American Government Exam #3

Front 1

margin of error

Back 1

1. the range of certainty which measures how accurately a random poll sampling reflects the population at large. 2. The larger the sample the smaller the margin of error. 3. if the statistical difference between candidates is within the margin of error the poll findings are ruled non-conclusive and insignificant.

Front 2

political socialization

Back 2

the process by which we learn and acquire our political attitudes and opinions

Front 3

impact of family

Back 3

generally, partisan identification and level of political involvement is determined by the family.

Front 4

impact of school

Back 4

the level of education is the single biggest predictor for the political participation of an individual

Front 5

generation effects

Back 5

Particular political events which influence an entire generation of people, shaping their political attitudes and perspectives.

Front 6

aging effects

Back 6

changes in political attitude and participation as an individual ages.

Front 7

horse race coverage

Back 7

the way in which the media often covers a presidential election; focusing on who's ahead and behind like a horse race, rather than informing the public of their policy positions

Front 8

trends in media dependency

Back 8

the media is virtually our only access to information; media attention also sets the agenda, introduces the debate subjects.

Front 9

two-step model of media influence

Back 9

argues that the media influences the smaller more attentive public who subsequently mediates the learned information to the general public, interpretively framing the issues in a manner that effects the way they think of issues.

Front 10

party realignments

Back 10

a period in which a subordinate minority party becomes the dominant majority party.

Front 11

party dealignment

Back 11

Reflect the current political situation in which there is no dominant political party and neither party has a clear advantage; could be related to the augmentation of independent voters.

Front 12

major reasons why US has a 2 party system

Back 12

1. electoral college discourages 3rd parties
2. single-member plurality districts
3. ballot access problems, petition requirements in certain states
4. presidential debate

Front 13

weakened political parties

Back 13

1. open primaries, 2. civil service reform/merit system decreased the ability to reward the faithful with employment 3. social welfare 4. creation of media campaigns and professional campaign management firms

Front 14

early primaries

Back 14

give presidential campaigns legitimacy, particularly critical for the smaller underdog candidates for name recognition and financing

Front 15

impact of electoral college on pres campaigns

Back 15

1. focus on states, esp. swinger states 2. candidate w/biggest pop vote could lose 3. tampers 3rd party candidates 4. magnifies electoral margin of candidates

Front 16

low voter turn out

Back 16

stricter voter registration, voting diversity, voter fatigue, 2 party system narrow range of choice discouraging turn out, inconvenient election day.

Front 17

prospective model assumptions

Back 17

1. parties are united/cohesive.
2. clear policy positions that are different from one another
3. voters understand issue differences and vote on the issue basis
4. candidates implement policy once voted into office

Front 18

prospective model problems

Back 18

1. variation w/in parties 2. ame voter market 3.conflicting issue information 4. difficult policy implementation.

Front 19

three major roles of the media

Back 19

1. "watchdog" over elected officials, free press
2. clarifying electoral choices for voters
3. provides policy information and the alternatives, so voters can make reasonable choices.

Front 20

problems for media

Back 20

1. mutually dependent relationship
2. edit out boring, focus on the dramatic human interests
3. horse-race coverage

Front 21

low voter turn out

Back 21

low compared to other western democracies. represents a fraction of the american people. less reflective of the public as a whole. nonvoters=poor uneducated public.

Front 22

non-issue voting

Back 22

not everyone is voting on the basis of issues in terms of policy preferences, but rather on the candidate's image/characteristics.

Front 23

variation and intensity of issues

Back 23

People cannot vote in a way that would perfectly reflect their policy preferences. there are only a few candidates represent a multiplicity of issues. no one candidate can express the issue preferences of the voters.

Front 24

party contributions

Back 24

recruit candidates, finance coordinate and finance campaigns; create and mobilize a majority of voters to vote for your candidate, stimulating political interests; opposition party increases awareness and hold elected officials accountable, aggregate interests; simplifies voter choice.