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US Gov and Politics

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US Government and Politics
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Chapter 08 - Elections and Campaigns

  1. Presidential versus Congressional Campaigns
    1. Elections have two critical phases—getting nominated and getting elected—and to win an election, one must develop a unique plan that would probably only work in the U.S.
    2. In getting nominated in America, individual effort is greatly needed, whereas in Europe, it’s a party try.
    3. Parties used to play a much bigger role in U.S.

Chapter 07 - Political Parties

  1. Parties—Here and Abroad
    1. There is a much greater sense of party loyalty and voting participation today in Europe than in America because in America, being a part of a political party isn’t as important or major as before.
      1. However, at one time, being a part of the Democratic or Republican Party was very important.

Chapter 06 - Political Participation

  1. A Closer Look at Nonvoting
    1. Only half of Americans vote, and many people blame this on apathy and urge the gov’t to turn up campaigns to urge people to vote, but this is an incorrect description of the problem, and the solution does not help matters either.
    2. When a list of the percentage of the voting-age population goes out to vote, America ranks near last, but if the percentage is of registered voters who vote in elections, the U.S. is in the middle of the pack.

Chapter 05 - Public Opinion

  1. What is Public Opinion?
    1. Because the government doesn’t do everything that the people want, some people become cynical and say that the government is democratic in name only, but this is not true because the Framers of the Constitution created a government that would achieve certain substantial goals, not simply “do what the people want.”
    2. The Framers knew that with a country so large, there could never be a true, unified “public opinion;” instead, there would be factions of opinions.

Chapter 03 - Federalism

  1. Governmental Structure
    1. The single most persistent source of conflict in U.S. politics since the adoption of the Constitution has been the relations between the national and state governments.
    2. Today, an effort is underway to reduce national gov’t powers, giving more strength to the states; this effort is known as devolution.
      1. Some proposals give states block grants in which states get money that they can spend in any way they want—as long as it is within broad guidelines set by Congress.

Chapter 02 - The Constitution

  1. The Problem of Liberty
    1. In the decade that preceded the Revolutionary War, most American colonists believed that they could obtain certain liberties and still be a part of the British Empire, liberties such as:
      1. The right to bring cases to truly independent judges that weren’t subordinate to the king.
      2. The right to NOT have British troops quartered in private houses.
      3. The right to NOT have to pay taxes without direct Parliamentary representation.

White House

center of the executive branch and official residence of the President and his immediate family. The President's key personal and political staff have offices in the White House. Most work in the West Wing, which also contains the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room. Aside from the Vice President and Cabinet members, the major Executive advisors are: the Chief of Staff of the White House; the Counsel to the President; the Press Secretary; the President's Physician; and the Director of Staff for the First Lady.

Subject: 
US Gov and Politics

Vote

choose. In order to vote in the United States, a person has to be at least 18 years old and a citizen of the United States. People who are eligible to vote must register.

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US Gov and Politics

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