Chapter 4 & 7: American Political Culture and Public Opinion

civil competence

a belief that one can affect government policies

civic duty

a belief that one has an obligation to participate in civic and political affairs

civil society

voluntary action that makes cooperation easier

class consciousness

a belief that you are a member of an economic group whose interests are opposed to those of people in other such groups

orthodox

in political terms, someone who believes that morality and religious ought to be of decisive importance

political culture

a patterned and sustained way of thinking about how political and economic life ought to be carried out

progressive

a belief that personal freedom and solving social problems are more important than religion

elite

people who have a disproportionate amount of some valued resource

exit polls

polls based on interviews conducted on election day with randomly selected voters

gender gap

difference in political views between men and women

norm

a standard of right or proper conduct

political elites

persons with a disproportionate share of political power

political ideology

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

political socialization

process by which background traits influence one’s political views

poll

a survey of public opinion

public opinion

how people think or feel about particular things

random sample

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