LO 3.A.

1: Explain the core American beliefs, values, and norms that define
the relationship between citizens and government and citizens with each
other.
Dating back to the 1700s, Americans disliked too much authority and control
because of the British. Americans value the freedom that was fought for. However,
sometimes true freedom is gained by some restrictions. Most citizens just vote; few
form interest groups and actively participate in politics. Citizens tend to spend time
with people who value the same opinions. They agree with those in the same church
or political party as them.
LO 3.A.2: Evaluate the influence of various factors in political attitudes
and socialization.
College educated people tend to choose freedom and therefore tend to be
democrats. The same goes for those with higher incomes. When it comes to region,
those in the south switched from democrats to republicans in 1968. Those in the
northeast and west tend to be democrats and those in the south and Midwest tend
to be republican. Those with the same values tend to stick together. This is an
example of how region affects political values. As for race and ethnicity, Europeans
were more liberal than Anglo-Saxons. African Americans mostly became democratic
during the New Deal era and still are to this day. Hispanics who are the largest
minority in America are democratic. Asians and Native Americans are usually liberal.
As for religion, Protestants are more conservative than Catholics and Catholics are
more conservative than Jews. As for gender, women favor more government
intervention making them most often democrats and men more often republican.
LO 4.A.1: Evaluate the impact that public opinion and scientific polling
have on elections and policy debates.
Before polling became common, politicians and journalists would just argue back
and forth about what the people wanted. Public opinion has the ability to persuade
people to side one way or another. This is a term most popularly known as bandwaggoning. Government opinion and public opinion can clash sometimes. For
example, at one point Americans favored death penalty, but the Supreme Court
declared it unconstitutional. Polls sometimes show how uninformed the public is on
a subject. Majoritarian democracy believes that the majority is always right.
LO 3.A.3: Analyze the relationship between 21st century globalization and
American political, social and cultural values.
As the US becomes more and more diverse with various ethnic groups it consists of
today, political, social and cultural values change correspondingly. Whites tend to
have higher education. They also tend to be conservative and are more likely to
vote. Minorities are the opposite as they tend to have less education, are less likely
to vote and are most often liberals. The 26th amendment lowered the voting age
from 21 to 18. This significantly decreased voter turnout because adolescents did
not want to vote. Men and women are fairly equal in voter representation. African
American culture is conservative on social issues and liberal on economic matters.
Religious values influence opinion on social beliefs such as the death penalty,

abortion, and same-sex marriage. The US is the most democratic nation by nature
compared to other but has the lowest voter turnout. This can be seen as a cause of
political efficacy and an abundance of political apathy. On the other hand, the US is
far more involved than other countries in conventional and unconventional political
participation.
LO 3.B.1: Analyze how political culture influences the formation, goals,
and implementation of public policy.
Politicians cannot go against the core beliefs of the people. Policies must be based
off of the goals and beliefs of the people. Political culture limits the policy options
from which policymakers can choose. Implementations include initiative and
referendum. Initiative is where people propose a policy and referendum is where
people vote on the proposal. These implementations make policy making very
expensive.
LO 3.C.1: Compare how political ideologies vary on the role of government
in regulating the marketplace.
Conservatives/Republicans/Right Wings

Government should reduce taxes

Cut government budget spending
Reduce government regulation in business
Capitalism results in no economic equality
Prices are based off of free market

Liberals/Democrats/Left Wings:

Income equality
Higher taxation of the rich
Government spending on infrastructure
Stronger regulation on business
Higher minimum wages
Welfare/healthcare

LO 3.C.2: Compare how political ideologies vary with regard to the role of
government in addressing social issues.
Ideologies shape the structure of government around public policies. The different
types of ideologies are radical, liberal, moderate, conservative, and reactionary.
Changes can occur in ideologies as the public changes opinions and views. Certain
events can cause the public to change stances on a particular issue. The differences
in ideology can occur through political, social and economic issues.
LO 4.D.1: Summarize the voting rights protections in the Constitution and
in legislation.

The 15th amendment eliminated the discrimination of a males race or color from
voting. The 19th amendment outlawed the denial of the right to vote based on sex.
The 24th amendment prohibits the denial of voting rights due to a non-payment of a
polling tax. The 26th amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
LO 4.D.2: Analyze the roles that individual choice and state laws play in
voter turnout in elections.
The 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th amendments were put in place to increase voter
turnout. However, the 26th amendment decreased voter turnout because younger
people did not want to vote. Those loyal to their political party are more encouraged
to vote. The campaigning of the parties or candidates can increase voter turnout.
Lack of campaigning or informing can decrease voter turnout. Mistrust of the
government discourages people from voting, because of the belief that their opinion
does not matter. Socioeconomic position of the individual can influence whether or
not they vote. Those with higher incomes are more likely to vote and those with
lower incomes are less likely to vote. More people vote during the general election
rather than the primaries. They are more concerned as to who is in the last election
that decides president.
LO 4.D.3: Analyze U.S. voter turnout and compare it with that in other
democracies.
Although odd when compared to the other democracies of the world, Americas
lowest voter turnout is a result of our nations youngest voters, from the ages of 1824, who are found to be the least likely to vote. Also, the type of election has been
shown to affect voter turnout as well, with the primary, local, and off-year elections
demonstrating a lower voter turnout when compared to presidential elections. Other
democracies feel the absolute need to vote for the best nation resulting in higher
voter turnout whereas US voters dont feel like voting as they become discouraged
as they feel their vote doesnt matter, or they are content with the nation as it is, or
mistrust in the government.
LO 4.D.4: Explain the factors that influence voter choices.
Different factors that influence voter choices are background, socioeconomic class
and party identification. Different voters of different background are bound to vote
differently. Individuals who were not brought up to be politically involved are less
likely to vote or stay informed on political issues, opposed to those who were.
Those within a lower socioeconomic class are often left to vote differently than
those within higher classes, considering their needs and wants differ- it may, for
instance, be a wiser decision to vote for universal healthcare when they are
struggling to obtain it on their own, than to vote for something such as tax breaks
for the wealthy when they themselves are not wealthy. Education is also a big
influence on voting behavior; the more education one receives, the more likely they
will be to stay informed and vote accordingly. People will tend to vote along their
party lines, following their party identification through their voting choices. Most
people choose what benefits them mostly and others vote with little education on
the issues.

LO 4.D.5: Compare different models of voting behavior.

Some people vote based on party affiliation in national elections; others vote for the
individual most likely to make a positive impact on the nation. Liberals tend to be
those who are young, female, poor, less educated, minorities, and those residing in
urban areas. Conservatives tend to be old, males, rich, more educated, white,
religious, and those residing in rural areas. Most voters vote only in the national
elections with much fewer votes taking place in smaller elections, such as state or
city.