American Political Culture, Public Opinion, and Political Ideology

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering terms, definitions, policies, and concepts from Chapters 10, 11, and 12 on American Political Culture, Public Opinion, and Political Ideology.

Civic competence

A belief that one can affect government policies.

Civil disobedience

A form of unconventional participation designed to consciously break a law thought to be unjust.

Class consciousness

Belief that you are a member of an economics group whose interests are opposed to people in other such groups.

Demography

The science of human populations.

Elite

People with a disproportionate amount of some valued resource.

Gender gap

A consistent attitudinal pattern where women are more likely than men to express liberal attitudes and to support Democratic candidates.

Generational Effect

The impact of historical events experienced by a generation upon their political views.

Globalization

The increasing interconnectedness of people, businesses, and countries throughout the world.

Individualism

The belief that individuals should be responsible for themselves and for the decisions they make.

Laissez-Faire or Free Enterprise

An economic system in which government intrudes as little as possible in the transactions among citizens and businesses.

Life-Cycle Effect

The impact of a person’s age and stage in life on his or her political views.

Melting pot

The mixture of cultures, ideas, and peoples in the United States.

Minority majority

A reference to the impending status of White, Anglo-Saxon Americans, currently holding majority status.

Norm

A standard of right and proper conduct.

Outsourcing

When a company moves its business to a place where labor costs are cheaper or production is more efficient because workers work longer hours.

Political Culture

The shared set of beliefs, customs, traditions, and values that define the relationship between citizens and government.

Political efficacy

A belief that you can participate in politics (internal efficacy) or that the government will respond to the citizenry (external efficacy).

Political elites

Persons with a disproportionate share of political power.

Political Ideology

An individual’s coherent set of beliefs about government and politics.

Political Socialization

The experiences and factors that shape our political values, attitudes, and behaviors.

Rule of Law

The principle that no one, including public officials, is above the law.

Benchmark Poll

A survey taken at the beginning of a political campaign in order to gauge support for a candidate and determine which issues are important to voters.

Entrance Survey

A poll conducted of people coming to an event.

Exit Poll

A survey conducted outside a polling place in which individuals are asked who or what they just voted for and why.

Focus Group

A small group of individuals assembled for a conversation about specific issues.

Mass Survey

A survey designed to measure the opinions of the population, usually consisting of 1,500 responses.

Question Order

The sequencing of questions in public opinion polls.

Question Wording

The phrasing of a question in a public opinion poll.

Poll

A survey of public opinion.

Random Digit Dialing

The use of telephone numbers randomly generated by a computer to select potential survey respondents.

Random Selection

A method of choosing all poll respondents in a way that does not over- or underrepresent any group of the population.

Representative Sample

A sample that reflects the demographics of the population.

Sample

A group of individuals from a larger population used to measure public opinion.

Sampling Error

The margin of error in a poll, which usually is calculated to plus or minus three percentage points.

Scientific Poll

A representative poll of randomly selected respondents with a statistically significant sample size using neutral language.

Tracking Poll

A survey determining the level of support for a candidate or an issue throughout a campaign.

Weighting

A procedure in which the survey is adjusted according to the demographics of the larger population.

Antitrust policy

Government regulation of business to ensure competition and prevent monopoly (control of a market by one company).

Assistance program

A government program financed by general income taxes that provides benefits to poor citizens without requiring contributions from them.

Budget resolution

A congressional decision that states the maximum amount of money the government should spend.

Capitalism

An economic system in which individuals and corporations own the principal means of production, through which they seek to reap profits.

Charitable Choice

Name given to four federal laws passed in the late 1990s specifying the conditions under which nonprofit religious organizations could compete to administer certain federal social service delivery and welfare programs.

Clean Air Act of 1970

Landmark legislation that charged the Department of Transportation with the responsibility of reducing automobile emissions.

Client politics

The politics of policy-making in which some small group receives the benefits of the policy and the public at large bears the cost.

Collective bargaining

The right of workers to have labor union representatives negotiate with management to determine working conditions.

Conservatism

An ideology favoring more regulation of social behavior and less government interference in the economy.

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

A government statistic that measures the change in the cost of buying a fixed basket of goods and services.

Earned Income Tax Credit

A “negative income tax” that provides income to very poor individuals in lieu of charging them federal income taxes.

Endangered Species Act of 1973

Legislation that required the government to actively protect each of hundreds of species listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, regardless of the economic effect on the surrounding towns or region.

Entitlement

A claim for government funds that cannot be changed without violating the rights of the claimant.

Entitlement programs

Government benefits that certain qualified individuals are entitled by law to receive, regardless of need.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Created in 1970, the government agency that is charged with administering various environmental laws.

Federal Reserve System

Created by Congress in 1913 to regulate the lending practices of banks and thus the money supply.

Feminization of poverty

The increasing concentration of poverty among women, especially unmarried women and their children.

Fiscal policy

The government’s decisions to tax, spend, and borrow, as reflected in the federal budget.

Fiscal year (FY)

For the federal government, October 1 to September 30.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Government agency with broad regulatory powers over the manufacturing, contents, marketing and labeling of food and drugs.

Global warming

The slow rise in the atmospheric temperature of the earth.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The total value of goods and services produced by an economy.

Health maintenance organization (HMO)

A form of network health plan that limits the choice of doctors and treatments.

Immigration

The movement of people to another country with the intention of remaining there.

Income

The amount of money collected between any two points in time.

Income distribution

The share of national income earned by various groups in the United States.

Inflation

A government statistic that measures increases in the price of goods.

Keynesian economic theory

The theory emphasizing that government spending and deficits can help the economy weather its normal ups and downs. Proponents advocate using the power of government to stimulate the economy when it is lagging.

Labor union

An organization of workers intended to engage in collective bargaining.

Laissez-faire

A belief that government should not intervene in the economy.

Liberalism

An ideology favoring less government control over social behavior and greater regulation of the economy.

Libertarianism

An ideology favoring very little government intervention beyond protecting private property and individual liberty.

Logrolling

A legislator supports a proposal favored by another in return for support of his or her proposal.

Majoritarian politics

The politics of policy-making in which almost everybody benefits and almost everybody pays for it.

Means-tested programs

Government programs available only to individuals below a poverty line.

Medicaid

Government program designed to provide health care for the poor.

Medicare

Government program designed to provide health care for the elderly.

Minimum wage

The legal minimum hourly wage for large employers.

Mixed economy

A system in which the government, while not commanding the economy, is still deeply involved in economic decisions.

Monetarism

Economic theory that suggests that the supply of money is key to the nation’s economic health.

Monetary policy

Government decisions regarding the money supply, including the discount rates for bank borrowing, reserve requirements for banks, and trading of government securities.

Multinational Corporation

Businesses with vast holdings in many countries.

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

A federal statute enacted in 1969 which requires federal agencies to prepare environmental impact statements before undertaking activities that will “significantly” affect the quality of the human environment.

National health insurance

A program—proposed in a variety of ways over the last few generations—to provide the financing, policies, and regulations to guarantee all or almost all Americans’ medical health insurance.

National Labor Relations Act

Passed by Congress in 1935, guarantees workers the right of collective bargaining; also known as the Wagner Act.

Orthodox religion

A belief that morality and religion ought to be of decisive importance.

Party Ideology

A party’s philosophy about the proper role of government and its consistent set of positions on major issues.

Party Identification

An individual’s attachment to a political party.

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act

The official name of the “welfare reform” law of 1996.

Poverty line

Official statistic indicating what a family would need to spend to maintain an “austere” standard of living.

Privilege

Something subject to political process.

Progressive religion

A belief that personal freedom and solving social problems is more important than religion.

Progressive tax

Takes a higher percentage from the rich than from the poor.

Proportional tax

Takes the same percentage from rich and poor.

Protectionism

The economic policy of shielding an economy from exports.

Regressive tax

Takes a higher percentage from the poor than from the rich.

Securities and Exchange Commission

The federal agency created during the New Deal that regulates stock fraud.

Simpson–Mazzoli Act

The Reagan-era law which provided amnesty to many immigrants and toughened border controls.

Social Security Act of 1935

Created both the Social Security program and a national assistance program for poor children.

Social Security Trust Fund

The “bank account” into which Social Security contributions are “deposited” and used to pay out eligible recipients.

Social welfare policies

Attempt to provide assistance and support to specific groups in society.

Superfund

Established by Congress in 1980, a fund devoted to cleaning up toxic waste supported by taxes on toxic waste.

Supply-side economics

Economic philosophy that holds that the key task for government economic policy is to stimulate the supply of goods, not their demand.