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Gov Test 1
Public Opinion/Political Action/Budget 89
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Public opinion | The distribution of the population’s beliefs about politics and policy issues. |
| Demography | the science of human populations |
| Census | The most valuable tool for understanding demographic changes in America |
| Melting pot | A term often used to characterize the United States, with its history of immigration and mixing of cultures, ideas, and peoples. |
| Minority majority | The situation, likely beginning in the mid-twenty-first century, in which the non-Hispanic whites will represent a minority of the U.S. population and minority groups together will represent a majority. |
| Political culture | An overall set of values widely shared within a society. A distinctive and patterned way of thinking about how political and economic life ought to be carried out |
| Reapportionment | The process of reallocating seats in the House of Representatives every 10 years on the basis of the results of the census. |
| Political socialization | The process through which individuals in a society acquire political attitudes, views, and knowledge, based on inputs from family, schools, the media, and others. |
| Sample | A relatively small proportion of people who are chosen in a survey so as to be representative of the whole. |
| Random sampling | The key technique employed by survey researchers, which operates on the principle that everyone should have an equal probability of being selected for the sample. |
| Sampling error | The level of confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll. The more people interviewed, the more confident one can be of the results. |
| Random-digit dialing | A technique used by pollsters to place telephone calls randomly to both listed and unlisted numbers when conducting a survey. |
| Exit poll | Public opinion surveys used by major media pollsters to predict electoral winners with speed and precision. Responses can be used to judge election results before official count obtained. |
| Political ideology | A coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose, which helps give meaning to political events. |
| Gender gap | The regular pattern in which women are more likely to support Democratic candidates, in part because they tend to be less conservative than men and more likely to support spending on social services and to oppose higher levels of military spending. |
| What were the three great waves of immigration to the United States? | 1st: early/mid-19th century, northwestern Euro (English, Irish, German, Scand.) 2nd: late 19th early 20th centuries, southern/eastern Euro (Italians, Jews, Poles, Russians) Recent: 1960s--, Hispanics and Asians (Vietnam, Korea, Philippines) |
| What was the goal of the Simpson-Mazzoli Act? | Requires that employers document the citizenship of their employees. Whether people are born in Canton, Ohio, or Canton, China, they must prove that they are either U.S. citizens or legal immigrants in order to work---has not slowed illegal immigration. |
| How has regional shifts affected political changes? | Demographic changes are associated with political changes. States gain or lose congressional representation as their population changes, and thus power shifts as well. |
| How has aging population affected political changes? | People who have been promised benefits naturally expect to collect them, especially benefits for which they have made monthly contributions. Thus, both political parties have long treated Social Security benefits as sacrosanct. |
| Significance of family as sources for political learning: | Central due to monopoly on 2 crucial resources in early years: time & emotional commitment, genetics play a role |
| Significance of mass media as sources for political learning: | And television displaces parents as the chief source of information as children get older. Youth less likely to watch television news than elders --> lack of political knowledge |
| Significance of school as sources for political learning: | Govts often use schools to promote national security and support for their basic values (Pledge of Allegiance --> democracy), better educated ppl = more likely to vote & model of a democratic citizen |
| Name two ways in which aging affects political behavior. | 1. increases political participation 2. increases strength of party attachment |
| What is the key to accuracy of opinion polls? | accurate representation, not the number of responses, is the most important feature of a public opinion survey |
| List three criticisms of public opinion polling. | 1. makes politicians more concerned with following than leading 2. weaken democracy—distort election process bandwagon effect: voters support candidate because others are 3. altering the wording of a question, pollsters can manipulate the results |
| What is the “paradox of mass politics,” according to Russell Neuman? | American political system works as well as it does given the discomforting lack of public knowledge about politics. |
| What is the largest impact of declining trust in government since the 1960s? | The biggest effect of decreasing trust in government since the 1960s is that it has weakened public support for policies aimed at fighting poverty and racial inequality. |
| Explain how the role of religion influences political ideology in the United States. | Ideology now determined by religiosity—the degree to which religion is important in one’s life. Influx of new policy issues dealing with morality/traditional family values tied this aspect of religious beliefs to political ideology. |
| American political values | liberty (rights), equality (equal vote), democracy (govt accountable to the ppl), civic duty, individual responsibility (individuals responsible for their own actions/well-being |
| Left Ideals | Prioritize equality, interventionist govt involvement w/econ, government should be secular and separate itself from religious beliefs, Fair outcomes, embraces change, human nature and society is malleable, Support for the economic interests of the poor |
| Right ideals | prioritize liberty, laissez-faire govt involvement w/econ, govt should take a stance of religious morality, fair processes, rigorous justification for change, human nature and society is fixed, Support for the economic interests of the rich |
| The political spectrum characteristics | 1. DEGREE of change-> away from center of spectrum=more change, L/C min change, React/Rad max 2.DIRECTION-> right=retrogressive/traditional, left=progressive 3.METHOD-> closer to center = current methods for change, further= revolutionary/violent methods |
| Political Spectrum LEFT TO RIGHT | Anarchism, Communism, Socialism, Liberalism, Conservatism, Monarchism, Nazism, Facism OR Radical, Liberal, Moderate, Conservative, Libertarian, Reactionary |
| Radical | Desires immediate, progressive (new) change (violent if necessary), ultimate sense of equality (everyone is the same), govt can be the instrument that ensures that equality among all, THINK …….COMMUNISTS |
| Liberal | optimistic about human nature, promote GROUP civil rights & liberties; anti death penalty; PRISON=REHABILITATE, internationalists, support govt intervention in economy to ensure equality, pro laborer; progressive tax |
| Moderate | The Moderate takes no definitive position on any issue Moderates pick and choose their viewpoints Tend to be independent in their political perspectives |
| Conservative | pessimistic about human nature, stress law & order over personal civil rights/liberties; pro death penalty; prison=punitive, isolationists; strong military, support econ freedoms, laissez faire policies, minimal taxes; LESS govt, traditional family values |
| Libertarian | Believes in ultimate individualism, minimal government intervention, minimal taxes, minimal govt regulation. As long as actions do not harm others, they should be legal. Freedom and rights cannot be compromised |
| Reactionary | Desires immediate, retrogressive change (violent if necessary) Extremely racist, xenophobic, and isolationist THINK……KKK & NAZIs |
| tracking poll | The poll is conducted over time to obtain info about changes in public opinion |
| Keynesian approach | Increasing federal spending programs to improve transportation systems |
| Adam Smith beliefs | Govt intervention in free market should be avoided, the govt should not try to regulate manufacturing |
Created by:
undercoverkookie68