Political Ideologies and Beliefs (Unit 4)

Political socialization

Lifelong process in which an individual develops their understanding of their political beliefs

Investigative journalism

Form of journalism that aims to unearth corruption and specific topic to hold those in power accountable.

Horse Race journalism

Media spends more time reporting on who us winning in the poles than on the policies of the candidates 

Trial balloons

Testing public reaction on policies by having media leak stories 

Narrowcasting

targeting specific audience with tailored media content 

Demographics

statistical characteristics of a population, such as age, race, gender, income, and education level

Political culture

shared set of beliefs shape how a population views politics and the relationship between citizens and their government

Political socialization

lifelong process through which individuals develope their political identity 

Core values

the fundamental beliefs and principles that shape the American government and political culture: liberty, equality, self-government, rule of law, individualism, free enterprise, equality of opportunity

Individualism

moral worth of the individual and advocates for personal independence and self-reliance

Equality of opportunity

every individual should have the same chances to succeed in life regardless of background

Free enterprise

Individuals and businesses operate with minimal gov interference 

Rule of law

All individuals and institutions subject to equal enforcement of law

Globalization

businesses, businesses, and governments interconnected around world

Scientific polling

method of measuring public opinion through structured surveys that use statistical techniques to ensure accuracy and representativeness

Public opinion polls

gauge the views and preferences of a specific population on various issues, candidates, or policies.

Opinion polls

guage publics opinion of policies and more

Benchmark polls

Establishes a baseline of support for a candidate early in a campaign

Tracking polls

Repeated over time to detect shifts in public opinion

Entrance polls

voters asked about which candidate they are going to vote for and why before walking into a caucus

Exit polls

used to help predict election outcomes

Push polls

questions that try to push people to answer in a specific way

Polling universe

set of people the poll is meant to represent (ex. registered voters)

Representative sample

subset of the population meant to represent the whole group

Random sample

fairly represents population because every individual hasa chance of being picked 

Focus group

small group of voters chosen by a political campaign for their demographic similarities who are brought together to gauge how the group they represent feels about the candidate

Sampling error

subset of the population and may not perfectly represent it due to the element of chance in selection

Political ideologies

set of beliefs about governments role, public policy, and politics

Political spectrum

system used to characterize/ classify difference political positions

Liberal ideology

based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, right to private property, and equality before the law

Conservative ideology

believe gov should be small, more power to states, less gov involvement in economy, dont like change, traditional/ religious views on social matters

Libertarian ideology

libertarians favor limited government intervention in personal, social, and economic issues. Mostly same as conservative but are for limited

Moderate

in between conservative and liberal

Political polarization

growing divide in political opinions

Monetary policy

influence economic activity, control inflation, and stabilize the currency

Fiscal policy

government's use of spending and taxation to influence the economy