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108 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Core beliefs (political)
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Individuals’ beliefs about the fundamental nature of human beings, society, and economy; taken together, they comprise the political culture
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Political attitudes
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Individual’s views and preferences about public policies, political parties, candidates, government institutions, and public officials
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Public opinion
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Political attitudes expressed by ordinary citizens as revealed by surveys
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Sample survey
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An interview study asking questions of a set of people who are chosen at random to represent the whole population
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Random sampling
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The selection of survey respondents by chance, with equal probability, to ensure their representativeness of the whole population
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Political socialization
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The process by which individuals acquire political beliefs, attitudes, and opinions
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Agents of socialization
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Those institutions and individuals that shape the core beliefs and attitudes of people
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Party identification
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The sense of belonging to one or another political party
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Political ideology
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A system of interrelated and coherently patterned attitudes and beliefs
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Collective public opinion
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The political attitudes of the public as a whole, expressed as averages or percentages
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Rational public
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The notion that collective public opinion is rational in the sense that it is generally stable and consistent and that when it changes it does so as an understandable response to events, to changing circumstances, and to new information
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Presidential approval rating
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A president’s standing with the public, indicated by the percentage of Americans who tell survey interviewers that they approve a president’s “handling of his job”
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Economic conservatives
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People who favor private enterprise and oppose government regulations on spending
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Economic liberals
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People who favor government regulation of business and government spending for social programs
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Social (lifestyle) liberals
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People who favor civil liberties, abortion rights, and alternative lifestyles
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Social (lifestyle) conservatives
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People who favor traditional social values; they tend to support strong law-and-order measures and to oppose abortion and gay rights
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Policy preferences
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Citizens’ preferences concerning what policies they want government to pursue
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Isolationism
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The policy of avoiding involvement in foreign affairs
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Unilateralist
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The stance toward foreign policy that suggests that the United States should “go it alone,” pursuing its national interests without seeking the cooperation of other nations or multilateral institutions
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Multilateralist
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The stance toward foreign policy that suggests that the United States should seek the cooperation of other nations and multilateral institutions in pursuing its goals
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Watchdog
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The role of the media in scrutinizing the actions of government officials
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Blog
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The common term for a weblog, a website on which an individual or group posts, texts, audio files, and more, on a regular basis for others to view and respond to
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Podcast
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Digital audio and video files made readily available to interested people via computer and portable devices
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Wire service
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Organizations such as the Associated Press and Reuters that gather and disseminate news to other news organizations
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Media monopoly
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Term used to suggest that media corporations are so large, powerful, and interconnected that alternative voices to the economically and politically powerful cannot have their views aired
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Infotainment
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The merging of hard news and entertainment in news presentations
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Beat
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The assigned location where a reporter regularly gathers news stories
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Leak, news
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Inside or secret information given to a journalist or media outlet by a government official
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Spin
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The attempt by public officials to have a story reported in terms that favor them
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Newsworthy
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Worthy of printing or broadcasting as news, according to editors’ judgments
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Objective journalism
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News reported with no evaluative language and with any opinions quoted or attributed to a specific source
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Pundits
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Somewhat derisive term for print, broadcast, and radio commentators on the political news
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Bias
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Deviation from some ideal standard, such as representativeness or objectivity
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Agenda setting
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Influencing what people consider important
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Framing
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Providing a context for interpretation
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Prior restraint
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The government’s power to prevent publication, as opposed to punishment afterward
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Fairness doctrine
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The former requirement that television stations present contrasting points of view
1949 |
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Equal time provision
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The former requirement that television stations give or sell the same amount of time to all competing candidates
1934 |
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Interest group
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Private organization or voluntary association that seeks to influence public policy as a way to protect or advance some interest
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Faction
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James Madison’s term for groups or parties that try to advance their own interests at the expense of the public good
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Pluralist
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A political scientist who views American politics as best understood in terms of the interaction, conflict, and bargaining of groups
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Private interest
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An interest group that seeks to protect or advance the material interest of its members
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Public interest
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An interest group that advocates for a cause or an ideology
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Lobbying
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The art of trying to influence the decisions of public officials on behalf of an organization or advocacy group
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Advocacy group
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An interest group organized to support a cause or ideology
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Lobbyist
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A person who lobbies
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Disturbance theory
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A theory that locates the origins of interest groups in changes in the economic, social, or political environment that threaten the well-being of some segment of the population
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Ear-marking
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The practice of appropriating money for specific pet projects of members of Congress, usually done at the behest of lobbyists, and added to bills at the last minute with little opportunity for deliberation
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Amicus curiae
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Lation for “a friend of the court”; describes a brief in which individuals not party to a suit may have their views heard
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Grassroots lobbying
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The effort by interest groups to mobilize local constituencies and shape public opinion to support the group’s goals and to bring that pressure to bear on elected officials
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Political action committee (PAC)
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An entity created by an interest group whose purpose is to collect money and make contributions to candidates in federal elections
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Iron triangle
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An enduring alliance of common interest among an interest group, a congressional committee, and a bureaucratic agency, also called a subgovernment
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Sub-government
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Alliances among interest groups, institutions within each house of Congress, and an executive branch agency that work to advance a particular agenda; can take various forms, another name for iron triangle
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Issue network
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Broad coalitions of public and private interest groups, policy experts, and public officials that form around particular policy issues; said to be more visible to the public and more inclusive; opposite of iron triangles
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Revolving door
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Phrase to describe the common practice in which former government officials become lobbyists for interests with whom they formerly dealt in their official capacity
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Partisan
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A committed member of a party; seeing issues from the point of view of the interests of a single party
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Political party
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An organization that tries to win control of government by electing people to office who carry the party label
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Party platform
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A party’s statement of its position on the issues of the day
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Two-party system
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A political system in which two parties vie on relatively equal terms to win national elections and in which each party governs at one time or another
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Multiparty system
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A political system in which three or more viable parties compete to lead the government; because a majority winner is not always possible, multiparty system often have coalition governments where governing power is shared among two or more parties
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Proportional representation (PR)
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The awarding of legislative seats to political parties to reflect the proportion of the popular vote each party receives
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Realignment
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The process by which one party supplants another as the dominant party in a political system
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New Deal
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The programs of the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt
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New Deal coalition
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The informal electoral alliance of working-class ethnic groups, Catholics, Jews, urban dwellers, racial minorities, and the South that was the basis of the Democratic party dominance of American politics from the New Deal to the early 1970s
-Expansion of federal government powers ----Old age assistance, aid for the poor |
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Divided government
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Control of the executive and the legislative branches by different political parties
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Dealignment
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A gradual reduction in the dominance of one political party without another party supplanting it
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Party identification
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The sense of belonging to one or another political party
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Liberal
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The political position that holds that the federal government has a substantial role to play in economic regulation, social welfare, and overcoming racial inequality
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Conservative
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The political position which holds that the federal government ought to play very small role in economic regulation, social welfare, and overcoming racial inequality
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Unified government
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Control of the executive and legislative branches by the same political party
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Gridlock
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A situation in which government is unable to make policy decisions, usually because of divided government
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Active partisan
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People who identify with a party, vote in elections, and participate in additional party and party-candidate activities
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Leaners
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People who claim to be independents but say they consistently favor one party over another
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Responsible party
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A political party that takes clear, distinct stands on the issues and enacts them as policy when in office
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Prospective voting model
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A theory of democratic elections in which voters decide what government will do in the near future by choosing one or another responsible party
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Electoral competition model
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A form of election in which parties seeking votes more toward the median voter or the center of the political spectrum
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Median voter model
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A term that refers to the voter at the exact middle of the political spectrum
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Electoral reward and punishment
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The tendency to vote for the incumbents when times are good and against them when times are bad
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Retrospective voting
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A form of election in which voters look back at the performance of a party in power and cast ballots on the basis of how well it did in office
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Franchise
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The right to vote
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Gridlock
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A situation in which government is unable to make policy decisions, usually because of divided government
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Active partisan
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People who identify with a party, vote in elections, and participate in additional party and party-candidate activities
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Leaners
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People who claim to be independents but say they consistently favor one party over another
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Responsible party
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A political party that takes clear, distinct stands on the issues and enacts them as policy when in office
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Prospective voting model
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A theory of democratic elections in which voters decide what government will do in the near future by choosing one or another responsible party
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Electoral competition model
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A form of election in which parties seeking votes more toward the median voter or the center of the political spectrum
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Median voter model
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A term that refers to the voter at the exact middle of the political spectrum
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Electoral reward and punishment
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The tendency to vote for the incumbents when times are good and against them when times are bad
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Retrospective voting
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A form of election in which voters look back at the performance of a party in power and cast ballots on the basis of how well it did in office
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Franchise
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The right to vote
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Suffrage
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The right to vote; also see franchise (above)
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Electoral College
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Elected representatives of the states whose votes formally elect the President of the United States; the number of electors in each state is equal to the total number of its senators and representatives in the U.S. Congress, and their votes are almost always cast in a block for the candidate who wins a plurality of the vote in a state in the quadrennial presidential election
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Convention party
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A gathering of delegates who nominate a party's presidential candidate
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Primary election
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Statewide elections in which voters choose delegates to the national party conventions; normally all delegates are pledged to a specific candidate for the party's nomination
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Caucus nominating system
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A regional, ethnic, racial, or economic subgroup of legislators within the House or Senate; also used to describe the party in the House and Senate (e.g., the Republican caucus)
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Turnout
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The proportion of eligible voters who actually vote in a given election
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Referenda
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Procedures available in some states by which proposed state laws or constitutional amendments are submitted to the voters for approval or rejection
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Initiative
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Procedures available in some states for citizens to put proposed laws and constitutional amendments on the ballot for voter approval
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Superdelegates
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Elected officials from all levels of government who are appointed by party committees to be delegates to the national convention of the Democratic Party; not selected in primary elections or caucuses
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Elector
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Representatives who are elected in the states to formally choose the U.S. president
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Plurality
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More votes than any other candidate but less than a majority of all votes cast
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Maddox
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Pentagon, Lyndon Johnson, attack by Vietnamese
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Pentagon Papers
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Defense department study
-----Daniel Ellsberg |
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Challenges of Political Polling
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Issues of wording
---Makes a big difference in the way it is answered Issues of intensity and timing ----Strongly agree to strongly disagree ----------5-7 option scale Issues of sampling -----Many think that it is hard or nearly impossible to find a completely random set of people that can fully represent the population as a whole |
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Generation effect
Depending on when you were raised your political views differ |
Depending on when you were raised your political views differ
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Presidential Approval Rating
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The percentage of people saying that they approve
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News media
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Affects peoples attitudes towards selecting and framing politics
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Race and Ethnicity
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Overall there is a difference in political views based on race however the gap is steadily decreasing
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