People and Politics

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People and Politics

• Political Culture

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• Political culture is a distinctive and pattered
  way of thinking about how political and economic
  life ought to be carried out.

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Five Elements of the American view of the
political system

• Liberty
• Equality
• Democracy
• Civic Duty
• Individual Responsibility

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Liberty

• People are free to do as they please as long as
  we do not hurt other people
• Liberty over authority
• Freedom over responsibility
• Americans are preoccupied with rights
• Rights over Duties

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Equality

• Political Equality
• Equal treatment under the law
• One man one vote
• Equal chance to hold public office
• Economic Equality
• Equal opportunity
• Not Equal results
• Social background, race,, religion, and gender
  should not limit opportunity to achieve to the
  best of our ability

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Democracy

• Government of the people, by the people, and for
  the people
• Government officials should be accountable to the
  people

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Civic Duty

• Civic duty is the belief that one has an
  obligation to participate in civic and political
  affairs
• People ought to take community affairs seriously
• People ought to help out when they can

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Individual Responsibility

• Individuals are responsible for their own actions
  and wellbeing
• A persistent commitment to the individual
• Concern for preserving individual freedom of
  choice and what if any limits
• Limits generate intense conflict

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Other American Democratic Values

• Power to the People
• Democratic Consensus
• Justice and Rule of Law
• Nationalism, Optimism, and Idealism

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Political Ideology

• Ideology Ones basic beliefs about power,
  political values, and role of government
• Beliefs that arise out of education, economic,
  and social conditions and experiences
• It includes the views that people have about how
  government should work and how it actually works
• Links values to policies
• People can disagree on ideology but share a
  political culture

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Ideologies

• Contemporary Liberalism
• Belief in the positive use of government to bring
  about justice equality of opportunity
• Preserve rights of the individual and private
  property
• Government should intervene into the economy to
  remedy defects in capitalism
• Government should provide against inadequate or
  deficient healthcare, housing, and education

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• Generally, believe in affirmative action,
  workers safety and health protections, tax rates
  that rise with income, and unions right to
  organize and strike
• Believe in progress and change
• Trust government programs

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• Conservatism
• A belief limited government ensures order,
  competitive markets, and personal opportunity
• Private property and belief in enterprise are
  central attributes of conservatism
• Keep government small, especially national
  government, except in national defense
• Believe in strong leadership institutions, firm
  laws, and strict moral codes to ensure social
  order
• Believe in individual responsibility
• Believe change in moderation

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• Socialism
• An economic and government system based on public
  ownership of the means of production and exchange
• Socialism has been combined with democracy
  Democratic Socialism
• Socialism and totalitarian governments combined
  is simply referred to as Totalitarian Socialism

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• American Socialism
• There are a few examples favor
• Expanded role for government
• Nationalize certain industries
• Institute public jobs program
• Steeper tax burden on the wealthy
• Drastically cut defense spending

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• Environmentalism
• An ideology that is dominated by concern for the
  environment but also promotes grass-roots
  democracy, social justice, equal opportunity,
  nonviolence, respect for diversity, and feminism
• Associated with the so called Green Movement

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• Libertarianism
• An ideology that cherishes individual liberty and
  insists on sharply limited government, promoting
  a free-market economy, a noninterventionist
  foreign policy, and an absence of regulation in
  the moral and social spheres
• Opposition to most all government programs
• Massive cuts in government spending
• Abolish government agencies FBI, CIA, and
  regulatory agencies
• Oppose participation in the UN

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• Make war only if attacked
• Decriminalization of drugs
• Abolish income tax
• Withdraw American troops from abroad

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Public Opinion

• The distribution of individual preferences for,
  or evaluation of, a given issue, candidate, or
  institution within a specific population
• Distribution means the proportion of the
  population that holds a particular opinion
• The framers of the Constitution intended to give
  the people an active voice in governing
• The framers also wanted to insulate the
  government from the shifting whims of
  ill-informed public opinion

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• Methods of measuring public opinion
• Political party organizations
• Interest groups
• The media
• Scientific polling
• Three steps
• Selecting a sample
• Presenting carefully worded questions
• Interpreting the results

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Where do we get our public opinions and values?

• The process by which we develop our political
  attitudes, beliefs, and values is called
  political socialization
• Starts in childhood
• Children learn the content of our culture in
  childhood and adolescence but reshape it as they
  mature
• Socialization lays the foundation for our
  political beliefs , values, ideas, ideology , and
  partisanship (party preference)
• Nationalism is a common element of socialization

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• The sources of our views are varied due to our
  pluralistic political culture
• Political attitudes may originate in religious,
  racial, gender, ethnic, or economic beliefs and
  values
• We form our attitudes in groups
• Family
• Schools
• Social Organizations
• Everyone is exposed to the mass media
• The media acts as agents of socialization
• Our choice of media source is selective and
  people often choose sources they agree
• Often the media influences what we think about
  but not always what to think