Chapter 3

1. Federalism
a. This is a system of government in which power is divided by a
constitution between central and regional governments
b. Division of powers between national and state government
c. National government and state gov.=neither can abolish each other
2. Unitary System/Government
a. Central government makes the important decisions and lower levels
of government have little independent power
b. States and provinces
c. Lower levels of gov. primarily implement decisions made by the
central government
d. EXAMPLE: In France the central government was once so involved
in the smallest details of local activity that the minister of education
boasted that by looking at his watch he could tell what all French
schoolchildren were learning at that moment bc central gov. set
school curriculum
e. In federal system, the central gov. shares power or functions with
lower level gov. such s regions or states (Switzerland, Canada have
diverse languages and ethnicities) and lower levels have significant
power to set policy
3. Confederation
a. Grouping of states
b. Articles of Confederation
c. States retain power/national government is weak
4. National Supremacy
a.
5. Dual Federalism LASTED FROM 1789-1937 THA IS importante muy
 a. The system of government that prevailed in the US from 1789-1937
in which most fundamental governmental powers were shared
between federal and state governments
b. AKA “Traditional System”
c. Closely approximates the intentions of the framers of the
Constitution
d. National government was small and narrowly specialized in the
functions it performed
e. Built and sponsored roads, canals, bridges and provided cash
subsidies to shippers and shipbuilders and distributed free or low-
priced public land to encourage western settlement and business
ventures; it placed heavy taxes on imported goods (tariffs) to protect
“infant industries” from competition from more advanced European
enterprises
6. Grants-In-Aid
a. Programs through which congress provides money to state and
local governments on the condition that the funds be employed for
purposes defined by the federal government
b. Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal expanded the range of grants-in-aid
into social programs, providing grants to the states for financial
assistance to poor children
c. Congress added more grants after WWII creating new programs to
help states fund activities (school lunches and building highways)
d. CATEGORICAL GRANTS-congressional grants given to states and
localities on the condition that expenditures be limited to a problem
or group specified by law (mostly used during Democratic
Presidency)
e. BLOCK GRANTS-more general use; used during Republican
presidency; allow states considerable discretion in how the funds
are spent; allow leeway in spending federal money; Nixon led first
 push for block grants in 70s as part of his New Federalism (attempt
to return power back to states, Reagan did this too)
7. American Civil War (1861-1865)
a. Off shoot of the war
i. All southern states revise constitutions
ii. Sundown towns
iii. Shapes future immigration laws
iv. Children of ex-slaves counted in the census
v. Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
vi. 2nd Mississippi Plan
b. MOST IMPORTANT EVENT OF 19TH CENTURY
c. Reconstruction (Lincoln Assassinated) and Johnson lets Southern
States into Union (Rutherford vs. Tildon)
8. Compromise of 1877
a. Fed troops leave south
b. MOST IMPORTANT EVENT AFTER CIVIL WAR
9. Great Depression
a. CAUSED BY OVERPRODUCTION BC WE DUMB
b. Other countries could not buy bc of world war 1 but what did we do
c. KEEEEP MAKING CRAP and thinking they would afford our shizz
d. Before this, states and localities took responsibility for addressing
the needs of the poor, usually through private charity
e. The extent of the need created by the depression exhausted local
and state capacity
f. By 1932 25% of the workforce was unemployed
g. The jobless lost their homes and settles into camps all over the
country called “Hoovervilles” after Prez. Hoover
h. Franklin proposes New Deal when (new, more active national govt.)
i. WE GET OUT OF DEPRESSION AND OFF OUR MEDS IN 1942
j. TRUMAN SAYS: Fair deal man. GI Bill. It’s the 50s.
 k. JOHNSON creates the GrEaT sOcIeTy
 Medicade/care, food stamps, housing, civil rights act of
1964, voting rights act, affirmative action
10. Civil Rights Act of 1964
a. Congress passes historic Civil Rights Act covering voting,
employment, public accommodations, education, including
discrimination against women
11. Voting Rights Act of 1965
a. King announces drive to register 3 million blacks in the South
12. Open Housing Act of 1968
a. AKA fair housing act
b. Prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing
of housing based on race, religion, national origin, and sex
13. Tenth Amendment (1789; Rev: 1992)
a. The powers not delegated to the US by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the States respectively
or the people
14. McCulloch vs. Maryland 1819
a. SUPREME COURT “power to tax is the power to DESTROY!!1!11!”
b. The question of whether congress had the power to charter a
national bank-an explicit grant of power nowhere to be found in
Article 1 section 8
c. Chief Justice John Marshall answered that this power could be
“implied” from other powers that were expressly delegated to
Congress
d. Supreme Court ruled that Congress had implied powers to create
the Second Bank of the US and that the state of Maryland lacked
the power to tax the Bank
15. Gibbons vs. Ogden 1824
a. Court defines INTERSTATE COMMERCE YAYYYY
 b. Nullification John Callhoun?????? Remember dat idk
c. Can violate federal law if sees fit! States follow NO RULEZZZ
d. Civil war is approaching yo
e. Did the State of New York exercise authority in a realm reserved
exclusively to Congress, namely, the regulation of interstate
commerce?
f. New York’s licensing requirement for out of state operators was
inconsistent with a congressional act regulating coasting trade.
g. Under the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, the New York
monopoly was void because it conflicted with federal law
16. How many governments are in America?
a. 89,055
17. Unfunded Mandates
a. These are regulations or conditions for receiving grants that impose
costs on state and local governments for which they are not
reimbursed by the federal government
b. The product of a democratic congress that wanted to achieve liberal
social objectives and republican presidents who opposed increased
social spending
c. Congress mandated standards in many policy areas including social
services and environmental regulations without providing additional
funds to help the states meet those standards
d. Congress enacted 27 laws that imposed new regulations or
required states to expand existing programs that were partly funded
by the federal government
e. The 1973 Rehabilitation Act prohibited discrimination against the
disabled in programs that were partly funded by the federal
government
 f. The new law required state and local governments to make public
transit accessible to disabled people with wheelchair lifts in buses
elevators and train stations and anywhere else needed
g. These requirements were estimated to cost state and local
governments 6.8 billion dollars over thirty years but congress did
not supply additional funding to help states meet these new
requirements; the states had to shoulder the increased financial
burden themselves
CHAPTER 6
1. Public Opinion
a. This is citizens’ attitudes about political issues, leaders, institutions,
and events
b. The three values of beliefs that shape an individual’s perception
include liberty, democracy, and equality
2. Socialism
a. Believes the more government the better; emphasizes social
ownership, free markers, and reducing economic inequality
3. Libertarianism
a. Believe the less governmental interference the better; emphasizes
freedom
4. Political Socialization
a. This is the induction of two individuals into the political culture; learning
the underlying beliefs and values on which the political system is based
5. Agents of Socialization
a. Social institutions, including families and schools, that help shape
individuals’ basic political beliefs and values
b. Social media=the facebook twitter Instagram etc
c. Education=learn political history: pledge of allegiance stand for national
anthem hand over heart etc.
6. Decline of Trust in Government
 a. Began to decline because of the Vietnam War in early 60s
b. Americans found out government was lying to them
c. Then because of the Iraq War (never weapons of mass destruction)
d. Watergate (Nixon)
e. (2015) Arguments in congress about the Affordable Healthcare Act led
to a government shutdown
7. Political Ideologies=conserve. Vs. liber.
8. Conservative vs. Liberal
a. Conservatism involves those who generally support the social and
economic status quo and are suspicious of efforts to introduce new
political formulas and economic arrangements; believes that a large
and powerful government holds a threat to citizens’ freedom
SUPPORTS STRONG military and smol govt
b. Liberalism includes MORE GOVT INTERVENTION and economic
equality and expansion of federal social services and concern for
consumers and the ENVIRONMENT GO greeeen most of these folk
are women, minorities and the poor and they SUPPORT separation of
church and state and oppose sending troops to the affairs that are
domestic and support international organizations
9. Gender Gap
a. This is a distinctive pattern of voting behavior reflecting the differences
between men and women
10. Racial Ideology
a. African Americans view the world differently than whites
11. Conventional vs. Unconventional Participations
a. Conventional
 Voting (only mechanism that equalizes everyone)
 Volunteering on a campaign
 Working for a political organization
 Contacting public officials
  Signing a petition
b. Unconventional
 Riots
 Sit-ins
 Boycotts

CHAPTER SEVEN
1. Mass Media
a. Print and digital forms of communication including television, radio,
newspapers, and internet intended to convey information to large
audiences
2. Media Events
a.
3. Broadcast Media
a. Television, radio, or other media that transmits audio/video to the
public
4. Print Media=newspapers, magazines
5. Major Newspapers
a. Wall Street Journal
b. USA Today
c. Christian Science Monitor
6. Major Magazines
a. Time
b. Newsweek
c. US News and World Report
7. Infotainment= 60 minutes, the Colbert Report, ESPN, Entertainment
Tonight, COPS, 20/20 (news and entertainment)
8. Major Television Stations
a. NBC
 b. CBC
c. ABC
d. FOX
9. Major Cable Outlets
10. Major Internet Outlets=convenient, fast, depth, diversity//less
investigation, lower quality, narrow lens
a. Politico.com
b. Slate
c. Salon
d. Huffingtonpost
e. The hill
f. vox
11. Digital Citizens
12. Political Movies
13. Niche Journalism
14. NPR
a. 91.1fm
b. Talk radio
c. Sean Hannity
d. Rush Limbaugh
15. Benefits of online media
16. Agenda setting
a. Selection bias
b. Direct attention to specific topics
17. Framing
a. Influences how events are interpreted
18. Priming=process for preparing the public to b ring specific criteria to
mind when evaluating a politician or issue
19. Equal Time=required that both candidates have equal time to
express political views
 20. Narrowcasting=
21. FCC=Federal Communications Commission; American radio and
television are regulated by this; regulates indecency, obscenity, and
profanity and from explicit sexual and excretory references between 6-10;
does not apply to cable television, the internet, or satellite radio
22. AGE 18-33 get news from facebook
23. AGE 50-63 get news from tv

CHAPTER EIGHT
1. Traditional Political Participation=activities designed to influence
government including voting and face-to-face activities such as
volunteering for a campaign or working on behalf of a candidate or
political organization
2. Protest=participation that involves assembling crowds to confront a
government or other official organization
3. Suffrage=legal right to vote
4. Voter
5. Digital Political Participation
a. These are activities designed to influence politics using the internet
including visiting a candidate’s website, organizing events online, and
singing an online petition
b. Barrier is digital divide-defined as the gap between those with and
those without home internet or mobile access
 Most=African Americans, Latinos, poor, less educated
c. Most candidates use digital participation in their favor by using
websites and social media to gain attention
d. Online activities apparently increase likeliness to vote
 Accidental mobilization
6. Socioeconomic Status of Various Groups
 a. Status in society based on level of education, income, and
occupational prestige
b. Those with higher level occupation/education participate more in voting
7. Voting registration requirements