilized in today's politics?** - **Differentiate between an 'open' and 'closed' primary.** - **Analyze the key differences between congressional elections and presidential elections.** - **Discuss the advantages possessed by congressional incumbents.** - **Explain the key provisions of the 'Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002' (*McCain-Feingold Bill*).** - **Discuss the methods utilized to continue the disenfranchisement of African Americans after the implementation of a constitutional protection to vote based upon race.** - **Examine how voter turnout rates may be different when utilizing the Voting-Age Population (VAP) versus the Voting-Eligible Population (VEP).** - **Identify what was provided by each of the following amendments:** - **15^th^:** - **17^th^:** - **19^th^:** - **23^rd^:** - **24^th^:** - **26^th^:** - **Examine the following problems faced by citizens (*principals*) when selecting representatives (*agents*).** - **adverse selection:** - **moral hazard:** - **Describe how nations such as Australia and Brazil have been able to increase voter turnout.** - **What was the purpose/reasoning behind imposing voter registration requirements upon the electorate in the United States?** - **What executive agency is responsible for regulating and monitoring campaign finance laws?** - **Describe the purpose/effects of the 'Motor Voter Bill/Act of 1993'.** - **Explain the concept of 'split-ticket voting' and describe the impact of this type of voting behavior upon the government.** - **How is the number of electoral votes per state determined?** - **Which two states choose presidential electors in the same manner as their congressional representation (*two electors at-large; elector per district*)?** - **Explain the difference between a 'plurality' and 'majority' electoral system.** - **Differentiate between a 'winner-take-all' and 'proportional' electoral system.** - **Discuss the basic argument presented by 'Duverger's law'.** - **Describe the authority/power provided to the populace by each of the following:** - **recall:** - **referendum:** - **initiative:** - **Define 'gerrymandering'.** - **Discuss the difference between the 'cracking' and 'packing' methods of gerrymandering.** - **Differentiate between 'retrospective' and 'prospective' voting.** - **Explain the difference between a 'valence' and 'spatial' issue.** - **Analyze the 'median-voter theorem'.** - **Analyze the ruling for the following Supreme Court cases:** - ***Baker v. Carr* (1962):** - ***Reynolds v. Sims/Wesberry v. Sanders* (1964):** - ***Buckley v. Valeo* (1976):** - ***Reno v. Shaw* (1994):** - ***Shelby County v. Holder* (2013):** - ***Citizens United v. FEC* (2010):** - **Identify what was established by the following legislative acts.** - **Apportionment Act of 1911:** - **Reapportionment Act of 1929:** - **What is the difference between 'soft money' and 'hard money'?** - **Explain the role/purpose of political action committees.** **[Journal Articles:] (*Understand the main question and argument for the following articles.*)** - **"Revisiting the Relationship between Educational Attainment and Political Sophistication" -- Benjamin Highton** - **"Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election" -- Allcott & Gentzkow** - **"U.S. House Members in Their Constituencies -- An Exploration" -- Richard Fenno** - **"Unequal Participation: Democracy's Unresolved Dilemma" -- Arend Lijphart** - **"The Changing Politics of American Men -- Understanding the Sources of the Gender Gap" -- Kaufmann & Petrocik**