2 Week Schedule 11/4-11/15

1. 2 Week Schedule 11/4-11/15

2. 2 Week Schedule 11/18 - 11/29

3. 2 Week Schedule 12/2 – 12/13

4. Chapter 4 Political Culture & Ideology

5. Chapter 4Text Pages : 84-106 • Extra On-line Support: • Study Guide w/word bank • Ch.4 PowerPoint Lecture

6. Key Concepts • Political Culture • Political Socialization • Public Opinion • Political Ideology

7. Political Culture A set of basic values and beliefs about a country or government that is shared by most citizens. It has an influence on political opinions and behaviors. ex. Freedom is an important value in U.S.

8. Political Culture The U.S. political culture gives citizens a sense of community and creates support for the democratic processes such as majority rule, free elections. These help shape attitudes towards public officials and teach civic responsibility.

9. American Democratic Values • Majority rule / minority right • Equality • Private property • Individual freedoms • Compromise • Limited government

10. Majority rule / minority right Although democracy is based upon majority rule, the rights of the minority must be guaranteed.

11. Equality Every individual is guaranteed equality before the law and especially in the political process.

12. Private Property Ownership of property is protected by law and supported by the capitalist system.

13. Individual Freedoms Guarantees of civil liberties and the protections of infringements upon them.

14. Compromise Allows for the combining of different interests and opinions to form public policy to best benefit society.

15. Limited Government The powers of government are restricted in a democracy by the will of the people and the law.

16. Political Socialization The process by which citizens acquire a sense of political identity. Socialization is a complex process that begins early in childhood and continues throughout a person’s life.

17. Political Socialization It allows citizens to become aware of politics, learn political facts and form political values and opinions.

18. Political Socialization • How are you influenced? • Family & home • Schools • Group affiliations • Demographic factors (race, gender & age) • Mass media • Current events (war, scandal )

19. Political Opinion A collection of shared attitudes of many different people in matters relating to politics, public issues, or the making of public policy. This can be analyzed by intensity of beliefs and stability over time.

20. Political Opinion Measuring of opinion is a complex process that can have unreliable results. The most reliable measure is the public opinion poll. Straw poll is used to ask the same question to a large number of people.

21. Political Opinion Sampling: those chosen to participate are representative of the general population. Today, statistical analysis through computers has made polling a major research tool.

23. Today - Finish Chapter 4 Ideologies - Introduce Ch.5 Content Homework: • Begin reading into Chapter 5 • Continue working on Study Guide

24. Political Ideology A consistent set of beliefs about politics and public policy that creates the structure for looking at government and public policy.

25. Political Ideology Ideologies can change over time. Differences in ideology generally occur in the arena of political, economic and social issues.

26. Radical Liberal Moderate Conservative Socialist Environmentalist Libertarian Reactionary Political Ideologies

27. Radicals Favor rapid, fundamental change in existing social, economic, or political order. May be willing to resort to extreme means, even violence or revolution to accomplish such change.

28. Liberals Supports active government in promoting individual welfare and supporting civil rights, and accepting of peaceful political and social change within the existing political system.

29. Liberals Classic and Modern-day differences Classic: fought to minimize the role of Govt. (stressed individualism) Modern: govt. is necessary to fix the ills of inequality and opportunity.

30. Modern Liberals Advocates of equal access to health care, believe in affirmative action programs, worker health and safety precautions, tax rates that rise with income, and the rights of unions to organize and strike. They generally believe that government programs will make things better.

31. Modern Liberals • Prefer that the government take care of the weak. • Some favor the reduction of great inequalities of wealth that make equality of opportunity impossible. www.prospect.org

32. Criticism of Liberals • Too much power in the hands of the govt. can lead to corruption. • Too much regulation and taxing can undermine the “self-help” ethic that America was founded on. • Govt. involvement could destroy individual initiate and the entrepreneurial spirit.

33. Conservatives Promotes a limited government role in helping individuals economically, supports traditional values and lifestyles, favors a more active role for government in promoting national security, and approaches change cautiously.

34. Conservatives • Want to keep government generally small (except in the area of national defense.) • Government needs to ensure order through firm laws and strict moral codes.

35. Conservatives • Typically opposed to: • judicial rulings that allow abortions. • affirmative action programs

36. “Traditional” Conservatives • Pro-business • Oppose higher taxes and resist all but the most necessary antitrust, trade, and environmental regulations on corporations.

37. “Social” Conservatives Concerned with morality and lifestyle • Favor strong govt. action to protect children from pornography and drugs. • Want stringent limits on abortions.

38. “New Right” Conservatives Emerged in the 1980’s • Favors the return of prayer in school • Opposes policies of job quotas,busing and tolerance of homosexuality.

39. Criticism of Conservatives Conservatives tend to be selective and inconsistent on what they want govt. to do. Ex. Want govt. to regulate areas like pornography and abortions, but oppose regulations of other people’s lives in the economic fields.

40. Moderates Political Ideology that falls between liberal and conservative and which may include some of both; usually thought of as tolerant of others’ political opinions and not likely to hold extreme views on issues.

41. Socialism Economic and governmental system based on public ownership of the means of production and exchange. Karl Marx explained socialism as the transitional stage between capitalism and communism.

42. Socialism Beliefs: • The nationalization of certain industries. • a public jobs program so that all who want work would be put to work. • A much steeper tax burden on the wealthy. • Drastically cut defense spending.

43. Socialism Socialists generally argue that capitalism concentrates power and wealth within a small segment of society that controls the means of production and derives its wealth through economic exploitation. This creates unequal social relations which fail to provide opportunities for every individual to maximize their potential, and does not utilize available technology and resources to their maximum potential in the interests of the public.

44. Socialism Western European democratic countries have been more influenced by socialist ideas than we have in the U.S.

45. Reactionary Advocates a return to a previous state of affairs, often a social order of government that existed earlier in History. May be willing to go to extremes to achieve their goals.

46. Reactionary The term is primarily used as a term meant to assert the idea that the opposition is based in merely reflexive politics rather than responsive and informed views. Groups seldom refer to themselves as reactionary.

47. Environmentalism Focus on: • grassroots democracy • Social justice • Equal opportunity • Nonviolence • Respect for diversity • Feminism

48. Environmentalism • Similar to liberalism with a focus on ecology and the environment.

49. Libertarians • Political ideology that cherishes individual liberty and insists sharply on limited govt. • Preach opposition to almost all government programs. • Want an end to the FBI and CIA • Oppose all govt. regulation • Repeal all laws that limit individual choices • Seat belts, helmet laws, abortion,porn, drugs

50. Libertarians LP.org • The Libertarians are neither left nor right: they believe in total individual liberty Social Issues: • pro-drug legalization • pro-choice • pro-gay marriage • pro-home schooling • pro-gun rights, etc. • Economic Issues: • anti-welfare • anti-government regulation of business • anti-minimum wage • anti-income tax, pro-free trade. The LP espouses a classical laissez faire ideology which, they argue, means "more freedom, less government and lower taxes."