1. Interest groups- organization of people who share political, social or other goals; and agree to try to influence public policy to achieve those goals. 2. Alexis de Tocqueville- French political writer noted for his analysis of American institutions 3. public goods - benefits that everyone gets whether or not they join the group, 4. private goods- benefits that ONLY come to those who are members 5. free rider problem- Why would anyone join a group that will provide benefits to everyone regardless of membership? 6. union shop- anyone working for the company has to join the union or at least pay a part of the dues to cover cost of negotiating contracts 7. right-to-work laws- outlaw union shop contracts 8. benefits for group membership: solidarity- make people feel good for joining a group and working with others to make the world a better place. 9. Material- include things like discounts on goods or services, or low cost life or auto insurance. 10. Information- provide members with information that they find interesting and useful. 11. “Federalist Number 10”- how the new government created by the Constitution would help deal with the problem of factions. 12. Faction- He lumps parties and interest groups togetheras including both large groups (majority factions)and small groups (minority factions) ofpassionate people who are united bysome interest. 13. democratic pluralism- checking and balancing 14. lobbying- those activities in which people contact public officials to try and influence public policy 15. lobbyists- Those who do this work 1. legislative lobbying- aimed at Congress, or at legislatures on the state level 2. bureaucratic lobbying- contacts with the bureaucracy in an effort to affect how bureaucracy enforces laws and administers programs 3. The Federal Register- All regulations must be announced in a publication that is available online 4. judicial lobbying- when lobbyists attempt to influence judicial decisions or influence the selection of judges. 5. in-house lobbyists- work directly and exclusively for an interest group 6. contract lobbyists- work for lobbying firms, often law firms staffed with a lot of lawyers who specialize in government relations, that contract with a variety of interest groups. 7. revolving door problem- bureaucrats are tempted to help private interests so that at a later date they can move through the door to work for that interest. 8. Political Action Committees or PACs- What PACs do is collect money from people in the organization and then give the money to candidates, reporting the information to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), as required by law. 9. grassroots lobbying- efforts by interest groups to mold public opinion. 10. institutional advertising- ads are aimed not at selling a product or service, but rather at creating a positive image for the industry or business. 11. think tanks- hire policy experts to develop policy proposals and do studies of existing policies. 12. social capital- interactions and connectedness in society 13. long ballot- electing so many different people to so many different offices 14. political party- people organized around a wide range of policy preferences who recruit and run slates of candidates for office so that they can capture control of government and then enact their policy preferences 15. party caucus- a meeting to decide who would be the best candidates for them to put forward. 16. Progressives- they pushed for democratic reforms that would move the nation toward a more popular democracy in which average voters would have more power. 17. nonpartisan elections- would ban candidates from running under a party label 18. initiative- allowing people to initiate laws by signing petitions and then holding referenda to actually pass laws. 19. Recall- voters to be able to force someone out of office, using a similar process involving signed petitions and then a vote 20. Federalists- They favored a strong and active national government and staying neutral in the war by negotiating the Jay Treaty with Great Britain. 21. Jeffersonians and Democratic-Republicans- opposing Hamilton’s ideas and were much more sympathetic to the French side in the war 22. Whigs- Jackson’s enemies organized themselves into a party 23. Republican Party- new party that was forming around the cause for abolition 24. Populist Party- tried to represent the economic interests of the have-nots. 25. New Deal realignment- most Northern workers, especially those in unions, rural Americans across the nation who were subsisting on small farms, and Southerners who remained in the party for reasons of race but now had economic reasons as well. In addition, significant numbers of African Americans began to migrate to the party for economic reasons 26. Blue states- Democratic 27. Red states- Republican 28. Purple states- border states that had more cultural diversity 29. three parts of political parties: party organization- the people who run party affairs on a day to day basis. 30. party in government- people who win office 31. party in the electorate- average citizens who consider themselves members of political parties 32. party identification- more of a psychological self-identification than any kind of formal membership. 33. party leaners- those who feel slightly inclined toward one party or the other if pressed to give an answer 34. plurality winner-take-all election rules- almost all elections involve a single seat to be won, and the single winner is the person with a plurality 35. proportional representation- each party got the same percentage of seats in the legislature as the percentage of the vote they received 36. splinter protest third parties- groups that temporarily break off from one of the two major parties because of some major disagreement 37. ideological third parties- take rather extreme positions on issues and are unwilling to compromise at all. 38. Southern Strategy- promising to go slow on civil rights 39. voter fatigue- Too many demands on voters 40. voter turnout- percentage of citizens who vote 41. open primaries- any registered voter can vote in either party’s primary (but not both of them). 42. closed primaries- voters have to register with a political party when they register to vote. 43. Electoral College- created by the Founders as a compromise between having the Congress choose the president and allowing popular election. It also gave states an important role in the process, giving them the power to decide how the electors would be chosen 44. "nature of the times" voters- People who vote on the basis of this perception of change in condition 45. policy mandate- voters elected them to enact policies that were in their platform 46. multilateralism- carefully working with allies 47. unilateralism- the United States would chart a course and then get support where it could, but act alone if necessary. 48. preemption in foreign/defense policy- claiming the right to attack nations that we felt posed a threat to our security, whether or not they had actually attacked us. 49. (voting as a) civic ritual- we participate to affirm our membership in our democratic republic 50. survey population- we participate to affirm our membership in our democratic republic 51. random sample- every member of the population has an equal chance of being chosen. 52. 1936 Literary Digest survey- the classic example of a biased sample. 53. straw polls- use what are called “convenience” samples, or “self-selected” samples. 54. sampling error- The expected error due to sampling 55. exit poll- a survey done of actual voters as they leave the polls. 56. socially desirable answers- answers they think will make them look good 57. push poll- designed to push public opinion rather than really measure public opinion. 58. door-step opinions- get created on the door-step and then left there like an abandoned orphan. These thoughtless opinions are highly unstable 59. Office of Inspector General- government investigators uncover waste and mismanagement and their reports lead to corrections. 60. mandatory spending- programs where money has to be spent by law because of programs that created governmental obligations 61. national debt- amount we owe to those who have loaned us money. 62. budget deficit- the amount that the government spends over what we receive in taxes in a given year. 63. discretionary spending- programs that Congress debates and has some control over each year. 64. reasoned opinions- If you cannot give the counterarguments to each one, the chances are very high that your opinions are not reasoned opinions 65. political socialization- the process by which we learn basic political identities and opinions on issues 66. agents of political socialization 67. political efficacy- feel they can have an impact on the political system 68. News media- entities that convey information about recent things that are of public interest. 69. penny press- sold so cheaply 70. yellow journalism- emphasized sensationalism, sex, scandal (both real and alleged), violence, crime, and anything that the reader would find exciting 71. muckraking- uncover corruption and exploitation in factories and slums and corporate life. 72. the 1960 televised debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy- captured a huge national audience. It was so big that executives concluded that they could sell advertising if news had a more dramatic appeal 73. narrowcasting- programs that looked for a niche, a smaller audience with particular interests and points of view. 74. Infotainment- new format mixes entertainment with the news 75. Docudramas- mixes historical fact with dramatic fiction 76. horse-race stories- stories that are about who is ahead and who is behind, in effect, how they are running, about campaign tactics and strategy. 77. selective exposure- filter out stories that do not fit their preconceptions by simply not reading or watching them. 78. selective perception as psychological defense mechanisms- tend to reinterpret it so that it does fit our preexisting opinions. 79. structural bia the bias that comes from the business structure of media companies s- 80. newsworthy-dramatic, involve familiar faces and places or be highly unusual, and, of course, be current, that is, new. 81. sociocentric bias- to select and view news stories through the value framework of the society in which the media operate 82. agenda setting-bring issues and questions to our attention and these are the things we think about from day to day 83. framing-how a story is presented 84. media coverage of global warming- 85. balanced coverage-giving two sides to almost any question equal coverage, even if one side clearly has overwhelming scientific evidence in its favor. 86. Isolationism-ignoring the world 87. Manifest Destiny-our nation was destined to expand to the Pacific Ocean 88. The Monroe Doctrine-all of the Americas (North, Central, and South) were no longer open to European colonization.
The “America First” movement- opposed American involvement in WWIIbecause they saw the war as none ofour business. round-the-flag effect- support that action and the leader who was bold enough to act 89. power to declare war- feared that a president might use military action to build personal power 90. Cold War- we never had a direct shooting confrontation with the Soviet Union 91. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)- we and our allies 92. Containment- prevent further expansion of the Soviet Empire 93. Marshall Plan- effort to help the nations of Europe rebuild after the devastation of the Second World War 94. Massive Retaliation- use nuclear weapons to threaten our enemies 95. Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)- purpose of the weapons was to deter the other side from using them. 96. nuclear proliferation-

Essay Questions (20 points). We will randomly choose one of the following to answer in class. 1. Suppose you best friend tells you that political parties are not worth having. Respond to her statement with a counterargument about the value and roles of parties in our democratic republic. (I will be looking for five separate points here.)
1. Simplify Voting
We have already noted the difficulties of voting in terms of costs and expected payoff. Having a party identification greatly reduces the time and effort involved in voting.

2. Recruit and Screen Candidates
Over the course of American history, parties have used different ways to choose candidates they run for office. For the first few decades, party leaders in Congress or in legislatures gathered together in a party caucus, which was a meeting to decide who would be the best candidates for them to put forward. This method tied candidates closely to existing party leaders, but it also meant that elites rather than average citizens played the most important role. Of course, the elites needed to choose candidates who would have some popular appeal so that they could win the election. So public feelings played an indirect role in the party caucus decision process.

3. Get Government Moving
Without political parties, our checked and balanced and separated and federalized government would probably accomplish nothing. By now you know many of the obstacles that the Founders built into our democratic republic. Their concern for preventing the tyrannical accumulation of power led them to create a structure that included so many safeguards that a new danger was created. Would government be able to do anything when faced with any kind of crisis that required quick action?
4. Nonviolent Outlet for Discontent
Suppose you are really angry with what current elected officials are doing. What are your alternatives? You can leave and go live somewhere else. That is usually impractical. You can suck it up and just put up with discontent and anger. Many people do this, but nothing changes as a result. You can try to overthrow these leaders through violent revolution, which has very high human and economic costs. You do not have to look very far around the world to see this happening.
5. Promote Compromise and Moderation
Because parties are coalitions of people and interest groups with differing particular interests, no one can get everything they want. At the same time, party leaders know that they must have the support of all groups in the party if they are to have any chance of winning an election.

2. Discuss your own political socialization in terms of how it does and/or does not fit what political scientists know about how citizens are socialized. Make sure you cover all the major agents of political socialization. A. Early Childhood—Parents B. Youth—Schools, Peers, and Group Influence
C. Adulthood—Media and Groups