Government and Politics Review Notes

Vocabulary flashcards covering voter types, changes in ideology, political spectrum, redistricting terms, and media bias based on unit exam study notes.

Political Socialization

Factors that contribute to an individual's political attitudes and values (e.g., family, school, media, peers), with family being the largest factor.

Political Spectrum

A tool used to visually compare different political positions and ideologies on one or more axis.

Political Parties

Groups of people who share political opinions or institutions that connect citizens with the government (e.g., Democrats and Republicans).

Electorate

Group of people in the US who are able to vote in elections (18+).

Radical

An ideology on the far left side favoring rapid change in the basic structure of the political, social, or economic system.

Liberal

An ideology favoring gradual change, where the government is actively involved in the promotion of social welfare of a citizen.

Moderate

An ideology in the middle where individuals do not hold extreme views, are tolerant of other people's views, and share viewpoints with liberal and radical views.

Conservative

An ideology favoring keeping things the way they are, holding the view that the less government there is, the better.

Reactionaries

Individuals on the far right side who want to go back to the way things used to be (good old days) and are willing to use extreme methods to achieve their goals.

Roles of Political Parties

1. Recruit, nominate, and support candidates for political office. 2. Provide labels that voters can use as shortcuts while trying to figure out candidates closer to their own political ideologies. 3. Run things (if they have the power) or fight against the people running things.

Rational Choice Voting

Voting on what is in the citizen's best interest.

Retrospective Voting

Voting based on a candidate's past.

Prospective Voting

Voting based on a candidate's future performance.

Party-Line Voting

Supporting a party by voting for all members of the political party; it is the strongest driver of young choice, though independents are not likely to follow this.

Factors Influencing Voter Choice

Party identification, candidate, race, religion, gender, etc., and political issues.

Generational Effects

Experiences shared by people of the same age (generation).

Lifecycle Effects

Individual experiences and factors that shape an individual's ideologies and political attitude.

Period Effects

Changes due to major events or broad social changes that shape the experiences of society as a whole (e.g., Covid, 9/11).

Political Realignment

When a political party undergoes a major change in their political agenda.

Reapportionment

The process of redistributing seats in Congress among states after each census (every 10 yr).

Redistricting

The process after reapportionment where states must redraw district boundaries.

Gerrymandering

When district lines are drawn to give one political group an unfair advantage.

Requirements for Valid Congressional District Map

Must have equal population and all districts have to be connected.

Media Bias

Ways a journalist, outlet, or source shows one point of view in a certain way to get the viewer to come to a particular conclusion.

Partisan Bias

Favoring one political team over another and only showing their side.

Propaganda

Biased info used to promote a particular political point of view.

Yellow Journalism

Journalism that is based upon sensationalism and crude exaggeration.

Perspective

A particular attitude toward or way of regarding something.