WEEKLY READING EVALUATION Essay Example

Weekly Reading Evaluation

Weekly Reading Evaluation

Public opinion, voting and political socializationWeek 8:

What is the influence of family on political values and voting behavior?

Voting behavior and political values are influenced by various factors such family and gender among others (Heywood, 2013). The parents have their views on politics and voting and these views are transmitted to their children. The bringing up of a child determines much of the behavior of that child. Children tend to grow up having the inclination towards the family views and as a result vote the same way as their parents. As the first school children are highly influenced by their parents and as they grow, they develop political opinions not far from that of their children.

What is party identification?

Party identification refers to the political party with which a person is inclined to. It is thus being loyal to a particular party and describes the party that a person supports. Party identification makes people inclined towards being republican, democrat or independent. People tend to vote for the parties to which they are inclined to and which they have identified themselves to. It has thus become the subset of several levels of identity such as language, behavior, religion, and class.

How is public opinion measured?

The modern public opinions differs from the traditional ones. Traditionally, straw polls and media and newspapers polls were used (Heywood, 2013). Currently, public opinion polls are the highly used methods of measuring public opinion. Public opinion polls are done as surveys to determine the thoughts of people on particular matters. Taking of polls is facilitated by polling organizations through surveys, interviews, and random sample among others. The collected data is then subjected to statistical methods to determine various measurements.

Propaganda and the MediaWeek 9:

What is the role of the media in democracy?

. Ellul, Kellen, & Lerner, 2005) Media has a vital role in shaping a healthy democracy. As its backbone media makes people aware of various economical, political and social activities taking place in the world (Cromwell, 2001). Media strives to display to the entire world the truth and the realities of life however bad or good they may be. By exposing truth and realities in the democratic system, people are able to make informed decisions (

What is the link between propaganda and the modern media?

(Riggs, 2013). In some instances, the news report from media are just propaganda arousing emotions and attitudes of people to a great extent (Cromwell, 2001). When media fails to use specific means to accomplish its ends, but relies on any means, then it becomes linked to propaganda. Additionally, when opinions posted in media is designed to make those who read it think it is true such as information in Facebook and Twitter, then this is pure propaganda

Why is concentration of media ownership regarded as a problem for democracy?

. The media become influenced by the political centers of power hence endangering its integrity. (Riggs, 2013) Media ownership is a situation where there are some few individuals who control its shares. In such a situation, the integrity of media becomes compromised since the media fails to serve the democratic process and the public interest but that of few individuals

How does the media impact on peoples’ political views?

In the modern world, media seen to be most relied source of information for majority of people. What is said in media is gospel truth and people will tend to believe it whether truth or propaganda (Heywood, 2013). The discussions held in the media influence the political views of many people.

Week 10: Social Movements

What is the role of social movements?

The social movements play various roles in political arena one of them being development of a sense of self identity as well as citizenship. Most importantly social movements have the constitutional role of shaping the politics. The members of the movements gather the demands of the people and fight for them to ensure that rights are safeguarded (Joseph, 2012). By questioning the political figures, key questions are asked that help to keep them accountable and responsible of their behavior. As a result the social movements ensures that constitution is followed by politicians strictly in a bid to fight for the locals.

Identify the major social movements of the 20th century.

Counterculture movement that existed, Civil rights Movement, Gay Pride movement, Counter – Lash Conservative movement, Latino movement, Handicapped Movement, and the Women’s Rights movement.

Why is the civil rights movement in the United States seen as such an important social movement?

The civil rights movement fought for the equality between African Americans as well as the Caucasians. This was the most successful movement fighting for the most fundamental issues that people claimed for (Heywood, 2013). The movement led to great transformation bringing freedom and helping members differentiate from world’s racists.

How is social media impacting on social movements and civil disobedience?

century, many people tend to take whatever is posted in the social media as well as being used as a tool of communication. ^st Although social media has been seen as the tolls for protest, they are also tools that allow the revolutionary groups lower their costs of participations (Joseph, 2012). This is so because social media helps to air the views of the movement rather than going to the street. Since social media has dominated in the 21

Political leadershipWeek 11:

What are Machiavelli’s key ideas about effective leadership?

Machiavelli leadership acquires excellence through manipulation and control. Another idea is that leaders believe that everything involved is part of the big game they are battling. While Machiavelli style would like to have other people reveal their reason for doing something, the style does allow revealing of the reason for doing a certain task. Machiavelli style of leadership is also based on duplicity, narcissism as well as being cunning.

What is the difference between charismatic, transactional and transformative leadership?

. Boje, 2000)On the other hand, transactional leadership is the leadership style that greatly emphasis on the transaction between a leader and its subordinates by rewarding and punishing in order to motivate the followers. The transformational leadership is that leadership type which focuses on the ideas that impact change to the subordinates involving highly influential power and enthusiasm to create motivation to followers ( Giuliani, & Kurson, 2007). Charismatic leadership is the type of leadership which make people admire and willing to follow them by combining personal magnetism and charm (

What are the key psychological constructs used to describe the leadership style of dictators?

The dictatorship leadership style is based on holding absolute power, on paranoid narcissists, and sycophancy. Dictatorship is composed of lack of remorse, impulsivity and deceitfulness. Dictators makes sure that subordinates are not employed since they lack the ability to view themselves and their relationships to others in a realistic way (Glad, 2002).

References

;http://business.nmsu.edu/~dboje/teaching/338/transformational_leadership.htmBoje, D. M. (2000). Transformational Leadership. Retrieved from

https://msuweb.montclair.edu/~furrg/hj/cromwelloverview.pdfCromwell, D. (2001). The propaganda model: An overview. Retrieved from

. New York: Vintage Books, a division of Random House.Propaganda: The formation of men’s attitudes Ellul, J., Kellen, K., & Lerner, J. (2005).

. New York: Hyperion.Leadership Giuliani, R. W., & Kurson, K. (2007).

(1), 1-37. Political Psychology, 23Glad, B. (2002). Why tyrants go too far: Malignant narcissism and absolute power.

. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. PoliticsHeywood, A. (2013).

35(1), 145-188.Boston College International and Comparative Law Review, Joseph, S. (2012). Social media, political change and human rights.

. Detroit: St. James Press.The literature of propaganda Riggs, T. (2013).