AP Government: Public Opinion, Media, and Political Participation

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering public opinion, polling, political ideology, media governance and functions, political participation, and voting rights constitutional amendments.

Public Opinion

The collective attitude of citizens on an issue or question, considered vital to a representative government and used by media as a cue for coverage.

Gallup Poll

The oldest and most respected scientific public opinion poll, founded when modern polling began in the 1930s.

Sampling Error

A statistical measure of poll precision, typically accurate within $\pm 3$ percentage points and achieved $95\%$ of the time.

Straw Poll

An unscientific survey method whose use led to famous polling errors in the 1936 and 1948 presidential elections.

Exit Poll

A survey taken as people leave voting places to predict election outcomes before official results are reported.

Tracking / Benchmark Poll

A poll used to determine who is leading in an election through small, daily averaged samples to evaluate campaign strategies, first introduced in the 1992 election.

Prior Restraint

Government censorship that shuts down the press before ideas can be published or printed.

Seditious Libel

The crime of criticizing or speaking ill of the government.

Mass Media

Forms of communication that transmit information to the public, including newspapers, television, radio, magazines, and the internet.

Agenda Setting

The media's power to influence which issues receive public attention and become government policy priorities.

Linking Institutions

Channels that provide two-way communication between citizens and the government in a democracy, including media and political parties.

Infotainment

Media coverage that blends news and entertainment (also termed 'soft news') to maximize audience appeal and commercial profit.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

An independent regulatory commission consisting of five members nominated by the president for five-year terms that regulates radio and television broadcasting.

Equal Time Rule

A federal regulation requiring radio and television stations to provide equal airtime opportunities to all candidates for a public office if they sell or give airtime to one.

Fairness Doctrine

A former FCC policy whose repeal allowed news broadcasters to express ideological viewpoints and led to more polarized media outlets.

Gatekeeper

The role played by media editors, executives, and reporters in deciding which stories are covered, what information reaches the public, and for how long.

Watchdog

The investigative role of the media in uncovering government scandals, wrongdoing, and corruption among political leaders.

Horse Race Journalism (Scorekeeper)

Election media coverage that focuses on candidate standing in opinion polls and campaign momentum rather than policy issues.

Mouthpiece / Common-Carrier

The media role of communicating public sentiment to leaders and conveying political actions to citizens using framing or spin.

News Release

A prepared text distributed to journalists in the hope that they will use it verbatim when reporting on the president or other officials.

Echo Chambers

Online environments created by personalized social media algorithms that feed individuals information aligned solely with their existing beliefs.

Partisan Organs

Media outlets, publications, or organizations that serve as official or unofficial mouthpieces for a specific political party, faction, or ideology.

Political Efficacy

A citizen's belief that their political actions can influence the political process and that government institutions will respond to those actions.

Political Ideology

A coherent set of thoughts and beliefs about politics and the proper role of government.

Liberalism

A political ideology asserting that government should be a tool to address social and economic injustice and regulate business, while protecting personal freedoms and maintaining strict church-state separation.

Conservatism

A political ideology emphasizing self-reliance, free markets, low taxes, and order, while opposing government entitlements and business regulations.

Political Culture

The shared framework of core values and beliefs concerning government and politics held by a nation's people.

Political Socialization

The developmental process by which individuals acquire their political culture, knowledge, and beliefs.

Gender Gap

The measurable difference in political opinions and voting behavior between men and women, such as differences on military spending, the death penalty, and liberal-leaning policies.

Self-Interest Principle

The behavioral pattern whereby people become politically involved in issues that directly impact their personal welfare, such as older Americans defending Social Security.

Inactives

Political participants identified in the Verba & Nie study who rarely vote, avoid political organizations, and constitute approximately $22\%$ of the population.

Voting Specialists

Citizens who regularly vote in elections but participate in little else politically, typically having lower education and income and tending to be older.

Campaigners

Political participants who vote, work on campaigns, hold strong party identification, and actively enjoy political conflict.

Communalists

Individuals who focus their political participation on community projects and nonpartisan organizations rather than electoral campaigns.

Parochial Participants

People who neither vote nor engage in political campaigns, but contact local officials regarding specific, personal problems.

Activists

Individuals who participate intensely across multiple political dimensions to promote a party, issue, or philosophy, typically having high education and income.

Conventional Participation

Routine political participation that follows established democratic norms, such as voting, donating money, volunteering for campaigns, or running for office.

Unconventional Participation

Disruptive or dramatic political action outside established channels, such as picketing, protests, boycotts, and strikes.

Suffrage (Franchise)

The legal right to vote in public or political elections.

Electorate

All the citizens eligible to vote in a given election.

Grandfather Clause

A historical Jim Crow statute exempting voters from literacy tests or taxes if their ancestors had the right to vote prior to 1867.

White Primary

A primary election in the South where only white voters were permitted to participate, effectively disenfranchising African American voters.

15th Amendment

The 1870 constitutional amendment prohibiting the denial of voting rights based on 'race, color, or previous condition of servitude'.

17th Amendment

The 1913 constitutional amendment providing for the direct popular election of U.S. Senators rather than their selection by state legislatures.

19th Amendment

The 1920 constitutional amendment that granted women the right to vote nationally.

23rd Amendment

The 1961 constitutional amendment granting residents of Washington, D.C., electors in the Electoral College to vote in presidential elections.

24th Amendment

The 1964 constitutional amendment that prohibited poll taxes in federal elections.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Federal legislation banning discriminatory voting tests (such as literacy tests) and enforcing federal oversight of minority voting rights.

26th Amendment

The 1971 constitutional amendment lowering the legal voting age from 21 to 18 across the United States.

National Voter Registration Act (1993)

Federal law, known as the 'Motor Voter' law, allowing citizens to register to vote when applying for or renewing their driver's license.

Help America Vote Act (HAVA) (2002)

Federal law that modernized voting administration and provided federal funds to replace outdated punch-card voting systems.

Direct Primary

A preliminary election in which voters choose a political party's candidates for the general election.

Recall

An electoral process allowing voters to remove an elected official from office before the end of their term.

Referendum

A direct popular vote by the electorate on a proposed law or an amendment to a state constitution.

Initiative

A procedure allowing registered voters to propose a statute or constitutional amendment by petition to be decided by the legislature or the ballot.

Standard Socioeconomic Model of Participation

A theory holding that individuals with higher levels of education and income are significantly more likely to participate politically than those with lower socioeconomic status.