Unit 4 Flashcards

Flashcards covering vocabulary and key concepts from Unit 4 of the lecture notes.

Individualist

Places value on a person's independence and self-reliance.

Equality of Opportunity

Every American, no matter their race or class, should have opportunities to life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness.

Free Enterprise

Government should allow to view toward business, & allow forces like supply & demand to govern the marketplace.

Rule of Law

Every citizen is equal under the law; none has any special privileges.

Limited Government

Government whose limits are well-defined & is restrained through the separation of powers & checks & balances.

Liberal

Push for new reforms in order to make society more just & equitable. Prefers a larger government that provides an abundance of services to citizens. More government involvement is necessary in achieving individualism & free enterprise.

Conservative

Cherish established institutions & seek to preserve them for society. Want a smaller government that provides less services. Wants less government involvement.

Bandwagon Effect

Tendency to get behind the winning candidate.

Social Desirability Bias

People lie to seem like a 'better member of society.'

Non-response Bias

Certain groups are more inclined to respond than others.

Non-scientific Polls

Polls designed by political parties or partisan news outlets to demonstrate party support.

Libertarianism

Combines some convictions of both liberals & conservatives; seeks the smallest, least intrusive government possible.

The Fed

The Federal Reserve is responsible for managing monetary policy.

Inflation

Countered by the Fed raising interest rates.

Opinion Polls

Conducted to get a feel for the public's thoughts on certain candidates or policies.

Benchmark Polls

Taken at the beginning of a candidate's campaign to show how a candidate is doing.

Tracking Polls

Conducted over time to show how sentiment grows about a given issue.

Entrance Polls

Asking how people will vote, before.

Exit Polls

Asking how people voted, after.

Representative Sample

Small portion of the larger population.

Random Sample

Everyone must have an equal chance to be chosen.

Sampling Error

Mistakes made when polling; as sample size increases, the margin of error decreases.

Mass Survey

A large amount of quantitative data.

Focus Groups

Emphasize qualitative data: depth & characteristics of participants.

Silent Generation (1928-1945)

Generally conservative and vote a lot!

Millennials (1981-1996)

Mostly Liberal, ethnically diverse, highly educated, value cooperation & community.

Life Cycle Effects

A person's political beliefs will change based on what stage of life they are in.

Keynesian Economics

When demand is too low, the government should step in & put more money in the economy by less taxes or increases gov spending (or both) - Liberal view.

Supply-Side Economics

Emphasizes forces of supply & demand; government should not control - Conservative view.

Political Socialization

The process by which individuals acquire their political beliefs and values.

Globalization

The increasing interconnectedness of the world by means of electronic communication and ships (often times comes with political influence).