AP Gov Unit 2 Quiz (Political Culture and Public Opinion)

Policial Socialization

the process through which an individual acquires his/her particular political orientations-his/her knowledge, feeling, and evaluations regarding the political world (family, mass media, schools, and peers are important influences or agents) experiences and factors that shape an individual’s political ideology (family and hom influences are #1)

political culture

dominant set of beliefs, customs, traditions, and values that define the relationship between citizens and the government

Individualism

the belief that individuals should be responsible for themselves and the decisions they make

Equality of Opportunity

the US was founded on the idea that social status is based on effort, rather than inherited position; everyone should be able to influence government decision-making (while Americans value equality of opportunity, they often do not support equality of result)

Free Enterprise

Countries use different approaches in determining the proper level of government interventions in the economy

Laissez-faire

(aka free enterprise) system, government plays as small of a role as possible in the economic transactions among citizen and business

Command and Control Economy

the government dictates much of the nation’s economic activity: setting wages, prices, and production

Rule of Law

no one, including public officials, is above the law

Features of America’s limited government system

• Congress limited by enumerated powers (Article 1, Section 8)

• The federal courts have limited jurisdiction (Article 3)

• Madison wrote checks and balances and federalism are designed to create double security (Federalist No. 51)

distribution

physical shape of responses when graphed

intensity

how strong the opinions are held

Consensus

general agreement on an issue

Divisive opinion

public opinion that is strongly divided between two very different views

Public Opinion poll

the most reliable measure of public opinion

General public

most americans

Issue public

smaller group of americans

straw polls

asking the same questions of a large number of people (not reliable as it didn’t include cross-section of the general population)

Literary Digest Mishap

the magazine incorrectly predicted the defeat of Franklin Roosevelt and the victory of challenger Alfred Landon, many voters who supported Roosevelt had not been polled

Modern Polling

began in 1930s when George Gallup helped develop the use of a scientific polling process that includes sampling, preparing valid questions, controlling how the poll is taken, analyzing and reporting results

sampling

those chose to participate in the poll must be representative of the general population and chosen at random

Exit Polls

polls that target people who are leaving the voting place

margin of error

how far off the poll results might be

ideology

consistent set of beliefs

political ideology

beliefs about politics and public policy that creates the structure for looking at government and public policy

radical

favors rapid, fundamental change in existing social economic or political order (may resort to extreme means - violence or revolution)

liberal

they tend to believe that the government should be used in a. way to remedy the social and economic injustices of the marketplace

conservative

individuals should be responsible for their own well-being and should not rely on government assistance

libertarian

an ideology favoring very little government regulation intervention beyond protecting private property or individual liberty

moderate/ independent

do not constitue a coherent ideology

reactionary

advocates a return to a previous state of affais