ANG Study Guide (3/24)

plurality voting vs proportional representation

* plurality voting - the election rule by which the candidate with the most votes wins, regardless of vote share
* proportional representation - a party-based election rule in which the number of seats a party receives is a function of the share of votes it receives in an election

closed/open primary

* closed primary - an election in which only voters registered with a party may vote for that party’s candidates
* open primary - an election in which any registered voter may vote in any party’s primary or caucus

party identification (party ID or PID)

* the political party with which an individual identifies
* the most important heuristic

party activists

* people who believe strongly in political or social change and take part in activities such as public protests

party machine

* the internal organization of a political party, which decides its policies and directs its activities
* an organization that secures votes for a party’s candidates or supports the party in other ways, usually in exchange for political favors such as a job in gov

personal politics

* a political style that focuses on building direct relationships with voters rather than on promoting specific issues

PIE/PIG/PO

* PIE (Party in the Electorate) - voters who identify with party and vote for party’s candidates
* PIG (Party in Gov) - current office holders, allied to shape policy
* PO (Party Organization) - people/groups dedicated to getting candidates elected

polarization

* the shift of party positions from moderate towards ideological extremes

public opinion

* a collection of opinions of an individual or a group of individuals on a topic, person, or event

attitude

* an enduring predisposition to respond to a person, group, topic, or issue in a particular way

measurement error

* the difference between the observed value of a variable and the true, but unobserved, value of that variable
* occurs when the fit between the concept or the data generating procedure, on one hand, and the data, on the other hand, is insufficient
* question problems + selection bias

sampling error

* occurs when the results of the survey differ from the true population result (sample selected doesn’t represent the entire population)
* random error

selection bias

* bias introduced when the selection of individuals isn’t properly random and therefore not representative of the population

heuristic

* info short-cuts that people can use to make decisions
* ex: opinion leaders, interest groups, voting for/against the president based on the current state of the economy, party ID

selective perception

* the process by which individuals perceive what they want to in media messages

socialization

* the process of learning the norms and practices of a political system through others and societal institutions