1. 1800-1816: Dem/Rep and federalists: Focused on foreign policy

2. 1828-1860: Democrats and whigs: Slavery

3. 1860-1896: Republicans and democrats: Post civil war/ industrial

4. 1896-1932: Republicans and democrats: industrialization

5. 1932-???: Democrats and Republicans: War, civil rights, gov. Democras dominated the presidency from 1932-1952.

6. ???

The first one was in 1800. The losing party simply went home! The Federalist party handed the party to the Jeffersons and then went home. It was the most peaceful election changing of governments. Two parties emerged: Federalists vs. Jefferson/Madison/Munro (D/R party)

Others include: 1860, 1896, and 1932.  

a slow change. during a series of years with the conservative democrats did not like the way their party was headed, switched over to the Republican Party and eventually evening out the party’s numbers. This movement started with Richard Nixon in the white house.

when the people do not favor either political party but rather declare themselves independent, in this environment politics would be unusually volatile, because large bodies of unattached independent voters could easily swing from one party to another during an election.

many people think that the media holds some sort of bias views when reporting, because of this some analyze that the media is facing a crisis in confidence. Many people think that the media leans more liberal, this is true there are reports of journalist tend to be liberal but because their writing their writing goes through editors who are generally more conservative it gets evened out. But because at the end of the day news stations are trying to sell their stories, they will do anything to sell their product which may result in accused news. Fact based news is becoming a smaller part of new reporting.

Media is frahmented but consolidated.

 the learning process through which most people acquire their opinions, beliefs and knowledge.

The 8 categories that we talked about for our papers were: family, education, media, events, peer groups, social economic class, religion, and occupation.

more and more people are receiving their media through newer technologies like the internet and podcasting. It is quicker than older news forms like television or a newspaper( ironically we have had to read a lot of newspapers for this class)the internet is a quick and easy way for many people to get information out there quickly and it is more cost effective, many news stations are switching over to this new form.

More based on how they cover the news and less on what they cover. Traditional journalism is lessening.

Modern talk radio took off during the 1990’s, most broadcasts on the radio do not try to hide their opinions, they voice them, most hosts appear to care more about the entertainment aspect of the show rather then that they are saying is true or not.

The growth of talk radio became possible because of the Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of the fairness doctrine in 1987 (a doctrine introduced in 1949 that forced stations to present issues of public importance in a manner that was honest and balanced.) Most shows are conservative. It is characterized as the Wild West of the Media! :) Talk show hosts exaggerate their political biases. Journalistic conventions are not observed.
The dominance of conservative views on talk radio is justified by supporters as a good way to counter the liberal print and TV media.

is a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of themass media. This is Causing the diversity of viewpoints to go down.

Many mainstream media outlets are owned by giant corporations (Time Warner and General Electric are a few). There is little evidence that these corporations influence new coverage to benefit their interests.
Concentrated ownership is more serious of a problem on the local versus national level. If only one or two companies own a city’s newspaper and its TV stations, these outlets may not present a diversity of opinion. The owners may not even air info that could damage either them or their advertisers!

• Works by calling 200 people every night.  You drop one poll when you get a new one. You keep the last three so it's a rolling poll.
• Used by national level campaigns
• Governs use this too
• Lots of $ used!

Unscientific poll. Always found in urban areas. Public opinion polling started in 1936.

Example: Big gulp @ 7-11: buying a drink to support Obama or Romney.

• Serve as commander in chief
• Appoint ambassadors, justices, VP, and other top officials
• To make treaties with advice and consent of Senate
• To grant reprieves and pardons
• Deliver State of union address to Congress
• Call either or both houses of congress to special sessions
• To receive ambassadors or other foreign representation
• To commission all officers of the US
• To ensure that laws passed by Congress are faithfully executed

• Power to Persuade: The president’s political skills and ability to persuade others, something that plays a role in determining the administration’s success
• Going Public: Using press conferences, public appearances, and televised events to arouse public opinion in favor of certain legislative programs.
• The Power to Influence the Economy: The President’s ability to be actively involved in economic matters and social programs, ever since FDR’s administration, especially during an economic downturn.

Honeymoon period: the first 100 days of a president’s administration and when Congress and the President get along. Only happens during a first term, never a second term.

• President’s most important adviser
• No real roles, other than to take over if president dies
• President of Senate

Size of federal bureaucracy

(doesn't this sound just like a question on the test!? :))

• A larger body (435 ppl)
• Shorter term (2 years)
• Smaller constituencies (elected from districts within the States)
• younger membership
• Less prestige
• Lower visibility in the news media
• Strict rules, limited debate
• Most work is done in committees, not on the floor.
• No power over treaties and presidential appointments.

• Always elected by voters
• May impeach federal officials
• Floor action controlled
• Less individual notice
• Originates bills for raising revenues
• Local or narrow leadership

• Smaller body (100 members)
• Longer term (6 years)
• Larger constituencies (elected from entire state)
• Older membership
• More prestige
• Higher visibility in the news media
• Flexible rules, nearly unlimited deabte
• Work is split more evenly between committees and the floor
• Approves or rejects treaties and presidential appointments.

• Originally (unil 1913) elected by the state
• May convict federal officials of impeachable offenses.
• Unanimous consent rules
• More prestige and media atention
• Has power of advice and consent on presidential appointments and treaties
• National leadership

The use of unlimited debate in the Senate to obstruct legislation.

Many times, people will threaten to filibuster.

• Committees are chaired by a member of the majority party, often a senior member of Congress.
• Parties assign their members to specific committees
• In the Senate, there is a limit to the number of committees on which one member may serve
• While each committee may hire its own staff and appropriate resources as it sees fi, the majorit party often controls those decisions.
• Most congressional committees deal with passing laws
• During each two-year session of Congress, literally thousands of bills are proposed, but only a small percentage are considered for passage.
• A bill that is favored often goes through four steps in the committee:

1. Executive agencies give written comments on the measures.

2. The committee holds hearings in which witnessess testify and answer questions.

3. The committee tweaks the measure, sometimes with input from non-committee members of Congress.

4. When the language is agreed upon, the measure is sent to the full chamber for debate. Conference committees, usually composed of standing commitee members from the House and Senate who originally considered the legislation, also help reconcile one chamber's version of a bill with the other's.

1. Too slow. Too inefficient.
2. Too corrupt
3. Too controlled by special interests
4. Too isolated from the people
5. Too weak
6. Too arrogant
7. Too inept
8. Unreformable

• They are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate (there is on-going debate regarding should judges continue be appointed or elected by the people.)
• The Constitution sets no specific qualifications to serve on the S.C. but all have one common characteristic: They have all been attorneys.
• They have life-time appointments and stay until the resign, retire, or die. Only 15 judges have been impeached (when they do something completely illegal like bribery) and only 11 have left due to conviction or resignation.
• The actual process:
1. President receives suggestions and recommendations from the Justice Department, senators, other judges, the candidates themselves, state political leaders, bar associations, and other interest groups.
2. The President selects a nominee and submits his or her name to the Senate
3. The Senate Judiciary Committee will then hold hearings and makes its recommendation to the Senate, where it takes a majority vote to confirm the nomination.

1. Look to the letter of the law as written when trying to decipher its meaning
2. Linked to conservative views
3. The conservative justices on today's Supreme Court are often labeled strict constructionists because they give great weight to the text of the law.

1. They look more to the purpose and content of the law.
2. They believe that the law is an evoloving set of standards and not fixed in concrete
3. They are generally more willing to read between the lines of a law to serve what they perceive to be the law's intent and purpose.
4. Generally linked to liberal views

These terms are used when discussing consititutional interpretation

They are also used to descibe the differences in Supreme Court Justices' reasoning.

The Supreme Court handles 75 cases a year.

The Court of Appeals handles 60,000 a year.

The district courts handle 300,000 a year