Political Ideologies and Beliefs (Unit 4)

Political socialization - The process through which individuals in a society acquire political attitudes, views, and knowledge, based on inputs from family, schools, the media and others.

Investigative journalism - form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing

Horse Race journalism - the tendency of the national media to focus on who is winning at any given time during a presidential campaign

Trial balloons - a method used by public figures of leaking certain stories to reporters to see what the political reaction will be

Narrowcasting - media programming on cable TV or the internet that is focused on a particular interest and aimed at a particular audience, in contrast to broadcasting

Demographics - Demographics is the study of a population based on factors such as age, race and sec. Governments, corporations and non-government organizations use demographics to learn more about population's characteristics for many purposes, including policy development and economic market research.

Political culture - Political culture is the set of attitudes, beliefs, and sentiments which give order and meaning to a political process. It encompasses both the political ideals and the norms of the public.

Core values - The core American values of individualism, equality of opportunity, free enterprise, rule of law, and limited government

Individualism - The belief that individuals should be left on their own by the government. One of the primary reasons for the comparatively small scope of American government is the prominence of this belief in American political thought and practice.

Equality of opportunity - Freedom from the discrimination (as in employment) on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, age, or sometimes sexual orientation -- See also equal employment opportunity commission.

Free enterprise - The ability of individual people and businesses to make money with minimal interference by the government

Rule of law - the principle that all people and institutions are subject to and accountable to law that is fairly applied and enforced; the principle of government by law.

Globalization - the increasing interconnectedness of economies, political systems and societies on a global scale

Scientific polling - any polling that makes use of statistical information during the process of selecting participants.

Public opinion polls - a poll taken by sampling a cross section of the public in an effort to predict election results or to estimate public attitudes on issues.

Opinion polls - represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence intervals

Benchmark polls - generally the first poll taken in a campaign, often taken before a candidate announces his or her bid for office, but sometimes occurs immediately after the announcement, allowing some opportunity to raise funds. This poll is generally a short and simple survey of likely voters.

Tracking polls- a type of poll repeated periodically with the same group of people to check and measure changes of opinion or knowledge

Entrance polls - the activity of asking people about how they are going to vote as they enter a polling station 

Exit polls - Public opinion surveys used by major media pollsters to predict electoral winners with speed and precision.

Push polls - polls taken for the purpose of providing information on an opponent that would lead respondents to vote against that candidate

Polling universe - the set of people that a particular poll is meant to represent. For American political polls, the ideal universe is the collection of people in the United States who will cast a vote in the next election.

Random sample - Random sampling is a selection process that ensures that the sample selected will not be a specific demographic.

Representative sample - A representative sample is a small quantity of something that accurately reflects the larger entity. An example is when a small number of people accurately reflect the members of an entire population.

Focus group- a demographically diverse group of people assembled to participate in a guided discussion about a particular product before it is launched, or to provide ongoing feedback on a political campaign, television series, etc.

Sampling error - error in a statistical analysis arising from the unrepresentativeness of the sample taken.

Political ideologies - A coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose, which helps give meaning to political events.

Political spectrum -  A model for classifying political actors, parties, or ideologies along one or more axes that compare them.

Liberal ideology - advocates the importance of government regulation of the economy to protect the rights of individuals and to control some of the drawbacks of free-market capitalism

Conservative ideology - advocates for less government regulation of the economy and argues for a more laissez-faire, free-market capitalism approach to economic issues.

Libertarian ideology - believes in a minimal government, with a limited role in society, views the government as necessary only to protect individual rights and enforce contracts but otherwise  a threat to individual freedom and personal responsibility.

Moderate - a person who is moderate in opinion or opposed to extreme views or actions

Political polarization - Mass polarization, or popular polarization, occurs when an electorate's attitudes towards political issues, policies, celebrated figures, or other citizens are neatly divided along party lines.

Monetary policy - the actions of central banks to achieve macroeconomic policy objectives such as price stability, full employment, and stable economic growth

→FEDERAL RESERVE

Fiscal policy - addresses the way taxation policy is used to manage the economy

→CONGRESS