Essay number 2 (Political Process Participation)

2) Citizens often choose to participate in the political process in ways other than voting.

(a)  Identify two forms of participation in the political process other than voting.

(b)  Explain two advantages of each form of participation you identified in 

A) Protests and Campaign work

B) Protests- brings public attention, sympathy, and low cost
Campaign work- contact with potential officials and multiply individual interest

Essay number 1 (National Government)

1) In The Federalist paper number 10, James Madison expressed concern over the possibility that both majority and minority factions would have too much power over government, and he presented ways of minimizing that danger. The United States Constitution established a democratic government but also contained several provisions that limited majority rule. Throughout the next two centuries, the role of majority rule in the United States government and politics continued to change.

a. Identify the part of the national government that was originally most closely tied to citizens and explain how it was tied to citizens.

b. Explain two ways the United States constitution limited majority rule.

c. Choose two of the following twentieth-century developments and explain how each moved the United States from a less democratic system to a more democratic system. (you will have to research either 17th amendment or expansion of suffrage)

A) The national government that was originally most closely tied to citizens was the legislative branch. Citizens were involved because they were able to vote for the house of representative members instead of being appointed by a higher source. 

B) The house of representatives was the only element of government that had direct control of the votes of the majority. Legislatures were ti elect senators and the electoral college elected the president. Also judges were to be nominated by the President. 

C) Primary Elections are preliminary elections in which voters nominate party candidates for office. This makes the United States a more democratic system because the people have even more say on who get elected, they are able to nominate and then vote for the candidate that they want. 

The 17th amendment states that the Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures. This makes
the United States a more democratic system because it give the citizens a right to vote for not only the house of representatives but also the representatives in the senate.

What is the effect of ideology on public opinion in America?  Do people really think in ideological terms?  Does the liberal conservative dimension adequately capture how Americans feel about political issues?

Political ideology is a coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose. It helps give meaning to political events, personalities, and policies. The effects of ideology on public opinion (the distribution of the population's beliefs about politics and policy issues) is that the different views that are given, the more opinion is going to form in America. Not many people think in ideological terms. Over the years is was recorded that around 20% or less actually think ideologically.

We were assigned to survey 5 different people and ask them 5 different questions about the government. We then gathered our data and recorded it as a class. This graph displays the combined data of all the AP Gov classes at summit. We can conclude that American in the old category (65+) know more about government than any other age group.