ap gov: unit 1

Party Ideology and Beliefs

rule of law

no person is ABOVE law; equality is BEFORE the law.

limited government

governmental power is limited by the constitution

individualism

each person is responsible for themselves; we have the freedom to do what we want but we face the consequences of our decisions

equality of oppurtunity

each person has an opportunity to succeed, however equality of outcome isn’t guaranteed.

free enterprice

an economic system based on mostly markets and freedom of people to choose waht buy and/or sell

political ideology

a consistent set of ideas and beliefs about thepurpose and scope of government

political socialization

the process of a person obtaining their political ideology; family, peers, education, media, etc.

globalization

u.s. political culture has influenced and been influenced by the values of other people in other countries

generational effects

different voting patterns and political beliefs for people in different generations - ex: younger generations tend to be more liberal esp on social issues.

lifecycle effects

people focus on different issues at different points of life. ex: a younger voter may focus more on a candidates proposal to reduce costs for college while an older voter may focus more on medicare and social security

impressionable age hypothesis

major political events that happened during young adulthood may strongly affect a voters political beliefs and attitude. ex: 9/11

focus group

a small group of voters are chosen to participate in an in-depth discussion about a candidate

mass survey

a way to measure public opinion by polling a large sample of the population - around 1,000 to 1,500 people are surveyed nationwide.

opinion poll

poll to measure public opinion on a particular issue. ex: tracking peoples opinion on the legalization of marijuana

tracking poll

a continuous poll to chart changes in opinion overtime. ex: asking about presidential approval overtime

benchmark poll

used to find out where a candidate stands before any campaigning, stengths, weaknesses, and what issues to focus on

entrance/exit poll

taken before people enter/exit polling places on election day. used to predict election outcome, gain insight into voting behavior, and to analyze how different demographic groups voted

random sample

each individual in the population has an equal chance of getting selected for the poll.

stratified sample

population is divided into subgroups and weighed based on population demographics

sampling error

a polling error arising from using only a sample of the population. +/-3% is an acceptable margin of error

reliability

a measurement of consistency of the polling results

veracity

a measurement of the accuracy of the data

conservatives

republicans are conservative leaning - they favor economic liberty and social regulation.

liberals

democrats are liberal leaning - they favor economic regulation and social liberty.

libertarians

favor maximum liberty in both economic and social areas

keynesian economics

government should stimulate economy during recessions by increasing government spending to encourage economic growth - liberals

supply-side economics

government should stimulate economy during recessions by cutting taxes to encourage businesses to grow and taxpayers to spend more money - conservative

fiscal policy

government and tax spending policies; conducted by congress and president - very political

monetary policy

conducted by the federal reserve; influencing the money supply and interest rates to stabilize the economy; money supply and interest rates are inversely related - not political

the federal reserve

independent federal agency that determines monetary policy w/ goal of stabilizing the banking system and promoting economic growth