Thursday Sep 25 notes

Okay, so there may be some gaps in the notes sorry

• Democratic Theory Implies that government leaders are able to ascertain what the public is thinking
  
  • 1. According to majoritarian model, the government should follow maj. rule
  • 2. According to pluralism, government must allow free expression of numerous minority opinions. Public rarelu demonstrates clear opinion on day-to-day government operations
  • 3. Main factors that influence the accuracy of a sample:
    
    • 1. Way sample is selected. Random sampling necessary
    • 2. Size of the sample
    • 3. Amount of variation in population
• Shape of distribution:
  
  • A. skewed: minority risk persecution
    
  • B. bimodal: greater potential for political conflict
  • C. symmetric: supports moderate government policy
• Stability: amount of change in distribution over time
• Political socialization refers to the complex process by which people acquire their political values.
  
  • A. Importance of early learning
    
    • 1. primary principle: what is learned first is learned
    • 2. Structuring principle-what is learned first structures what is learned later
      
• Important Agents of early socialization:
  
  • A. The family; often adopt party of their parents
  • B. The school; primary/secondary; promote democratic decision-making/civic responsibility; colleges people who attend higher education more liberal
  • C.Religion
    
    • 1. Protestants--more economically conservative
    • 2. Jews--more liberal on economical liberal, more socially conservative
    • 3. Catholics--more economically liberal, more socially conservative
  • D. Community and peers; homogeneous community exerts pressure to conform. Peer groups may offer protection against community pressures, allowing individuals to develop political attituds.
  • E. Gender; women more likely to be Democrats
  • F. Marital Status; singles more likely to be Democrats
• Relationship between people's backgrounds and political values
  
  • 1. People with higher education choose freedom over order and equality
  • 2. People with high income more opposed to government of policies of income redistribution
    
  • 3. Religious differences; not as important as it used to be
  • 4. Old ethnicity (European); declines in importance
  • 5. Race; varies on redistribution of wealth
    
  • 6. Religiosity; ex: those who regard the Bible as ultimate truth more likely to favor order and be conservative
  • 7. Gender factor: who regard the Bible as ultimate truth more likely to favor order

Again there may be some gaps sorry......