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AP Gov Unit 4 Definitions and Key Points (following framework)
American Core Values:
Beliefs held by the majority of Americans
Individualism:
Belief that places value on a person’s independence and self-reliance
Equality of Opportunity:
Belief that every American should have equal rights
Free Enterprise:
Belief that government should allow forces of supply and demand to govern the marketplace
Rule of Law:
Belief that every citizen is equal under the law
Limited Government:
Belief that government needs well-defined limits and restraints
Liberals:
push for new reforms
make society more equitable
larger government
more citizen services
Conservatives:
keep established institutions
preserve traditions
smaller government
less citizen services
Liberals and Conservatives:
have different interpretations of Core American Values
Political Socialization:
process in which individuals come to believe in conservative or liberal ideologies
Family:
most significant role/factor in someones political socialization
Silent generation, baby boomers, gen x, and millenials
are the four main gens that play a role in political socialization
Silent Gen:
High value on religious beliefs & participation, generally conservative, high voting rate.
Millenials:
More liberal & ethnically diverse, value cooperation and diplomacy, more highly educated, less opposed to government regulation of businesses for consumer protection & clean environment
Life cycle effect:
when events that happened during a persons life cycle effects what they think about politics and policy making
Political Ideology:
an interlocking set of ideas that form the basis for political decision making
Democratic Political Ideology:
More open to government expansion and providing services to the public (protecting women’s right to abortion, equal rights for women and LGBT, healthcare for the poor)
Republican Political Ideology:
Conservative ideology, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it (cutting taxes, America-first trade policies, Anti-regulations for businesses)
Opinion polls:
a poll used to get a feel for the public’s feelings on certain candidates or policies
Benchmark polls:
a poll taken at the beginning of a candidates run and used to measure them against in future polls
Tracking polls:
a poll conducted over time, usually the same people, to see how feelings change over time on a given issue
Exit polls:
a poll conducted after a voter leaves their polling location asking how they voted.
Representative sample:
a small portion of the larger population pollsters are seeking to measure, but has the same characteristics of the larger population.
Random sample:
every member of the population must have an equal chance of being selected to participate.
Sampling error:
the acknowledgment of a small margin of error, which means that the results predicted by the poll were very close to the actual outcome.
Survey methodology:
affects polling data because it influences the accuracy of results through carefully formulating unbiased and objective questions, as well as minimizing bias and ensuring representative data through selection of appropriate data collection techniques and sampling methods.
Mass surverys:
work best to cultivate quantitative data because ti involves a large sample size, which enhances statistical accuracy and reliability.
Focus groups:
groups of 10-40 people that work best for qualitative data because it focuses more on gathering a greater understanding of depth & character of participants.
Polling helps decide:
which candidates will participate in televised debates and helps candidates choose how to shape their campaigns, which voters then go off of when choosing who to vote for.
Fiscal policy:
taxation and spending
Keynesian economics:
strong government involvement in economy
strong support for government borrowing
usually supported by liberal ideology
Supply side economics:
weak government involvement in economy
focuses on supply and demand
usually supported by conservative ideology
Note
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