Political Participation and Public Opinion in the U.S.

This set of flashcards provides key concepts and terminology related to political participation, public opinion, and electoral processes in the United States.

The most important form of political participation is __.

Voting

Voter turnout in the U.S. is relatively low due to __, __, and the __ divide.

inconvenient election logistics, complicated registering process, partisan

The largest predictors of voter turnout are age, education levels, and __.

income/socioeconomic status

According to the notes, the more education an individual has, the __ they are to vote.

more likely

Rational Ignorance refers to the phenomenon where citizens are __ about politics.

ignorant

Voting retrospectively entails assessing the __ and applying that knowledge to inform voting decisions today.

past

Political cues that people rely on include party labels, the opinion of __, and candidate traits.

others/endorsements

According to the RAS model, the letter 'R' stands for __, which represents the political information that people are exposed to.

Receive

The phenomenon where individuals follow cues given by people whose biases they know is known as __.

rational free riding

The process of learning underlying beliefs and values, which largely shapes party identification, is called __.

socialization

Ideologically, 36% of the U.S. population considers themselves __, while 40% considers themselves __.

conservative, moderate

If the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson changed some individuals' positions on legality, this shows how opinions can __.

change or evolve

John Zaller's RAS Model suggests that people filter accepted information through their __.

party identification

The primary election involves an election among people in the same party to get the party’s position on the __.

ballot

When examining U.S. elections, the general rule is that smaller electorates tend to have greater __ bias.

upper-class

Critiques of the Electoral College highlight that in some cases, the president has lost the popular vote but won the __ vote.

Electoral College

Political parties serve as stable coalitions, enabling the political process to function __.

efficiently

In a primary election, party members aim to choose a candidate with the best chance of defeating the __ party.

opposing

Most congressional incumbents have a voting re-election rate exceeding __ percent.

95

The Electoral College uses a __ method for allocating electoral votes except in Maine and Nebraska.

winner-take-all

The two-party system in the U.S. is reinforced by a plurality system, which causes voters to feel compelled to support one of the __ parties.

major

Third parties in the U.S. are largely unsuccessful due to factors like the __ and concerns about wasting votes.

Electoral College

Mass media refers to means of communication that are technologically capable of reaching __ citizens.

most