American Politics Exam 2 Guide PDF

What to study Public opinion, media/politics, participation, parties and interest groups, elections Political attitudes → attitudes that people have about issues, events, and leaders related to politics Public opinion → Describing these attitudes in the aggregate (among the whole...

What to study Public opinion, media/politics, participation, parties and interest groups, elections Political attitudes → attitudes that people have about issues, events, and leaders related to politics Public opinion → Describing these attitudes in the aggregate (among the whole public) Political values→ Basic orientations towards politics; basic principles that shape our opinions → The foundations of political attitudes and public opinion ○ Individualism ○ Liberty ○ Equality of opportunity ○ Democracy ○ Isolationism vs Expansionism ○ Dove vs Hawk ○ Authoritarianism vs Libertarianism Political ideology → complex, interrelated set of beliefs and values that form a general philosophy about government. ○ Organization of different perspectives ○ Liberal, conservative, libertarians Liberals vs Conservatives → Most popular ideologies in the U.S. ○ Other ideologies include socialist, authoritarian, & libertarian ○ Liberal: Political and social reform Extensive government intervention in the economy Expansion of federal and social services Help the poor, minorities, and women gain equality Greater concern for consumers and the environment Greater rights regarding abortion Greater LGBTQ rights Protecting rights of the accused Arms control Aid to poor nations Support international organizations ○ Conservative: Support social and economic status quo Suspicious of new political efforts to help economy Large government poses a threat to freedom of individual citizens Opposes expansion of government Support private sector as a source of improvement Opposes government regulation on businesses Support school prayer and traditional family arrangements Greater concerns about law and order Oppose abortion, same-sex marriage, and the use of mandatory school bussing  Support for military intervention and maintenance of American military power Political socialization → The process by which our political values and beliefs are formed ○ How we think, feel, and act in the political world Different major agents of political socialization ○ Family → Partisanship- many kids have a partisan preference, but don’t know the difference between the two parties ○ Education → Elementary school is where we learn to be patriotic (pledge allegiance) and get our first ○ Political environment → Vietnam, Cold War, 9/11, Coronavirus ○ Media → where we learn about politics and learn about other people and what they believe, which can influence us ○ Music → CCR, Bad Religion, Public Enemy ○ Other types of art ○ Social groups/networks Political knowledge → how much people know or don’t know ○ Rational ignorance → Small costs of becoming informed can outweigh small benefits There aren’t a lot of real tangible benefits Problem → individual benefits of an informed voting decision may actually be very small if expected benefits of voting is calculated by comparing benefits of voting with the probability of one’s vote actually deciding an election Benefits → Psychological benefits Satisfaction gained by being a good citizen Being able to talk with others in the community about politics Some people are just genuinely interested in politics like it’s a sport Negatives: Political info is gained at a cost → Time & Effort Benefits are not tangible Most people don’t have time to gather information → The cost of gathering info is too great for the payoff, which is very small Most people are not well-informed and aren’t interested Marketplace of ideas ○ What it is: Abundance of accessible, useful, high-quality information so we can make intelligent choices, engage in critical thinking, and build a large body of knowledge for understanding government and holding public officials accountable for their actions ○ What actors affect the marketplace of ideas? Media Public opinion Government actions  ○ What we want from this? Accessibility Useful and high-quality information Diverse ideas Partisanship → Identification with or support of a particular political party Heuristic → information shortcut (ppl use these to make voting decisions that let them act as if they’re informed; aka voter shortcuts) ○ Partisanship/Political party association of candidates rather than researching individual candidates’ policies ○ Issue leaders ○ Family influence Conditions in which people end up knowing a lot about politics (when is the public informed?) ○ When the economy worsens (retrospective voting) ○ When someone already cares about a particular issue Example: Someone who cares strongly about climate change will be more likely to pay attention to government activity surrounding that ○ Times of crisis People tend to be more informed in these contexts ○ The public is informed when they have an incentive: Public issues → when they know an issue is going to have a profound effect on their lives Exceptional circumstances → 9/11, presidential elections How public opinion might influence public policy ○ The government is more likely to do something if the public supports it, but it isn’t a guarantee because there isn’t a strong enough correlation between the two Three ideal roles of the news media ○ Mirror reality: Provide non-ideological, balanced reporting No political bias Media as passive conveyors of facts & information ○ Watchdog → investigative journalism and accountability Investigative reporting to find wrongdoing before it’s a problem ○ Marketplace of ideas Abundance of accessible, useful, high-quality information so we can make intelligent choices, engage in critical thinking, and build a large body of knowledge for understanding government and holding public officials accountable for their actions ○ Another way to think of these expectations: People want principled journalism that provides thoughtful and unbiased coverage and watches over those in power, not lapdog journalism that is uncritical or adversarial journalism (junkyard dog journalism) that is overly cynical of political officials Lapdog journalism → Uncritical  Adversarial journalism (junkyard dog journalism) → Overly cynical of political officials Difficulties that the media faces/Problems with these media expectations ○ Contradicts each other The news can’t be a passive conveyor of facts on the one hand and provide critical watchdog coverage on the other Critique is necessary for accountability, meaning that media can’t always be impartial; necessitates analysis ○ Problems with Mirror Reality: Media must be somewhat selective Impossible objective Bias is nearly impossible to avoid All humans have beliefs and it’s hard to avoid expressing them when presenting information Cannot transmit “all the news that’s fit to print” Can only cover so much information ○ Problems with Watchdog/Marketplace of Ideas Profit motive → The economic market constraints on media Journalists could value public affairs reporting, but Media is a private enterprise that must compete for audiences and generate advertising revenue to maintain profit and stay in business ○ News directors think more about what sells than how to educate ○ Leads to “soft news” at the expense of “hard news” Soft news → Consists of entertainment, sports, and celebrity news ○ The U.S. media focuses more on this Hard news → Coverage of politics and government ○ European media focuses more on this Soundbites → Shorter, more dramatic bits of information Different types of news media + advantages/disadvantages ○ Citizen journalism → Citizens reporting on events using social media, often posting videos or photos from their phones Example: Murder of George Floyed ○ Opinion-driven journalism → Pundits expressing their opinions rather than just trying to report facts Inconsistent with the ideal of non-biased news Often found on blogs and social media, but also found on cable news, where difference between news reporting and opinion shows has become blurred ○ Mainstream news organizations → Includes large city newspapers, news shows, news magazines, & traditional print and broadcast media Print media Elite media Used to be the only media until radio and television  Informs the broadcast media → Local, network, and cable news all look to these major newspapers to decide what is important Readership of print media has been declining a lot ○ This leads to cuts in news, foreign offices, and quality of news ○ Lead to family-owned businesses selling to large businesses → Wall Street Journal selling to News Corp. ○ Others selling out to Gannett or McClatchy Switching to online versions and charging for access to content in order to make money Broadcast media Example: Television Used to be the most popular news source Compared to newspapers, broadcast news is of lower quality ○ Short, dramatic bits of information → Soundbites ○ PBS is an exception to this ○ Network news - Soundbites, but generally less biased coverage ○ Local TV News- Absolute garbage; just drama, disaster, sports, and weather ○ Cable news - Some longer stories, but more bias; less clear distinction between news and opinion shows ○ Comedy shows - The Daily Show, The Late Show, the Colbert Report Radio and Podcasts: Most radio news just announces headlines with little content Radio talk shows- Sean Hannity- mostly conservative NPR → more liberal news with much greater content New media (aka the internet) Has grown to be a primary source for many ○ 2000 → 35% said they used the internet for news about politics ○ 2016 → Just over 90% use it for news ○ Over 60% use social media Includes online newspapers, blogs, social media, YouTube, and Twitter Digital citizens: 73% of Americans have high-speed access at home and 80% use internet in some location- work, library, etc. ○ Economic inequality in digital citizenship- the poor can’t afford this Benefits of new media: ○ Convenience → Can get news anywhere at any time ○ Currency → Can get breaking news right away  ○ Depth → If you want to find certain information, it is out there; can get detailed information on whatever topic you want ○ Diversity → There used to be a few major gatekeepers of the news deciding what was newsworthy, but now there are many more views out there Disadvantages of new media: ○ Decline in quality ○ Spread of misinformation ○ Echo chambers → People are only exposed to news that is consistent with their opinions Confirmation bias → The information they are exposed to simply confirms and reinforces their existing opinions This can also lead to a decline in tolerance as news sources become more politically polarized ○ Mistrust of the news A result of declining quality, echo chambers, and spread of misinformation How the news media used to be owned by families (private business) ○ Recently bought out by large corporations ○ What are the consequences? Diversity and quality are impacted Hinders marketplace of ideas Makes it harder to serve a watchdog role New media vs Old media ○ Advantages of new media Diversity in sources Can get news instantly ○ Disadvantages Echo chambers → People can choose sources that reinforce their predispositions Easier to spread misinformation Different ways the news media influences us ○ Three ways Agenda setting → The media defines the issues of importance simply by choice of what stories to cover (they set the agenda) Example: More media attention geared towards the Gaza conflict, less about the Sudan conflict Selection bias: The tendency to focus on news coverage on only one aspect of an event or issue, avoiding coverage of other aspects Framing → There’s a lot of different ways to tell a story about the same event  Rhetoric