Power and Theories of Power

• Describe how political power is exercised in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
• Analyze how political and social forces in the United States influence public policy issues.
• Identify the influence of class and status on political issues.

Influences on Political Power

• Describe the distribution of political power in the United States.
• Determine which groups in the United States influence political power.
• Explain how issue networks function and influence public policy.

Organized Politics and Influences on Public Policy

• Determine how political parties shape the public’s values and educate the public.
• Describe forces in the major political parties and their influences on the party's agenda.
• Explain why the United States tends to have two major political parties.
• Determine how social mobility affects political identification.
• Explain factors that promote and inhibit corporate influence in United States policies.

Factionalism

• Explain the existence and effect of factionalism in groups.
• Differentiate among factions on major issues.
• Differentiate the pluralism, state autonomy, and elitism theories of American society, and their influence on factionalism.

Wealth and Power in America

• Explain the importance of understanding the distributions and concentrations of wealth, power, and influence in the United States.
• Evaluate the pluralism, state autonomy, and elitism theories of American society.
• Evaluate the validity of the class domination theory.