PS40 - Final Review (Weeks 6-8)

What is public opinion

the colelction of attitudes and preferences of the mass public

what are the two types of attitudes

opinions and predispositions

what are opinions

subject evaluations or beliefs that can fluctuate over time

what are predispositions

deeper values or strongly held beliefs that are relatively stable over time

what is ideology

coherent organized set of principles on which beliefs are based

what is party ID

a psychological attachment or loyalty to a political party

what are preferences

how people rank outcomes - “i would rather pay lower taxes than have more public parks”

what are some measurement challenges in public opinion

random fluctuation

uninformed public

acquiescence bias - people tend to agree when asked a question where they must agree / disagree

what is priming

messaging highlights specific issues, shaping the criteria voters use to evaluate politician

e.g. media heavily covers the economy and then a voter evaluates a politician based on economic policy

what is framing

establishing the context to emphasize certain features over others

what is political socialization

the way in which you are brought up / the people you are around have a major impact on political ideology

what are cuegivers

people who are knowledgeable about politics that can provide a shortcut for others - e.g. political podcasters

what is rationality

the habit of choosing the “best” course of action among options given your interests and information

what is the rational choice theory

individuals act in self-interest, making decisions by weighing costs + benefits to maximize utility

what are some influences on attitudes

groups, emotions, elites and cue makers

what is the democratic dilemma

the tension between the need for informed voters and the reality of most voters being uninformed

what is the wisdom of crowds

argues that large, diverse, and independent groups collectively make better decisions, predictions, and innovations than experts

what is the implied research question in the democratic deficit reading

how well do the states translate public opinion into policy

what is the difference between responsiveness and congruence

responsiveness: as public support for a policy increases, the likelihood of adoption also increases

congruence: does policy actually match majority opinion

one of the main findings in the democratic deficit reading is that policy is _______ to state level policy specific opinions but responsiveness varies across issue areas and is often _____ in a liberal or conservative direction

highly responsive; biased

one of the main findings in the democratic deficit reading is that state policies are congruent ______ the time

half

what did the democratic deficit reading find improves congruence

salience, legislative professionalism, and term limits

what are the benefits of political participation

public policies that reflects the publics wants

leads to more educated, empathetic, and thoughtful citizens

what is the paradox of voting

people vote even though the individual costs likely outweigh the benefits

what is the calculus of voting equation

utility = probability vote counts x benefits - costs + duty

how do we get people to overcome the temptation to free ride and participation

reduce the costs - same day registration, motor votor act etc

increase the duty - interest group mobilization etc

why do people who would benefit most from government action participate the least

costs are higher

organizations / institutions dont ask them to

what was the research question in the social pressure reading

Does increased social pressure increase voter turnout

what was the empirical approach to the social pressure reading

field experiment with four treatments

what were the 4 conditions in the social pressure reading

Civic duty: pamphlet that just emphasized civic duty

Hawthorne effect: in addition to civic duty, they were told they were being studied

Self: informs recipients that who votes is public info and lists voting record of every registered

Neighbors: lists the households voting records and the voting records of those living nearby

what was the main finding in the social pressure experiment

social pressure induces compliance with norms and increases voter turnout

how does discrimination affect political efficacy

mobilization: heightened group consciousness → protest, organization, higher turnout

demobilization: erosion of trust in political institutions → alienation

what was the research question in the Spanish v English GOTV experiment

does language in GOTV appeals affect turnout for Latino voters

what was the setting for the Spanish v English GOTV experiment

conduted during teh 2009 special election for NYC city council district 21 (queens) - low salience, non partisan local election

what were the main results in the Spanish v English GOTV experiment

English. messages were always effective, Spanish messages were only effective for low propensity voters whose prmary language was Spanish (and still less effective than English)

what is regression

a statistical method for studying the relationship between an outcome and one or more explanatory variables

what is multiple regression

a way to study multiple predictors, and find what is most important

when interpreting regression tables, you should identify the _____ variable and the ______ variables of interest

outcome; explanatory

when interpreting regression tables, look at whether the _____ is positive or negative

coefficient

when interpreting regression tables, look for _____ to see whether the effect is statistically significant

stars

when interpreting regression tables, what does the number in the parentheses mean

standard error

what does the number of stars indicate when interpreting regression tables

indicates the level of significance - more stars = more significant

what is the selection model of voting

it is the idea that people select who they will vote for through things such as campaign promises and weighing policy positions

what is the accountability model of voting

voters compare the state of the world now to how it was before to decide whether to stick with the incumbent / incumbent party or to change

do the differences in candidate selection really matter

they require diferent levels of cognitive complexity and different policy recommendations for reform

what is the median voter theorem

a theory of how candidates pick their platforms arguing that candidates will pick the person that falls closest to them ideologically - candidates use this logic to capture the largest share of the vote

what is the catering to the extreme theory

a thoery suggesting that candidates will cater to the extremes due to concerns that if a candidate caters to the moderates, extremists wont vote

what is the federal election commission

a regulatory agency created to regulate campaign contributions

what is a PAC

a type of organization that raises money from donors to support candidates or parties

why are PACS formed

its a way for corporations to donate money in support of a candidate

what is hard money

money given directly to candidates and parties to support particular candidates; subject to FEC regulations

what is soft money

money given to outside organizations or parties to support party building such as voter mobilization and education; unregulated by candidates

what are Super PACs

organizations that can raise / spend unlimited money, but can’t work with / donate directly to candidates

does money have a significant affect on elections?

no statistically significant effect of PAC contributions on congressional voting behavior after controlling for other variables

what is the democratic deficit

the gap between what majorities want, and what laws are passed

what is tullocks puzzle

if you could really "buy" policy through money - would expect much more money in politics

what is linked fate

the belief that personal fate is tied to your groups fate