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54 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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political culture
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A broadly shared way of thinking about political and economic life that reflects fundamental assumptions about how government should operate
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ideology
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a more or less consistent set of views as to the policies government ought to pursue
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liberalism
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favoring a more active federal government for regulating business, supporting social welfare, and protecting rights, but who prefers less regulation of private social conduct.
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conservatism
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favoring more limited and local governments, less government regulation of markets, more social conformity to traditional norms and values, and tougher policies toward criminals.
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poll
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a survey of public opinion
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random sample
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a sample selected in such a way that any member of the population being surveyed has an equal chance of being interviewed
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sampling error
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the difference between the results of two surveys or samples
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political efficacy
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a citizen's belief that he or she can understand and influence political affairs
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internal efficacy
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confidence in a citizen's own ablilities to understand and take part in political affairs
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external efficacy
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a belief that the system will respond to a citizen's demands
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gender gap
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differences in the political views and voting behavior of men and women
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Motor Voter Law
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A bill passed by congress in 1993 to make it easier for Americans to register to vote. Effect in 1995, it requires states to allow voter registration by mail, when one applies for a driver's license, and at state offices that serve the disabled and poor.
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lame duck
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a politician who is still in office after having lost a reelection bid
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incumbent
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the person crrently in office
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PAC
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(Political action committee) A committee set up by and representing a corporation, laber union, or special-interest group that raises and spend campaign contributions on behalf of one or more candidate or cause.
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ethnocentrism
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belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group
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natural rights
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rights, freedoms and privileges which are such a basic part of human nature that they cannot be taken away
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majority rule
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a decision rule that makes one of two alternatives the "winner", based on which has more than half the votes.
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popular sovereignty
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The rule by the people. A system in which the residents vote to decide an issue.
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antitrust legislation
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law intended to promote free competition in the market place by outlawing monopolies
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ethnicity
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a social construction that indicates identification with a particular group which is often descended from common ancestors. Members of the group share common cultural traits.
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race
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categorizing humans into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of heritable characteristics. The most widely used human racial categories are based on visible traits and self-identification.
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demographics
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a characteristic used to classify people for statistical purposes, such as age, race, or gender.
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political predisposition
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how you lean, liberal or conservative, before you hear any outside info from a candidate or political party.
Your family,life experiences, messages from institutions you trust (ex. church), and the media tend to influence your predisposition. |
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reinforcing cleavage
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different numbers of each ethnic group are in each economic category. lead to much more competitive politics where every election necessarily means one social group wins at the expense of the other or others.
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cross-cutting cleavages
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roughly equal numbers of each ethnic group are in each economic category
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public opinion
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a belief or sentiment shared by most people; the voice of the people
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party identification
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term to describe a voter's underlying allegiance to a political party
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attentive public
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the sector of society that is interested in politics and understands how government works
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voter registration
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requirement in some democracies for citizens and residents to check in with some central registry specifically for the purpose of being allowed to vote in elections
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Australian ballot
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The secret ballot system of voting in which voting is done in private on a state-issued ballot
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turnout
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attendance for a particular event or purpose (as to vote in an election)
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safe seat
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A seat in a legislature that is traditionally held by one political party because of the make-up of the local electorate
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winner-take all
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a voting system in which the single winner is the person with the most votes; there is no requirement that the winner gain an absolute majority of votes. aka plurarlity
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single-member district
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The current arrangement for electing national and state legislators in the United States in which one candidate is elected in each legislative district
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proportional representation
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An electoral system where the number of seats won is directly linked to the number of votes cast for each party.
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primary election
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The first election in a campaign; it determines a party's nominee for an office
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closed primary
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a type of direct primary limited to registered party members who have declared their party affiliation, in order to vote in the election. You can only vote within your declared party.
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open primary
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a primary election in which voters do not need to be a member of a particular political party in order to vote for partisan candidates in the primary election. Given a ballot with both parties.
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blanket primary
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a primary election in which the names of all the candidates for all the parties are on one ballot.
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runoff primary
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A type of primary used in some southern states. If no candidate gets a majority of the votes in the first primary vote, the two candidates with the most votes vie in a second primary election.
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presidential primary
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A special kind of primary used to pick delegates to the presidential nominating conventions of the major parties.
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retrospective voter
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a person who fotes for or against a candidate or party in office because one likes or dislikes how things gave gone in the recent past.
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prospective voter
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a person who votes for a candidate because one favors his or her ideas for addressing issues after the election.
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Split vs Straight ticket
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Spilt- a ballot cast by a voter who votes for candidates from more than one party
Sraight- a ballot cast by a voter who votes for all the candidates of one party |
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Office vs Party-block ballot
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Office - A ballot, that lists all candidates by office to minimize a straight party ticket vote.
Party - A ballot, that was government-printed and contained a list in columns of all candidates of each party. A voter could simply mark the top on one column to vote for every candidate in that column. |
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position vs valence issues
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position - an issue dividing the electorate on which rival parties adopt different policy positions to attract voters.
valence - an issues which voters distinguish rival parties by the degres to which they associate each part or candidate with conditions, goals, symbols the elctorate universally approves or disapporives of |
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Electoral College
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a group of people who formally elect the president of the USA and is composed of delegates from each state.
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coattail effect
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the tendency for a popular political party leader to attract votes for other candidates of the same party in an election
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realigning
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occasional historic shifts of public opinion and voter concerns that either undermine or enhance one or another party's traditional base of support
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national convention
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a meeting of party delegates elected in state primaries, caucuses, or conventions that is held every four years. Its primary purpose is to nominate presidential and vice-presidential candidates and to ratify a campaign platform
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caucus
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an informal meeting at which potential voters and candidates talk about the issues and their preferred candidate, and then decide which candidate they support and which delegates to send to their political party's convention.
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soft money
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money donated to a political party to be used on general voter activities and issue ads that do not contribute to a specific candidate.
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independent expenditures
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money spent on a political activity intended to assist/oppose a candidate with no candidate involvement
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