Unit 4 Flashcards

American Beliefs

  • Individualist: Values individual independence and self-reliance.
  • Equality of Opportunity: Every American should have opportunities for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
  • Free Enterprise: Limited government intervention, allowing supply and demand to govern the marketplace.
  • Rule of Law: Every citizen is equal under the law.
  • Limited Government: Restrained through the separation of powers and checks and balances.

Liberal

  • Pushes for reforms for a more just society.
  • Supports a larger government providing an abundance of services.
  • Favors more government involvement to achieve equality and free enterprise.

Conservative

  • Cherishes established institutions and seeks to preserve them.
  • Prefers a smaller government providing fewer services.
  • Desires less government involvement.

Bandwagon Effect

  • Getting behind a winning candidate.

Social Desirability Bias

  • People lie to appear as better members of society.

Non-response Bias

  • Certain groups are less inclined to respond to polls.

Non-scientific Polls

  • Designed by political parties or partisan news outlets to demonstrate support.

Libertarianism

  • Combines aspects of both liberal and conservative ideologies.
  • Seeks the smallest, least intrusive government possible.

The Fed & Monetary Policy

  • The Federal Reserve manages monetary policy.
  • Tools include buying/selling government bonds and setting reserve requirements.
  • Inflation is countered by raising interest rates; during economic downturns, the Fed decreases interest rates.

Types of Polls

  • Opinion Polls: Assess public sentiment on candidates or policies.
  • Benchmark Polls: Taken at the beginning of a campaign to show candidate performance.
  • Tracking Polls: Conducted over time to show shifts in opinion.
  • Entrance Polls: Conducted before voting.
  • Exit Polls: Conducted after voting.

Representative Sample

  • A small portion of a larger population.

Random Sample

  • Everyone has an equal chance of being chosen.

Sampling Error

  • Mistakes made during polling; margin of error decreases as sample size increases.
  • (\pm 4\%) is considered a good margin of error.

Focus Groups

  • Emphasize qualitative data.

American Generations

  • Silent Generation (1928-1945): Generally conservative.
  • Millennials (1981-1996): Mostly liberal, ethnically diverse, highly educated.

Life Cycle Effects

  • Political beliefs change based on life stage.

Major Events

  • Events like the Great Depression can cause people to trust in government.
  • Events like the Vietnam War can cause people to lose trust in government.

Political Ideology

  • An interlocking set of ideas forming the basis for political decision-making.

Party Platforms

  • Democratic: Abortion rights, LGBTQ+ rights, healthcare for the poor.
  • Republican: Cutting taxes, "America First" trade policy, anti-regulation.

Keynesian Economics

  • Addresses fiscal policy (government taxation and spending).
  • When demand is low, the government should increase spending or cut taxes.
  • Liberal view.

Supply-Side Economics

  • Addresses fiscal policy.
  • Emphasizes supply and demand; limited government control.
  • Conservative view.

Political Socialization

  • Family: High number of children associate with family's ideologies.
  • School: Teachers may teach in conservative/liberal worldview.
  • Peers: Inclusion has a strong influence.
  • Media: Provides a wide range of viewpoints (e.g., 24-hour news cycles).
  • Social Environments: Religion, civic institutions (e.g., Boy Scouts).

Globalization

  • Increasing interconnectedness of the world often comes with political influence.