VCU Poli 103 Exam 3 Aughie

who foud changes in public policy followed shifts in public preferences?

Alan Monre

lack of knowledge and accurate information makes Americans open to

manipulation by politicians

citizens attitude about political issues, personalities, institutions, and events

public opinion

what shapes individuals opinion?

self interest, values of what is right or wrong, and process of socialization

a person who generally believes the government should play a role in supporting social and political change, and generall supports role for the government in economy

liberal

a person who generally believe that social institutions and the free market solve problems better than governments; large and powerful government poses a threat to citizens freedom, and that the appropriate private role of government is to uphold its traditional values

conservative

seeks to expand personal liberty above all principles and minimize government involvement in all aspects of the economy and society

libertarian

if one group wins, another groups loses

zero sum

tries to protect African-Americans, Hispanics, and other minority racial and ethnic groups against discriminatory electoral practices that prevent those voters from electing their prefered canadite

The Voting Rights Act

Americans have identities based on what?

who they are, where they live, and how they live

a distinctive pattern of voting behavior reflecting the differences in views between men and women

gender gap

the summarization of individual opinions or beliefs that government needs to take notice of and respect

public opinion

have become the standard tool for measuring public opinion

public opinion polls

what is public opinion used for?

justify policies, promote causes, run campaigns, and understand government

how is public opinion expressed?

- supporting a canadite or interest group with time and money

- writing a letter to the editor of a blog editorial

- contacting public officials

three levels of public opinion

1. values and beliefs

2. political orientations

3. political preferences

most broad form of public opinion

values and beliefs

the translations of values and beliefs into organized and long-lasting systems for thinking about, evaluating, and understanding larger political issues

political orientations

a psychological attatchment to a political party that translates abstract values and beliefs into concrete opinions

partisanship

a philiosophical guide that translates values and beliefs into specific political preferences

political ideology

connected to democratic party's focus on distribution of resources and individual freedom

liberal ideology

associated with the republican party's focus on restraint of economic resources and defense tradition

conservative ideology

refers to the attitudes that citizens have regarding policy issues, the performance of leaders, and their canadite selections in elections

political preferences

discusses tyranny of the masses

federalist papers

who showed that ordinary people are not informed or equiped regarding political decision making

Philip Converse

who argued that voters made be fickle; they behave as rationally as can be expected, given the information that is presented to them

V.O. Key Jr.

who used decades of data to conclude that public opinion does remain stable and rational, is consistent with underlying values and beliefs, and moves in logical directions

Benjamim Page and Robert Shapiro

who observed an indirect link from public opinion to public policy, saying that leaders with high levels of public support are more likely to get laws passed

Samuel Kernell

the life-long process of acquiring (and eventually passing on) values, beliefs, and opinions about a society and its political culture

political socialization

information and impressions absorbed early in life have a profound and long-lasting impact

primacy-tendacy

factors and institutions that influence political opinion throughout the lifespan

agents of political socialization

examples of agents of political socialization

family, friends/peer groups, schools, the media, and religion

measures a group's attitude by selecting a subset of the group, asking them questions, and generalizing findings

public opinion poll

gathered and tabulated the opinions of people who happened to be conveniently located in a par

straw/conveniene poll

what assumption are straw polls based on?

that larger numbers meants more accurate results

became famous in the 1930's for its predictions of presidential elections based on show polls using mailed ballots

The Literary Digest

a subgroup of individuals who are drawn from a poopulation and studied to learn about the larger population

sample

allows for this sample to represent the whole population, within a level of error

the probability theory

a selection of people who will compromise the subgroup

scientific sample

the key to a representative sample, gives each possible respondent an equal chance of being selected

random sampling

the amount of error that results from interviewing a sampele rather than the entire population, largely due to a small sample size

sampling error

the percentage of those in the sample who refused or in some way neglected to take part

non-response error

area codes and exchanges of phone numbers are put on a list, but last four digits are at random, then called

random-digit dial (rdd)

three things analysts focus on

1. direction

2. intensity

3. continuity

refers to the position or preference that a majority of people hold as their own

direction

refers to how strongly or committed the majority of people feel about an opinion that they hold

intensity

refers to whether opinions or held stable over long periods of time whether they flucuate widely over short period

continuity

three principale functions of the media

1. providing objective coverage of events

2. facilitatign public debate

3. servign as government watchdog

the role of media organizations is the monitor and communicate events in the nation and around the world

providing objective coverage of events

the reporting of events accurately and fairly

objectivity

forming issues, offering perspectives, and providing differing viewpoints through newspaper editorial pages, magazine commentary sections, and radio public forms

facilitaing public debate

often refered to as fourth branch of government or "fourth estate"

government watchdog

in the 1800's this group investigated political life and business including corporate contributions to political campaigns

muckrakers

created in 1935 to regulate the electronic media (radio + TV) by licensing and creating rules for broadcasters; has no authority over print media

federal communications commission (fcc)

what can the fcc do?

revoke licenses or fine stations for violating rules

demands that radio and TV stations sell equal amounts of airtime to all political canadites who want to broadcast ads

equal time rule

created in 1950, requried broadcasters to allow time for public affairs programming

FCC's Fairness Doctrine

what put an end to the fairness doctine?

growth of news sources and electonic technologies in the 1980's

deregulated cable TV providers, eliminated telephone monopolies, and allowed local phone companies to provide long-distance services

Telecommunications Act (1996)

telecommunications act shifted FCC's role from regulating media to what

facilitating competition

the creation of this in 1926 provided the first network of radio stations to a mass audiance

National Broadcasting Company (NBC)

first president who used radio to deliver inspiring messages during his "fireside chats" to a nation suffering from Great Depression

Roosevelt

who delivered live reports from london during WWII

Edward Murrow

hosted first political talk show on radio in the 1950's

Joe Pyre

first evening news programs

NBC and CBS

example of how medium can influence the message

1960 Presidential debate between Kennedy and Nixon

first president to hold regular news conferences to appeal for public support of his policies by answering unscripted questions

eisenhower

types of mass media

print, electronic, and ownership

has been on decline in recent years as customers turn to electoic media for their news

print media

types of print media

newspapers, magazines, books

has encouraged the ways in which Americans receive and interpert the news

electronic media

types of electronic media

tv, radio, and internet

gained popularity with its emphasis on opinionated hosts who give commentary and listeners can call in

talk radio

first graphical internet browser that allowed users to view world wide web in 1993

mosaic (netscape)

allows for free and open exchange of ideas

private ownership

created corporation for public broadcasting (CPB)

The Public Broadcasting Act (1967)

distributes federal funds to support public, non-commercial broadcasting

Coporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)

says that media has little or no effect on individual opinion or action, such as behavior, but that party identification and long-held beliefs have a much greater influence

minimal effects theory

the tendency to evaluate news materials from one's own partisan perspective

selective perspective

the tendency to process and remember the material more consistant with one's pre-existing conditions

selective retention

the tendency to pay attention to certain kinds of news, often influenced by pre-existing attitudes

selective exposure

says that viewers imitate what they view on TV through observational learning, that they may become more violent and reduce moral standards, adn that they may learn negative or anti-social behavior from social behaviors on TV

social learning theory

government required v-chips in TV's so parents could block unwanted programming

Telecommunications Act (1996)

says that heavy tv exposure helps to develop an individuals overall view of the world, and that the emphasis on violenc and crime causes viewers to become overly concerned with those issues

cultivation theory

says that even though the effects of exposure may be minimal or hard to measure, the media set the public agenda to identify key issues, and are influencial in telling the public what to think about and talk about

agenda setting theory