Unit 4: American Political Ideologies and Beliefs

Demographics

the characteristics of a population with respect to age, race, and gender

Political Culture

an overall set of values widely shared within a society

cross-cutting cleavages

when demographic groups overlap among groups of another cleavage

Political Socialization

the process by which people form their ideas about politics and acquire their ideas about government

Family

the most influential agent of political socialization

Core Values

the primary or dominant values that are accepted throughout an organization

Individualism

a social theory favoring freedom of action for individuals over collective or state control

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

Free Enterprise

an economic system in which private business operates in competition and largely free of state control

Rule of Law

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

limited government

The idea that certain restrictions should be placed on government to protect the natural rights of citizens.

Globalization

the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale.

generation gap

lack of understanding and communication between older and younger members of society

gender gap

A term that refers to the regular pattern by which women are more likely to support Democratic candidates. Women tend to be significantly less conservative than men and are more likely to support spending on social services and to oppose higher levels of military spending.

Majority-Minority

occurs when no one group has a majority; estimated that the United States will be a __ country in the next few decades

Scientific Polling

Requires a random sample, large sample size (500-1000), neutral/unbiased questioning, and transparent poll practices

horse race journalism

The tendency of the media to cover campaigns by emphasizing how candidates stand in the polls instead of where they stand on the issues.

voter apathy

The lack of interest among the citizenry in participating in elections.

Public Opinion

how people think or feel about particular things

Opinion Polls

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

Benchmark Polls

used by politicians before entering a race to see the public's opinion

Tracking Polls

tracks public opinion

Voter efficacy

the citizens' faith and trust in government and their belief that they can understand and influence political affairs

Entrance Polls

voters asked about which candidate they are going to vote for and why before walking in

Exit Polls

polls conducted as voters leave polling places on election day

Push Polls

polls that ask for reactions to hypothetical, often false, information in order to manipulate public opinion

Polling Universe

the set of people that a particular poll is meant to represent

Random Sample

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

Representative Sample

randomly selected sample of subjects from a larger population of subjects

Mass Survey

a way to measure public opinion by interviewing a large sample of the population

Focus Group

small groups that hold conversations about candidates

Sampling Error

larger the sample, smaller the sampling error, any error that can occur within a survey group (also known as margin of error)

Question bias

the ability of a question's wording or format to influence respondents' answers

Reliability of Data

how reliable poll results may be due to certain factors

Veracity of Data

the biases, noise and abnormality in data

Political Ideologies

sets of political values held by individuals regarding the basic goals of government and politics (liberal/conservative)

Political Spectrum

range of political views

Liberal Ideology

progressive, things are good lets get better, human rights, more government involvement to help citizens

Conservative Ideology

traditional, business/econ, law & order, more self-reliance/less government involvement

Moderate

person whose views are between conservative and liberal and may include some of both ideologies

Political Polarization

the process by which the public opinion divides and goes to the extremes.

political party

a group that seeks to elect candidates to public office

Democratic Party

typically more liberal

Republican Party

typically more conservative

Regulation of the Marketplace

Socialist; government regulates market as opposed to free marketplace

Libertarian Ideology

least amount of government possible, personal freedom

Property Rights

the ability of an individual to own and exercise control over scarce resources

Voluntary Trade

when people trade because they both want what the other person has

Keynsian Economic Policies

economic theory that favors increased government expenditures and lower taxes for individuals to stimulate demand (also referred to as "Demand-Side Economic Policies)

Supply-Side Economic Policies

economic theory that favors tax cuts and fewer regulations to stimulate the economy (also referred to as "Reaganomics")

Monetary Policy

the setting of the money supply by policymakers in the central bank (Federal Reserve is responsible for this)

Fiscal Policy

the use of government spending and revenue collection to influence the economy (Congress and the President are responsible for this)

Federal Reserve Board

A seven-member board that sets member banks reserve requirements, controls the discount rate, and makes other economic decisions

Social Equality

a condition in which no differences in wealth, power, prestige, or status based on nonnatural conventions exist

Egalitarianism

the belief that all people should have equal political, economic, social, and civil rights

Economic Equality

a situation where there are only small differences in wealth between citizens