vocab unit 4: American Political Ideologies and Beliefs

Political culture

the shared set of beliefs, values, and attitudes that shape a population's political behavior and their relationship with government

Political Identity

an individual’s sense of self based on their political beliefs, values, or affiliations, which influences how they interact with politics

Political ideology

a coherent set of beliefs and values about the proper role of government, individual rights, and the economy

Public policy

the course of action, decisions, and laws that government takes to address societal issues or problems

Liberal

A political ideology that supports social equality, economic justice, and individual rights

Conservative

Values limited government more in the economy, favors traditional values

Libertarian

Emphasizes individual liberty, minimal government intervention in both personal and economic matters

Fiscal policy

Government’s involvement with taxation and spending

Economic policy

Actions and strategies governments use to influence their country’s economy to achieve growth

Social policy

Guidelines and principles the government uses to address social needs

Regulatory policy

Rules and regulations placed on businesses and markets

Immigration policy

Regulations and guidelines government uses to control the entry, residency and rights of immigrants

Political spectrum

System for visualizing & categorizing different political ideologies, beliefs, and positions along one or more axes

Demographics

Statistical data relating to composition or a population with certain characteristics like race, gender, ie

Conventional political participation

Routine activities citizens can use to interact with their government, peacefully basically

Unconventional political participation

Activities citizens can use to interact with their government, not peaceful

Census

Official system that can determine the population of an area

Social change

Significant alterations over time in behavior patterns, cultural values, and norms within a society

Polling

Process of surveying a specific group of individuals to gauge their opinions

Scientific poll

Representative of poll randomly selected respondents with a statistically significant sample size

Opinion poll

Survey designed to measure the public’s views, attitudes and preferences on various candidates

Tracking poll

Consists of continuous surveys that enable a campaign or news organization to chart a candidate’s daily/weekly rise or fall

Entrance poll

Conducted of people before they cast their votes at polling stations election day

Exit poll

Survey conducted as voters leave selected polling places on election day

Focus group

Small group of individuals assembled for a guided in-depth conversation about specific candidates or issues

Sample

Subgroup of individuals from a larger population used to measure the public opinion

Random sampling

Method of poll selection that gives each person in the target population equal chance at being selected

Fiscal policy

Taxing and spending powers of the government

Keynesian economic theory

Economic theory that advocates for the government's use of fiscal policy to influence total demand for all finished goods and services in an economy

Supply side economics

Economic theory that advocates for cutting taxes especially for businesses and investors and decreasing government regulation to stimulate the economy