American Government and Organization

1
American Government and Organization

• PS1301
• Monday, 1 March

2
Academy Awards

• Each nominating ballot has five numbered slots
  for each category.
• Although each member only gets one vote, they are
  entitled to choose up to five potential nominees,
  in order. In case their favorite nominee is
  eliminated, their vote counts toward their second
  choice.
• Any potential nominee that is supported by 20 of
  the vote will get 1 out of 5 nominations (that is
  proportional representation)
• People who do not cross the 20 percent threshold
  are discarded.
• Once the five nominees are chosen, the winner is
  selected by plurality rules. There is no need for
  a majority.

3
Knowledge Quiz People

• Who is Dick Cheney?
• Who is your representative?
• What office does Dennis Hastert hold?
• Who is William Rehnquist?

4
Knowledge of Political parties

• Which party is more liberal?
• Do you happen to know which party had the most
  members in the House of
• Representatives in Washington before the election
  (this/last) month?
• Do you happen to know which party had the most
  members in the U.S. Senate before the election
  (this/last) month?

5
Knowledge of Civics

• Who has the final responsibility to decide if a
  law is constitutional or not...is it the
  President, the Congress, the Supreme Court, or
  don't you know?
• Who has the final responsibility to decide if a
  law is constitutional or not...is it the
  President, the Congress, the Supreme Court, or
  don't you know?
• What are the first ten Amendments to the
  Constitution called?
• What majority is needed to override a
  presidential veto?
• How long is a senators term in office?

6
Knowledge of Policy

• Which party favors spending more money on
  defense?
• Which party favors spending more federal spending?

7
Publics Knowledge about Politics
8
The Publics Political Knowledge

• 89 percent identified Al Gore as the vice
  president (1998)
• 75 percent know which party had a majority in the
  House of Representatives (1996)
• 67 percent knew the Supreme Court decides if laws
  are constitutional (1992)
• 60 percent could identify Newt Gingrich as
  Speaker of the House (1998)
• 46 percent know that the first ten amendments are
  called the Bill of Rights (1989)
• 25 percent know that the term of U.S. Senators is
  six years
• 11 percent know that William Rehnquist was chief
  justice of the United States (2000)

9
Explaining Knowledge

• Opportunity
• Capacity
• Interest
• Education combines all three elements of learning

10
Does Lack of Information Matter?

• Uninformed populace can be manipulated
• By Media, Experts, Politicians, Bureaucrats
• Associated with antidemocratic views
• Low levels of participation
• Politicians lead astray
• Voting incorrectly

11
Cause for Optimism?

• People can make decisions without being fully
  informed
• Concept of limited rationality
• Random errors cancel each other out. Stability
  in aggregate public opinion

12
Trends in Public Opinion

• On many issues, opinion is relatively stable.
• Response to crises, cycles

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Stability in Opinion on Health Care
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Stability in Spending Preferences
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Stability in Foreign Policy Activism
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Example of Opinion Shift Following Crisis
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Defense Spending Responds to Crisis
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Example of Opinion Change in Response to
Historical Trends
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Issue Publics

• People who follow a particular issue closely and
  who are well informed about it and have strong
  opinions on it are attentive publics
• Public opinion is not a single entity
• What items in the news have drawn a lot of
  attention nationally or in our community? What
  publics have been affected? Have different
  publics held different opinions about these
  issues? How has that difference affected the
  direction of public opinion?