Political Science Exam 2

Public Opinion

Opinions held by private persons which governments find it prudent to heed

Scientific Polling

Tool for systematically investigating the opinions of ordinary people based on random samples

Measurement Error

Uncertainties in public opinion, as revealed by response to polls, that arise from the imperfect connection between the wording of survey questions and the terms in which people understand and think about political objects

o Ex: loaded questions, choices that people don't identify with

Core Values

Moral beliefs held by citizens that underlie their attitudes toward political and other issues

o Stable, never change

Ideologies

Ideology is the way that people think of government's role

o Stable, not as stable as core values

Attitudes

An organized and consistent manner of thinking, feeling, and reacting with regard to people, groups, social issue, and more generally, an event in one's environment

o Change frequently because it has to do with you are applying these things at a specific place and time

Aggregate Public Opinion

The sum of all individual opinions

Aggregate Partisanship

Proportion of poll respondents labeling themselves Republic or Democrats

Liberal

In the US, a proponent of a political ideology that favors extensive government action to redress social and economic inequalities and tolerates social behaviors that conservatives view as deviant

Conservative

In the US, a proponent of political ideology that favors small or limited government, an unfettered free market self-reliance, and traditional social norms. The opinions of most people do not fall neatly into one category or the other, they're all over the place

Partisanship

A personal or affective, attachment one feels toward a particular political party.

•Allows us to make a quicker decision because we assume our beliefs match up with others

Partisanship is the most dominant factor, for most Americans

Cognitive Shortcut

A mental device allowing citizens to make complex decisions based on a small amount of information.

Political Socialization

The process by which citizens acquire their political beliefs and values.

Opinion Leaders

Citizens who are highly attentive to and involved in politics, or some sub-area of it, and to whom other citizens turn for political information and cues

Issue Publics

Groups of citizens who are more attentive to particular areas of public policy than are average citizens because they have some special stake in the issue

• NRA, DREAM Act

Ambivalence

A state of mind produced when particular issues evoke attitudes and beliefs that pull one in opposite direction, The state of having mixed, often opposing, feelings about something or someone; indecisiveness.

• Uncertainty means you lack information, ambivalence means you have all the information but you have too much info that pulls you in 2 sides but you can't decide

Framing

Providing a context that affects the criteria citizens use to evaluate candidates, campaigns, and political issues, the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments

Priming

The news media's influence on how citizens make political judgments, through emphasis on particular stories. , The influence on the public's general impressions caused by positive or negative coverage of a candidate or issue.

Franchise

The right to vote

Political Efficiency

The feeling that one can have an effect on politics and political decision makers

Party Identification

An individual's enduring affective or instrumental attachment to one of the political parties

• Stronger indicator

Party Label

A label carrying the party's "brand name"

Issue Voting

Voting for candidates based on their positions on specific issues, as opposed to their party or personal characteristics

Retrospective Voting

Deciding how to vote on the basis of past policy outcomes (i.e. Mitt Romney reminding us of Obama's term)

Prospective Voting

Deciding how to vote on the basis of the future (i.e. in 2008 we were made to think of future)

Single-issue Voting

People who base their votes on candidates' or parties' positions on one particular issues of public policy

Sociotropic Voting

People who vote on the basis of their community's economic interests, rather than their personal economic interests

Candidate Characteristics

The candidate's character, personality, experiences, past record, and physical appearance

Message

The central thematic statement of why voters ought to prefer one candidate over another

Focus Group

Method of gauging public opinion by observing a small number of people brought together to discuss specific issues

Negative Campaigning

Pointed, personal criticism of the other candidate

Hard Money

Money raised and spent according to the requirements and restrictions of federal law/

Political contributions given to a party, candidate, or interest group that are limited in amount and fully disclosed. Raising such limited funds is harder than raising unlimited funds, hence the term's name.

Soft Money

Campaign contributions unregulated by federal or state law, usually given to parties and party committees to help fund general party activities. Money used by political parties for voter registration, public education, and voter mobilization

Coordinated Spending

Spending by the Democratic or Republican Party Committees on behalf of individual candidates

o Regulated

Independent Spending

Campaign spending by a person or organization for or against a political candidate-that is not coordinated with any candidate's campaign

Access

The ability of privileged outsiders, such as interest group officials, to obtain a hearing from elected officials or bureaucrats

Responsible Parties Model

• Parties should be ideologically consist

• Public chooses

• In office, carry out what their party wants

Functional Parties Model

• Parties are loosely group of individuals simply seeking to win elections

Political Cleavages

Divisions within society around which parties organize

o Economic

o Social

Direct Primary

Election in which voters, and not the party leaders, directly choose a party's nominee for office

Closed Primary

Direct primaries in which voters must pre-register their party affiliations before Election Day and on Election day can only vote for those in their Party

Open Primary

Direct primaries in which voters may choose which party primary they will vote in on Election Day

Blanket Primary

Direct primaries in which voters may cast ballots for candidates of any party, but may vote only once for each office

Caucus/Convention System

Nomination method in which registered party members attend a meeting to choose a nominee

Median Voter Hypothesis

The theory that the best possible position for a politician who cares only about winning elections is the center-that is, in the position of the median voter

As a third party candidate you are increasing votes for the worse party and taking votes from the party most similar to you

Duverger's Law

The generalization that if a nation has a single-member, plurality electoral system, it will develop a two-party system

Proportional Representation

Party receives legislative seats in proportion to its share of votes (Spain)

Party Machine

State or local party organization based on patronage

Work to elect candidates to public office that control government jobs

Progressive Era

Period of American history associated with the reform of government and electoral institutions in an attempt to reduce corruption and weaken parties

Primary Election

An election held before the general election in which voters decide which of the party's candidates will be the party's nominee for the general election

Split Ticket Voting

The act of voting for candidates from different political parties for different offices

New Deal Coalition

An electoral alliance that was the basis of Democratic dominance consisting of Catholics, Jews, racial minorities, urban residents, organized labor, and white southerners

Party Realignment

Long term shifts in the electoral balance between the major parties

Party Dealignment

Trend in which voter loyalties to the two major parties weaken

Solidarity Incentives

Intangible reward you get from the act of an association

Sense of community, feel good to be with group that think the way you do and work towards a goal with like minded people

Material Incentives

Tangible reward someone receives for joining a group

Discounts, etc

Purposive Incentives

Intangible reward related to the goal of the association.

Really good feeling when you get what you set out to do, success

Social Movements

Groups that states form in response to social movements

Civil Rights Movement

Lobbying

Activities through which individuals, interest groups, and other institutions seek to influence public policy by persuading government officials to support their groups' position

Insider Tactics

Interest Group activity that includes normal lobbying, working with elected officials, and contributing money to their campaigns

Outsider Tactics

Interest group activity designed to influence elected officials by threatening to impose political costs on them if they do not respond. (Marches, demonstrations, campaign contributions to opponents, etc...)

Grassroots Lobbying

Lobbying conducted by rank-and-file members of IGs (not physically)

Astroturf Lobbying

Inauthentic grassroots signals about constituency support for issues

Litigation

Amicus Curiae Briefs

e.g. NCAAP-direct funds

Lawsuit

Access Oriented

Give to candidate to secure access during next term

Give money to mostly everyone

Electronically Oriented

Give to one party over another because their preferences only align to one party

Give money to those who support their agenda

Soft Money

Indirectly, unlimited, unregulated, spending independently

Hard Money

Money directly exchanged with a candidate

PACs

Solicit contributions from members of IGs and channels them to election campaigns

Selective Perception

Phenomenon in which people perceive the same event differently because they have different beliefs and personal experiences

o Democrats say economic numbers are better than it is

o Republicans say economic numbers are worse than it is

Political Agenda

The list of issues that people think are important and that government officials are actively debating

• Media coverage can determine if the public feels the issue is important—more coverage leads to more importance

Spin Control

The practice of trying to persuade journalists to cover news stories in ways that put policies one likes in the most favorable light

Yellow Journalism

A form of journalism that emphasized sensational and sometimes lurid news coverage

Muckraking

journalism that "rakes up the muck" of corruption and scandal

Objetive Press

A form of journalism which emphasizes that journalists should strive to keep their opinions out of their coverage of the news

Pack Journalism

The tendency of journalists to cover stories because other journalists are covering them and to ignore stories that other journalists aren't covering

Horse-Race Journalism

News coverage focusing on polling data and public perception rather than the substantive issues of the campaign

Photo Opportunities

Events staged by candidates and government officials allowing photographers and TV crews to capture flattering images

Sound Bite

A short excerpt from a person's speech or convention that appears on radio or television news

Leak

Confidential government information that is given secretly to journalists