Political Science 1
Introduction to American Government & Politics
De Anza College
Fall 2013
Instructor: James V. Nguyen
Chapter 4
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3
Political Parties
Organizations committed to winning elections
Educate and mobilize voters
Recruit and nominate candidates for office
4
Trick Question
Does the Constitution refer to any political parties?
5
Plurality promotes two-party system
Whoever gets most votes wins
Winner take all
Voters don’t want to “waste choices”
Makes major parties broad, have to form coalitions
Media bias towards two parties
Public financing system made by/for two major parties
6
Proportional Representation
Legislative seats are allotted to parties based on the
percentages of the vote they receive
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Discuss
What are some advantages and disadvantages of the
two party system?
8
Voter Turnout
Fourth lowest turnout in study of 34 democracies.
You and your generation (most of you, at least) are not
voting as much as your parents or grandparents do
Process of voting difficult: have to register in advance,
some states prohibit felons from voting, voting takes
place on Tuesday when people work
Feeling that “my vote doesn’t count”
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Gulf between rich and poor
Working class, low-income, less educated Americans
vote at 60% rate of upper class Americans
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Money and Elections
Importance of $ cannot be understated
Obama raised $742 million in 2008, a record. Bypassed
public financing through millions of smaller donations
online
Contrast: Clinton raised $1.2 billion, to Trump’s $650
million in 2016
Citizens United case: corporations and likely labor
unions not restricted on campaign spending
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Contributions as Investment
Great return on investment (i.e. influence, access)
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Hard vs. Soft Money
Hard: given directly to candidate’s campaign, limited
Soft: “educational and party building purposes” - goes
to ads, admin costs, get out the vote drives, - unlimited
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Question
If campaigns are highly dependent on money and
money determines influence, what is the relative
influence of non-contributors/small contributors vs.
wealthy and corporate interests once a candidate is
elected?
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2008 Election and a Realigning
election
See chart 4.1
Women, minorities, young people, lower income (and
higher), less religious and people in urban areas voted
more than ever before and for Obama
McCain and Republicans: tend to be white, male,
Protestant, religiously observant, married, from rural
areas, and fairly affluent.
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Polarization and Politics in America
The degree to which the viewpoints on major issues
differs in this country.
Some argue that it is because the positions of the
parties have become more extreme and not centrist as
before.
Impact: more difficult to mind middle ground,
animosity in politics.
Do you think this country is extremely polarized?
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The New Media and Public Opinion
Newspapers, radio and TV
The internet, social networks like facebook, Twitter,
YouTube, emails, websites for campaign information
Does the internet democratize politics (help reduce
influence of money) or does it cause control/messaging
issues for campaigns? In other words, is there too much
information (possibly false) flying around that confuses
populace?
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Political Science 1
Introduction to American Government & Politics
De Anza College
Fall 2013
Instructor: James V. Nguyen
Chapter 5
2
Interest Groups
Organizations that citizens form to influence
policymakers
They influence what bills are proposed, the provisions
they contain, and legislators vote for them.
Also try to affect such matters as administrative
rulings and executive and judicial appointments.
Examples:
3
Social Movements
Ex: Occupy movement and Tea Party movement
Political activism and participation that is less
organized, less hierarchichal than interest groups
Have intense feelings about issue and is very
demanding
Can be either liberal or conservative
4
Interest Groups
Used to be more “democratic” but now are more
professional and active
Iron triangles (interest groups, congressional
subcommittees, and federal agency) have given way to
issue networks – new progressive interest groups
5
What do you think?
See page 140 and consider:
Are social movements failing or succeeding now that
they are more insiders to the process than before?
6
Business Interest Groups
The most numerous and most influential
$, staff members, social connections
Account for 85% of all lobbying expenditures
Example of Google and Pharmaceutical Association
7
Lobbyist Tactics – “all directional”
Campaign contributions
Perks: dinners, trips
Research on issues
Have former representatives lobby
Media message shaping, agenda setting
8
Membership and Incentives
Material: medical, travel, insurance discounts if you join
Purposive: based on your convictions and desire to
advocate on your beliefs
Professional advocacy groups have proliferated, which
tend to draw from middle and upper class. Does this
hurt lower class individuals and keep them from
participating in democracy?
9
E-Media
Makes it easy to communicate and cheaper and many
times free to join.
Example: moveon.org, wall street protest
You can become a political entrepreneur! –
democratizes
Facebook, Twitter, blogs, email, etc.
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Social Movements
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12
Rosa Parks
She refused to give up her seat and go to back of bus
where blacks were supposed to sit and her actions
precipitated Montgomery Busy Boycott
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Elements of Social Movements
1) Rarely begin with radical demands – it is the denial of
that radicalizes groups (for civil rights movement,
denial of change in segregation on buses led to
demand for end of all segregation)
2) SM arise in response to changes in political
environment that create new opportunities groups
can exploit.
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Elements, contd
3) SMs empower followers and develop a sense of moral
legitimacy among them that their demands are justified
and right.
4) SMs require organizations that can develop and
disseminate an alternative culture (ex: Black Church
during CR movement)
15
Elements, cont’d
5) SMs flourish when they are able to enlarge the scope of
conflict and mobilize people who were previously
bystanders to become involved in the conflict. (protest
and disruption as strategies)
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Question to consider
Are the Occupy Wall Street protests a social movement,
by definition?
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Labor Unions
What is a labor union and how does it protect workers
rights?
Ex: South Bay Labor Council
Why would conservatives try to dismantle labor unions
in America?
Do you think unions are still necessary in this day and
age?
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Women’s Movement
Initial efforts were based on goal of attaining suffrage
(19th Amendment in 1920)
1960s – focus was on Equal Rights and Amendment
(fell three states short of ratification)
Equal pay, work opportunities, access to promotions
and academies
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The Religious Right
Mobilized around social issues like sex education, gay
rights, prayer in public schools, and abortion.
Politically saavy movement that uses megachurches
and evangelical leaders to advance agenda
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Environmental Movement
Has evolved to “ecology” movement whereby we
appreciate fragility and interconnectedness of nature,
therefore impact of preservation on our water, air,
resources, etc.
Today, this is reflected by fight vs. global warming and the
development of environmental justice (issues through
racial and class inequality)
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POLI 1 WEEK 3
PAPER #1, CSLS, CHAPTER 4 AND 5
AGENDA
• Quiz!
• Extra Credit: Mass Incarceration Thursday 1:30 to
3:30 for 10 points extra credit.
• How to do Paper #1
• Collecting CSL Agreements
• Finishing “Inequality for All”
• Watching a portion of Obama’s State of the Union
address and discussing esp portion on free
community college
CSLS
• Due the second class day of the third week
• Just your signature and mine
• I will sign and return to you if okay, if not we will
have a discussion about alternatives
PAPER #1 TIPS
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Assignment instructions
Choosing topic
Starting your research
Writing
Citations
Getting help
REMINDERS
• For next week:
• Quiz (two, one due Monday, the other due Wednesday)
• Work on your papers, you may share your topics with me
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