Political Science 220: Midterm 2

Rational choice models

people make decisions that are best for them

Intermediaries

allows people to make rational choice decisions (examples include parties making it easier for voters to figure out what’s best for them)

Straw poll

informal polls done in public places that forecast elections

Probability sample

selecting the sample from the population

Measurement error

difference between polls and results

Selection bias

not having the most accurate group (people aren’t included, don’t respond, lie, etc.)

Social desirability bias

people feel pressured to answer in a socially-correct way, even if they don’t actually think that way

Attitude

views on something

Political ideology

aligned set of political attitudes

Partisanship

political bias

Heuristic

shortcut to guide options (examples include voting only for your party as a shortcut, instead of actually learning about candidates or voting against an incumbent during bad economic times)

Motivated reasoning

making decisions based on emotions, not facts

3 roles of media in a democracy

inform the public, serve as an intermediary between the government and the people, and act as a watchdog

Misinformation

false information, not necessarily intended to mislead (compared to disinformation which purposely misleads)

Pluralism

many, differing interests have to compromise to get an outcome

Federalist No. 10

Madison wrote that factions, group of people with similar interests, are inevitable and bad for governing

Interest group

groups that make policy-related appeals to the government (examples include the N.R.A., N.A.A.C.P. and Sierra Club)

Social movement

loose collection of interest groups aimed at influence the government (examples include Black Lives Matter, Tea Party movement and abortion rights supporters and opponents)

Selective benefits

benefits you receive for joining an interest group

Informational benefits

by joining an interest group, you get stuff to keep you informed, like magazines and subscriptions

Material benefits

by joining an interest group, you get discounts and group rates (examples include A.A.R.P. members getting in for free or less than non-members)

Solidarity benefits

by joining an interest group, you get a network of people with similar interests

Purposive benefits

by joining an interest group, you get satisfaction for contributing to an interest of yours

Direct/Inside lobbying

lobbying members of Congress directly, through writing bills, campaign contributions, contacting them and testifying

Outside lobbying

lobbying members of Congress indirectly, through media appearances, P.R., public endorsements and mobilization of group members

Political party

candidates and elected officials under a common label to obtain positions of power

Parties-in-government

using the common label to get their agenda passed (examples include Democrats working together to pass abortion rights or Republicans working together for tax cuts)

Parties-as-organizations

using the common label to get votes (examples include helping candidates win elections)

Parties-in-the-electorate

voters vote for those who fall under the common label (examples including people that vote all “D” or “R” because they like the party and trust the candidates are good)

Duverger’s Law

single-member district plurality favors a two party system

Single member district

whoever wins represents the entire district

First-past-the-post

whoever has the most votes, even if not a majority, wins

Affective polarization

voting for someone because you dislike them like than their opponents (examples include voting for Trump in 2016 or Biden in 2020 because you disliked them less than Clinton or Trump in 2020)

Paradox of voting

people won’t vote if they feel like they’re not tipping the scales (examples include people not voting in deep-blue/red areas because they think their vote doesn’t matter)

Retrospective voting

voting based on past performance, particularly on economics and foreign affairs (example

Prospective voting

voting based on expected future performance (example