APAG

1
APAG

• Ch. 1 Assignment 2
• Pages 12-18

2

• How did Americans feel about the impeachment of
  Bill Clinton? How did Congress respond? Why?

3

• The majority of Americans did not believe that
  Clinton should be impeached and removed from
  office.
• Republicans in Congress did everything they
  possibly could do to remove the President from
  office for political reasons.

4

• 2. Why do politicians listen to public opinion
  polls?

5

• They listen to polls in order to figure out how
  to change the spin of their political messages
  to their constituents. They want to form their
  own propaganda to get their message across.

6

• 3. How did the framers of the U.S. Constitution
  feel about direct democracy?

7

• The framers of the Constitution were opposed to
  direct democracy. They feared the tyranny of
  the majority. In other words, they were afraid
  that a majority would take away the right of the
  minority. Also, any form of democracy was
  considered to be dangerous and to lead to
  instability.

8

• 4. What did James Madison say were the problems
  with direct democracy?

9

• James Madison was afraid of majority rule. He
  knew that if left unchecked, the majority would
  take away the rights, property, and welfare of
  the minority. Democracies were spectacles of
  turbulence and contention, and have ever been
  found incompatible with personal security or the
  right of property.

10

• 5. What kind of government did the framers
  establish?

11

• The framers of the Constitution crafted a
  republic, meaning a government in which the power
  rests with the people, who elect representatives
  to govern them and to make the laws and policies.
  However, it should be noted that they still did
  not trust the majority. Therefore, they included
  a Bill of Rights to protect the minority.

12

• 6. How did the framers separate the Senate and
  President from direct democracy?

13

• They framers did not trust the people to be
  educated enough to elect such important
  positions. They wanted to be sure that
  political elites would choose the senators and
  president. Therefore, they had the state
  legislatures elect the senators (until the
  passage of the 17th Amendment in 1913 which
  allowed the people to directly elect their
  senators) and created an electoral college to
  elect the president.

14

• 7. Describe the steps of suffrage in the U.S.

15

• In the 1790s, only free white males who owned
  property were allowed to vote. The next group to
  vote was white males who didnt own property. In
  the 1860s black males were temporarily given the
  right to vote with the passage of the 15th
  Amendment in 1870.

16

• White women were given the right to vote in the
  1920s with the 19th Amendment. Finally, African
  Americans were given the right to vote in the
  1960s with the passage of the Voting Rights Act
  of 1965.

17

• 8. What is the danger of majority rule? Give
  examples of how majority rule did harm throughout
  our history. What about today?

18

• The danger of majority rule is that it will
  become oppressive unless it is checked with
  guarantees of minority rights (Bill of Rights).
  If unchecked, the majority would violate the
  fundamental rights of members of certain groups,
  especially groups that are unpopular or
  dissimilar to the majority population.

19

• The majority in this country has imposed
  limitations on African Americans, Native
  Americans, Japanese Americans, and today Gay and
  Lesbian Americans, just to name a few.

20

• 9. How did the framers keep majority rule in
  check? How did they prevent political decisions
  based on the whims or ambitions of individuals in
  government?

21

• The framers kept the majority in check with a
  limited government and a Bill of Rights. The
  powers of the government are clearly limited with
  a written document (the Constitution) and widely
  shared beliefs.

22

• They prevented political decisions based on the
  whims or ambitions of individuals in government
  by the written Constitution which set up limits
  of power and checks and balances.

23

• 10. When did the phrase In God We Trust become
  the national motto? Why then?

24

• The phrase In God We Trust became the national
  motto on July 30, 1956.
• It was a direct result of the red scare of the
  McCarthy movement started by Sen. Joseph
  McCarthy, a Republican from Wisconsin, who
  believed that communists were going to take over
  our government and do away with our religion.

25

• 11. Describe the elite theory of government. Is
  their evidence to support this theory?

26

• The elite theory of government is a perspective
  holding that society is ruled by a small number
  of people who exercise power in their
  self-interest.
• The make-up of Congress (almost entirely wealthy,
  white, protestant males) appears to make this
  theory true. However, these same people have
  often voted against their personal interests.

27

• 12. What is the primary goal of elite government?

28

• The primary goal of the elitists is stability,
  because elites do not want any change in their
  status. Major social and economic change takes
  place only if elites see their resources
  threatened.

29

• 13. What did Thomas Dye and Harmon Ziegler say
  about elitists?

30

• They proposed that American elites are more
  devoted to democratic principles and rights than
  are most member of the mass public. They act in
  their own self-interests such as favorable
  tax-avoidance laws, but they also create policies
  that benefit many members of the public.

31

• 14. Are we headed for a democracy for the few?

32

• Recent economic and social developments in the
  last several years have strengthened the
  perception that American is governed by an elite,
  privileged group. Evidence includes wealthy
  individuals have educational opportunities that
  poorer individuals believe they cannot afford.

33

• Many believe that the voucher system is
  designed to do away with the free public school
  system and become a subsidy for the wealthy.
• In order to run for office, candidates have to
  raise many thousands or millions of dollars.

34

• Lobbyists today spend millions on elected
  government officials and their staffs to obtain
  favors for special interests groups or
  individuals.
• There has been an increase in recent years of
  people who believe they have been disenfranchised
  at the polls.

35

• 15. Describe the pluralist theory of government.

36

• The Pluralist theory holds the view that public
  policy is a result of group interactions carried
  out within Congress and the executive branch.
  Because there are a multitude of interests, no
  one group can dominate the political process.
  Furthermore, because most individuals have more
  than one interest, conflict among groups does not
  divide the nation into hostile camps.