|
Guided Questions
1. Introduction/Public Opinion
a. What is public opinion?
b. What is meant by intensity, latency and salience
as applied to public opinion?
c. How was the "canvas process" used
in the 2000 election?
d. What is the meaning of polarization?
e. Why is proper sampling based upon randomness?
Also, how do the poll questions, wording, type, etc. influence poll results?
2. Political Socialization
a. How influential is your family in shaping
your political attitudes?
b. What institution ranks next to the family?
c. What happens if a young person has a conflict
between parents and friends?
d. Why is the mass media (especially TV) important?
e. Why are religion and ethnic background important?
f. Why do adults sometimes shift their childhood
attitudes?
g. Name an issue about which there is general
consensus.
h. How do the attentive public and part-time
citizens differ?
3. Participation: Voters: Who and Why?
a. How can a citizen participate in government
other than voting?
b. Why is politics mostly a private activity
for most Americans?
c. In which election is voter turnout the greatest?
The lowest?
d. How can voting laws affect voting rates?
e. How have eligibility standards for voting
been expanded by legislation and constitutional amendments?
f. Why and how is registration important to
political participation?
4. Who Votes?
a. What are the causes of low turnout?
b. What are the characteristics of nonvoters and voters?
c. How can the barriers to nonvoting be reduced?
d. Which specific electoral reforms were proposed after the 2000 election?
e. Would internet voting and voting by mail increase turnout? Why or why not?
5. Voting Choices
a. How does partisanship identification differ
from party registration?
b. Who are the independents? How do they differ from partisans?
c. What are the positive aspects of candidate appeal? Give examples of candidates
with positive appeal, negative appeal. Use the Gore-Bush 2000 race.
d. How important are issues in determining how a person votes?
6. Elections: The Rules of the Game
a. Who determines the rules for U.S. elections?
b. When are elections held in the United States?
c. Explain: fixed term, staggered term and term
limitation.
d. What effect does the winner-take-all rule
have on our elections?
e. What is the Electoral College? How important
is it?
7. Running for Congress
a. Why do campaigns for Congress vary so widely?
b. What are some similarities between campaigns for the House and the Senate?
c. How is the election process distorted today?
d. How does an emphasis on personality and negative campaigning detract from the
true issues?
e. What is the recent success rate of representatives who run for reelection? Why
do critics say we are electing "representatives for life"?
f. Why must most representatives build a personal rather than a party organization?
g. What advantages do incumbents have in running for reelection?
h. Does a big budget assure election to the House?
i. Why are Senate races more difficult to win?
j. Why are Senate races of the future less apt to favor incumbents?
k. Does negative campaigning seem to be effective?
8. Running for the President
a. How are most delegates to the national convention
selected?
b. Why do Iowa and New Hampshire loom so large in the delegate selection process?
c. How have recent conventions been decided in advance?
d. Of what value is the party platform?
e. How is the candidate for vice-president selected?
f. Why do parties continue to have conventions?
g. How do you run for president of the United States without political party backing?
h. What factors are considered by candidates in planning their fall campaigns?
i. How do campaigns resemble marathons?
j. What is the impact of Presidential Debates?
9. Money in American Elections
a. Cite the major scandals involving campaign
money.
b. What is campaign finance reform?
c. Why is soft money spending a serious problem?
d. What is issue advocacy advertising?
e. Why is bipartisan campaign finance reform so difficult to achieve?
10. Improving Elections
a. What advantages are claimed for the party
primary system?
b. What are the alleged disadvantages?
c. Why might a national primary be better?
d. Might national caucuses be better?
|
BACK