UNIT III Discussion Thread – Chapter #8 “Political Parties”
Post any questions or answers to posted questions pertaining to Chapter #8 “Political Parties” in this thread.
The URI to TrackBack this entry is: http://pkautzman.edublogs.org/2007/10/25/unit-iii-discussion-thread-chapter-8-political-parties/trackback/
Could you possible explain the whole…
Question: What it means to have a “Party in the Government” thing?
Answer: These are the members of the party that hold elective office; they are the office holders and hence the “party”members “in government”
Question: And Linkage Institutions. I didn’t quite understand them.
Answer: These are the things that “link” the people and their public policy desires to the institutions that make public policy.
People – - -> The Media (Linkage Institution) – - -> Congress
Others include: elections, political parties, and interest groups
I don’t really understand Iron triangles…
Iron Triangles or Subgovernments or Issue Networks are made up of Committees in Congress, Interest Groups, and Gov Agencies for a particular area of “interest” conserned about a certain “policy” or action of the government. They lock up or control every element of that policy and therefor prevent any change to it that they would not like. They control the policy or the government action in that particular area.
What is the “watchdog function”?
Watchdog function is the media’s role in keeping tabs on politicians and sounding the alarm to the public if they, the politicians, so anything that the public might not like or might not be aware of. They are the tattletales of the political world and are especially important ever since Vietnam and Watergate.
In Political Parties, what does “Any attempt at bipartisanship has been replaced by the use of ever-changing coalitions” mean?
It is no longer a matter of the parties working with one another in the spirit of bipartisanship, but the quote is referring to a brief period when individuals would cross party lines and work together if they had a common interest. This is no longer the case because partisanship has become very significant leading to much gridlock.