Unit 2: Political

Beliefs
By: Daniela
Avila
Period 5Silver

Photo Credit to:

http://maps.acrewoods.net
/tomchance.org/wp-content
/uploads/2013/11/ideology
-is-the-source-of-politic
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80

Learning Objective #1: Explain the core American beliefs, values, and norms that
define the relationship between citizens and government and citizens with each
other.
The United States was founded as a democratic republic, and the
American public have always cherished the freedoms and opportunity
that this country allows. The core American beliefs include that all
citizens have an equal right to vote and own property, minority rights
will always be protected, civil liberties should always be protected by
the law, compromise must be encouraged, the voice of the people
should be reflected by public policy, the people should have the power
to change/improve the government as they see fit, and the powers of
government should be kept in check by the people it governs. The way
citizens interact should allow free expression of ideas and ensure the
protection of all those who choose to embrace their views, without the
endangerment of others.

Learning Objective #2: Evaluate the influence of various factors in political

attitudes and socialization.
The acts of government and the laws it imposes on the citizenry should
abide by the Constitution. Each American citizen should be well
educated from an early age on the structure and role of the
government, also known as political socialization. The main factors that
influence the political ideology that a person may develop are: age,
gender, race, ethnicity, region, the degree of education the person has,
economic income, socioeconomic status (social class), family and school
influences, group affiliations (interest groups or unions), religion,
occupation, and the demographic group the person belongs to. The
trends over the years have shown that younger people tend to vote
less, which is why the 26th Amendment lowered the voter turnout.
Minorities and less educated people also tend to vote less. People who
are more religiously involved and who have higher incomes tend to vote
more.

Learning Objective #3: Evaluate the impact that public opinion and scientific
polling have on elections and policy debates.
It is in the best interest of the government
to be well aware of the public opinion. The
most reliable way to measure public opinion
is polling. George Gallup is known as the
father of polling and developed a
scientific polling process that includes the
following requirements: a representative
sample size that must be chosen at random,
clear question phrasing, careful word-order,
a comprehensive way of taking the poll, and
paying close attention to the margin of error
(less than +/- 6% for it to be credible).

Learning Objective #4: Analyze the relationship between 21st century

globalization and American political, social and cultural values.
The 21st century has brought several technological and social
developments that have had an impact on how people view politics. The
recent social crises that have plagued the Middle East have impacted
the way people view the foreign policy that the U.S. has taken on, and
more people have changed their minds on how the military and armed
forces should be used. The youth have become more liberal due to
other social developments within the States, such as the legalization of
marijuana. The recently increasing acceptance of gay marriage
throughout the world has also had an impact on the U.S., whose
Supreme Court recently legalized it in all the states. While issues
happening outside the continental U.S. may motivate people to take a
more conservative stance, the social and economic issues within the
U.S. have motivated people to become increasingly liberal.

Learning Objective #5: Analyze how political culture influences the formation,
goals, and implementation of public policy.
The beliefs that the American people have always embraced, such as
freedom of speech and the protection of minority rights, have had large
impacts on public policy recently. The Black Lives Matter movement has
caused controversy because this particular interest group has arisen a large
concern that the rights of the African American minority groups have been
overlooked and abused. Their protest embraces the belief of freedom of
speech, even though their methods have resulted in more hostility. Although
we have yet to see a firm policy change, political culture and social chaos
have proven to influence how public policy is implemented or presented,
and what the public policy becomes. Issue framing is used by politicians to
gain support in order to be able to implement a certain policy the people
can vote on, and the people can also choose to have a referendum to vote
on propositions they suggest to policy makers, in order to start the social or
economic change they want to see. Recall and initiative are other ways the
public can impact public policy.

Learning Objective #6: Compare how political ideologies vary on the role of
government in regulating the marketplace.
Political ideologies can vary greatly, but are generally a set of beliefs on
certain policies that molds a structure for how people view the
government. Radicals demand rapid change that will transform the
basis of economic policies, liberals want the government to have an
active role in how the marketplace is run, moderates are tolerant of the
norm and dont usually embrace extreme views, conservatives promote
a limited role of the government and also tend to encourage free
markets, and reactionaries want a social and economic order from the
past. The U.S. is predominantly run by two separate political parties, the
Democrats (liberals) and the Republicans (conservatives). The
conservatives believe in individual growth and traditions, while the
liberals believe that the government should encourage economic
equality and be very involved in controlling the markets.

Learning Objective #7: Compare how political ideologies vary with regard to the
role of government in addressing social issues.
Conservatives are known for being very traditional and encourage
people to embrace their freedoms for individual growth. Liberals, on the
other hand, tend to have a broader view; they want active government
involvement in how the public interacts and believe it is the
governments responsibility to fix all social problems and handle any
disruptions or protests. Conservatives believe individuals should be
independent of the government and follow traditional family values,
while liberals encourage a dependency of people on the government.
This is why democrats are more supportive of social welfare programs
and republicans are not.

Learning Objective #8: Summarize the voting rights protections in the

Constitution and in legislation.
The passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870 gave African American
men the right to vote, and promoted equality by saying that no citizen
could be denied the right to vote because of their race or color. The
19th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1920, finally gave
women the legal right to vote, and established that denying someone
the right to suffrage because of gender would be unconstitutional. The
26th Amendment, which was ratified in 1971, lowered the voting age to
18 years old. This amendment, however, did not have such a positive
result; instead this increased the size of the voting population which
caused voter turnout to decrease because young people do not tend to
vote much.

Learning Objective #9: Analyze the roles that individual choice and state laws
play in voter turnout in elections.
The are several factors that can impact how people vote and why they
choose to vote. The overall voter turnout in the United States is
relatively low due to age and citizenship requirements, mistrust in the
government, and a widespread lack of political efficacy in the American
public. The political party people choose to identify with has a large
impact on who they vote for (some parties have voter registration
drives), and the reputation or political goals of a candidate may also
influence how much support he/she receives. Each state decides how
the election may take place, and there may be rules that vary from
state to state that can make voting very difficult for people. Confusing
registration deadlines, voter ID laws, and straight-ticket ballots are
some things that may discourage people from voting altogether.

Learning Objective #10: Analyze U.S. voter turnout and compare it with that in
other democracies.
The United States is a democracy that encourages the active
involvement of its people in the government. The most popular way
that people use to involve themselves in the government is by voting.
However, the amount of people that actually participate by voting is
small. Other countries, such as Great Britain have limits as to the
amount of money that candidates can spend on campaigning, and they
have a larger voter turnout than the U.S., who allows candidates to
spend outrageous amounts of money on their political campaigns. The
voter turnout in the United States has been approximately 40%; out of
34 countries a study conducted, the U.S. ranked 31 as far as voter
turnouts were measured. The source of the study was the Washington
Post (URL below).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/05/06/proof-that-voter-turnout-in-the-u-s-is-embarrassing/

Learning Objective #11: Explain the factors that influence voter choices.
The media plays a large role in how the public formulates opinions on
the candidates they will potentially vote for. The large amount of
coverage by the media (TV, radio, newspapers, blogs) on general
elections is a reason why the voter turnout during these elections is
much greater than that in primary elections. The media informs the
citizens of the everyday campaign activities of the candidates, known
as horse-race coverage. The political agenda of each candidate is an
important factor of how citizens learn to view a candidate and his/her
goals, and the polls also expose to the public how each candidate is
viewed overall. What is known as the coattail effect, the power of a
popular candidate to gather support for other candidates running in the
same party, may also gain a certain political party some popularity and
therefore influence the decision of some voters.

Learning Objective #12: Compare different models of voting behavior.

People have different motivations for voting,
whether it be economic or for the welfare of society.
Pocket-book voting is known as the attitude that
some voters take on when filling out the ballot, they
consider which candidate will cause the most
convenience for them economically. Retrospective
voting is when voters base their decision on the past
record of a candidate, rather than focusing on what
the future plans and goals of that candidate are.
Split-ticket voting is when a voter chooses to vote
for candidates from multiple parties for different
positions, rather than voting for candidates from the
same party for all vacant positions. This usually
happens in open elections.