Voting Behaviors and Beliefs

political socialization: the lifelong process by which individuals develop political beliefs, values, opinions, and behaviors

• family, schools, peers, media, social environments

demographic: a grouping of people by a shared characteristic; race, gender, age, education, income, etc.

voter turnout: the frequency with which voters in specific demographic categories tend to vote

voter tendency/bias: how voters in specific demographic groups tend to vote

voter trends: how voter behavior within specific demographics is changing over time

opinion polls: measures the public’s opinion in one point in time

• most common type is a presidential approval poll; checking if the people approve or disapprove of their president’s job

tracking polls: measures the same questions over time

when a national tragedy happens, people “rally around the flag”

polling can be inaccurate; political scientists need to know that the data they are looking at is reliable

polling needs following things to be as accurate as possible

• random sampling

• large sample size

• neutral question wording and question order

• survey method (telephone, internet, in person, etc.)

• margin of error (+/-2 points)

• transparent

political ideology: a set of related ideas, beliefs, and values that an individuals or groups, hold; one’s ideology guides opinions about the best political and social order; can lead to participation in a political party

public policy: an agreed upon way that our government fulfills its responsibility

social policy: the actions and plan of government to address societal issues (healthcare, education, housing, etc.)

economic policy: actions the government takes to manage the economy (taxation, fiscal policy, monetary, policy trade, etc.)

foreign policy: how a government relates to other nations