ap gov unit 3

Politics

The relationship between the core beliefs of U.S. citizens and their attitudes about the role of government.

Conservative

Strict threshold to qualify for welfare and longer prison sentences for convicted criminals; law and order even at the expense of liberties; small gov that provides fewer services; business owners and corporate leaders side w republican for less gov regulations.

Liberal

Welfare for higher but still impoverished ppl and leniency on lawbreakers; likely to experiment with policy; law and order but protects the right of the accused; higher taxes for more gov services; labor unions side w democrats for fair and safety regulations.

Free Enterprise

Businesses succeed or fail based on their decisions and the decisions of the customer and govs take a laissez-faire (invisible hand) approach.

Laissez-faire

Invisible hand approach where govs take a hands-off stance on business.

Political Culture

Set of attitudes that shape political behavior.

Globalization

Process of an expanding and increasingly interactive world economy.

Political Socialization

Process of developing political beliefs; comes from family (biggest), school and college, peers, media, social environments, geography.

Baby Boomers

Born 1946-1964; lived during economic prosperity of WWII but also turbulent 1960s.

Generation X

Born 1962-1982.

Generational Effects

Accepting of interracial and same sex marriage, marijuana, and 2nd chance criminal justice; climate change.

Lifecycle Effects

Physical, social, and psychological changes ppl go through as they age.

Silent Generation

Born before 1945; hate communism; slow acceptance of racial equality; conservative; most voters.

Great Depression

Significant event influencing political attitudes and socialization for older gen.

New Deal Coalition

Kennedy’s assassination, racial segregation, Vietnam war; New Deal Coalition.

Great Recession

2007 event shaping younger gen.

Approval Rating

Asks whether the respondent approves of the president’s performance; avg 45-49%.

Benchmark Polls

First type of poll used by a political campaign, often before the candidate has declared their intentions; gathers info abt the issues that ppl care abt.

Entrance Polls

Conducted outside polling places on election day to predict the outcome of the election.

Exit Polls

Conducted outside polling places on election day to predict the outcome of the election.

Focus Group

Small group of citizens (10-40) who hold convos abt issues or candidates.

Public Opinion Polls

Gauge attitudes on issues or support for candidates in an election in a cross-section of the population.

Push Polls

Tape-recorded voice that offers positive pts abt the candidate or negative pts abt the opponent.

Random-digit Dialing

Computer randomly calls possible numbers in a given area until enough ppl respond to establish a representative sample.

Random Sample

Every member of universe must have equal chance of selection into sample.

Representative Sample (universe)

Group of ppl meant to represent the large group / universe.

Bandwagon Effect

Shift of support to a candidate or position holding the lead in polls.

Bradley Effect

Respondents provide false answers due to fear of appearing racially prejudiced.

Non-response Bias

When participants are unwilling to respond to a survey.

Social Desirability Bias

Tendency for respondents and voters to tell pollsters what they think the pollsters want to hear.

Sampling Error (Margin of Error)

Difference between poll results.

Sampling Techniques

Issues an accurate poll w a random and fair representation of the population.

Tracking Polls

Ask ppl questions to measure how voters feel abt an issue and how they may vote on election day.

Weighting (stratification)

Manipulating the sample to compensate for demographic groups.

Conservative

Believe in tradition and having reverence for authority; gov do less and give ppl more freedom.

Ideology

Comprehensive and mutually consistent set of ideas.

Liberal

Open to allowing the gov to act flexibly and expand beyond established constraints.

Libertarian

Oppose gov intervention or regulation; high regard for civil liberties; conservative on economic issues; liberal on moral and social issues.

Moderate

Somewhere in between (most Americans).

Populist

Attend protestant church and follow fundamental christian ideas (love neighbor, charity, moral code); working-class family.

Progressive

Workers rights over corporate rights, aligned w labor unions.

Saliency

Intense importance to an individual or a group.

Valence Issues

Concerns that are viewed in the same way by ppl with a variety of ideologies; broad consensus.

Wedge Issues

Sharply divides the public in hopes of gathering support.

Agenda

List of potential policy ideas, bills, or plans to improve society.

Majoritarian

Interaction of ppl w gov in order to carry out the will of the majority.

Bonds

Securities / gov IOU; gov purchases bonds and will pay them back later with interest.

Discount Rate

Interest rate at which the gov loans actual dollars to commercial banks.

Federal Reserve Board

Board of 7 govs appointed by the president and approved for 14 yrs; sets terms for US bonds and treasury bills.

Fiscal Policy

Economic policy concerned w gov and Congress spending and taxation.

Flat Rate

Taxes all citizens at the same rate.

Inflation

Rising prices and devaluation of the dollar.

Monetary Policy

How the Fed manages the supply and demand of its currency and thus the value of the dollar; ppl saving will reduce market movement causing unemployment and increasing prices of goods; should create higher demand; large gov involvement; expansionary or contractionary.

Multiplier Effect

Increase in spending results in an econ growth greater than the amount of spending.

NAFTA

North American Free Trade Agreement; removed import taxes between US, Canada, and Mexico.

Progressive Tax

One’s tax rate increases as one’s income increases.

Reserve Requirement

Fed regulates how much cash commercial banks must keep in their vaults.

16th Amendment

Allows congress to tax people’s incomes.

Supply Side Economics

Gov should leave the money to the ppl, letting economics of supply and demand govern the marketplace (laissez-faire); ppl will have more money to spend and will spend it; spending will increase purchasing, jobs, and manufacturing; sales tax funds gov; a. More jobs and higher salaries.

Entitlements

Gov services Congress has promised by law to citizens; social security, medicare, medicaid, block grants, financial aid, food stamps, bonds, and gov contracts.

Mandatory Spending

Spending required by law.

Medicaid

Health care program for the poor who can’t afford medical expenses.

Medicare

Gov-run health insurance program for citizens >65yrs.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

(Obamacare) Expanding gov regulation

on health insurance to make it more affordable

Social Security Act

Safety net for elderly and those out of work; insurance program that requires employed to pay a tax designed to assist the unemployed.

Social Welfare

Support for disadvantaged ppl to meet their basic needs.

How does political socialization usually occur?

Political socialization is the process of developing political beliefs, usually from family (biggest influence), school/college, peers, media, social environments, and geography; it shapes attitudes early and evolves with lifecycle effects like aging.

How are opinions of generations affected by events?

Generational effects from major events like the Great Depression (older gen favoring Social Security, WWII, Vietnam War) or 9/11 and Great Recession (younger gen) create lasting ideologies; e.g., Baby Boomers saw economic prosperity but 1960s turbulence, leading to specific views on gov intervention.

What are the steps for conducting a public opinion poll?

Use sampling techniques like random-digit dialing to create a representative sample; ask questions via benchmark, tracking, or push polls; analyze with weighting/stratification to compensate for demographics; evaluate for errors like margin of error or non-response bias.

What are two ways polls can be wrong?

Polls can err from social desirability bias (people say what pollsters want to hear) or bandwagon effect (shift to leading candidate in polls); also, Bradley effect (false answers due to prejudice fears) or sampling error (difference in results from non-representative groups).

What is fiscal policy? Expansionary? Contractionary? What are the two ways to affect fiscal policy?

Fiscal policy is gov/Congress spending and taxation; expansionary increases spending/cuts taxes to boost economy; contractionary reduces spending/raises taxes to slow it. Affect via taxes (progressive/flat rates) or spending (mandatory/discretionary).

What is monetary policy? Expansionary? Contractionary? What are the three ways to affect monetary policy?

Monetary policy is Fed managing currency supply/demand and dollar value; expansionary lowers rates/increases money supply for growth; contractionary raises rates/reduces supply to curb inflation. Affect via discount rate, reserve requirements, or bonds.

Explain Keynesian economics.

Keynesian economics focuses on gov intervention to stimulate demand; ppl saving reduces market movement, causing unemployment/higher prices; use large gov involvement like spending to create jobs and multiplier effect for greater growth.

Explain Supply Side Economics.

Supply side economics says gov should laissez-faire, letting supply/demand govern; cut taxes so ppl spend more, increasing purchasing/jobs/manufacturing; funds gov via sales tax, leading to more jobs/higher salaries.

How do entitlements affect mandatory and discretionary spending?

Entitlements like Social Security/Medicare are mandatory spending required by law, taking >60% of budget and limiting discretionary (debated) funds for defense/education; they support disadvantaged but strain budgets as population ages.