AP Gov Ch. 11 - Public Opinion

Why Americans think the way they do and how we know.

Benchmark Polls

Polls done before campaigning to assess public opinion and what to focus on.

Demographics

Groups of individuals each sharing a common characteristic.

Exit Polls

Polls conducted after exiting voting places.

Focus Groups

A diverse group compiled to examine something from multiple perspectives

Framing (polling)

Specific wording, context or presentation of a question that may change ideas.

Gallup

famous trusted company that produces public opinion polls.

Gender Gap

The gap between the way that men and women vote/their ideologies.

Generational effect

How shared experiences such as wars or recessions affect political beliefs and values.

Heuristics

People’s ability to make decisions based on little information (informational shortcuts)

Impressionable years hypothesis

Political attitudes are strongly influenced by what happens during one’s formative years

Liberal, Moderate, Conservative

Political labels
Margin of Error (polling)

Non-Response Bias

When people chosen for a poll don’t respond, it makes the results inaccurate as they do not represent the full breadth of opinions. This skews public opinion data and affects election predictions.

Opinion Saliency

How important an issue is to respondents/voters.

Partisanship

People’s attachment to their political party

Party sorting

Aligning issue positions with a particular party

Perception Gap

The difference between how Democrats and Republicans view each other’s stances on issues, vs what each group actually thinks on those issues.

Political Efficacy

Belief in your ability to effect politics and make change

Political Elites

People with a disproportionate share of political power

Political ideology

Beliefs about what the government ought to pursue.

Political legitimacy

Having gained power through popular approval

Political socialization

Lifelong process of people developing their political attitudes

Polls/Polling

Survey of public opinion

Public Opinion

How people think or feel about certain things

Public Opinion Poll

sample taken from a smaller group to predict the likely behavior of a larger group.

Push poll

fake polls, made to push an idea or group.

Question wording (polls)

Phrases used to describe policies in polls

Random Sampling

In the context of polling, pulling data from of randomly-chosen respondents
Sampling Error

Social Desirability Bias (polling)

In the context of polling, people will often choose the answer they deem to be the most socially acceptable even if it is not what they actually believe.

Socioeconomic status

How wealthy you are, also known as Class: upper, middle or lower. Impacts the way you respond to polls.

Stratified Sampling

Divides a population into distinct subgroups based on a common trait (i.e. income, gender, or age)

Symbolic Ideology

Simple, value-based label associated with political parties (generalizations)

Tracking Poll

Repeated survey used to track the changing of public opinion around a certain topic.

Known Generations

Silent Gen, Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y/Millennials, Gen Z.