Unit 2: Political Beliefs and Behaviors
Essential Questions
1. How are political beliefs formed?
Political beliefs are formed through political socialization, which is the complex process by which people acquire their political values. The main factors of political socialization are: family, schools, and the community.
2. How do political beliefs evolve?
Political beliefs evolve as people grow older. When a child grows to be an adult, they follow the self-interest principle, which is the implication that people choose what benefits them personally. They are able to think for themselves and believe in what they want in politics. Also, as adults grow into their senior years, their political beliefs evolve more into focusing on social security, pensions, and health care.
3. What is the process by which political beliefs are transmitted?
Political beliefs are transmitted from parents, school, and the community. Parents often express one view for their children, who end up classifying as the same party as their parents did. Schools teach children the importance of national slogans, holidays, and democratic decision making. The community exerts strong pressures to conform peer groups.
4. Why do citizens hold certain beliefs about politics?
Citizens hold certain beliefs about politics because it directly affects them. They want a government that accurately represents them and if they don't participate or fight for what they believe in, they wouldn't have those rights that protect them. They hold certain beliefs in order to keep government from leaning away from "government for the people".
5. How do families, schools, and the media act to perpetuate or change political beliefs?
Families are the main factor in affecting political beliefs because they have a strong influence over their children. They are able to shape their children into following the same beliefs because they are the main authority figure in their lives. Schools can also affect children's political beliefs by teaching them more of a variety of views that otherwise, they wouldn't be exposed to and can then help them decide what beliefs they want to support. The media also plays an important part in affecting political beliefs because it is a very important part in children's lives. The media can manipulate children into believing things by showing one specific argument in a variety of different ways and in a variety of different places, such as the internet, television, and in the newspaper.
6. How does political culture affect and inform political participation?
Political culture affects political participation by encouraging citizens to be informed about politics, it promotes politically efficacy (the amount of faith and impact citizens feel about government) through education and media. Education and media inform citizens about the different things going on and shows different views about the,, giving citizens the ability to participate and support the causes they believe in through voting, running for office, forming interest groups, and more.
7. Why do individuals engage in various forms of political participation and how does that participation affect the political system?
There are two types of political participation, conventional and unconventional participation. Conventional Participation is participation that attempts to influence political issues through voting, campaign contributions, and attending meetings. Unconventional Participation is participation that relies on direct action such as: boycotts, sit-ins, and more violent protests. They both affect the political system by peacefully or violently demanding change. It is something that the government cannot ignore and therefore, would take the necessary steps to handle the situation.
8. What leads citizens to differ from one another in their political beliefs and behaviors and what is the political consequences of these differences?
Ethnicity, education, income, and age can lead citizens to differ from one another. The political consequences of these differences is that the government cannot make everyone happy, yet they can't not do anything because one group would be upset. It makes decision making difficult.
9. What are the group differences in political beliefs and behavior?
Ethnicities such as African Americans and Caucasian are the most likely to participate in government, followed by Hispanics and Asians. Age groups, income, and education are similar in that the older a person is and the higher income and education a person has, the more likely they are to participate.
10. How do changes in political participation affect the political system?
A decrease in political participation affects the political system by not accurately representing what the citizens want, whether or not they openly fight for what they want and vice versa, an increase in political participation would increase the efficacy people would have in government.
11. What role is played by party organizations, PACs, and money generally in campaigns?
Party organizations help candidate campaigns by supporting them and giving them the necessary resources and advertisement that they need to win. PACs help campaigns by contributing money to them and support the candidate by raising the necessary funds to keep the campaigns for them going. Money is another important factor in helping campaigns. Campaigns can be very costly and without the necessary funds, they cannot keep up with advertisements and other things needed to win a campaign.
12. What roles do the groups listed above play in the electoral process?
The groups listed above do what they can to promote a candidate and try to get them to be the front runner in the elections, they try to get many supporters for them and when the campaigning is over, it is up to the people to vote and the electoral college to calculate the votes and determine who the winner is.
Political beliefs are formed through political socialization, which is the complex process by which people acquire their political values. The main factors of political socialization are: family, schools, and the community.
2. How do political beliefs evolve?
Political beliefs evolve as people grow older. When a child grows to be an adult, they follow the self-interest principle, which is the implication that people choose what benefits them personally. They are able to think for themselves and believe in what they want in politics. Also, as adults grow into their senior years, their political beliefs evolve more into focusing on social security, pensions, and health care.
3. What is the process by which political beliefs are transmitted?
Political beliefs are transmitted from parents, school, and the community. Parents often express one view for their children, who end up classifying as the same party as their parents did. Schools teach children the importance of national slogans, holidays, and democratic decision making. The community exerts strong pressures to conform peer groups.
4. Why do citizens hold certain beliefs about politics?
Citizens hold certain beliefs about politics because it directly affects them. They want a government that accurately represents them and if they don't participate or fight for what they believe in, they wouldn't have those rights that protect them. They hold certain beliefs in order to keep government from leaning away from "government for the people".
5. How do families, schools, and the media act to perpetuate or change political beliefs?
Families are the main factor in affecting political beliefs because they have a strong influence over their children. They are able to shape their children into following the same beliefs because they are the main authority figure in their lives. Schools can also affect children's political beliefs by teaching them more of a variety of views that otherwise, they wouldn't be exposed to and can then help them decide what beliefs they want to support. The media also plays an important part in affecting political beliefs because it is a very important part in children's lives. The media can manipulate children into believing things by showing one specific argument in a variety of different ways and in a variety of different places, such as the internet, television, and in the newspaper.
6. How does political culture affect and inform political participation?
Political culture affects political participation by encouraging citizens to be informed about politics, it promotes politically efficacy (the amount of faith and impact citizens feel about government) through education and media. Education and media inform citizens about the different things going on and shows different views about the,, giving citizens the ability to participate and support the causes they believe in through voting, running for office, forming interest groups, and more.
7. Why do individuals engage in various forms of political participation and how does that participation affect the political system?
There are two types of political participation, conventional and unconventional participation. Conventional Participation is participation that attempts to influence political issues through voting, campaign contributions, and attending meetings. Unconventional Participation is participation that relies on direct action such as: boycotts, sit-ins, and more violent protests. They both affect the political system by peacefully or violently demanding change. It is something that the government cannot ignore and therefore, would take the necessary steps to handle the situation.
8. What leads citizens to differ from one another in their political beliefs and behaviors and what is the political consequences of these differences?
Ethnicity, education, income, and age can lead citizens to differ from one another. The political consequences of these differences is that the government cannot make everyone happy, yet they can't not do anything because one group would be upset. It makes decision making difficult.
9. What are the group differences in political beliefs and behavior?
Ethnicities such as African Americans and Caucasian are the most likely to participate in government, followed by Hispanics and Asians. Age groups, income, and education are similar in that the older a person is and the higher income and education a person has, the more likely they are to participate.
10. How do changes in political participation affect the political system?
A decrease in political participation affects the political system by not accurately representing what the citizens want, whether or not they openly fight for what they want and vice versa, an increase in political participation would increase the efficacy people would have in government.
11. What role is played by party organizations, PACs, and money generally in campaigns?
Party organizations help candidate campaigns by supporting them and giving them the necessary resources and advertisement that they need to win. PACs help campaigns by contributing money to them and support the candidate by raising the necessary funds to keep the campaigns for them going. Money is another important factor in helping campaigns. Campaigns can be very costly and without the necessary funds, they cannot keep up with advertisements and other things needed to win a campaign.
12. What roles do the groups listed above play in the electoral process?
The groups listed above do what they can to promote a candidate and try to get them to be the front runner in the elections, they try to get many supporters for them and when the campaigning is over, it is up to the people to vote and the electoral college to calculate the votes and determine who the winner is.