Civil Society, Interest groups, and Participation

Read pages 26 (civil society); 36-38 (Interest group systems); and 24 (forms of participation) in the BLUE book in class.  Define pluralist system and corporatist system.

Answer the following FRQ: (First decide which of the 6 core countries you will focus on)

A. Does this country have a pluralist or corporatist interest group system?
B. What is the nature of civil society in this country and why?
C. What forms of political participation occur?
D. How and why do the forms of political participation vary from country to country?

Scoring FRQs

Verbs: The following is a list of verbs that alert you to specific tasks you need to perform for points

Identify (the two parties that formed a coalition government in Britain); List, Describe, Define, and Explain.

1. Describe the relationship between interest groups and the state in a pluralist system. Describe the relationship between interest groups and the state in a corporatist system. Identify one country studied in the AP Comparative Government and Politics course that historically was corporatist but is now pluralist.

            How many points is this question worth?

Interests, Social Movements, and Protest

Kesselman argues that Americans are losing "social capital" as a result of fewer discussions over politics and we are less likely to be part of networks that allow for collective political action.  He also makes the argument that Interest groups representing single issues or groups, with professional staffs not volunteers are replacing traditional forms of political organization. The following Frontline video discusses PACs and the Supreme Court case of Citizens United.

Campaign Finance

Political Culture and Election Procedure

On Thursday we defined political culture and First-past-the-post (FPTP) elections and how both have led to a (2) party system in the US (democrats and republicans) The following video does a great job of explaining how the FPTP model leads to a 2 party system:

Consequences of FPTP elections

Chapter 3 section 4

Read pages 121-126 and take notes

In class we defined legitimacy (traditional, charismatic, and rational-legal) along with first-past-the-post and single member district (plurality)

Read 3-3 (pgs 112-116)

Read about the 1st section of chapter 3 (executive and bureaucracy)

Section 3 (Comparing US presidents)

Based on your reading in Chapter 3 section 3 we are going to rate (or justify) the presidents rankings on several criteria.  You will be assigned one (1) president. You need to evaluate his ability to expand presidential power.

go to the following website: Presidential Power Rankings
Read through the first part of the article and click on "20 categories" (8th paragraph)

In groups of 3-4 evaluate and argue your president's ranking.

Readings through 10/4

Monday nights reading is pages (13-16) and (95-100)
     *A list of terms is on the previous post
Wednesday's reading is pages (100-102) and (102-106)
Thursday's reading is (pages 19-22)

Link to the Thursday's Fed Video

Link to Friday's Cairo Video