Unit 1: Foundations of American democracy

Ideals of Democracy

● In 1776, the Second Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence,

stating their grievances with the British monarchy and that they were going to create a
separate government.
● The Framers decided to create a limited government based on the ideas of natural rights,
popular sovereignty, republicanism, and social contract.
○ Demonstrated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
● Limited government is the belief that the government should have certain restrictions in
order to protect the individual rights and civil liberties of citizens.
● Natural rights are rights that all people are born with and can never give up. It is the
government's responsibility to maintain these rights.
○ John Locke (life, liberty, and property) influenced Thomas Jefferson (life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness)
● Social contract is the agreement between the American society and the federal
government in which the public would relinquish some freedoms for the government to
protect the important ones (your natural rights)
● Popular sovereignty is the idea that the government’s power comes from the “consent of
the governed.”
● Republicanism is a system of government in which elected leaders represent the interests
of people.
● The Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights serve as the
ideological foundations for the democratic government of the United States.
● The Declaration of Independence
○ John Locke, the English Enlightenment philosopher, contributed the ideas of
natural rights and social contract
○ Written by Thomas Jefferson and revised by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin
○ List of grievances against the British Crown to garner the sympathy of the
international community and the inspiration for American democratic values
■ “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
■ That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men,
deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
■ That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute
 new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing
its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their
Safety and Happiness.”
○ The colonial representatives approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4,
1776
● The Constitution of the United States
○ Replaced the Articles of the Confederation, a weak system of government that
placed power in the hands of state governments
○ 1787, state representatives met at the Constitutional Convention to draft a
government that would balance individual liberty with public order
○ Revolutionary War hero George Washington oversaw the creation of a
Constitution, strongly influenced by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton
■ “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect
Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the
common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings
of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.”
○ The Constitution was adopted by the federal government in 1788 when New
Hampshire became the 9th state out of the 13 to ratify it.
■ The Federalist Papers were written to help the process of ratification, the
approval of every state was needed if the new system were to be
frictionlessly adopted.
○ The Constitution has undergone 27 amendments since its creation and the first ten
are called the Bill of Rights.
■ These amendments were important to convince Anti-Federalist states in
adopting the Constitution because change was possible.

Types of Democracy

● The US was created a democractic republic by the Founders, meaning that popular
sovereignty exists but people elect officials to represent their interests
● Many people therefore believe that United States citizens can influence government
actions, but different models of democracy have arisen that hold varying opinions.
● A democracy is a system of government in which the power of the government is vested
in the people, who rule directly or through elected representatives.
● Participatory democracy is a model of democracy in which citizens have the power to
decide directly on policy and politicians are responsible for implementing those policy
decisions.
 ○ Distinct from direct democracy, in which citizens are directly responsible for
policy decisions.
○ Participatory democracy can be represented through local and state forms of
government.
■ Town hall meetings
■ Initiatives allow citizens to bypass their state legislature by placing
proposed laws on the ballot
■ Popular referendums allow voters to approve or repeal an act of the state
legislature
● Pluralist democracy is a model of democracy in which no one group dominates politics
and organized groups compete with each other to influence policy.
○ Pluralist democracy is seen in both state and federal levels of government.
○ Individuals must work through groups formed around common causes.
○ Interest groups are groups of people who attempt to influence policymakers to
support their position on a particular common interest or concern.
■ Interest groups such as the NRA influence politicians through monetary
donations, lobbying, and testifying in Congressional hearings.
● Elite democracy is a model of democracy in which a small number of people, usually
those who are wealthy and well-educated, influence political decision making
○ The Electoral College is an example of elite democracy because it places a small
group in charge of making major political decisions, even if those decisions
contradict the popular will.

Challenges to the Articles of Confederation

● The Articles of Confederation comprised the United States’ first constitution, lasting
from 1776 until 1789. The Articles established a weak central government and placed
most powers in the hands of the states.
○ After the Revolutionary War, America wanted their government to be the
antithesis of that of Great Britain, so they had a weak central government which
they later discovered couldn’t handle the issues faced by the nation.
○ The United States was a confederacy in which states were sovereign and linked
together for limited purposes like national defense. The national government had
few powers like coining money, managing the post office, and negotiating with
foreign powers.
○ The only branch of government was the legislative, the Confederation Congress,
where each state had one vote and 9/13 states had to approve a measure for it to
pass and 13/13 states had to agree to amend the Articles.
 ● The US economy faltered, since the central government lacked the power to enforce tax
laws or regulate commerce.
○ Only state governments could levy taxes to avoid “taxation without
representation” and the national government had to request money from negligent
states. Thus, paying war debts or securing new funds was difficult. Foreign
countries didn’t want to lend the US money because of their shoddy
representation and the currency was worthless.
○ Since the government also couldn’t impose tariffs on foreign imports or regulate
interstate commerce, it couldn’t protect American producers from foreign
competition.
● Shays’s Rebellion, an uprising of Revolutionary War veterans in Massachusetts that both
the state and national governments struggled to address due to a lack of centralized
military power, illustrated the need to create a stronger governing system.
○ The national government also couldn’t raise an army or navy, although it could
declare war/peace, and had to depend upon states to provide soldiers.
○ Revolutionary war veterans heavily in debt faced retributions, and demanded the
money the Confederation Congress had promised them for their service. But the
government didn’t have the money, so Daniel Shays led others to a courthouse
demanding relief. The MA militia sided with their cause, so the governor
requested help from the national government, but none was available.
○ Revealed the weakness of the Articles of Confederation because the US was
unable to pay its vets and raise a militia. The right to impose taxes, regulate
commerce, and raise an army was imperative.

Government power and individual rights

● Federalists and Anti-Federalists wrote several essays on what type of government would
be strong enough to enforce order and not so strong as to violate the personal liberties of
American citizens. The former were trying to encourage ratification of the Constitution
and the latter prevent it.
● Federalist 10
○ James Madison, 1787
○ Critics of the Constitution argued that the proposed federal government was too
large and would be unresponsive
○ Madison argued that liberty would be safest in a large republic because of factions
and diversity would avoid tyranny
■ Factions inevitable and large government could control them
 ○ This diversity makes tyranny more difficult since ruling coalitions would always
be unstable
■ Groups would negotiate/compromise, solutions would respect minority
rights
■ Large size of country would make it difficult for factions to gain control
○ Explores minority v. majority rule
● Brutus 1
○ Under pen name, encouraged NY to reject the Constitution
○ Argued that states should not ratify the Constitution because condensing 13 into
one republic would give the federal government “absolute and uncontrollable
power” as shown under the Necessary and Proper clause and Supremacy
Clause
○ State government powerless
○ The federal government had too much power even before the Constitution, our
country won’t survive now because it is too big

Ratification of the US Constitution

● The Constitutional Convention met in 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation.

They sought a plan that had a central government strong enough to be effective but not so
strong as to promote tyranny.
○ The Virginia Plan suggested a bicameral legislature with the number of
representatives in both houses determined by population, benefitting larger states.
○ The New Jersey Plan proposed a unicameral legislature that gave one vote to
each of the states, benefitting smaller states.
○ The Great Compromise, also known as the Connecticut Compromise,
compromised between the two, proposing a legislative branch that was bicameral
and which we still use today.
■ The lower house (House of Representatives) would be determined by
population.
■ The upper house (Senate) assigned two Senators to each state, which were
then appointed by state legislatures and now selected via popular vote
● The Electoral College is a body of representatives from every state in the United States
who formally cast votes to elect the president and vice president.
○ Article II establishes the executive branch and discusses how presidential
elections work.
○ Each state is assigned electors, equal to their number of representatives in the
House of Representatives and the Senate, and these electors cast votes for the
 winner of the popular vote in that state. Whichever candidate received the most
electoral votes wins.
○ This system moves from direct to indirect democracy because the Founders didn’t
trust the will of everyday people.
● The Three-Fifths Compromise is an agreement added to the Constitution that would
count each enslaved person as three-fifths of a white person for purposes of
representation in the House of Representatives.
○ The Constitution outlawed international slave trade as per 1808.
● Article I of the Constitution
○ Legislative
○ Bill of Attainder Clause - Congress cannot pass a law that singles out a person
for punishment without trial.
○ Commerce clause - Congress can regulate trade between nations, between states,
and among Indian tribes.
■ Art 1 Sec 8
○ Contracts clause - No state can interfere with the execution of contracts.
○ Ex Post Facto Clause - Congress cannot pass a law that punishes a person
retroactively, i.e., after the fact. In other words, a person cannot be punished for
something he/she did that was not a crime when committed.
○ Necessary and Proper Clause aka Elastic Clause- Congress can exercise powers
not specifically stated in the Constitution if those powers are "necessary and
proper" for carrying out its expressed powers that are specifically stated
■ Art 1 sec 8
● Article II of the Constitution
○ Executive
● Article III of the Constitution
○ Judicial
● Article V of the Constitution
○ Describes the process for amending the Constitution; the federal government
could add amendments which had to be ratified by three-fourths of states
○ The congressional proposal method is a means to amend the Constitution in
which two-thirds of both chambers of Congress must propose an amendment
which then must be ratified by three-fourths of state conventions or state
legislatures.
○ The convention method is a means to amend the Constitution in which two-thirds
of states ask Congress to organize a convention in which an amendment is
proposed that must be ratified by three-fourths of state conventions or state
legislatures.
 ● Article VI of the Constitution
○ Debts would be paid
■ The US borrowed money to pay for the Revolutionary War and wanted to
establish that this new nation would pay the debts of the old. It was
important to establish themselves as accountable and trustworthy.
○ No religious tests for office
■ Connected to idea of separation of Church and State
■ Wanted to avoid system of Test Acts in England
○ Establishes the Constitution as the Supreme Law of the Land, Supremacy Clause
■ The Constitution prevails over any other kind of law in a conflict,
including state and federal law. It is the pinnacle of American democracy.
● Resistance occurs when states argue that their actions don’t violate
the Constitution because the justices exercise incorrect
interpretation
● Article VII of the Constitution
○ In order for the conditions of the Constitution to become law, 9 states must ratify
it
○ Bill of Right promised to ensure ratification
○ Anti-feds said this was illegal; full consent needed to amend articles
○ Constitution wanted conventions > legislatures to ratify
○ The Federalists were pro-Constitution
■ Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote essays called
The Federalist Papers encouraging states to adopt the Constitution
■ Believed that the Articles weren't working and the federal government
lacked power
○ The Anti-Federalists were anti-Constitution
■ Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams
■ Believed that repairing the Articles wasn’t urgent, the Constitution puts
too much power in the nation government, it was too elitist, and the federal
government would use the vague phrases in the Constitution to seize more
power

Principles of American government

● Separation of Powers: The Framers of the US Constitution structured the government so

that the three branches - legislative, executive, and judicial - have separate powers. The
branches must both cooperate and compete to enact policy.
 ○ Legislative branch: pass laws, declare war, impeach president and judges, approve
presidential appointments, ratify treaties, levy taxes, establish the number of
Supreme Court justices, regulate the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction
○ Executive branch: veto legislation, command armed forces, grant pardons,
appoints judges, ambassadors, and department heads, conduct foreign affairs and
negotiate treaties
○ Judicial branch: declare laws unconstitutional, hear cases on federal law, preside
over impeachment trials, declare presidential acts unconstitutional
● Checks and balances: Each of the branches has the power to check the other two, which
ensures that no one branch can become too powerful and that government as a whole is
constrained.
○ The President can veto legislation, but Congress can impeach the President.
○ The President can nominate judges, but the Supreme Court can declare
presidential acts unconstitutional.
○ The Supreme Court can declare laws unconstitutional, but Congress can impeach
judges.
● Federalist 51
○ James Madison, 1787
○ Defends system of checks and balances in the Constitution and advocates for
separation of powers
■ The power of each branch of government checks that of the other two and
depends on the people
○ Reflection on human nature: “if men were angels, no government would be
necessary”
○ Government must first control the governed, then itself
○ Republican government can check power of factions and tyranny of the majority
■ Authority derived from diverse society
○ Checks and balances preserve liberty by ensuring justice
● This structure ensures that the people’s will is represented by allowing citizens multiple
access points to influence public policy, and permitting the removal of officials who
abuse their power.
○ Government officials who commit crimes or abuse the power of their office may
face impeachment, indictment as determined by a majority vote of the House of
Representative. The Senate then decides conviction and removal from office by a
2/3 supermajority, or acquit them.
○ A stakeholder is a person with an interest or a concern in a political issue.

The relationship between states and the federal government

● Federalism describes the system of shared governance between national and state
governments.
○ The federalist system emerged because the states evolved from separate colonies,
which had diverse populations and different needs. The Framers envisioned that
the state governments would be responsible for the day-to-day operation of
citizens.
○ Layer or Dual Federalism
■ Views the Constitution as giving a limited list of powers - primarily
foreign policy and national defense - to the national government, leaving
the rest to the sovereign states. Each level of government is dominant
within its own sphere. The Supreme Court serves as the umpire between
the national government and the states in disputes over which level of
government has responsibility for a particular activity.
○ Marble or Cooperative Federalism
■ Developed during the New Deal and characterized by the federal
government becoming more intrusive in what was traditionally states'
powers.
○ Fiscal Federalism
■ Through different grant programs, slices up the marble cake into many
different pieces, making it even more difficult to differentiate the functions
of the levels of government.
○ New Federalism or Devolution
■ The effort to slow the growth of the federal government by returning many
functions to the states
● Article IV of the Constitution
○ Establishes the responsibilities of the states to each other and the responsibilities
of the federal government toward the states.
○ Section 1: states must honor each other’s decisions and legal judgments (“full
faith and credit clause” → a marriage in one state is valid in another)
○ Section 2: states can’t treat newcomers worse than their own citizens (“privileges
and immunities clause”)
○ Also promises states the protection of the federal government. It does this by
promising to defend states against invasion, guaranteeing them a republican form
of government, and barring the federal government from splitting up a state
without the consent of its legislature and Congress.
● The states and the federal government have both exclusive and concurrent powers,
which help to explain the negotiation over the balance of power between them.
 ○ Exclusive powers are those powers reserved to the federal government or the
states.
○ Delegated powers - powers of federal government
○ Reserved powers - powers for the states and people
○ Concurrent powers are powers shared by the federal government and the states.
○ Exclusive federal powers - coining money, regulating interstate and foreign
commerce, regulating the mail, declaring war, raising armies, conducting foreign
affairs, establishing inferior courts, establishing rules of naturalization
○ Concurrent powers - taxation, lawmaking and enforcement, chartering banks and
corporations, taking land for public use (eminent domain), establishing courts,
borrowing money
○ Exclusive state powers - conducting elections, establishing local governments,
providing for public safety, health, and welfare, maintaining militia, ratifying
Constitutional amendments
● The federal government can encourage the adoption of policies at the state-level through
federal aid programs.
○ Since the Civil War in the 1860s, the federal government’s powers have
overlapped and intertwined with state powers (Great Depression). But states have
also pushed back (US v. Lopez)
○ Categorical grants from the federal government can only be used for specific
purposes, and frequently include nondiscrimination provisions.
○ Mandates are unfunded federal requirements that states or local governments
meet a specific condition in order to receive federal aid.
■ For example, the National Minimum Drinking Act of 1984 stipulated that
states must have a minimum drinking age of 21 in order to receive full
federal highway funding.
○ Block grants are federal grants given to states or localities for broad purposes.
The state or local governments can then disburse those funds as they see fit.
○ Federal revenue sharing is the practice of sharing federal income tax revenue
with state and local governments.

Constitutional interpretations of federalism

● The commerce clause is in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution and gives Congress
the power to regulate interstate commerce (buying and selling of goods across state lines).
● The necessary and proper clause also known as the Elastic Clause is in Article I,
Section 8 of the Constitution and gives Congress the power to create laws that they find
 “necessary and proper” for performing their constitutional responsibilities/enumerated
powers.
● Enumerated powers (also called expressed powers, explicit powers or delegated powers)
are powers of the federal government that are explicitly named in the Constitution.
● Implied powers are powers of the federal government that are not explicitly named in the
Constitution but are implied so that the federal government can carry out its enumerated
powers.
● The 9th Amendment states that rights not enumerated in the Constitution belong to the
people.
● The 10th Amendment stipulates that all powers not delegated to the federal government
or prohibited to the states are reserved to the states or the people.
○ Reserved Powers Clause
● The 14th Amendment grants citizenship, equal protection, and due process under the
law to all people born in the United States.
○ Due Process Clause: “nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law” is applicable to STATES
○ Equal Protection Clause: “not shall any state ... deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”
● McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
○ Confirmed the supremacy of the national government over the state government
■ Supremacy clause
○ In 1818, Maryland taxed the Second Bank of the United States
○ The Baltimore Branch Cashier McCulloch refused to pay
○ McCulloch brought to case to the Supreme Court, which 1) overturned the ruling
of a lower Court claiming the Bank was unconstitutional by citing the necessary
and proper clause (art 1, sec 8) and 2) said that Maryland couldn’t interfere with
congressional powers
● US v. Lopez (1995)
○ Limited national power in favor of state power; Congress may not use the
commerce clause to make possession of a gun in a school zone a federal crime
○ First case since 1937 in which the Court maintained that Congress had exceeded
its power under the commerce clause
○ High school student Lopez carried concealed weapon on school grounds and was
charged under federal law, the Gun Free Schools Zones Act of 1990
○ The Court ruled this act was unconstitutional because it exceeded the powers of
the commerce clause

Federalism in Action
● Public Policy
○ Agenda setting (i.e. identifying issues)
○ Policy formulation
○ Policy adoption/legitimization
○ Policy implementation
○ Policy assessment
 First Amendment Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and to petition
Establishment clause - prohibits the establishment of religion by
Congress
Free exercise clause - Congress shall make no law prohibiting
the free exercise of religion

Second Amendment Right to keep and bear arms

Third Amendment Right to not quarter (or house) soldiers during time of war

Fourth Amendment Right to be protected from unreasonable search and seizure

Search and seizure clause

Fifth Amendment Rights of accused:

against double jeopardy (being prosecuted for the same crime
twice) and self-incrimination (the right to remain silent, the
Miranda warning)
Due process clause - prohibits GOVERNMENT taking of life,
liberty, or property except as authorized by law
Takings clause - Limits the power of eminent domain by
requiring that "just compensation" be paid if private property is
taken for public use

Sixth Amendment Right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury, to an

attorney, and to confront witnesses

Seventh Amendment Right to a trial by jury in civil cases

Eighth Amendment Right to not face excessive bail, fines, or cruel and unusual
punishment

Ninth Amendment There are other rights besides the ones listed in the Bill of Rights
and the federal government cannot violate those rights
(unenumerated rights)

Tenth Amendment All powers not delegated to the national government or prohibited
to the states are reserved to states or to the people
Reserved Powers Clause

Bill of Rights:
● Protects individual personal liberty by limiting the federal government
 ● Civil liberties - The rights of citizens to be free from undue government interference in
their lives, including those rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and those established by
long legal precedent (such as the right to marry or travel freely)
● Civil rights - The rights of citizens to be free of unequal or discriminatory treatment on
the basis of race, gender, or membership in a particular demographic group
● Individual liberties - Constitutionally-established rights and freedoms protected by law
from interference by the government

1st Amendment:
● Establishment clause - no official religion or preferential treatment for or against a
religion
○ Engel v. Vitale (1962) - A case contesting a New York state law requiring
schoolchildren to recite a nondenominational prayer each morning (although
children could choose not to participate). A group of parents sued the state
arguing that the law was a violation of the establishment clause; the Supreme
Court ruled in their favor, judging that New York state was giving unconstitutional
government support to religion by providing the prayer.
○ Lemon test determines if a law violates the establishment clause devised by the
Supreme Court in the 1971 case Lemon v. Kurtzman. Based on the Lemon test,
laws are constitutional only if they have a legitimate secular purpose, neither
advance nor inhibit religion, and do not result in an “excessive government
entanglement” with religion.
● Free Exercise clause - the right to practice the religion of your choice
○ Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) - A Supreme Court case concerning the mandatory
schooling of three Amish students. The state of Wisconsin fined the students’
families for refusing to send them to school after the eighth grade; the Amish
families argued that higher education conflicted with the free exercise of their
religious beliefs. The Court ruled in their favor, holding that the 1st Amendment’s
protections for free exercise of religion outweighed the state’s interests in
compelling Amish students to attend school past the eighth grade.
● Freedom of Speech
○ Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) - In 1965, a public school district in Iowa suspended
three teenagers for wearing black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War.
Their families sued the school system, and in 1969 the case reached the Supreme
Court. The Court ruled that the school district had violated the students’ free
speech rights. The armbands were a form of symbolic speech, which the 1st
Amendment protects.
○ Outcome: Students have free speech and symbolic speech is a form of protected
speech
■ Protected speech - symbolic speech (wearing black armband), hate speech
(burning US flag)
■ There are limits, but the Constitution/Bill of Rights/1st Amendment does
not address them, covered via SCOTUS cases such as ...
○ Schenck v. United States (1919) - During World War I, socialist antiwar activists
Charles Schenck and Elizabeth Baer mailed 15,000 fliers urging men to resist the
military draft claiming that it violated the 13th amendment. They were arrested
under the Espionage Act of 1917, which banned interference with military
operations or supporting US enemies during wartime. They appealed to the
Supreme Court on the grounds that the conviction violated their free speech
rights. The resulting Supreme Court case concerned whether the Espionage Act
violated freedom of speech. The Court upheld the Espionage Act, ruling that the
speech creating a “clear and present danger” like shouting fire in a crowded
theater was not protected by the 1st Amendment.
○ Outcome: Speech can be limited if you create a “clear and present danger”; there
are time, place, and manner restrictions on speech
■ To determine time, place, and manner:
● The regulation must be content neutral.
● It must be narrowly tailored to serve a significant governmental
interest.
● It must leave open ample alternative channels for communicating
the speaker’s message.
■ Unprotected speech
● Defamation - damaging someone’s reputation by making false
statements
○ libel - written lies
○ slander - spoken lies
● Obscene - Miller Test applies (The average person finds it obscene,
it offensively depicts sexual content, it lacks serious literary,
artistic, political or scientific value)
● Speech intended to incite “imminent illegal action” and “likely to
produce such a result”
○ Gitlow v. New York (1925)
■ Gitlow, a socialist, distributed a “Left Wing Manifesto" that called for
overthrow of government by force. New York convicted him but he argued
that he was protected under the 1st Amendment’s freedom of speech
 clause. The Supreme Court ruled that the 1st amendment does not prevent
a state from punishing political speech that directly advocates for violent
government overthrow and Gitlow was guilty.
● Freedom of Press
○ New York Times Company v. United States (1971) - In 1971, the United States
government under President Richard Nixon attempted to restrain the New York
Times and the Washington Post from publishing excerpts from the Pentagon
Papers, a top-secret history of US military action in Vietnam, based on national
security concerns. In the resulting case, the Supreme Court ruled that the
government’s attempt to bar publication of the Pentagon Papers violated the 1st
Amendment right to freedom of the press, and that publishing a history of the war
did not pose an immediate national security threat to American military forces.
○ Due to freedom of press, there is a heavy presumption against government claims
of prior restraint (censorship), which means that it is very difficult for the
government to prove that they’re right in limiting freedom of the press; in this
case the government could not block publication of the Pentagon Papers

2nd Amendment:
● U.S. v. Miller (1939) - A federal law prohibited sawed-off shotguns, and the Supreme
Court ruled that this did not violate the 2nd Amendment because possession of a
sawed-off shotgun is not used to maintain a well-regulated militia but instead used to
commit crimes.
● D.C. v. Heller (2008) - The District of Columbia banned guns, and the Supreme Court
determined that this violated the Constitution and law abiding citizens are entitled to their
guns.
● McDonald v. Chicago (2010) selective incorporation case - The first case in which the
Second Amendment right to “keep and bear Arms” was incorporated to the states. The
City of Chicago passed a handgun ban in 1982; Chicago resident Otis McDonald filed a
lawsuit challenging the ban in 2008 on the basis that he needed a handgun for
self-defense. The Court declared the handgun ban unconstitutional by a 5-4 majority,
ruling that the Second Amendment right to bear arms for self-defence is fundamental, and
therefore incorporated to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process
clause.

14th Amendment:
● Due process clause - prohibits STATES taking of life, liberty, or property except as
authorized by law
● Selective incorporation
 ○ Occurs mainly through the due process clause
○ The Bill of Rights is applicable to the states
○ Liberties in the Bill of Rights cannot be taken away by the state or federal
government
○ Bill of Rights has been applied to states on a case-by-case basis
■ McDonald v. Chicago (2010)
■ Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
● Equal Protection clause - prohibits states from denying equal protection under the law

6th Amendment:
● Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) selective incorporation case - In 1961, a Florida court
refused to provide a public defender for Clarence Earl Gideon, who was accused of
robbing a pool bank. In jail, Gideon appealed his conviction to the US Supreme Court on
the grounds that the Fourteenth Amendment incorporated the Sixth Amendment’s right to
counsel to the states. The Supreme Court ruled in Gideon’s favor, requiring states to
provide a lawyer to any defendant who could not afford one, thus incorporating the 6th
amendment’s right to counsel to the states.

5th and 6th Amendment:

● Miranda rule - Suspects in custody must be informed of their 5th and 6th amendment
rights (right to an attorney, right to remain silent)
● Public safety expectation - if a question is asked to neutralize a dangerous situation and
the suspect responds voluntarily, the statement can be used in trial even if the suspect was
not informed of their Miranda rights
○ New York v. Quarles - police encountered Quarles, an alleged assailant, frisked
him, encountered an empty gun holster, asked “where is your gun” and received a
response, then read him his Miranda rights; this sequence of events is legal
because of the “public safety exception”

8th Amendment:
● The death penalty is constitutional, but there are some limits (e.x. Minors and mentally
deficient personas cannot receive death penalty)

4th Amendment:
● Exclusionary Rule - evidence illegally seized by law enforcement officers in violation of
the 4th Amendment cannot be used against the suspect in criminal prosecution
 ○ Mapp v. Ohio (1961) - Mapp was convicted of possessing obscene material, the
Court determined that this evidence could not be used because it was taken
through an illegal search of her home; incorporated 4th amendment
● Pretrial rights of the accused and the ban of unreasonable searches and seizures are
intended to ensure that citizen liberties are not eclipsed by the need for social order and
security, including:
○ Protects against warrantless searches of cell phone data
○ Limitations placed on government bulk collection of telecommunication metadata
● Patriot Act (2001) - post 9/11, the government secretly (and illegally - without a
warrant) acquired and examined cell phone data
● USA Freedom Act (2015) - Limitations placed on bulk collection of telecommunication
metadata (cell phone communication info but not the actual communication)

Right of Privacy (9th Amendment):

● Not mentioned in Bill of Rights
○ A “penumbra” of privacy is derived from the Latin word for “partial shadow.”
The Supreme Court has ruled that several amendments in the Bill of Rights cast a
“penumbra” of the right to privacy, although the right to privacy itself is never
explicitly named. For example, the Court has interpreted that the Fourth
Amendment right of the people to be secure in their houses from unreasonable
searches and seizures implies a right to privacy in the home.
● Established and incorporated in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
○ The Supreme Court ruled that a state's ban on the use of contraceptives violated
the right to marital privacy on the basis of several amendments. The case
concerned a Connecticut law that criminalized the encouragement or use of birth
control.
● Roe v. Wade (1973) - Jane Roe (alias to protect identity of real woman) wished to
terminate her pregnancy but found she could not do so safely or legally in the state of
Texas, except to save a pregnant woman’s life. She sued the district attorney of her
country under the 1st, 4th, 5th, 9th, and 14th amendments. The Supreme Court ruled that
a woman’s decision to have an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy fell under the
right of privacy inherent in the 14th amendment and thus was protected by the
Constitution. The Court did permit limits on abortion in the second and third trimesters of
pregnancy.

Civil Rights:
● Rights of individuals against discrimination based on race, national origin, religion, sex,
ability, sexual orientation, age, or pregnancy.
 ○ The Equal Protection clause of the 14th amendment was the basis for social
movements like the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, the women’s
rights movement, and the LGBTQ rights movement.
● Reconstruction Amendments:
○ 13th - Abolition of Slavery (1865)
○ 14th - Citizenship Rights and Due Process/Equal Protection (1868)
○ 15th - Right to Vote not Denied by Race (1870)
● Letter from Birmingham Jail
○ Demand fulfillment for African-Americans of the ideals of the Declaration of
Independence and the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause
○ “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”
○ 4 steps of any nonviolent campaign:
■ Collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive
■ Negotiation
■ Self-purification
■ Direct Action
● Civil Rights Act of 1964
○ Banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, geneder, or national origin,
and now has been extended to sex, in public accommodations or employment
○ It created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to ensure fair
hiring practices
● Voting Rights Act of 1965 - Allowed Congress and the federal government to oversee
state elections in Southern States
○ Banned literacy tests or other obstacles to vote
○ + 24th amendment which banned the poll tax
○ Required states with a history of voter discrimination to obtain federal approval
for changes to election laws and policies (preclearance)
○ Increase in minority voter turnout
● Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)- In 1892, Homer Plessy entered a whites only railcar and was
7/8 white but technically black, he was asked to leave and refused, Supreme Court ruled
that separate but equal provisions were adequate and do not violate the Equal Protection
Clause of the 14th Amendment
● Brown v. Board of Education (1954) - Oliver Brown was the father of Linda, an African
American third grader who was forced to attend a segregated elementary school. Along
with other African American families in the area, Brown sued the Board of Education of
Topeka, Kansas. Under the leadership of future Supreme Court justice Thurgood
Marshall, the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund sought to prove with this case that
segregated public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause.
 In its decision, the Supreme Court agreed, ruling that “in the field of public education,
separate but equal has no place.” This ruling was a crucial victory for the civil rights
movement, and later cases challenging segregation built on the precedent set in Brown.
● Majority-Minority districts
○ Voting districts in which a minority group makes up a majority
■ Thornburg v. Gingles (1982) - in favor
■ Shaw v. Reno (1993) - against
■ Cooper v. Harris (2017) - against
● Women’s Rights Movement
○ National Organization for Women (NOW) led the womens’ rights movement in
the 1960s and 1970s
■ The Equal Pay Act of 1963 promised equal pay for equal work
■ Civil Rights Act of 1964
○ Title 9 of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972
■ Prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex from any federally funded
educaiton program and allocated more money for female sports
○ The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 bolstered worker protections against pay
discrimination

The Supreme Court and Civil Rights:

● At times, the Supreme Court has limited civil rights, such as in Plessy v. Ferguson (1869)
which legalized segregation/Jim Crow laws and Shaw v. Reno (1993) which struck down
racial gerrymandering (even though district was being drawn to increase minority
representation) and ruled that the equal protection clause is colorblind
● It has also expanded civil rights, like in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) which
overturned Plessay and required desegregation of public schools

Colorblind Interpretation of the Constitution:

● Ruled for Shaw v. Reno
● Belief that equal protection clause bans any policy that makes racial distinctions, even if
they’re intended to help minorities

Affirmative Action:
● Preferential admissions and hiring policies for minorities; allowed but no quota system;
no points for awarded for race
● University of California v. Bakke
○ Race can be a factor in college admissions, but you can’t have quotas (I need X
amount of ___, Y amount of ___, Z amount of ___)
 Unit 4: American political ideologies and belief

American attitudes about government and politics

● American political culture is the values that influence individuals’ attitudes and beliefs
about the relationship between citizens and the federal government.
● Equality of opportunity is the belief that each person should have the same
opportunities to advance in society.
● Free enterprise is the belief in the right to compete freely in a market governed by
supply and demand with limited government involvement.
● Ideology is the beliefs and ideas that help to shape political opinion and policy.
● Individualism is the principle of valuing individual rights over those of the government,
with a strong emphasis on individual initiative and responsibility.
● Limited government is a political system in which there are restrictions placed on the
government to protect individual rights and liberties.
● Rule of law is the principle that government is based on a body of law applied equally
and fairly to every citizen, not on the whims of those in charge, and that no one is above
the law, including the government. If you violate the rule of law, you unfairly apply the
law to some citizens.
● Interpretations of core values affect attitudes about the role of government
○ Person A can interpret individualism to mean that government should not
interfere in the lives of Americans at all but Person B can believe that
individualism means that government cannot interfere with rights listed in the Bill
of Rights but should get involved in states/business infringe on those rights.
○ Person A can believe that free enterprise means that the government should
regulate free markets to make sure businesses are acting ethically and Person B
can believe any business involvement by the federal government harms the
economy.
○ Universal, government-sponsored health care causes tension between equality of
opportunity and limited government

Political socialization
● Demographic characteristics are socioeconomic characteristics of a population,
including age, race, gender, religion, marital status, occupation, education level, and
more. These characteristics influence how individuals tend to vote and whether they
identify with a political party.
● Globalization is the growth of an interconnected world economy and culture, fueled by
lowered trade barriers between nations and advances in communications technology.
 Globalization has influenced American politics by increasing the extent to which the
United States influences, and is influenced by, the values of other countries.
● Political socialization is the process by which a person develops political values and
beliefs, including through interactions with family, friends, school, religious and civic
groups, and the media.
● Characteristics indicative of the Democratic party are: women, low-income, single,
divorced, or widowed, blue-collar, Blacks or Hispanics, Jews or those unaffiliated with a
religion, Northerners and Westerners, younger and older Americans, union members,
Democratic parents
● Characteristics indicative of the Republican party are: men, high-income, married, white
collar workers or housewives, whites, Protestants or Catholics, Midwesterners or
Southerners, middle-aged Americans, non-union members, Republican parents

Changes in ideology
● Generational effects are experiences shared by a group of people who came of age
together (generational cohorts, such as baby boomers or millennials) that affect their
political attitudes; wars and economic recessions that hit one generation particularly hard
have lasting effects on the political attitudes of that generation as its members progress
through life.
○ Those who came of age during the Great Depression and New Deal policies are
still Democratic.
● Lifecycle effects are changes over the course of an individual’s lifetime, which affect
their political attitudes and participation; as individuals develop from young people to
adults to senior citizens, their concerns and values change.
○ Younger Americans tend to be more liberal but less politically active than older
Americans.
● Period effects are major events and social trends that affect the political attitudes of the
entire population; for example, the terrorist attacks on September 11 and the Watergate
scandal had lasting effects on the political attitudes of those who lived through them.

Influence of political events on ideology

● The formative age is young adulthood, between ages 18 and 24, when many people form
long-lasting political attitudes.
○ For example, Millennials who came of age during the Great Recession and the
Silent Generation which came of age during the Great Depression are more
fiscally consrevative than other generations.
● Party realignment is a sharp change in the issues or voting blocs that a party represents.
○ 9/11 shifted many Americans toward the Republian Party.
 ○ The Great Depression ushered in an era of Democratic rule and attracted African
American voters.
● Period effects are major events and social trends that affect the political attitudes of the
entire population.
○ For example, perspectives about homosexuaity and same-sex marriage have
become more favorable over the past 30 years.

Measuring public opinion

● Public opinion is how people feel about issues, candidates, and public officials. Polls are
a common way to measure public opinion.
● The results of public opinion polls influence public policies, elections, and the decisions
made by government institutions.
● Population is a group of people that a researcher wants to study. This might be a large
group, such as all voting-age citizens in the United States, or a smaller group like
members of a club or church.
● A sample is the group of people a researcher surveys to gauge the whole population’s
opinion. Researchers study samples because it’s impossible to interview everyone in a
population.
● A sampling technique is the process by which pollsters select respondents to a survey or
the sample population for a poll.
● A sampling error is the predicted difference between the average opinion expressed by
survey respondents and the average opinion in the population; also called the margin of
error. As the sample size increases, the margin of error decreases.
● A representative sample is a relatively small number of respondents who accurately
reflect the variety of opinions, demographics, etc. in the broader population. In political
science, a representative sample is usually between 400 and 2,000 respondents.
● Benchmark polls are polls conducted by a campaign as a race for office begins. These
polls provide the campaign with a basis for comparison for later polls, so that the
candidate can see if their likelihood of winning the office is increasing or decreasing.
● Opinion polls are polls taken by sampling a small section of the public in an effort to
predict election results or to estimate public attitudes on issues.
● Tracking polls are surveys performed repeatedly with the same group of people to check
and measure changes of opinion.
● Entrance polls are performed on Election Day and are taken as voters enter their voting
location.
● Exit polls are performed on Election Day and are taken as voters exit their voting
location. Media outlets often rely on exit polls to determine election results, even before
the ballots have been counted.
 ● A mass survey is the most common type of survey. It is a way to measure public opinion
by interviewing a large sample of the population.
● A focus group is a small, demographically-diverse group of people assembled for an
in-depth group discussion. Researchers study the group’s reactions to an idea or candidate
in order to gauge how the broader public might react.

Evaluating public opinion data

● A common problem with polls is improper sampling techniques. Samples should be
random, otherwise poll results might not accurately represent the target population.
● A common problem with polls is biased questions. It’s tough for questions to be truly
unbiased, but questions framed to portray candidates or policies in a positive or negative
light can strongly influence responses.
● A common problem with polls is a small sample size. The smaller the sample size, the
larger the margin of error. A survey of ten people is unlikely to turn up results consistent
with the preferences of the entire population of the United States. Mass surveys usually
have a sample size of at least 1000 individuals.
● A common problem with polls is a large or unreported sampling error. The results from a
sample won’t exactly represent a population. This is called sampling error, and the likely
size of the error is called the margin of error. Researchers should report their poll’s
margin of error. If a poll reports that 58% of Americans prefer a candidate, but the margin
of error is 10%, researchers should not conclude that the majority of Americans prefer the
candidate (since the true percentage could be as little as 48%).
● A common problem with polls is lack of transparency in methods. Reliable polls publish
the methods by which researchers collected the data. Without this information, it’s
impossible to judge whether the researchers followed scientific procedures.

Ideologies of political parties

● Those with the conservative ideology tend to believe that government should be small,
operating mainly at the state or local level. They favor minimal government interference
in the economy and prefer private sector-based solutions to problems. “Social
conservatives” believe that government should uphold traditional morality, and therefore
should impose restrictions on contraception, abortion, and same-sex marriage.
Conservatives are said to fall on the “right wing” of the axis of political beliefs.
● The Republican Party is one of the two main political parties in the United States.
Founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists, the Republican Party’s platform has also
transformed over the years to address issues of concern to its constituents. Today, the core
values of the Republican Party align with conservative ideology.
 ● Those with the liberal ideology tend to believe that government should intervene in the
economy and provide a broad range of social services to ensure well-being and equality
across society. Liberals usually believe that the government should not regulate private
sexual or social behaviors. They are said to fall on the “left wing” of the axis of political
beliefs.
● The Democratic Party is one of the two main political parties in the United States.
Founded in 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, the Democratic Party is the world’s
oldest active political party. Although its platform has transformed many times over the
years, today the core values of the Democratic Party align with liberal ideology.
● The progressive ideology differs from the liberal ideology because while liberals believe
in protecting previously disadvantaged groups from discrimination, progressives believe
it’s the government’s job to address past wrongs and reform the systemic issues that
caused those disadvantages in the first place.
● Communitarians tend to support legislation that emphasizes the needs of communities
over the rights of the individual. They are likely to be economically liberal, but socially
conservative.
● Libertarians favor limited government intervention in personal, social, and economic
issues. The Libertarian Party is the third-largest in the US and was founded in 1971 by
people who felt that the Republican and Democratic parties no longer represented the
libertarian intentions of the Founders.
● Nationalists tend to promote the interests of their nation, and often believe in the
superiority of their nation over others.
● The Green Party is the fourth-largest party in the United States. Founded in 2001, the
Green Party favors a strong federal government. Its candidates often run on a platform of
grassroots democracy, nonviolence, social justice, and environmentalism.

Ideology and policymaking

● Policy mood is a measure of the public's preferences toward policy choices.
● Position issue is an issue that divides voters, such as gun control or the death penalty.
● Valence issue is an issue most voters will agree with, such as economic prosperity or
caring for the elderly.

Ideology and economic policy

● Fiscal policy is government decisions about how to influence the economy by taxing and
spending.
● Monetary policy is government decisions about how to influence the economy using
control of the money supply and interest rates.
 ● The Federal Reserve is an independent federal agency that determines US monetary
policy with the goal of stabilizing the banking system and promoting economic growth.
● Keynesian economics is an economic philosophy that encourages government spending
(through the creation of jobs or the distribution of unemployment benefits) in order to
promote economic growth.
● Hayek economics / Side supply economics is an economic philosophy that encourages
tax cuts and deregulation in order to promote economic growth.
● The idea that the US government should regulate the economy was spurred by the Second
Industrial Revolution, during which the government placed its first regulations on
corporations, to limit monopolies, improve working conditions, and ensure the purity of
food and drugs.
● Government intervention and the principles of Keynesian economics were heightened
during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
● Since the 1970s, less government involvement in the economy aligned with the ideas of
conservatives and the theory of supply-side economics has flourished.

Ideology and social policy

● Government intervention is regulatory actions taken in order to affect decisions made
by individuals, groups, or organizations regarding social and economic matters.
● Individual liberties are personal freedoms that the government cannot abridge,
particularly those guarantees found in the Bill of Rights.
● Right to privacy is the right to be free of government scrutiny into one’s private beliefs
and behavior.
● Social policy is public policy related to health care, human services, criminal justice,
inequality, education, and labor.
● Approaches to social policy differ across the ideological spectrum.
○ Liberals favor more government intervention to promote social and economic
equality. Endorse minimum wage laws, oppose laws restricting contraception or
same-sex marraige.
○ Conservatives oppose government intervention in order to promote social and
economic equality, arguing that the free market will reward individuals according
to their talent and hard work. Oppose gun control, favor laws restricting abortion
and marijuana, favor government spending on military and national security.
○ Libertarians oppose all government intervention and think it should not regulate
morality or the free market, only protect private property and individual liberty.
 Unit 5: Political participation

Voting rights and models of voter behavior

● The 15th Amendment extended suffrage to African American men.
● The 17th Amendment established the popular election of US senators as opposed to
selection by state legislatures.
● The 19th Amendment extended suffrage to women.
● The 24th Amendment declared poll taxes illegal in federal elections.
● The 26th Amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
● The Voting Rights of 1965 was designed to help end formal and informal barriers to
African American suffrage.
● The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 made it easier for voters to register to vote
by requiring states to allow citizens to register when applying for or renewing their
driver's license; also called the “Motor Voter Act.”
● Rational choice voting is voting based on what is perceived to be in the citizen’s
individual interest.
● Retrospective voting is voting to decide whether the party or candidate in power should
be re-elected based on the recent past.
● Prospective voting is voting based on predictions of how a party or candidate will
perform in the future.
● Party-line voting is supporting a party by voting for candidates from one for all political
offices at the same level of government.
● A poll tax is a fixed-sum tax payable by all relevant individuals, such as all residents of a
state; used historically by some US states as a precondition to registering to vote in order
to discourage certain groups from participation (for example, African Americans).

Voter turnout
● Compulsory voting laws require citizens to register and vote in local and national
elections.
● Midterm elections are the congressional elections that occur in even-numbered years
between presidential elections, in the middle of each presidential term.
● Political efficacy is a citizen’s belief that their vote matters and can influence government
policies.
● Presidential elections take place every four years and determine the president and
vice-president.
● Voter registration is a requirement that eligible voters enroll on an electoral roll before
they can vote.
● Voter turnout is the number of registered voters who vote in an election.
 ● Demographics are characteristics of a population, like age, race, and education. Political
scientists use demographic information to study changes in the makeup of a population.
● State laws influence voter turnout. Policies making it more difficult to vote (requiring
voter IDs) decrease turnout and policies making it easier to vote (allowing early voting or
election-day registration) increase turnout.
● The demographic characteristics of a voting population help predict voter turnout rates in
an election.
○ Associated with varying levels of political engagement and political efficacy
● Many factors such as person demographics, political ideology and party identification,
characteristics of the candidates, and contemporary political issues influence voter choice.

Political parties
● Linkage institutions are groups in society that connect people to the government and
facilitate turning the people’s concerns into political issues on the government’s policy
agenda such as the media, interest groups, political parties, and elections.
● A political party is an organization of people with similar political ideologies that seeks
to influence public policy by getting its candidates elected.
○ The party organization is the structure of national, state, and local parties that
creates a platform, recruits candidates, manages candidates’ campaigns by
providing a fundraising and media strategy, and educates and mobilizes voters.
○ The party in government consists of the party’s elected officials who propose,
debate, vote on, and sign legislation that meets the party’s platform goals.
○ The party in the electorate is composed of all citizens who identify with that
party; it mobilizes voter turnout and donates to candidate’s campaigns.
● A party platform is a list of goals outlining a party’s positions on issues and political
priorities.

How and why political parties change and adapt

● Campaign finance is funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy
initiatives. There are complex laws regulating who can contribute to campaigns and how
much they can contribute.
● Candidate-centered campaigns are political campaigns that focus on the candidates for
office—their personalities and issues—rather than the parties they represent. Since the
1930s, candidate-centered campaigns have predominated in American politics.
● A critical election is an election that leads to a majority party realignment. After a
critical election, a number of key supporters of one party (for example, southern white
voters) switch to the other party.
 ● Dealignment is the process by which an individual loses his or her loyalty to a political
party without developing loyalty to another party.
● Realignment is a major change in the composition of party coalitions, often brought on
by a new or pressing issue (often economic trouble or war). For example, the Great
Depression led many African Americans to leave the Republican Party and join the
Democratic Party in the 1932 election, permanently changing each party’s base of
supporters.
● Micro-targeting is the growing practice of using computer models to identify voters who
might support a candidate. Campaigns pay firms to mine consumer data, census records,
and voting behavior in order to supply them with names of potential voters.
● A political machine is a party organization with the goal of enriching party leaders, party
workers, and citizen supporters through government contracts and jobs.
● A political action committee (PAC) is an organization, usually representing an interest
group or corporation, that raises money with the goal of supporting or defeating
candidates, parties, or legislation. There are limits to the amount of money a PAC can
donate to a candidate or party in each election.
● A super PAC, also called an "independent expenditure-only committee," may raise
unlimited funds in support of a candidate or party as long as they do not coordinate in any
way with the candidate or party.
● With direct primaries, the burden of running for office has been placed on candidates
themselves. They must develop sophisticated and expensive campaigns for office, which
has increased the importance of fundraising and voter targeting.

Third-party politics
● An independent candidate is a candidate for office who does not have a formal
affiliation with a political party.
● A party platform is a set of goals supported by a political party. Parties design their
platforms to appeal to the concerns of the public and to encourage voters to support the
party.
● A proportional system is an electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded in
proportion to the percentage of votes garnered by a party in an election. This system is
common in Europe and benefits minor political parties, who may win a small number of
legislative seats even if a mainstream party wins most seats.
● A third party, also called a minor party, is a US political party other than the two major
parties (the Republican Party and the Democratic Party). Third parties rarely win
elections in the United States, but frequently influence national politics by drawing
attention to issues previously neglected by the major parties.
 ● A two-party system is an electoral system in which two major parties dominate voting at
all levels of government.
● A winner-takes-all system is an electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded
only to the party who received the most votes in an election. This is the most common
system in the United States, and it does not benefit minor political parties, since
third-party candidates rarely win the majority of votes in an election.
● Barriers to third-party success are that most US elections operate by the winner-takes-all
system and third-party ideas are often incorporated into the platforms of the two major
parties.

Interest groups influencing policymaking

● The “free rider” problem is a problem of group behavior that occurs when an individual
can receive a public benefit without making a personal contribution of money or effort.
For example, a person might listen to public radio but never contribute to the station,
assuming that other donors will pay to keep it operating.
● An interest group is a formal or informal association of people seeking to influence
governmental policy in favor of their interests; interest groups may represent social
causes, economic and corporate interests, or religious and ideological interests.
● An iron triangle is a longstanding, mutually-beneficial relationship between an interest
group, congressional committee, and bureaucratic agency devoted to similar issues; for
example, the American Association of Retired Persons, the Congressional Subcommittee
on Aging, and the Social Security Administration all work closely together on issues
related to senior citizens.
● An issue network is a group of mass media, local government, interest groups,
bureaucratic agencies, universities, and congressional committees that unite to promote a
common cause, usually a proposed public policy that they wish to support or defeat.
● Lobbying is seeking to influence a public official on an issue; an interest group with a
particular agenda may be known as its "lobby," for example "the tobacco lobby."

Groups influencing policy outcomes

● Direct lobbying is an interest group’s attempt to influence policy by speaking directly
with bureaucrats or elected officials.
● Inside strategies are interest groups' attempts to influence policy by working within
Washington DC. This includes strategies like direct lobbying, drafting pieces of
legislation for elected officials, and suing the government.
● Outside strategies are interest groups' attempts to influence policy outside of Washington
DC, by using strategies like campaign contributions, media coverage, or encouraging
constituents to contact their elected officials.
 ● Political action committees (PACs) are registered fundraising committees that donate
money on behalf of interest groups. Super PACs are highly-funded PACs, whose
numbers have grown following a Supreme Court ruling permitting unlimited spending by
corporations and labor unions in federal elections.
● A protest movement is a group that brings attention to a social problem through public
demonstrations or other forms of direct action.
● Salience is the degree to which the general public is aware of a policy issue.
Policymakers are less likely to accommodate the demands of interest groups on issues
with high salience, like gun rights or abortion rights, as they risk alienating voters.
● A single-issue group is an interest group devoted to one particular issue rather than a
larger category of interests; for example, EMILY’s List supports pro-choice female
candidates, and the National Rifle Association (NRA) opposes gun regulations.
● Social movements are groups that work to bring about change in society, such as the
Civil Rights Movement or the Environmental Movement; these groups support policies
and elected officials that align with their beliefs.
● The policy process model: agenda-setting, policy formulation, policy adoption, policy
implementation, and policy evaluation.

Electing a president
● A caucus is a meeting in a voting precinct at which party members choose nominees for
political office after hours of speeches and debates; caucuses tend to promote the views of
dedicated party members since participating requires a large time commitment.
● A closed primary is a primary election limited to registered members of a political party;
for example, in a state with closed primaries, only registered Democrats can vote in the
Democratic primary to choose candidates for local, state, and national office.
● An open primary is a primary election that is not limited to registered party members.
For example, in a state with open primaries, independent voters or Republicans can vote
in the Democratic primary to choose candidates for local, state, and national office.
● The Electoral College is the group of electors chosen by each state to formally vote for
the next U.S. president based on the result of voting in the state.
● A general election is an election that decides which candidate will fill an elective.
● An incumbency advantage is the tendency of incumbents (officials already holding a
political office) to win reelection; incumbents have advantages in media exposure,
fundraising, and staff.
● A party convention is a meeting of delegates from one political party to vote on policy
and select party candidates for public office.
● The popular vote is the total or percentage of votes won by each candidate.
 ● A primary election is an election that decides which candidate a party will send on to a
general election; primary elections pit candidates from the same party against one
another.
● Winner-takes-all is an electoral system in which the candidate with the most votes is
elected or, in the case of the U.S. Electoral College, gains all the votes of a state or
district’s electors.
● Presidential election timeline for modern elections
○ The spring/summer before the election year, the most serious candidates declare
their intention to run for president.
○ January-June of the election year, states hold primaries and caucuses to vote for
party nominees.
○ Summer of the election year, parties hold national conventions to formally
nominate their presidential and vice presidential candidates, choosing those with
the most votes from state primaries/caucuses.
○ November of the election year, the presidential election takes place on the
Tuesday following the first Monday in november.
○ December of the election year, the Electoral College takes place and the president
and vice president are formally elected.

Congressional elections
● A midterm election is an election that takes place in the middle of a presidential term.
Midterm elections tend to have much lower voter turnout than presidential elections and
often result in the loss of congressional seats for the president’s party.
● A presidential election is an election where candidates vie for the office of President of
the United States. Held every four years, presidential elections tend to have a much
higher voter turnout than midterm elections.
● A primary election is an election that decides which candidate a party will send on to a
general election; primary elections pit candidates from the same party against one
another.

Modern campaigns
● Campaign finance is the fundraising to support a candidate to run for political office.
● Political consultants are people who promote the election of candidates for political
office by helping advise them on how to best present their ideas to the public.
● Since the 1976 election, both Republicans and Democrats have used state primaries to
select presidential candidates, which resulted in the presidential election cycle becoming
longer.
 ● Social media has become a hugely important medium for expressing campaign goals,
mobilizing voters, and fundraising. Social media allows candidates to community directly
with voters. It also exables campaigns to micro-target voters with more individualized
messages.

Campaign finance
● The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 banned soft money and reduced attack
ads.
● “Stand by Your Ad” provision was part of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of
2002 and required ads used to support or oppose a candidate to include this line: “I’m
[candidate’s name] and I approve this message.”
● Soft money is money spent in support of a candidate without directly donating to their
campaign, such as paying for ads or campaign events, or giving to the candidate’s party.
● Hard money is cash contributed directly to a political candidate that may only come
from a PAC and follow rules set by the FEC.
● A political action committee (PAC) is an organization, usually representing an interest
group or corporation, that raises money with the goal of supporting or defeating
candidates, parties, or legislation. There are limits to the amount of money a PAC can
donate to a candidate or party in each election.
○ While individuals may only contribute $2,700 directly to a candidate, they can
contribute up to $5,000 per PAC and give to as many PACs as they want.
● A super PAC may raise unlimited funds in support of a candidate or party as long as they
do not coordinate in any way with the candidate or party or donate directly to the
candidate.
● Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission (2010) - A Supreme Court case which
ruled that political spending by corporations, associations, and labor unions is a form of
protected speech under the First Amendment. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens
United and similar cases have reduced the limits on campaign contributions, encouraged
the creation of Super PACs, and increased debate over the role money can and should
play in elections.
● The Federal Elections Commission was created in 1974 to regulate money in elections.

The media
● “Horse race” journalism focuses on who is winning or ahead in the polls rather than on
candidates’ policy agenda or debates.
● Investigative journalism is deep, original investigation on a specific topic, often
conducted over a long period of time and sometimes involving the exposure of secret
information.
 ● Linkage institutions are groups that connect citizens to the government and facilitate
turning popular concerns into issues on the government’s policy agenda.
● “Media as a gatekeeper” indicates the media’s role in setting the political agenda by
drawing public and government attention to certain issues.

Changing media
● Agenda-setting is the way the media influences what issues the public considers
important enough to address through the government.
● A citizen journalist is a person who reports on current events who is not trained in
journalism or affiliated with a news outlet. Social media and smartphones have facilitated
the rise of citizen journalists.
● Framing is the way the media defines and portrays an issue, which affects public
perception of that issue.
● Ideologically-oriented programming is TV and radio news programs that cater to
audiences with a particular ideological perspective.
● Media consolidation is the process by which a few large companies have acquired the
majority of news sources in the United States. Today, six companies (CBS, Comcast,
Disney, News Corporation, Time Warner, and Viacom) control 90% of American media
outlets.
● Partisan new sites are websites and blogs that cater to audiences with a particular
ideological perspective.
● American media is more diverse than ever because anyone can access and employ it, but
it is becoming more elitist than ever because a handful of media giants own nearly
everything, diminishing the range of opinions, and Americans can turn toward partisan
new sites that reaffirm people’s views. Negative impacts of these dynamics include false
information spread by citizen journalists and large corporations focusing on money over
content.