GESM Final

1. Dixiecrats - Any of the Southern Democrats who seceded from the party in 1948 in opposition to its policy of extending civil rights; party within a party that switched to Republican 

2. Culture War - Conflict between groups (liberal/ conservative) that have different cultural ideals, beliefs or philosophies 

3. Issue activists - Person who advocates for or opposes a controversial issue through direct action (protests, lawsuits, lobbying, petition or strikes)

4. Conflict Extension - Polarization of the parties along multiple issue dimensions (not just single issue, but across a wide range of topics) ; activists affect politicians 

5. Median voter theory - If voters and candidates are distributed along a 1-dimensional spectrum and voters have single-peaked preferences, any voting method that is compatible with majority-rule will elect the candidate preferred by the median voter

6. Advocacy explosion - Increase in the number of advocacy groups, interest groups, and lobbying groups (influence decisions of government officials) 

   1. Older associations (freemasons, male-based associations, race/gender exclusionary groups) replaced by professional associations (government more involved = added incentives) 

7. Membership-based associations  - Organizations of individuals who join to pursue shared goals, interests or causes; has democratic structure, relying on active participation and dues 

8. Advocacy organizations - Lobby groups and interest groups that use forms of advocacy or lobbying to influence public opinion and ultimately, public policy 

9. 1950s pro-polarization argument  - Influential U.S. scholars that argued for more polarization, which at that time was defined as members of different parties holding different beliefs 

   1. Each of the 2 dominant parties encompassed overlapping political views thanks to conservative Southern Democrats and liberal Rockefeller Republicans

→ clarity of choices for voters, stronger party discipline, accountability in governance, effective representation, party coherence 

10. Rational choice theory - People make choices based upon a set of individual preferences in a rational manner where they seek to maximize gain while minimizing loss

11. Politicization - How ideas, entities or collection of facts are given a political tone or character and assigned to the ideas/ strategies of a particular group or party

12. Heuristics - Mental shortcuts for solving problems in a quick way that delivers a result that is sufficient enough to be useful given time constraints; avoids cognitive overload 

13. Cross-cutting interactions - People exposed to political perspectives that they do not find agreeable 

14. Partisan reasoning - The way in which democratic citizens think about politics is motivationally biased by partisanship 

15. The Big Sort - Sorting of Americans into like-minded communities 

16. The Creative Class - Group of occupations that focus on creating new ideas, technology, and content; meaningful to economy (cities they live in lead in patents) 

17. Haidt’s moral foundations - Argues that humans have six moral foundations through which we view politics and policy: Care/Harm, Fairness/Cheating, Loyalty/Betrayal, Authority/Subversion, Sanctity/Degradation, and Liberty/Oppression

18. Lakoff’s family models - Argues that liberals place more support in a model of the family; the “strict father model” for conservatives and the “nurturant parent model” for liberals 

19. The Rider and the Elephant - Haidt argues we have two sides; emotional side (Elephant) and analytical, rational side (its Rider) 

20. Fixed and Fluid worldviews - Differing psychological and ideological orientations that influence individuals’ perceptions of the world, social change, and political preferences 

    1. Fixed Worldviews - Preference for stability, order, and clear boundaries that prioritize security and resist rapid or significant social and cultural changes 

    2. Fluid Worldviews - Openness to change, diversity, and uncertainty; likely to embrace social and cultural evolution and view change as an opportunity rather than a threat 

21. Why do “Fixed” minorities vote Democrat?  - Other considerations that may outweigh their “fixed” worldview (preference for stability, tradition, and security) including civil rights legacy, representation, and advocacy, group identity, economic considerations, Republican perception issues (Historic Democratic bonds)

    1. Blacks - Jim Crow laws

    2. Hispanics - Immigrations laws 

22. Why do liberals drink lattes? - Political term used to illustrate perceived hypocritical behavior by affluent political liberals 

23. Imagined communities - Limited and sovereign community where members who may never meet (do not know each other) share a sense of belonging based on common identity, history, and culture 

24. The four components of nationalism

1. Attachment 

2. Membership criteria

3. Pride 

4. Chauvinism 

25. The atomistic blind spot - Tendency to focus excessively on individuals when analyzing political behavior, while overlooking the broader social, culture, and institutional contexts that shape these behaviors 

    1. (Political scientists do not view as network, but as individual) 

26. Homophily - Tendency of people to associate with others who have similar political views 

27. The four types of nationalism  

1. Creedal

2. Disengaged 

3. Ardent nationalists 

4. Restrictive nationalists 

28. Belief structure - Interconnected network of political beliefs an individual holds, describing how different opinions on various issues relate to each other within a person’s overall political perspective 

29. The Oil Spill model  - Like a sticky oil spill, opinions (political/ not political) are increasingly correlated with one’s political ideology 

    1. Alternative to idea where stronger connection to issues = polarization

    2. Rather, belief “networks” become wider ; general population

    3. When connection of beliefs in network strong = high polarization & vice-versa 

30. The minimal group paradigm - Phenomenon where people tend to favor members of their own group even when the group division is arbitrary and does not involve any meaningful difference

    1. Minimal create bias against other / loyalty to own group

31. Issue-based polarization elements - Division of public opinion and political alignment along specific policy issues or topics 

32. Interaction culture/group style  - Engaging in cross-cultural interactions with individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds 

33. Cross-cutting cleavages  - Social divisions that overlap between different groups (racial, political, and religious divisions in society) → people of different demographic groups; more diverse where no single group is unified on one side of an issue 

34. Social-based polarization elements - Divisions in society based on group identities, social affiliations, and relationships, NOT purely on policy or ideological disagreements