AP Government: Unit 2 -- Participation, Socialization, etc.

political culture

political culture

the widely shared beliefs, values, and norms about how citizens relate to governments and to one another

political ideology

a set of beliefs about what policies government should pursue

liberal

belief that government can and should achieve justice and equality of opportunity

conservative

belief that limited government ensures order, competitive markets, and personal opportunity

libertarian

belief in as much freedom and as little government as possible (tolerates some government to provide stability & security) supports free market economy, no government regulation of morality, low taxes

political socialization

how factors around you influence your political outlook

family, media, peers, etc

public opinion

public's expressed views about an issue at a specific point in time

public opinion polls

fair poll to find the public's expressed views about an issue at a specific point in time

representative of the general population

random sampling

everyone has a chance to be asked

sampling error

margin of error

the difference between the results of 2 surveys

26th amendment

voting age changed to 18

18-25 year olds have the worst voter turnout - apathy

19th amendment

women's suffrage

doubled the country's voting population

politicians now had to represent women's needs

voting age population

lowest turnout: 18-25 (apathy)

highest turnout: 55-64 (policies typically affect them most/been through life)

australian ballot

government printed ballot to be cast in secret

intended to reduce voting fraud

poll tax

unconstitutional tax on voting used to discourage African Americans and poor whites from voting during the Jim Crow era

24th amendment

no poll taxes

grandfather clause

unconstitutional attempt to ban African Americans from voting by only allowing citizens whose grandfathers voted to vote

exit polls

a poll of voters exiting the polls (voting locations) to attempt to predict the outcome of the election

benchmark poll

initial poll on a candidate and issues on which campaign strategy is based and against which later polls are compared

tracking polls

continuous surveys that enable a campaign or news organization to chart a candidate's daily rise or fall in support

Individualism

favoring freedom of action for each person over collective or state control.

free enterprise

Economic system in which individuals and businesses are allowed to compete for profit with a minimum of government interference

equality of opportunity

a widely shared American ideal that all people should have the freedom to use whatever talents and wealth they have to reach their fullest potential

life cycle

how as we age our political views change

Keynesian economics

stating that government spending should increase to stimulate the economy during economic downturns

monetary policy

Government policy that attempts to manage the economy by controlling the money supply and thus interest rates at the Federal Reserve

fiscal policy

Government policy that attempts to manage the economy by controlling taxing and spending.

supply-side economics

a school of economics that believes tax cuts can help an economy by supporting business activity

Rule of Law

principle that the law applies to everyone, even those who govern

opinion poll

A method of systematically questioning a small, selected sample of respondents who are deemed representative of the total population.

Leading Questions

Non-neutral way of rigging opinion results, allude to an answer with the question

sampling error

the difference between the results of random samples taken at the same time

The democratic party

Often aligns with the liberal ideology

The Republican Party

Often aligns with the conservatives ideology

Liberal economic policy tends to...

Emphasize spending and regulation of the market place

Conservative economic policy tends to...

favors fewer regulations and lower spending

Libertarian economic policy tends to...

favor no government regulation or spending at all

Federal Reserve

Exists to regulate monetary policy in order to achieve price stability (limit inflation)

Conservative Social Policy tends to...

generally favor less national government involvement to address some social issues such as education and public health, with more responsibility for these issues left to state governments.

Liberal Social Policy tends to...

generally favor more national government involvement to address some social issues such as education and public health, with less responsibility for these issues left to state governments.

Libertarian Social Policy tends to...

favor little national or state government involvement except when national or state government is protecting private property or individual liberty