Public Opinion and Its Impact on Politics

These flashcards cover key vocabulary related to public opinion, polling methods, and the impact of social factors on political beliefs.

Public Opinion

How people think or feel about particular things.

Poll

A survey of public opinion.

Random Sampling

Method of selecting from a population in which each person has an equal probability of being selected.

Sampling Error

The difference between the results of random samples taken at the same time.

Non-Response Bias

Error introduced when certain groups decline to answer surveys.

Exit Polls

Polls based on interviews conducted on election day with randomly selected voters.

Question Wording

The way in which survey questions are phrased, which influences how respondents answer them.

Political Socialization

Process by which one’s family influences one’s political views.

Impressionable Years Hypothesis

Argument that political experiences during the teens and early 20s shape attitudes for the rest of the life cycle.

Gender Gap

Difference in political views between men and women.

Partisanship

An individual’s identification with a party; whether they consider themselves a Democrat, Republican, or Independent.

Party Sorting

The alignment of partisanship and issue positions so that Democrats take more liberal positions and Republicans more conservative.

Affective Polarization

Tendency of partisans to dislike and distrust those from the other party.

Political Ideology

A more or less consistent set of beliefs about what policies government ought to pursue.

Political Elites

Persons with a disproportionate share of political power.

Heuristics

Informational shortcuts used by voters to make a decision.

Civic Knowledge

Level of understanding about basic functions, figures, and operations of government.

Margin of Error

The difference that must be accounted for to obtain a valid result in statistical polling.

Sampling

The act of selecting a group of individuals from a larger population to understand the sentiments of that larger group.