Final Review

Main points only, 10 keywords per chapter

Topics covered by test:
Constitutional Underpinnings (principles)
Forms of Government/branches/Federalism
Demographics, Political Socialization- Public
Opinion
Campaign & Voting/Elections
Interest groups
Political parties
Congress
Iron triangle
Media
Chapter 1
This chapter will introduces the constitution.
Chapter 2
Chapter 3: Federalism
Definition: A form that a nation is being ran with 2 government levels that have the
same amount of power
Key Word Key Words

- Supreme clause - Block grants

- Enumerated powers - Formula grants
- Implied powers - Devolution
- Elastic clause - Categorical grants
- Full faith and credit - Privileges and immunities
- Extradition
- Cooperative federalism
- Dual federalism
Chapter 3: Federalism Continued
-Federalism's advantage, the separation of power favored a stronger national
government dividing decision making and equal power between state and national
Gov.

-Reinforced by the Constitution

-Our nation nowaday is ran with a dual federalism but before the New Deal by FDR
the nation was ran through a Cooperative Federalism which meant that the Federal
Government and Local Government had powers within their own spaces nowhere else.

- National Supremacy is responsible for giving states Grants for specific purposes or
free for beneficial purposes.
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6: public opinion and political action
Key words

Public opinion:The distribution of the population's beliefs about politics and policy
issues.

Demography: the science of human population.

Census: An actual enumeration of the population, which the constitutions requires the
government to conduct every 10 years, and it's used to understand demographics.

Minority Majority: The situation, likely beginning in the mid-twenty-first century, in

which the non-Hispanic whites will represent a minority of the U.S. population and
minority groups together will represent a majority.
Political culture: An overall set of values shared within a society.

Reapportionment: the reapportionment process occurs once a decade, after each

census, when the 435 seats in the House of Representatives are reallocated to reflect
each states proportion of the population.

Exit poll: Public opinion surveys used by major media pollster to predict the
electoral winners with speed and precision.

Political socialization: the process through which an individual acquires his or her
particular political orientationshis or her knowledge, feelings, and evaluations
regarding his or her political world
Random-digit dialing: A technique used by pollsters to place telephone calls
randomly to both listed and unlisted numbers when conducting a survey.

Random sampling: The key technique employed by survey researchers, which

operates on the principle that everyone should have an equal probability of
being selected for the sample.

Gender Gap: The regular pattern in which women are more likely to support
Democratic candidates, in part because they tend to be less conservative than
men and more likely to support spending on social services and to oppose
higher levels of military spending.
Chapter 7
American political system is in a period of high-tech politics
Politics in which the behavior of citizens and policymakers and the political agenda itself are
increasingly shaped by technology
Key part of this evolving technology is the mass media
Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet
Reach and profoundly influence the elites and the masses
Chapter examines:
Media politics
Focusing on the rise of modern media in America's advanced technological society
Making of the news and its presentation through the media
Biased in the news
Impact of the media on policymakers and the public
Includes the concept of:
Policy agenda
Chapter 7 (key words)
High-tech politics: A politics in which the behavior of citizens and policymakers and
the political agenda itself are increasingly shaped by technology.

Mass Media: Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, and other means
of popular communication.

Media Events: Events that are purposely staged for the media and that are significant
just because the media are there.

Press Conferences: Meetings of public officials with reporters.

Investigative Journalism: The use of in-depth reporting to unearth scandals, scams,

and schemes, at times putting reporters in adversarial relationships with political
leaders.
Chapter 7 (key words pt2)
chains -Groups of newspapers published by media conglomerates and today
accounting for over four-fifths of the nations daily newspaper circulation.

narrowcasting-Media programming on cable TV or the Internet that is focused on a

particular interest and aimed at a particular audience

print media-Newspapers and magazines, as compared with electronic media

media events-Events that are purposely staged for the media and that are significant
just because the media are there.

selective exposure-The process through which people consciously choose to get the
news from information sources that have viewpoints compatible with their own.
Chapter 8: Political Parties
Main Idea of Chapter:

- The purpose of political parties is to elect candidates for office, run campaigns,
persuade people to vote, and to coordinate policy making
- Political parties are one of the primary institutions which links the common people to
the policymakers
- Political parties operate on three different levels:
- The party in the electorate
- The party as an organization
- The party in government
Chapter 8 Key Terms
- Open Primary: A primary election in which voters are not required to declare party affiliation.
- Closed Primary : A type of direct primary limited to registered party members, who must declare their party
affiliation in order to vote
- Linkage Institutions: a structure within a society that connects the people to the government or centralized authority.
- Rational choice theory: popular theory in political science to explain the actions of voters as well as politicians
- Ticket Splitting: "splitting" votes between Democrats and Republicans (ex voting for democratic candidate for
president and republican congressmen). This shows the lack of trust in government
- Party machines: a type of political party organization that relies heavily on material inducements, such as patronage,
to win votes and to govern
- Patronage: one of the key inducements used by party machines. A job, contract, or promotion that is given for
political reasons rather than for merit
- Party realignment: the displacement of the majority party by the minority party, usually during a critical election
period
- Party dealignment: the gradual disengagement of people from the parties, as seen in part by shrinking party
identification
- Coalition: a group of individuals with a common interest on which every political party depends
- Critical election: When issues emerge, new coalitions replace older ones, and the majority party is often displaced by
Chapter 9: Campaigns & Voting Behavior
Main keywords:
Main Point:
The american system in campaigns are the most open and
Campaign strategy: the game plan candidates lay out to
democratic in the world. The process is long, and it increases the
guide their electoral campaign.
media attention for candidates to show and introduce their
platform
Caucus: a system for selecting convention delegates used
in about a dozen states in which voters attend an open
meeting to express presidential preference.

Presidential primaries: elections in which a state's voters

go to the polls to express their preference for a party's
nominee for president.

Political efficacy: the belief that one's political

participation really matters.

Voter registrations: a system adopted by the states that

requires voters to register prior to voting.
Chapter 10: Interest Groups
Vocabulary:

Interest Groups: Organization of people with shared policy goals entering the
policy process at several points to try and achieve those goals
Interest groups are policy specialists and parties are policy generalists
Pluralism: Theory emphasizing that groups compete and counterbalance one
another in the market place
Elitism: Theory contending an upper-class elite will hold government and thus
effect
Hyperpluralism: Theory where government thinks that the groups are strong so
they want to please them all
Chapter 10: Interest Groups (Pt. 2)
Potential Group: Those who might be group members because of a common
interest
Actual Group: Those who actually join the group
BOTH make interest groups successful
Free-Rider Problem: Those who don't join because they get benefits without
officially joining the group
Lobbying: Communicating with the people to hopefully influence their decision
Electioneering: Aiding candidates financially and getting groups members out to
support them
PACs (Political Action Committees): Groups that raise money and distribute it
into contributions to the candidate that they support
Chapter 11 pt. 1
Main points: Congress is the legislative, or lawmaking, branch of our national government. It shares
power with the president and the Supreme Court.

Section 1: Representatives and Senators is the title of the section and it gives
explanations on how congress is affected by them. Congress is impacted by Reps. and
Senators because they represent what the their states and send their messages to
everyone in congress.

Section 2: An outlook on the roles and tasks of incumbents, the way they win re
elections as well as means and methods.

Section 3: Compares and contrast the roles of House and Senate as it describes the
roles of committee, caucasus, and congressional leaders
 Chapter 11 p.1 (continued)
Key Words:

Incumbents : those already holding office, usually wins in congressional elections.

Casework : Activities of members of Congress that help constituents as individuals, particularly by cutting
through bureaucratic red tape to get people what they think they have a right to get.

Pork Barrel : Federal projects, grants, and contracts available to state and local governments, businesses,
colleges, and other institutions in a congressional district.

Bicameral Legislature: A legislature divided into two houses. The U.S. Congress and all state legislatures
except Nebraskas are bicameral.

House Rules Committee : The committee in the House of Representatives that reviews most bills coming from
a House committee before they go to the full House.
Chapter 11 pt.1 ( continued )
Filibuster: A strategy unique to the Senate whereby opponents of a piece of legislation use their right to
unlimited debate to prevent the Senate from ever voting on a bill. Sixty members present and voting can
halt a filibuster.

Speaker of the House: An office mandated by the Constitution. The Speaker is chosen in practice by the
majority party, has both formal and informal powers, and is second in line to succeed to the presidency
should that office become vacant.

Majority leader: The principal partisan ally of the Speaker of the House, or the partys manager in the
Senate. The majority leader is responsible for scheduling bills, influencing committee assignments, and
rounding up votes on behalf of the partys legislative

Whips: Party leaders who work with the majority leader or minority leader to count votes beforehand and
lean on waverers whose votes are crucial to a bill favored by the party

Minority Leader: The principal leader of the minority party in the House of Representatives or in the
Senate.
Chapter 11 pt. 2
Section 4: Interest groups play a central role in the legislative process. They provide valuable
information and expertise to lawmakers and help build coalitions. They have a large influence on
congressional decisions and through recent years have ultimately become more polarized in order to
provide more pull on most members and issues.

Section 5: Congress is an elite institution, it is responsive to the public when they make their wishes
clear in their opinions. Overall, they are responsive on most interests in issues but also lack on the
abilities to make good public policies.
Chapter 11 pt.2 Key Words:
Interest Groups: An organized group that tries to influence the government to adopt certain policies.

Party Influence: Persuade another's decision based on the relationship between two parties.

Constituents: A person who authorizes another to act on his or her behalf.

Malapportionment: In a malapportioned system, the votes of some citizens weigh more than the votes of
others.

Lobbyist: A person that takes part in an organized attempt to influence legislators.

Chapter 11 pt.2 Keywords: (Continued)
Tax Policy: Choice made by government based on what taxes to levy, in what amounts and to whom.

Policies: Principle of action adopted by a government, party or business

Representative Institution: Political Institution where where a number of persons represent the
populations or privileged orders within a population

Grass-roots: the most basic level of an activity or organization.

Elite: Select part of a group that is superior to the rest in terms of abilities and qualities.
Iron triangle- armi
The main point of the iron triangle is to keep under
control the way to make the laws.

- Congress - electoral support

- Interest group -funding electoral
support
- Bureaucracy -works in 2 ways
- Connection.
- Policy choices
- Congregational support
- Low regulation