AP GOV U2

1. Political Culture: Dominant set of beliefs, customs, traditions, and values that define the relationship between citizens & the government

2. Individualism: Belief that individuals should be responsible for themselves & for the decisions they make

3. Equality of Opportunity: Everyone should have thechance to succeed. 

4. Social status is based on effort rather than an inherited position. 

• Americans also value political equality

4. Political equality: Everyone should be able to influence government decision making.

5. Free-Enterprise System: (Laissez-faire system) Government plays as small a role as possible in the economic transactions among citizens & businesses

6. Rule of Law: No one, including public officials, is above the law. Citizens must respect the law & abide by it.

7. Limited Government: (Idea from the Declaration of Independence) Rests on the theory that the government’s authority comes from the consent of the governed & that citizens are ”endowed with certain unalienable (natural) rights…such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”

8. Benchmark Poll: Survey taken at the beginning of a political campaign in order to gauge support for a candidate & to determine which issues are important to voters

9. Tracking Poll: Survey determining the level of support for a candidate or an issue throughout a campaign

10. Entrance Poll: Poll conducted of people coming to an event

11. Exit Poll: Poll conducted outside a polling place in which individuals are asked who or what they just voted for & why

12. Focus Group: A small group of individuals assembled for a conversation—usually led by a moderator—about specific issues

• Can be useful in understanding what people think about a specific political topic

• Limitation: Small groups don't represent an entire constituency.

13. Scientific Polling: Representative poll of randomly selected respondents with a statistically significant sample size, using neutral language

14. Sample: Group of individuals from a larger population used to measure public opinion

15. Random Selection: Method of choosing respondents in a way that does not over or underrepresent any group of the population

• Poll must represent the larger population as accurately as possible

16. Representative Sample: Sampling that reflects the characteristics of the population

17. Mass Survey: Aims for ~1500 respondents & sampling error is typically plus or minus 3 percentage points

18. Weighting: Adjusts the results based on differences between the percentages of a specific group participating in the survey & the demographics of the larger population

• Pollsters will include a measure of the sampling error in their surveys

19. Question Order: Sequencing of questions in public opinion polls

20. Question Wording: Phrasing of a question in a public opinion poll

21. Party Ideology: Party’s philosophy about the proper role of government & its set of positions on major issues

22. Party Identification: Individual’s attachment to a particular party

23. Conservatism: Favors more control of social behavior, fewer regulations on businesses, and less government intervention in the economy

24. Liberalism: Favors less government control over social behaviors, and more regulation of businesses & the economy

25. Libertarianism: Favors little government intervention besides protecting individual rights & property

26. Command-and-Control Economy: Government dictates much of a nation’s economic activity, including production & the price of goods

• Examples: Soviet Union 1922-1991, Iran, North Korea

27. Laissez-Faire Economy: Government intervenes as little as possible in the economic transactions between citizens & businesses

• Examples: Switzerland, Ireland, Denmark, Estonia, United Kingdom

28. Mixed Economy: Many economic decisions are left to individuals & businesses, with the federal & state governments regulating economic activity

• Examples: US, France, India

29. Gross Domestic Product (GDP): Measures the total value of goods & services produced by American economic activity

• Measure of the economy’s output: Dollar amount of all final goods & services produced in a country in a year

30. Economic Recession: 2 consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth

31. Unemployment Rate: Measured by the percentage of people actively looking for work but are unable to find jobs

32. Inflation: Rise in the prices of goods & services

• Healthy inflation is ~2% each year

• Inflation decreases the value of our money. If prices go up, our money doesn’t buy as much.

33. Consumer Price Index (CPI): Measures the cost of a basket of fixed goods & services over time

34. Business Cycle: Cylindrical nature of economic activity

• Policymakers have different ideas of about how to define economic problems & how to solve them

35. Monetary Theory: Increase in the money supply leads to an increase in the economic activities of a country & vice versa

36. Keynesian Theory: Affect the economy during times of recession by increasing or decreasing tax levels & public spending 

• Focus is on the consumer

37. Supply - Side Theory: Stimulate the economy by cutting taxes to encourage business to grow & taxpayers to spend more money

• Focus is on the producer/supplier)

38. Fiscal Policy: Government use of taxes & spending to attempt to lower unemployment, support economic growth, and stabilize the economy

• Congress & the President make fiscal policy through the federal budget.

• They decide how to raise funds/what to cut.

39. Expansionary Policies: Policies that try to increase the output of the economy

40. Contractionary Policies: Policies that try to decrease the output of the economy

41. Monetary Policy: Primarily concerned with the management of interest rates and the total supply of money in circulation

• Carried out by the federal reserve

42. Federal Reserve: Panel made up of a board of governors, Federal Reserve Banks, and member banks

• Serves to monitor financial institutions

• Appointed by the President & approved by the Senate

43. Member Banks (?): Wells Fargo, Bank of America, etc.

44. Treasury Securities: Investments in the government

• Purchaser loans money to the government & it will be eventually be paid back by the government plus interest

45. Reserve Rates: Banks are required to have a certain amount of deposits kept in reserve

• The higher the rates, the less money banks have available to loan to their customers

46. Interest rates: Banks pay to borrow money from the federal government. 

• Lowering the interest rate stimulates the economy by encouraging businesses to borrow money because interest rates are lower

47. Medicare: Federal insurance program that covers hospitalization & physicians services for people 65 & over

48. Medicaid: Covers health services for low–income Americans

• Jointly funded & administered by the states and the federal government

49. School-Choice Vouchers: Use of tax-payer money to pay for tuition in private & religious schools

50. Establishment Clause: Prohibits government actions that unduly favor one religion over another

51. Political Socialization: Experiences & factors that shape an individual’s political ideology

52. Political Ideology: Coherent set of beliefs about government and politics

53. Family: Biggest influence on political ideology when growing up

54. Schools: Allow students to learn about the political process & creates a respectful political climate (friends & classes)

55. Generational Effect: Experiences can have an effect on someone’s political identifications

Life-Cycle Effect: Views about political issues are influenced by a person’s stage in life