Political Attitudes EXAM 2

Ideology

A interrelated set of attitudes and values about the proper goals of society and how they should be achieved

Belief System

A contiguration of ideas and attitudes in which the elements are bound together by some form of constraints or functional interdependence

Can Ideology (beliefs) be passed down genetically?

Yes

do people have a emotional attachment to their party ID?

Yes

Do political elites determine ideolodgy?

Yes

Ideology is critical for a functioning democracy because

its critical for citizens and elites to be speaking the same language

Symbolic Ideology

An individuals ideological Identifitcation. How people think about themselves

Operational Ideology

is grounded more explicitly in concrete decisions. What citizens think the govt should or shouldnt do.

Party I.D> is the best indicator on figuring out who some will…

vote for

negative partisanship

the phenomenon of IDing as a partisan primarily through negative association with the other party

poltical polarization

to a gap in politcal opinions whereby Americans are divided in their preferences

whoses more polarized the public or the elites

the elites

Affective Polarization

love of you own party, while feeling toward members of the opposite party are more negative

what are the 5 roots of public opinion

peronality, self interest, values, historical events, groups

Pluralaistic roots (Kinder)

perspective that public opinion is shaped by several factors, not just ideology. meaning many different roots, not the pluralsit theory of democracy

Self interest

a persons narrow economic interests

Sicuitriouc concerns

gerneral concerns about society

pocketbook issues

issues that affect peoples personal economic circumstances

why so sociotropic concerns trump pocketbook issues?

general concerns about society is what generallly citizens care about more

When can self interest be influential

when the effects of a policy are visible, tangible, large, and certain. Such as gun rights, property owners, smokers

values

general and enduring standards. beliefs on how the whorld should work. what s right and wrong.

egalitariansim

is the belief that citizens should be equal regardless of their personal characteristics. Equality of oppurtunity, not the equality of results.

individualism

is the belief that citizeens should get ahead by virture of their own hard work

moral traditionalism

citizens underlying predisporitions on traditional family and social organization

linked fate (Dawson)

your political circumstances being linked with your group

Rural consciousness

id rooted in place/ class. feeling culturally disrespected by people in urban areas who they perceive as not working hard

what explains gender differences in opinions

socialization, different roles in society, different economic interests, feminist consciousness

political knowledge

the range of factual info about politis that is stored in long-term memory

3 categories of political knowledge

rules of the game, substance of politics, people and players

how knowlegeable are citizens

mixed bag-know some things like the rules of hte game bc it doesnt normally change

Generalist

either know or dont

specialist

knowledge on some topics but not othehrs

measurement of politial knowledge

category of question, domains of knowledge, recall versus recognation, survey versus focus groups

Civil liberties

“thou shalt nots” directed at the govt. protect rights of individuals against the govt, aganist majority rule

Tolerance

supporting freedom for individuals or groups you disagree with

are people tolerant

HIGH levels of support for civil liberties in PRINCIPLE. Much LOWER levels of suport for civil liberties in PRACTICE.

pluralistic intolerance

a variety of a set of groups that people dont like. theres no dominet group that people dont like.

tolerance depends on

individual characteristics, context, exposure to diversies, people with higher levels of political expertise, threat perception

civil rights

ensure equal treatment and protection from discrimination.

hostile sexism

men and women roughly equal in very high hostility category (51 v. 49). Repuplicans higher on the hostile sexism than Democrats

Support for civil rights policies

HIGHER in principle than in pratice.