PUBPOL 101: Weeks 7-14 Final Review

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards for PUBPOL 101, covering logic models, research methods, auditing, political feasibility, psychology, persuasion strategies, and intergroup conflict.

Logic Model

A visual "picture" or theory of how a program works that links theoretical assumptions and program activities to results.

Inputs

Resources needed for a program, such as money and staff.

Activities

The specific actions taken by a program, such as processing forms.

Outputs

The direct products of program activities, like checks being mailed.

Outcomes

The immediate results of a program, such as hunger being reduced.

Impacts

The long-term changes resulting from a program, like a healthier society.

Descriptive Research

Research that tells you "what" the conditions look like.

Causal Research

Research that explains the "why" behind conditions by identifying cause-and-effect relationships.

Confounding Variable

A third factor that affects both the cause and the effect in a research study.

Reverse Causality

A situation where the perceived "effect" is actually creating the "cause."

Heterogenous Effects

A phenomenon where a policy affects different groups of people in different ways.

Social Desirability Bias

The tendency of survey respondents to lie in order to look "correct" or socially acceptable.

Random Assignment

A tool used in experiments to isolate a policy's impact by assigning participants to groups by chance.

Findings

Analysis results that have been placed into a specific context.

Interpretation

The story or narrative an analyst creates about why specific findings matter.

Waste

Negligence or inefficiency in a program, such as spending too much on supplies.

Fraud

Intentional lying or deception carried out for monetary gain, such as fake claims.

Abuse

Improper actions that break standards, such as providing unnecessary services.

Yellow Book (GAO)

Standards for auditors that outline qualifications and report requirements.

Green Book

Standards used by agencies to set up their internal controls.

Police Patrol Oversight

An active and proactive form of oversight where Congress searches for issues through hearings and field observations.

Fire Alarm Oversight

A reactive form of oversight where Congress sets rules allowing citizens and groups to report problems when they see them.

Issue Attention Cycle

The theory that public interest in a specific problem is short-lived.

Policy Window

An opportunity to act on a policy when public interest is high due to a crisis or leadership change.

Political Feasibility

The measure of whether a policy is actually capable of passing through the legislative process.

Client Politics

A situation with concentrated benefits and distributed costs, usually making the policy easy to pass.

Interest Group Politics

A situation with concentrated benefits and concentrated costs, leading to a fight between two organized sides.

Majoritarian Politics

A situation with distributed benefits and distributed costs, often hard to pass because no one feels urged to fight for it.

Entrepreneurial Politics

A situation with distributed benefits and concentrated costs, which is the hardest to pass as "losers" fight back hard.

Organizing Math

The formula stating that Influence = (Incentives + Impact) - Cost of Organizing.

Strategic Framing

The practice of changing the "feel" of a policy to emphasize concentrated benefits for support or concentrated costs for opposition.

The Behavior Equation

$PB = f(P, E)$, where Political Behavior is a function of Internal Personality (P) and the External Environment (E).

Action Dispensability

The question of whether an outcome would have happened without a specific leader's actions.

Actor Dispensability

The question of whether anyone in the leader's position would have done the exact same thing.

The Big Five (OCEAN)

A framework measuring Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (Emotional Stability).

Egoistic Theory

A theory suggesting people are rational and maximize utility through incentives ("carrots") and punishments ("sticks").

Affective Theory

A theory suggesting people are driven by emotion and unconscious triggers rather than logic.

Rational Voter Model

$U_{vote} = PB_{vote} - C_{vote} + D$, involving probability of a tie-break (P), benefit (B), cost (C), and duty (D).

D-Term

The "Duty" term in the voter model representing civic pride, social pressure, or expressive value.

Cognitive Misers

The concept that humans prioritize efficiency over accuracy in information processing.

Schema Theory

The idea that people use mental "filing cabinets" or schemas to categorize information.

Consistency Bias

The tendency to remember information that fits our existing schemas and ignore information that does not.

Cohort Replacement

The phenomenon where public opinion shifts because older generations die out and are replaced by younger ones.

Choice Architecture

The specific context or environment in which a person makes a decision, which can be designed to influence behavior.

Nudge Policies

Intentional designs that make the "better" choice easier to pick without removing other options.

Moral Foundations Theory

A theory that ideologies are rooted in core values: Harm/Care, Fairness/Reciprocity, Loyalty, Authority, and Sanctity.

Minimal Effects Model

A theory arguing that media influence is limited because reception is low and acceptance is blocked by existing schemas.

Priming

Making certain information "top of mind" so it influences a subsequent decision.

Framing (Policy Context)

The process of defining how an issue is seen, such as calling a tax a "public investment" versus a "financial burden."

Agenda-Setting

The media's ability to tell people what to think about, thereby defining which policy alternatives are considered realistic.

Minimal Group Theory

The theory that intergroup discrimination can be triggered by even meaningless or arbitrary categories.

Contact Hypothesis

The idea that bringing conflicting groups together reduces bias if there is equal status, common goals, personal acquaintance, and supportive norms.

Common Group Identity Model

A strategy to reduce bias by shifting the frame from "Us vs. Them" to a superordinate "We."

Firsthand Framework (FFPI)

A bottom-up policy model that redefines expertise to include those closest to the problem using "Firsthand Indicators."

Social Identity Theory

The theory that we use groups to boost self-esteem and desire for our own group to have higher status.

Realistic Group Conflict

The theory that conflict occurs because groups are fighting over actual scarce resources.

Social Dominance Theory

The theory that dominant groups act specifically to maintain their position at the top of a social hierarchy.

Parental Induction

A communication technique that uses empathy—focusing on a victim's distress—to shape behavior.