AP United States Government and Politics Exam Review

1. AP United States Government and Politics Exam Review Focus on Edwards Chapters 8 and 11 (Unit 3 from our course) This corresponds to Chapter 7 in the review book (Political Parties and Interest Groups)

2. Political Parties Chapter 8

3. Political Parties • main vehicles for nominating candidates and running campaigns • serve as linkage institutions that help bring the concerns of the electorate to the political arena through elections • unite groups of politicians and the electorate by offering an ideological framework with which people can choose to identify themselves

4. Political Parties • United States has for the most part always had a two-party system • Party competition is the battle between the Democrats and the Republicans for the control of public offices

5. Party Tasks • Choosing candidates • Originally parties internally nominated their candidates to run an election • Today, the public can choose candidates in primary elections • Running campaigns • Parties organize political campaigns and try to convince voters to elect their candidate • Today, by directly communicating with the public through television, candidates can operate more independently from their parties

6. Party Tasks • Providing a political identity • Each party has an image • This offers the public a familiar ideology or platform with which they can choose to identify themselves and identify politicians • rational-choice theory proposed by Anthony Downs provides a model of the relationship between parties and voters • assumes that individuals weigh the costs and benefits of their choices and choose the party closest to them

7. Party Tasks • Endorsing specific policies • Politicians of a party often support each other, because typically they agree on a general party platform • Coordinating policymaking • Through party identification, politicians in different branches of government are able o work together or support each other

8. Parties, Voters, and Policy: The Downs Model • Rational choice theory explains the actions of voters and politicians • assumes that individuals act in their best interest and weigh the costs and benefits of possible alternatives • in order to win office, candidates select policies that are widely favored • majority of voters are in the middle ideologically, so centrist parties win elections • has led to criticism of the two major parties for being too similar

9. The Party in the Electorate • Many voters cast ballots on the basis of party identification • Example: people who consider themselves Democrats usually vote for Democratic candidates • Most voters have a party image or perception of what the policies are that the party stands for • Party identification is declining • As of 2000, the plurality of voters considered themselves Independent rather than Democratic or Republican • Ticket splitting, or voting for members of different parties for different offices in an election (on the rise) • This practice leads to a divided party government – the president may be of a different party from the majority party in Congress, for example

10. The Party Organizations: From the Grass Roots to Washington • Unlike more formal parties of other countries, American political parties are fairly decentralized, with city, state, and national administrative bodies • Until the 1930s • local parties had tremendous influence over city governments • often-corrupt party machines maintained their power by using the patronage system to reward local members with important positions in the government • Today local parties have declined, while county-level organizations have increased their election activities

11. The Party Organizations: From the Grass Roots to Washington • Holding elections is one important task performed by the states, each of which has its own unique party organization • Each state’s parties go about the election process differently, such as by choosing which type of primary to hold • Closed primary • only people who have already registered with the party are allowed to vote in the primary • Open primary • Voters can choose on Election Day which party’s primary they would like to participate in. • Blanket primary • Candidates from both parties are listed on the primary ballot, so voters can choose different parties’ candidates for different offices

12. The Party Organizations: From the Grass Roots to Washington • State parties are becoming more formally organized, but most presidential campaigning is still conducted through the candidate’s personal campaign organization • National party organization, or national committee writes the official party platform and holds the national convention through which a presidential and vice presidential candidate are nominated • national committee maintains the party organization during non election years

13. The Party in Government: Promises and Policy • Parties help members of Congress form coalitions that support a particular policy objective • (However) • presidents do not need to rely on party support as much as they used to because they can gain the favor of the public directly through television/internet

14. Party Eras in American History • Most democratic nations have multiparty systems that allow many interests to be represented • United States has always had a two-party system • Political scientists divide American history into party eras in which one party dominated politics for a significant period of time • Party eras change when a critical election reveals new issues and a failure of the traditional coalitions • usually causes party realignment, when the party redefines itself and attracts a new coalition of voters

15. Party Eras in American History • First Party System: 1796-1824 • Alexander Hamilton’s short-lived Federalist Party was the first political party • Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans maintained control of the White House

16. Party Eras in American History • Democrats and the Whigs: 1828-1856 • Andrew Jackson appealed to the masses rather than to the elite, and he formed a new coalition, and ultimately, the Democratic Party • opposition party was the Whig Party, though it had little political success

17. Party Eras in American History • Two Republican Eras: 1860-1928 • Republican Party formed out of a coalition of antislavery groups and nominated Lincoln as its first presidential candidate • Election of 1896 began another strongly Republican era during which industrialization and capitalism were advanced

18. Party Eras in American History • New Deal Coalition: 1932-1964 • Franklin Roosevelt brought the Democratic Party back into favor by starting scores of federal programs to combat the Great Depression • New Democratic coalition brought together the poor, southerners, African Americans, city dwellers, Catholics, and persons of Jewish faith • Kennedy’s New Frontier and Johnson’s Great Society and War on Poverty continued the Democratic New Deal tradition

19. Party Eras in American History • 1968-Present: Southern Realignment and the Era of Divided Party Government • states in the South have realigned and are now strongholds of the Republican party, but this has not always been true • President Nixon was able to capture the South, which had previously been solidly Democratic • When Nixon became President, for the first time in the 20th century, there was divided government • frequent election pattern for most presidents that followed him • trend in divided government has led many political scientists to believe that the party system has dealigned rather than realigned • Party dealignment means that people are gradually moving away from both parties.

20. Third Parties: Their Impact in American Politics • Third parties occasionally arise to challenge the two major parties, but they rarely gain enough support to put a candidate in office • Some parties form around a specific cause • Some are splinter parties, formed from smaller factions of the two major parties • Some form around a specific individual

21. Third Parties: Their Impact in American Politics • Though they rarely win, third-party candidates do force particular issues onto the political agenda and allow Americans to express their discontent with the two major parties • may also shift the votes of the electorate • many political scientists think George W. Bush won the 2000 election because Green Party candidate Ralph Nader took votes away from Democrat Al Gore

22. Understanding Political Parties/Democracy and Responsible Party Government • Political parties today are considered to be essential to a democratic system and the prevention of totalitarian rule, although the framers of the Constitution were wary of political parties

23. Understanding Political Parties/Democracy and Responsible Party Government • Critics of the two-party system allege: • little choice for voters because they two parties keep to the middle of the road • less opportunity for political change • so decentralized that it fails to translate campaign promises into policy because politicians do not have to vote with the party line • responsible party model is proposed by critics of the two-party system as how parties should work, including offering choices to voters and following through with campaign promises

24. Multiparty systems • Winner take all system is an electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded to candidates who come in first • presidential elections, the candidate who comes in first gets all of the state’s electoral votes • Proportional representation is an electoral system in which seats in a legislative branch awarded in proportion to the percentage of the vote received • Coalition government is when two or more parties join together to form a majority in a national legislature

25. American Political Parties and the Scope of Government/Is the Party Over? • American political parties do not require party discipline the way many European party systems do • weak party structure of the United States makes it harder to pass legislation • political parties have declined in strength • political party is no longer the major source of information for citizens

26. Interest Groups Chapter 11

27. Interest Groups • One of the most pronounced political trends in the last few decades is the rise of interest groups • today there are more than 20,000 of these private organizations in Washington and in state capitals • represent bodies of people with shared interests who lobby legislators on their behalf • natural part of a democracy • Americans tend to view them with skepticism because, most often, the language of influence is money

28. The Role and Reputation of Interest Groups • Interest groups may pursue any kind of policy, in all levels and branches of government • differ from political parties in several ways • pursue their agenda through political process, whereas parties advance their agendas through elections • Interest groups specialize in one or two policy, areas whereas parties focus on general policies to win a majority • Many people criticize interest groups for fostering a policymaking system heavily influenced by the ability to raise and donate money to candidates for legislative and executive office based on money

29. The Role and Reputation of Interest Groups • Interest groups donate heavily to campaigns through political action committees (PACs) to influence legislators’ voting decisions • more money an interest group has, the more it is able to influence policy. • proponents of interest groups argue that they are effective linkage institutions • represent the interests of the public in the policy arena • Because they are carefully monitored and regulated, the methods of interest groups are much more honest than those employed by people and groups in the past

30. Theories of Interest Group Politics • Pluralist theory • Interest groups are important to democracy because they allow people to organize themselves to change policies • Because hundreds of interest groups must compete for influence, no one group will dominate the others • Groups put up a fair fight; they do not engage in illegal activities to surpass other groups • Groups are equal in power because they have different resources at their disposal

31. Theories of Interest Group Politics • Elite theory • there may be hundreds of interest groups, but only a select few have any real power • interests of only a handful of elites, usually business people, are almost always favored over other interest • policy battles that smaller interests do win are usually minor • Power rests mostly with large multinational corporation • system of elite control is maintained by a well-established structure of interlocking policy players

32. Theories of Interest Group Politics • Hyperpluralist theory or interest group liberalism • Sub governments, or iron triangles, form around specific policy areas • these are composed of an interest group, a federal agency, and any legislative committees or subcommittees that handle the policy area • by avoiding having to choose between policy initiatives, the government creates conflicting policies that waste time and money • groups have too much political influence because they usually get what they want • Competing sub governments only add to the confusion

33. What makes an Interest Group Successful? • Size of the group • important to distinguish between a potential group, which is all of the people who might be members of the group, and an actual group, which is all the people who actually join • Interest groups organize and work for the collective good of the members of the group • Smaller groups are more effective than large groups • Smaller groups can organize more easily • A member of a small group is more likely to experience the group’s success, and therefore, is more likely to work harder than a member of a large group • (However) • groups do experience the free rider problem, where individuals can benefit from the work of the group without actually joining the group, and according to Olson’s law of large groups, this problem is greater with larger groups

34. What makes an Interest Group Successful? • intensity of the group (feelings) • Single-issue groups form around a specific policy and tend to pursue it uncompromisingly • Single-issue groups often deal with moral issues that people feel strongly about • Members of single-issue groups often vote according to a candidates stand on the group’s issue

35. What makes an Interest Group Successful? • financial resources at the group’s disposal • Politicians are most likely to serve the needs of people or groups with money • Money allows groups to mobilize, conduct research, and maintain an administration

36. How Groups Try to Shape Policy • Lobbying • Professional lobbyists attempt to persuade lawmakers to act on behalf of their group • more helpful a lobbyist is the more power he or she has with a politician • Lobbyists: • serve as policy experts in their interest area • act as consultants who advise legislators on how to approach policy issues and debates • mobilize support for politicians during reelection • suggest innovative policy ideas

37. How Groups Try to Shape Policy • Electioneering • Interest groups endorse a candidate who supports their interests and work to get that candidate elected • The groups: • encourage people to vote for candidates • help finance he candidates campaign through PACs • Congressional candidates have become largely dependent on PAC money • Most PAC money goes to incumbents rather than challengers

38. How Groups Try to Shape Policy • Litigation • Interest groups use lawsuits to change policies that have already gone through the legislative process • even the threat of a lawsuit may be enough to influence policymaking • groups can file amicus curiae briefs to state their side in a court case and to assess the consequences of the decisions the court might make • groups can also file class action lawsuits • suits on behalf of a larger group in the electorate

39. How Groups Try to Shape Policy • Mobilizing public opinion • Interest groups try to influence the public because the know that politicians careers depend on public opinion • groups cultivate a positive image of themselves in the eyes of the public • Groups encourage public participation to advance interests from the point of view of the constituency

40. Types of Interest Groups • Economic interests • business, labor, farmers • against regulations and tax increases • want tax advantages subsidies, and contracts for work • Organized labor is the second largest group (e.g., the AFL-CIO, the National Education Association) • The interest group with the largest membership is the AARP, which represents the interests of older Americans • Businesses are the most widely represented interest in Washington

41. Types of Interest Groups • Environmental interests • fastest-growing type of interest group • favor wilderness protection, pollution control, energy alternatives • oppose policies that damage the environment • Examples include the Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy

42. Types of Interest Groups • Equality interests • civil rights, women, social welfare • concerns center on fair treatment in jobs, housing, and education • Examples include the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Southern Poverty Law Center

43. Types of Interest Groups • Consumers’ interests and public interests • whole public benefits from certain policy actions • product safety, which was introduced by Ralph Nader • groups that cannot assert their interests themselves: children, the mentally ill, animals • fair and open government; government reform • Examples include Consumer Alert, the Children’s Defense Fund